Month: March 2018

Redhanded.

Hey guys! Ren with another podcast to review. I must say so far I’ve been really lucky with the podcasts I have been assigned to review. True crime and people who love it too is a lucky break for me. I do know I will be doing some that aren’t and I can’t wait to learn some new stuff about things I don’t know about.

Redhanded is a relatively new podcast and is hosted by a couple of ladies from across the pond from me. First, I love their accents and tend to just get lost in the lovely accents. Can my fellow Americans agree that sometimes just hearing things in a British accent makes them sound better or not as bad? These ladies, like yours truly, will let a cuss word fly when appropriate. Let’s be real talking about murderers means it’s always appropriate.

Suruthi and Hannah are smart women who make you want to listen to their take on stories you may have already heard of. I like that they have quite a few I don’t know and many of the British ones I’ve never heard of. One of my favorites is “The White House Massacre”. This one was new to me and completely had me engrossed. I love that it is well researched and the crimes and victims are always treated with respect with a bit of comedy when they can.

One of my favorite things is that the ladies do not just take everything at face value. Both have called BS on certain details. What I love even more is that they question things and often comment on how they need to know more. This by no means is to be taken as they don’t thoroughly research their topic, because they do. Sometimes there are just questions that are unanswered or were never asked. As a naturally curious person, it is nice to hear others ask questions that I wonder about myself.

I always pick a couple of episodes to listen to and get an idea about the podcast. I pick one that interests me and one that doesn’t (then at least three or four more). I picked for the interest for me Episode 10 The Oklahoma Girl Scouts Murder. I will say I picked this one because I was a Girl Scout and I went camping. My dream was to be counselor at a camp eventually (that dream never came true).

Three young girls are sexually molested and murdered. This had me on edge from the beginning. The ladies make even grisly murder not horrible as it can be. Their discussion of “Soccer” was hilarious and helped to break up the knot in my stomach. Kids and crimes is hard for me and this really helped me. The girls don’t overdramatize things and I appreciate this.

My favorite line ever: “It’s insane to me that someone could be a local celebrity because they are good a PE.” This line is reference to a convicted rapist that an entire town hides because…he was good a PE because here in America that makes you a hero. Their laughter with this and how they look at it endeared them to me forever.

Give them a listen! You won’t regret it.

True crime guys

True crime guys, Michael and Lorne, offer a range of crimes to choose from. They cover heavy hitters like Bonnie and Clyde and lesser known stories like the death of Colleen Ritzer. They lay out the story in a logical manner, telling the tale of the death in chronological order, adding in details about the killer as they go. It’s obvious these two have done their research.

The boys go into a lot of detail and don’t shy away from the gory stuff but they don’t use it in an exploitative way, they just relate the facts of the case as it is. They are very easy to listen to and their voices are quite soothing. I’ve fallen asleep to them before. Not because they’re boring obviously but because their voices are so nice to listen to.

They add in extra stuff about themselves when it’s relevant, such as memories that the crime calls up but these asides are always relatable and they quickly get back to the story without getting too distracted.

Standout episode – The tragic death of Colleen Ritzer. This episode focuses on the story of school teacher Colleen Ritzer who was killed violently on school grounds. The boys take a deep dive into the background of not only the victim but the killer as well. The killer has obvious mental issues, probably relating back to his childhood. The hosts go through all the things in the killers childhood which could have affected him to the point where he raped and murdered a teacher. They don’t make excuses for the teenage killer but they do go into the possible reasons why he did what he did. The boys talk about a lot more in the episode but I don’t want to ruin the episode for you because it’s well worth a listen.

You’ll want to binge listen to this podcast and they have a good amount of episodes which means more hours of binging! They don’t get boring, they keep what they talk about fresh by talking about different kinds of killings and adding in the more famous cases with the lesser known cases. They also cover recent cases as well as past cases which keeps things interesting.

Overall I give True Crime Guys 5/5 stars! Keep it up guys, your work is greatly appreciated.

Extraordinary Stories Poscast

I have to admit I’ve been a loyal fan of ESP since almost the beginning. I’ve enjoyed the host, Baz’s successes over the past year and loved every second of it. Baz is all about telling an interesting story. Not all his episodes deal with true crime but they are all about extraordinary people. Or people doing extraordinary things. He concentrates on the story and is a natural born storyteller. You’ll be transfixed once he starts talking. His voice is also quite soothing so it’s good to listen to to unwind, even if the subject matter is not relaxing, his voice lulls you.

Here you’ll find stories about people you’ve never heard of before. Although the older episodes deal with some familiar names, Baz looks out for stories which have not been told before on other podcasts and you know you’re going to get something original when a new episode drops. He goes the extra mile to find new and interesting stories and people to talk about.

Baz has also started dropping mini episodes mid week which is fantastic for fans like me who can’t get enough. These mini stories are just tiny snatches of amazing stories. The latest one, Attic, was about a person who decided to live in someone’s attic without the home owners knowing with a tragic end.

Stand out episode – this is so difficult because I’ve loved all of the episodes. But to choose one to introduce people to the podcast I would choose Episode 26: Twists, Turns and Truths. This is a story about an abusive husband who would throw hammers at his wife and also hurt his children. The wife reached out to family members so people knew what was going on and she finally files for divorce and the husband leaves. His children do not want to talk to their father at all. The father on the other hand says he has never been abusive. And the judge agrees with him. He says there’s no evidence of abuse. There are no physical marks or scars etc. Baz goes into the idea of evidence of abuse and how one would document that. The judge argues that the wife is lying and turning the children against the husband. Now the husband has been convicted for road rage, a bar fight and stalking. So he’s shown to be an angry man. However the judge rules against her, tells her to leave the house and leave the children with her abusive husband. And then things start getting even trickier. I won’t ruin the episode for you. This was just the first 10 minutes of the podcast. It’s well worth a listen.

Baz has a way with words and knows how to tell a story for maximum drama and interest. He’s a lovely guy who just wants to tell stories. This podcast should definitely be on your subscribed list. 5/5 brilliant shining stars!

Out of the Shadows Podcast

This true crime podcast is hosted by a private investigator, Shane, which means he has access to information that most podcasters don’t. He delves deeply into cases to get to the answers behind the crime. The host has a soothing voice and is very easy to listen to. He’s also a very intelligent investigator, asking questions I wouldn’t even think of to ask. Which is why he’s a private investigator and I just review the pods!

The podcast changed its name from American Crimecast to Out of the Shadows. The podcast focuses on cold cases and bringing them “out of the shadows” and giving them the attention they deserve. The host deals with a range of different cases, from disappearances to murders to whether or not Jim
Morrison faked his own death. Steven goes through the case in a logical way making it easy to follow who everyone is and what’s going on. He has a lot of guests, which is interesting and brings a different perspective to the podcast.
He uses a lot of primary sources such as interviews with people involved in the case and a lot of audio clips and phone interviews. Sometimes the audio on the interviews is a bit choppy but not much can be done about that if the connection is bad. It’s all still understandable so I don’t see that as a big deal.

Standout episodes – The Mysterious Death of Cindy James Part 1-3. This is a very interesting case where a woman was found bound, with a stocking around her neck and a lot of drugs in her system. She said she had been stalked for years and there were a lot of scary incidents before her death. But the police believe it was a suicide, and that she hadn’t been stalked at all but was doing it all herself. A medical examiner is asked for her opinion in the Part 1 and she argues for the suicide aspect. In Part 2 Steven talks to a psychic detective and gets her take on the crime. She argues that Cindy was murdered after being terrorised by someone. In Part 3 we get Steven’s take on this case. I’ll leave you to listen to what his arguments are. All in all this is a very intriguing and different case.

Overall this is an excellent podcast, well written, well produced and very engaging. The cases are unusual, not the ones that podcasters usually focus on. This makes it even more interesting to listen to. I can’t recommend this podcast enough, definitely 5/5 stars!

– Zimbellina

 

Can one be back on her bullshit if she was never off her bullshit? Yikes.

If this looks familiar, it’s because I’ve already written a post about CTA, but I did you guys a favor. Instead of putting all of my emotions plus the actual review in one post (which would have been at least 17,000 words long), I split it into two. So, hello, here we are.

Conspiring To Argue is comprised of two guys in Iowa who like to…argue. Yeah, that’s basically the jist of it. They take conspiracy theories, and argue them. But I have a bag of pretzels, too much energy, and a long night ahead of me anyway, so let’s talk about why it works.

JJ and Ted (formerly known as but also still referred to as Nic) have an interesting premise for this show in the sense that it is an actual argument – they aren’t just speculating theories. They are taking a stance and bringing forth facts to back up what they believe. They each have a certain presence of conviction that they bring to the show.

So, here’s a breakdown of the show.

Most episodes begin with a few minutes of these two talking about whatever is going on in their lives, which I must admit is my favorite part. These two are just so funny in their interactions, it honestly feels like you’re there laughing along with some old friends. That’s part of the allure to this show for me.

They move into alternative titles for the episode, which are (usually) always funny and clever. Then, they’ll start breaking down the content.

JJ, despite being a horrible speller & barely being able to navigate speaking, is immaculate in his research. He breaks it down into a chronological timeline that not only makes sense, but is accurate and easy to follow. I’d love to give Nic some credit for this as well, but he’s pretty notorious for doing anything but researching.  Bless him. So JJ breaks down the backstory and then, assuming it isn’t a multi-part episode, they ring the bell. UFC/WCW Michael Buffer style, my guys.

Lately, Nic has been doing a beer review around this time. But because I’ve pretended this long that I hate it, I’m going to ignore it. Occasionally they throw in “best of the rest” which is, essentially, just them briefly discussing theories that neither of them buy in to. It doesn’t always fall right before the argument. It’s one of those segments that they kinda just throw in whenever they remember to do it. It’s also a really good time.

JJ and Nic have a very Fox Mulder-Dana Scully relationship on the show. JJ usually takes the stance of what’s been accepted as the truth, where Nic typically stands for the conspiracy. These two guys have such an interesting dynamic, and they have such good chemistry together as hosts, so it’s always so much fun to listen to them argue their sides. It can get super intense sometimes too, which makes it even more fun. They keep your attention by presenting the information in a way that makes both sides sound equally plausible and appealing.

They wrap up the show with shout-outs to podcasts that they’re listening to, appreciation for their listeners, and anything else they feel is important. This is another favorite for me, because I love discovering new pods to listen to and they both listen to stuff that I also really enjoy.

Their social media presence is strong. Well, JJ’s is anyway. Nic is a bit more elusive sometimes. You can follow the podcast on Twitter, find them on Facebook, and contribute to their show by checking out their Patreon. They’re available on pretty much every podcasting platform I could find.

They have 30 reviews on iTunes, giving them a perfect five star rating. It’s well earned, honestly. They’re really great guys with a really good show. It’s definitely a good show for people who are fans of Thinking Sideways and Last Podcast On The Left. Go check ’em out!