Ep. 1: Maybe I'm a Weirdo

De: Poppy Damon, Alice Fiennes

What is “murderabilia”? We meet Paul, a collector from Rochester, New York, whose serial killer collectables include Charles Manson’s guitars and an Arthur Shawcross car.

We also speak to Eric Holler, a murderabilia dealer who runs the website “Serial Killers Ink” and whose arch nemesis is a victims’ rights advocate.

©2019 Audible, Ltd. (P)2019 Audible, Ltd.

Journalists show too much bias

The journalists show too much bias, both during the actual interviews—a big no no if you want people to open up—and then during their discussions together on the topic. They were judgmental, which is understandable for the audience to be, but shouldn’t be shown so outwardly by the journalists themselves.

I couldn’t get past their slight holier-than-thou attitude. Because of it, I wasn’t able to form my own opinions, making this more of an op-Ed than real journalism.

Having said that, had they been able to keep their opinions to themselves, the story itself was fascinating. They had 121 interviews with the collectors and sellers. It was interesting to try and get into the COLLECTOR’S head—just as they tried to get into the KILLER’S head by collecting/selling—to try and understand why they wanted to collect such terrifying items, and even befriend these killers.

But alas, I won’t listen to the rest of the podcast because their opinions got in the way of the story.