The Curious Case of True Crime Podcasts

There’s something very strange in how we’ve began to find listening, watching or reading about true crimes as “entertaining”. You only have to look at the streaming platforms to find endless films, series and documentaries inspired by true crime.

Killers such as Jeffrey Dahmer, Charles Manson and Ted Bundy are often the “best known” criminals featured in these shows. Often celebrities take on these “challenging” roles and then complain about how it impacted their mental health. It’s a vicious cycle. I wanted to take a look at the debate surrounding how ethical true crime podcasts are and why is it that they’ve grown in popularity this past decade especially amongst young females.

You’ve been Caught

With that in mind, hi, I am one of the young females interested in a true crime podcast. At the beginning of the summer I became obsessed with Wondry’s “RedHanded” (thank you Sarah for the recommendation). After experiencing podcast fatigue from the likes of The Diary of a CEO it was a different style of show I hadn’t yet listened to.

“RedHanded the podcast jumps head first into all manner of macabre madness. We cover everything from big time serial killers (and those you may never have heard of), to hauntings, possessions, disturbing mysteries, bizarre whodunits and basically anything that tickles our creepy fancy.” - Wondry

The hosts Hannah Maguire and Suruthi Bala would detail criminal cases and share insights on society at the time of the crime. For example, they often reference the “Satanic Panic” that happened in America during the 80’s and provide “RedHanded Run-Downs” about significant topics relevant to the episode.

“Doom-Listening”

During the pandemic the term doom scrolling became popular. According to psychotherapist and coach Tess Brigham, MFT, doom scrolling is mindlessly scrolling through negative news articles and social media content. In terms of the pandemic, this was an activity difficult to avoid due to the news cycle featuring disaster stories. For me, this behaviour had a huge toll on my mental well-being and anxiety levels. If it wasn’t COVID that was being discussed it was systemic racism, police brutality and genocide in the developing world.

With that in mind, I recently thought about the concept of doom listening especially in terms of true crime podcasts. For instance, I started consuming this content at the beginning of the summer when I started a 6 week gym programme. I listened to this content on my walk to and from the gym so much so that I was afraid to walk up the hill to attend the classes.

Small brag, I made it all my classes but my anxiety levels were on high alert. I kept thinking something would happen to me just like all the female victims in these cases so my emotions were particularly sensitive. Walking past parked cars and vans made me nervous, not to mention the guy who said hello to me en route to the gym that I can still picture just in case I need to dictate a sketch. He was perfectly harmless.

Empathy

Some researchers suggest that women are the main audience of true crime content as a precautionary factor. In this instance the podcasts and series are more educational than entertainment which in my view is heart breaking. BBC Radio 4 published this article detailing five reasons why women love true crime and it discusses some interesting opinions however I find it difficult to agree with the fifth point.

It states that women listen to this genre as it “can allow themselves to escape into a very compelling, awful but exciting story and just enjoy it for what it is at a distance.” Using the word “exciting” in relation to true crime I think is very ignorant. From listening to RedHanded, when they play audiotapes from victims’ parents and loved ones usually calling for their safe return home it’s absolutely tear jerking, not exciting.

It makes you think of what your family and friends would say about you and vice versa. The murder of Laci Peterson and her son by Scott Peterson are an example of this. The sound of heart break in her dad’s voice pleading for someone to come forward was horrendous and little did he think it was his own son-in-law who committed the heinous act.

This article often references the limited chances that crimes are committed against women which I find highly conflicting with the global news. We hear, via the news, of murder, sexual assault and gender based violence happening across the world against women. In the US, nearly three women are killed every day by their partners and women make up 70% of the victims of serial killers. So, despite hoping that this terrible thing will not happen to us or the people we know to say the chances are “miniscule” is irresponsible and neglects the statistics that we already know.

In the US, nearly three women are killed every day by their partners and women make up 70% of the victims of serial killers.

Let’s Talk Ethics

The focus in true crime media is often fixated on the early life, behaviour, relationships and motives of the criminal. The critics often say that their portrayal is “glamorised”, most recently with Evan Peter’s “Monster” and Zac Efron’s “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile”. However, something additionally insane happens when these stars take ownership of these real life people. The world of social media users begin to “lust” after them with Netflix even having to issue a Twitter statement to urge people not to romanticise Ted Bundy. WTF?

A grievance I personally have with true crime podcasts is the ad breaks. The hosts of RedHanded will be detailing the specifics of a brutal crime and it’ll cut to an advert for shapewear. It is a really bizarre contrast between the worst thing to happen to a family and the need for anti-chaffing shorts. I understand that companies want to tap into these highly engaged audiences but c’mon, it can be done better than this.

A Tale as Old as Time

In relation to the ethics of this type of storytelling I believe that going forward there needs to be nuance for the victim rather than the criminal. We often learn more about the killer and their ways than the innocent person who has been brutalised. What was their life like, what did they do and what is the aftermath from their death?

Macabre tales aren’t anything new, they’ve been part of our history for centuries (just look at the Bible) but to give decency and power to victims, true crime tales can shift from their glamourising for views and downloads to sympathy, empathy and respect.