While the culture may have entered its “villain era,” true crime has finally exited its own. And thank goodness. The genre has become more mature and self-reflective as focus has shifted firmly from perpetrators to victims and the larger systems that enable injustice. If that means the best listens leave us with more questions than answers, so be it. Tidy conclusions lie in the realm of fiction—these stories are as real as they come.
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When Rosamund Pike found herself almost obsessively drawn to the story of Cindy and Rick Murphy—the real-life Russian spies that inspired the award-winning show The Americans—it wasn't because of their fancy spy-craft methods or the intrigue of espionage. As an actor herself, Pike couldn't fathom how it would feel to step into a role that you could never, ever shake off. Literally, the role of a lifetime. In this propulsive Audible Original podcast, a true labor of love for Pike, she explores Rick and Cindy’s improbable journey from Soviet-era children to Montclair, New Jersey-based suburban parents ... and spies. —Emily C.
This spellbinding and disturbing tale of Stéphane Breitwieser chronicles the aesthetic obsession and audacious methods that made him one of the most prolific art thieves of all time. Michael Finkel, author of absorbing true crime books including The Stranger in the Woods, plumbs the singular psyche and pure chutzpah that enabled a dazzling accumulation of loot—worth $2 billion, housed in a nondescript attic in France, amassed for the private enjoyment of Breitwieser and his girlfriend. With its exquisite tension, this exhilarating heist story tugs our sympathies in competing directions (shades of the Succession finale, anyone?) while Edoardo Ballerini’s cultivated narration is its own masterpiece.—Kat J.
In Zeke Faux’s wildly entertaining exposé of crypto’s frenzied rise(s) and spectacular bust(s), the saga’s colorful characters come to life, from a Mighty Ducks star and Inspector Gadget creator to the chief subject of speculation, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. Following a global trail of parties, yachts, and bank-heist-level schemes, Faux evolves from writing a softball crypto piece to asking tough journalistic questions about the stability and value of cryptocurrency and SBF’s stated motive of effective altruism. In Dan Bittner’s riveting reading, Number Go Up stands out as the funniest and most comprehensive crypto account in a packed and competitive field. —K.J.
Our foremost chronicler of scandals that haunt the American psyche, journalist Leon Neyfakh took on a doozy with Fiasco: Vigilante, investigating the media sensation that exploded after a meek-looking white man ruthlessly gunned down four Black teenagers on a New York subway in 1984. With the brash accents of the era’s intrepid tabloid reporters and heartbreaking interviews with the victims’ families, the podcast brings the victims to life more fully than any previous reporting. Both riveting and sensitive, the podcast explores the powerful threads of fear and vengeance underpinning the crime, which unfortunately continues to draw eerie parallels to recent events. —K.J.
You might not know John Ackah Blay-Miezah's name, but his out-of-thin-air invention of the $27 billion "Oman Ghana Trust Fund" rivals Bad Blood for sheer audacity. If there’s any justice, Anansi’s Gold will get its own screen adaptation, complete with mid-century West African glamour, international power players, and the allure of funneling ill-gotten money to a place where it was desperately needed. As author Yepoka Yeebo describes the country’s complex relationship with kalabule, or trickery, "In hard times, all you have is your wit, and Ghana has seen a lot of hard times." —K.J.
Amid the tsunami of Murdaugh content that engulfed us this year, one voice has always stood out. Journalist Mandy Matney has been reporting on the family since an infamous boat crash brought their grotesque misdeeds to attention far beyond the South Carolina Lowcountry where they held sway for generations. With Blood on Their Hands, Matney smartly juxtaposes her professional coming-of-age against the riveting tick-tock of a cascading saga. Her voice, familiar to listeners of her True Sunlight podcast, is a warm and approachable guide for a story whose sordid details belie Matney’s unwavering purpose of justice for all. —K.J.
It is impossible to separate a long history of systemic oppression from a contemporary miscarriage of justice. Invisible: Life and Death on the Reservation traces the story of Jade Wagon, a Northern Arapaho woman whose disappearance in January 2020 barely made the local news. Wagon’s case is far from unique: For decades, Native American women across the United States and Canada have been going missing, their cases unworked and names unknown. Jade's mother Nicole was left to fight for visibility and justice, fueled by the loss of two daughters in the span of one year. Invisible is her story, one reflected by countless others who have dedicated their lives and careers to amplifying the voices of Indigenous women. —Alanna M.
New York’s Rikers Island is a complex jail system, a chaotic and legendarily dangerous detainment center familiar to the most casual Law & Order watcher, and, more to the point, an abominable stain on the city. After listening to this brutal oral history of the place, you’ll wonder how on earth it remains open (the city’s roadmap mandates its closure by 2027). Journalists Graham Rayman and Reuven Blau interviewed a wide array of inmates, corrections officers, lawyers, social workers, reformers, and more to assemble this polyphonic history, aptly narrated by a full cast of voices. The sensitive production doesn’t dampen the shock and horror at what lies within—a crisis of inhumanity, perpetrated not by the people inside it but the system that made and continues to uphold it. —K.J.
As the host of The Fall Line, Laurah Norton set out to create an ethical true crime podcast that was focused on the human toll of cases gone cold. She continues this pursuit with Lay Them to Rest, a fascinating assessment of the history of forensic science that never once loses sight of the innumerable unidentified persons still awaiting justice. Working alongside field professionals, Norton homes in on one decades-old mystery—that of Illinois’s “Ina” Jane Doe—to lay bare the process of victim identification and the pursuit of both investigative and familial closure. Her fine-tuned, documentarian narration makes this listen the perfect audiobook for any podcast fan. —A.M.
The first thing you’ll notice about New York death investigator Barbara Butcher’s What the Dead Know is her narration: Purposeful, unvarnished, and brimming with humanity, her expertly paced performance is absolutely captivating. Once that claims your undivided attention, you’ll then find a fascinating series of recollections ranging from time spent in the autopsy suite to the soul-crushing process of identifying 9/11 victims. Not for the faint of heart, Butcher’s memoir lays bare the gruesome realities of death and decomposition. But beyond the grim details, this account is all the more special for the author’s reckoning with addiction and how she managed to find a lifeline in the business of death. —A.M.
When two women drove off a California cliff in 2018 with six of their adopted children in tow, the resulting media frenzy focused on the parents—what caused these educated do-gooders to become family annihilators? In this devastating work of investigative journalism, Roxanna Asgarian follows the lives of the children instead, finding that they never should have been separated from their birth parents at all. Her sensitive reporting ultimately becomes an explosive indictment of the American foster care and adoption systems and the racist, classist, and profit-driven factors at play. With compelling narration by Suehyla El-Attar, We Were Once a Family is a difficult but important listen. —K.J.
You might know Edwin Raymond from the documentary Crime + Punishment, which chronicled the class action lawsuit that he and fellow whistleblower cops brought against the New York Police Department over illegal policing quotas. His memoir adds essential context to a problem that has only become more glaring. In a lucid and affecting reading of his journey from a young, idealistic cop to one disillusioned (but not broken) by the racist structures of the NYPD, Raymond argues for reform that brings together justice-minded officers with the communities they’re sworn to protect. “We push our way to the front and then lay ourselves down,” he suggests. “Not because we are giving up, but because we are the bridge.” —K.J.
Nearly three decades after the Oklahoma City bombing, Jon Ronson’s new series disrupts what we think we know about America’s worst act of domestic terrorism. It’s also, as Ronson fans will expect, an endlessly enigmatic and entertaining listen. At the center is Carol Howe, a pretty former debutante who fell in with a group of violent neo-Nazis before turning federal informant embedded in the racist enclave of Elohim City and warning of a coming attack on Oklahoma City. With his signature curiosity and anxious allegiance to the truth, Ronson asks question upon question, shedding new light on a tragedy and ideology whose implications are more urgent than ever. —K.J.
This spare, haunting audio dispenses with fancy sound effects and a long run time to let its incredible story—told in unvarnished detail and raw candor by the father and son who lived it—speak for itself. Mississippi native Roger Stringer was a devoted hunter and dad when an unfathomable tragedy took the life of his young son. Elder brother Zac held the gun, but did he pull the trigger? A mix of memoir, crime, and call to action, this hidden gem united listeners in near-universal acclaim. —K.J.
