For as long as I can remember, I have been inquisitive and observant of others. I like to investigate any situation I can get my hands on and always find out a surprise before I’m supposed to. Some may call this nosey, but I’d say I’m just curious and eager to learn. This aspect of my personality has driven me to select a mystery focused podcast for this assignment.
The podcast My Favorite Murder is a crime comedy podcast, hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. They discuss new crimes each week that they acquire from fan submissions. The speakers read the submissions aloud while making side comments and inserting personal anecdotes. The casual and sarcastic tone of the podcast makes it engaging, yet stress-free for listeners.
To dive into this podcast, I listened to Episode 7. The hosts detailed four fan submissions all about stories of hometown murders. This episode starts with a lighthearted lead-in that sets an upbeat mood. Georgia begins, “Oh, hey Karen, didn’t see you there!” Although this is a short sentence of an entire podcast, the intro sets the tone for the fun and casual vibe of the series.
This specific episode covers four stories of hometown murders read from emails from fans. The first story is known as the “Bermuda Triangle of Murder.” Karen and Georgia read an email from Nick, who details the alleyway of Kenosha Ave, the location of five completely unrelated murders with geographical coincidence. First, in 1967, a 14-year-old girl left her home one night to buy a soda but never returned. Her corpse, with evidence of 12 stabbings, was located four days later in the trunk of a car just a mile away from her house. This case remains unsolved. Next, 11 years later, a robber beat a middle-aged man to death with a tire iron to ensure he had no witnesses. Soon after, an old man was beaten to death in his burning home, an 18-year-old girl was raped and killed, and man killed 3 of his grandchildren. In these cases, some suspects were found while others remain unknown. Regardless, the proximity of each homicide is still an unexplainable factor to all. The hosts even read a quote from the police in the area, stating, “there is something going on out there that we simply can’t explain.” Karen and Georgia also detail a submission where a viewer’s close family friend went missing between elementary school classes. Later her family and dog found discovered her naked corpse strapped to a tree behind the school chapel. They also read a similar story with a young boy who was raped and left tied to a tree near his neighborhood convenience store. These stories are brief but traumatizing. The hosts share their sadness and condolences while relating the case to their lives by mentioning personal stories of their childhoods and even their own dogs. The final submission in this episode is from a viewer who considered purchasing a new house until she heard about the previous residents that were involved in a quadruple homicide. The victims, a mother, two twin daughters, and a close family friend, were targetted because the mother had escaped a brothel run by the Hells Angels Motorcycle club. In spite of the brothel owner’s sentence in jail, he hired a hitman to kill this girl as an incentive to be initiated into the gang.
All of these cases are intense and compelling stories, yet the layout of the podcast is what makes it a well-liked series. The hosts speak quickly to keep readers entertained and focused and continue this fast pace by using a variety of similar stories, rather than diving deep into a single case. Throughout episodes, they mention the names of the people whos submissions they read and speak as if their audience is there with them. When sharing the fans’ stories, start by reading the case exactly how the viewer submitted it, typos and all. With these strategies, the hosts have created a loyal fan base and community known as the “Murderinos.” Not only do they really include their viewers in the content creation, but the hosts also use their comedic backgrounds and upbeat personalities to grow the fanbase. They take time to pause between stories to laugh or make jokes. This lightens the mood, ensuring that the podcast appeals to the mystery-loving fan base, while still creating a fun community. Finally, similar to the unscripted intro, the outro of the podcast was very natural and included the hosts “happiest moments of their week.” With the combination of the conversational layout, fast-paced storytelling and attention to fan loyalty, Karen and Georgia do a great job of setting their show apart from other mystery podcasts to appeal to their audience.
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How do the hosts walk the fine line between comedy and crime? Is it tasteless to joke in such close proximity to discussing these serious topics? It *is* actually my favorite podcast, fwiw, but these are narrative choices that have ethical implications which you should think about as you keep listening.
Hi, Paige!
I think you did a very good job summarizing the podcast and letting us know what the podcast episode you listened to was about! This podcast sounds super interesting, and I like that they include several stories or crimes into a single podcast episode. I am listening to the first season of Serial, and similar to yours, it also deals with crime. However, even though they both tell stories about crimes, Serial focuses on one story for a whole season, rather than multiple stories in an episode.
Similar to Serial, the podcast and podcast hosts use outside sources to obtain and relay their information. In your podcast, the hosts use emails or submissions from fans or listeners, and in Serial, the host uses calls, documents, and in-person interviews. I think that it is very important for podcasts of this nature to use outside sources, as it makes the podcast more interesting and attention grabbing. Unlike your podcast, Serial doesn’t really deal in humor. From what you described, the hosts of your podcast mix in a little comedic relief in between, and sometimes during, the stories they are telling. I think is an interesting choice given that the subject material can sometimes be somber and disturbing, but I think that the humor is maybe what makes the podcast bearable to listen to.
Overall, I think you did a very good job at describing the episode you listened to and outlining the layouts and narrative choices of the podcast!
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