If you Google \u201cpodcast categories,\u201d you\u2019ll invariably be provided a link that, when clicked, reveals a list. It will almost certainly be one that is based upon the segmentation provided by Apple Podcasts. Odds are, you\u2019ll find a list of about 20 categories, almost all of which will contain at least a few subcategories.<\/span><\/p>\n

But not True Crime. It is one of the few to stand alone with nary a breakout list, lumping all shows into one big bucket.<\/span><\/p>\n

Emma Courtland, host of the recently launched podcast <\/span>Crime Show<\/span><\/i>, might disagree with this lack of subcategories. And rightfully so. Not all true-crime podcasts are the same.<\/span><\/p>\n

You have your investigative-reporting, hard-hitting ones.<\/span><\/p>\n

You have your friendly banter\/conversational type, where a few people get together to talk about crime, sometimes in an entertaining way (other times, not so much).<\/span><\/p>\n

You also have those that may be more comedy than true crime, as hosts actively make fun of the mindless stupidity of some criminals.<\/span><\/h3>\n

Yet, even if there were subcategories of True Crime, Emma\u2019s show would possibly land in one all its own\u2014maybe \u201cExperiential.\u201d Or \u201cEmpathetic.\u201d It\u2019s hard to say, because despite the show\u2019s title insinuating that it is like many others, it is (at minimum) a little different from what us true-crime fans have become accustomed to in this space. And that little nuance makes a big difference in the listening experience.<\/span><\/p>\n

Emma does an admirable job of explaining that difference by drawing from her college days. <\/span>\u201cAs an undergraduate, I studied literature,\u201d<\/span><\/i> she shared. <\/span>\u201cI got really into Dostoevsky and read a lot of his work. I learned of this Russian term<\/span><\/i> [one we here at <\/span>Podcast Magazine<\/span><\/i>\u00ae are not even going to attempt to spell or pronounce]. <\/span>It means \u2018co-suffering.\u2019 We don\u2019t have a word for this idea in English. The closest is \u2018empathy,\u2019 but it actually means <\/span><\/i>truly feeling along with somebody<\/i><\/b>.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Emma went on to explain how <\/span>Crime Show<\/span><\/i> portends to break down the barrier between the listener and the story. This isn\u2019t to suggest the listener becomes part of the story, but instead that s\/he is actually <\/span>experiencing<\/span><\/i> the story. While it is a tough concept and feeling to explain, most will quickly get it once they dig into a few episodes.<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>Crime Show<\/span><\/i> podcast experience begins with Emma\u2019s unique approach. <\/span>\u201cI trained as an oral historian,\u201d<\/span><\/i> she explained. <\/span>\u201cI think that is one of the things people notice when listening to<\/span><\/i> Crime Show. <\/span>We\u2019re podcasters by virtue of the format, but we could be telling these stories potentially in any other format.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cWe let the content drive the format,\u201d<\/span><\/i> Emma continued. <\/span>\u201cPodcasting has been wonderful for us, but I think of us as journalists, as oral historians, and as creative non-fiction storytellers who work in podcasting.\u201d <\/span><\/i>While it may seem like semantics to some, this <\/span>is<\/span><\/i> the difference that makes <\/span>Crime Show<\/span><\/i> special\u2014and it no doubt contributed to the show becoming a standout in the True Crime Category in a very short amount of time.<\/span><\/p>\n

With Emma\u2019s format, she acts as the support\u2014instead of the focal point\u2014of each episode. <\/span>\u201cI am more interested in what the story means to the people who lived it,\u201d <\/span><\/i>she confessed. <\/span>\u201cThat\u2019s primarily what we are after. When I am in the story, I am mostly functioning as a translator, while adding context to the larger experience of a crime. So I\u2019m filling in where I can, but trying as much as possible to have a soft touch when I do\u2026 to build a sense of setting and atmosphere\u2026 of feeling.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Crime Show<\/span><\/i> episodes take the listener on a journey that many may not expect in another way, too: the stories they tell aren\u2019t your typical cases.\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

While most true-crime aficionados may be used to hearing the 12<\/span>th<\/span> alternative angle to the Golden State Killer case, <\/span>Crime Show<\/span><\/i> focuses on lesser-known but highly intriguing stories. You won\u2019t hear 57 retellings of a young White girl getting bludgeoned to death with a strange object and a focus on the hunt to find the killers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But you will hear stories like \u201cScums.xls,\u201d about a man who is threatened by a telephone scammer and then spends years tracking down the person responsible. And in \u201cDon\u2019t Click This Link,\u201d you\u2019ll learn about a junior-college student who tricks people into downloading a program to their iPhones that automatically dials 9-1-1.<\/span><\/p>\n

A lot of time is spent among the <\/span>Crime Show<\/span><\/i> production team to cover stories that listeners may not hear anywhere else. <\/span>\u201cWe have a pitch meeting once every two weeks,\u201d<\/span><\/i> Emma explained. <\/span>\u201cWe put in two hours. The whole team comes with stories, and we pitch each other\u2019s stories. We just know it when we hear it. We literally find stories all over the place.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Emma shared an example of how unusual sources eventually give birth to new episodes. <\/span>\u201c\u2018A Man With No Name\u2019<\/span><\/i> is a story I found in an old psychology journal.<\/span><\/i> I searched the word \u2018crime,\u2019 and it was article number four that came up.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cA Man With No Name\u201d is a prime example of the different brand of true-crime podcast that is <\/span>Crime Show<\/span><\/i>. The perpetrator in this story, Stephen Brinker, may also be a victim himself, given his claim of amnesia. He legitimately seems to not remember the crime for which he is still serving time.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think about this story a lot, actually. In Western society, we are taught to think of things as binary. Is this a good guy or a bad guy?\u201d<\/span><\/i> Referring to Stephen Brinker, Emma continued: <\/span>\u201cHe couldn\u2019t be the victim if he is the perpetrator, right? And if he is the perpetrator, how can we show him humanity? That\u2019s what our show wants to explore\u2014all dimensions of humanity.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just about finding lesser-known cases, though. There is a formula or, as Emma put it, <\/span>\u201ca secret sauce.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/h3>\n

\u201cEach <\/span><\/i>Crime Show<\/span> episode has two turns,\u201d <\/span><\/i>Emma revealed. <\/span>\u201cThere\u2019s the thing that happens, and then the thing that happens that makes the story stick with you. The second turn is so critical. We are a character-and-context show.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

To further the depth of detailing the uniqueness of <\/span>Crime Show<\/span><\/i>, Emma also made an unusual admission<\/span>. \u201cMy biggest influences are <\/span><\/i>X-Files<\/span> and <\/span><\/i>The Simpsons<\/span>,\u201d <\/span><\/i>she laughed. While the <\/span>X-Files<\/span><\/i> reference may not be too farfetched for the genre, she expounded on her love of <\/span>The Simpsons<\/span><\/i> and how it ties into their podcast production:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018The MySpace Misdemeanor\u2019<\/span><\/i> episode is a total example of a<\/span><\/i> Simpson\u2019s <\/span>structure. You start with a story about a crime that is not the crime you are going to be covering, and then it transitions into a completely different story.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Non-traditional influences and a different approach make <\/span>Crime Show<\/span><\/i> a rare find in the category. And a good portion of that uniqueness comes from the host. Emma is a multifaceted individual, and <\/span>Crime Show<\/span><\/i> is complex. Maybe there\u2019s a special Russian phrase to describe it\u2026 but for now, we\u2019ll just call it \u201cdistinctive\u201d and \u201centertaining.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

November 2021 Issue<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you Google \u201cpodcast categories,\u201d you\u2019ll invariably be provided a link that, when clicked, reveals a list. It will almost certainly be one that is based upon the segmentation provided by Apple Podcasts. Odds are, you\u2019ll find a list of about 20 categories, almost all of which will contain at least a few subcategories. But not True Crime. It is one of the few to stand alone with nary a breakout list, lumping all shows into one big bucket. Emma Courtland, host of the recently launched podcast Crime Show, might disagree with this lack of subcategories. And rightfully so. Not<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":11540,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[606,2153,2152,2151,2154,2155,528],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n