Top 7 New True Crime Podcasts Of October 2022
It has been a busy month for true crime podcasts - lots of new releases. In fact, I listened to four additional new true crime podcast series this month that just didn’t quite hit the mark and thus they didn’t make this months list! I hope you like the seven podcasts that have topped the true crime category for me this month.
1. Casefile Presents: Matty - Hosted By Loren O’Keeffe - Spotify Studios.
Finally, a podcast solely dedicated to the 2007 disappearance and death of 20 year old Matthew Leveson in Sydney Australia. This podcast is, quite simply, excellent. Matthew ‘Matty’ was a much loved son, brother and friend. When he disappeared it was so out of character that his family immediately suspected foul play. It wasn’t long before:
“… suspicion fell on Matt’s partner, 45-year-old Michael Atkins, after it was revealed that the pair were fighting on the night of Matt’s disappearance. But was that unfortunate timing, or did Atkins have something to hide?” (Source here).
We hear all about Matthew and the events leading up to his disappearance, the search to locate him and the many subsequent years that his parents battled for justice for their missing son. This heart breaking and utterly gripping story is told by Matthew’s loving parents, Mark and Faye. They are absolutely amazing throughout, so eloquent, composed and candid.
“At the heart of it all lies the question: how far would you go to bring your loved one home?” (Source here).
It is unlikely you will make it through this podcast series without shedding a tear or two (or many). I still find myself thinking about this podcast daily. All 10 episodes are available now.
2. Hoaxed - Hosted By Alexi Mostrous - Tortoise Media.
From the makers of the excellent Sweet Bobby podcast comes this new true crime podcast - Hoaxed.
Hoaxed begins in 2014 when:
“… two children told police a shocking story: that they were being abused by a Satanic cult; a cult headed by their father and by parents and teachers at their school in the wealthy London suburb of Hampstead. The story was a lie. But on the internet, that didn’t matter.” (Source here).
This podcast is an investigation into “one of Britain’s most serious-ever conspiracy theories” and the subsequent “Satanic panic” that it created. The lives of innocent people were destroyed, their names slandered and their characters discredited beyond repair.
This insightful podcast highlights the dangers of conspiracy theories, the rate at which they can gain traction and garner a mass and dangerous following. Two episodes are currently available and I am looking forward to episode three next week.
3. Witnessed: Mystic Mother - Hosted By Katie & Leah Henoch - Campside Media & Sony Music Entertainment.
This true crime podcast is a little lighter than the previous two on this months list. Witnessed: Mystic Mother raises important questions about the human right to “freedom of thought, conscience and religion” as religion and religious beliefs are at the centre of this podcast. But first, rewinding slightly, back to 2011 in Phoenix Arizona and an establishment known as the Phoenix Goddess Temple. For years prior, the temple “offered “seekers” healing through sensual touch” but in 2011 following undercover police investigations the temple was shut down due to alleged prostitution.
“What some saw as a spiritual home, the state saw as a brothel operating under the guise of religious freedom.” (Source here).
This podcast investigates both sides of the story. We hear from those who worked in the temple and those who went undercover in the temple. Lots of tape recordings from the undercover police work are included in this podcast. This podcast is very entertaining and I am enjoying hearing the different viewpoints presented. There are five episodes available now and new episodes are released weekly.
4. Death of An Artist - Hosted By Helen Molesworth - Puskin.
In the true crime podcast Death of An Artist host Helen Molesworth re-examines the 1985 death of Cuban-American artist Ana Mendieta and the subsequent trial of her sculptor husband Carl Andre for her murder.
“Was the famous sculptor Carl Andre involved in the death of his up-and-coming artist wife Ana Mendieta? For over 35 years, accusations of murder shrouded one of the art world’s most storied couples.” (Source here).
As host Helen Molesworth speaks to those who knew Carl and Ana, she gets an insider view of who they were as individuals and how their personalities, stubbornness and artistic abilities caused clashes within their tumultuous relationship:
“They were a textbook case of opposites attract. Andre was famous, rich, white, and within the small coterie of the artworld, powerful. Mendieta was a Cuban refugee, a diminutive woman, working at the edge of the Avant Garde. Just months after their wedding, Andre called 911 saying they had a fight and Mendieta “went out the window” of their 34th floor apartment.” (Source here).
This story is intriguing - nothing about it is black and white. I knew absolutely zero about this case and have found myself captivated by it and restless to know what happens next. There are three episodes of this podcast available now.
5. Good Cult - Hosted By River Donaghey - Kast Media.
Well you know how much I love a good cult story and this month the true crime podcast Good Cult is scratching that itch! In 1980 a company named Lifespring offered paid training in the form of seminars to assist participants in finding and fulfilling their own potential, with an emphasis on “personal growth”:
“Lifespring training generally involved a three-level program starting with a “basic” training, an “advanced” breakthrough course, and a three-month “leadership program” which taught the students how to implement what they learned from the training into their lives.” (Source here).
Not only were these courses expensive but of course, as there were different levels, participants were encouraged to move through the program, spending more and more money. However, the money part aside, what actually took place inside these seminars was far more problematic:
“Lifespring faced dozens of lawsuits from trainees who said that after taking a seminar, they had mental breakdowns. Some spent months in the hospital. Others attempted suicide. At least four people died.” (Source here).
As a child, the host of this podcast River Donaghey attended these seminars. His parents were avid followers of Lifespring and its founder/guru John Hanley:
“John Hanley: a convicted felon-turned-New Age guru who created a movement that is still changing lives—and ruining them—to this day.” (Source here).
River gives us an insider view of Lifespring and even gets his parents involved when they tell us about their own personal experiences. The most gripping part of this podcast for me so far has been hearing from some of the family members of people who died during or after attending Lifespring seminars and the events that followed these terrible tragedies. This is a six part series and four episodes are available now.
6. Heaven Bent: Death in Emmanuel (Season 3)- Hosted By Tara Jean Stevens - Frequency Podcast Network.
Season 3 of the true crime podcast Heaven Bent: Death in Emmanuel sees host Tara Jean Stevens head to Nashville, Tennessee where she explores the “Pentecostal spirit of revival” which took place there in the 1980s and investigates how a “once thriving church” was burnt to the ground and how a “mutilated body” came to be inside its burnt out shell:
It’s the morning of June 16th, 1987, in Nashville, Tennessee. Shortly after midnight, firefighters are called to a blaze at Emmanuel Church of Christ. What they find in the ashes would change this small Pentecostal congregation forever.” (Source here).
Having listened to the three episodes of this podcast that are available so far, I have no idea where this story is going! It is so intriguing and has me hooked.
7. Internal Affairs - Hosted By Josh Mankiewicz - NBC News.
I am a big fan of Dateline’s limited series true crime podcasts and was delighted to find a brand new one released last week. Once again, Josh Mankiewicz fulfils the role of host of this latest Dateline offering, Internal Affairs.
This is a story about:
“… bad choices, a fatal attraction and people who proudly wore badges at work – while living lies at home.” (Source here).
It begins with a cop having an extramarital affair (or multiple affairs). The cop soon finds himself caught in a web of lies so thick he can’t see a way out. His shameful secrets and actions would probably have remained just that if his wife was not then murdered:
“… a wife and mother is murdered in Greeley, Colorado, responding investigators suspect the costumed killer is someone they know.” (Source here).
The investigation into his wife’s murder opens a Pandora’s box of lies, deception and secrets and not only within his own marriage! It also reveals how prevalent illicit affairs were inside the police department that the cop worked in. The investigation:
“… untangles a twisted tale of deadly obsession” (Source here).
We hear from the cop at the centre of the investigation as well as his mistress, hearing their versions of events. There are three episodes available so far and I am already looking forward to episode four of this dramatic story.
If you enjoy this podcast I recommend that you check out some of Datelines other limited true crime podcast series:
That is it for this month - be sure to let me know if you have any true crime podcast recommendations for me!
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