You Cant Make This Up

In the final episode of our miniseries about The Innocence Files, host Rebecca Lavoie (Crime Writers On...) speaks with Academy-award winning director, Alex Gibney (Going Clear; The Inventor). Alex’s episodes focus on how individual prosecutors can corrupt the whole justice system, examining cases from Philadelphia, Houston, and rural Michigan.

This is the second episode in the miniseries about the Innocence Files. Host Rebecca Lavoie (Crime Writers On..) speaks with returning guest Academy-Award nominated director Liz Garbus (Lost Girls). Liz's block of episodes investigates the misuse of eyewitness testimony and how a person can be swayed into pointing to an innocent bystander.

This is the first episode of a mini-series about The Innocence Files, a documentary series about wrongful convictions, made in consultation with the Innocence Project. Rebecca Lavoie (Crime Writers On...) speaks with Academy-award winning director, Roger Ross Williams (God Loves Uganda, Music By Prudence). He directed the first three episodes about bite mark evidence and exonerees Levon Brooks, Kennedy Brewer, and Keith Harward.

After nearly a decade of working for Massachusetts State Drug Testing labs, two chemists were found to have tampered with evidence connected to tens of thousands of cases against people accused of drug trafficking and possession. How To Fix a Drug Scandal, which is now streaming on Netflix, brings to light the investigation behind the corruption and cover-ups of these cases. In this episode, Rebecca Lavoie (Crime Writers on…) speaks with Director and Producer Erin Lee Carr about why she chose to tell the stories of chemist’s Sonja Farak and Annie Dookhan, discusses the lives of those affected by the chemist’s choices, and about her own journey to sobriety. There will be spoilers so watch all of the episodes on Netflix before listening here! A note to listeners, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this episode was not recorded in a studio. Please forgive the change in audio quality.

In 2013, Joe Exotic had two husbands, a dedicated staff of misfits, and over 200 tigers in his private zoo. But Joe also had a rivalry with fellow big cat owner, Carole Baskin. When their feud spun out of control, Joe found himself in a cage of his own. In this episode, host Rebecca Lavoie (Crime Writers On…) will be speaking with co-directors Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin. There will be spoilers so make sure you’ve watched all 7 episodes!  A note to listeners, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this episode was not recorded in studios. So there will be a change in audio quality. 

Kevin Flynn (Crime Writers On..) talks with director Liz Garbus about her film Lost Girls. Based on the book Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery by Robert Kolker. The film follows Mari Gilbert (Amy Ryan) as she searches for her missing daughter Shannan. Meanwhile, the police uncover four more bodies and suspect a serial killer is on the loose. There will be spoilers, so make sure you've watched the whole film before pressing play.

Host Rebecca Lavoie (Crime Writers On..) talks with director Brian Knappenberger and journalist Garrett Therolf about “The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez”. In this episode, they’ll be talking about the various trials of following Gabriel's death, the responsibilities of the social workers involved, and how a child like Gabriel became the victim of a broken system. There will be discussions of child abuse. Please listen at your own discretion.   

In 1999, Dan Schneider was a small-town pharmacist in Louisiana.  But after his son was killed in a drug-related shooting, he becomes obsessed with getting justice. In the Pharmacist, Dan investigates his son's murder, a local pill mill, and the drug crisis sweeping through his community. Host Rebecca Lavoie (Crime Writers On...) speaks with directors Jenner Furst and Julia Willoughby Nason (Time: The Kalief Browder Story and Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story)

Kevin Flynn and Rebecca Lavoie (Crime Writers On....) interview sports writer Dan Wetzel and filmmaker Geno McDermott about their docuseries, Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez. They'll be talking about Aaron's upbringing, his friendship with criminals like Alexander Bradley, and the murder of Odin Lloyd. This episode will also discuss Aaron's suicide. If you or someone you know needs the Suicide Prevention Lifeline, the number is 1-800-273-8255.   

Don’t F**k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer, follows a team of armchair detectives searching for an anonymous cat killer before he can escalate to something worse. Crime Writers On… host Rebecca Lavoie talks with director Mark Lewis about the rise of online sleuths, his choice to show segments of the animal abuse videos, and whether the audience should also be complicit in the crimes of  Luka Magnotta. 

We have hosts Kevin Flynn and Rebecca Lavoie (of the Crime Writers On...podcast) to speak directors Robert Kenner (Food Inc.) and Taki Oldham about their new series The Confession Killer. They'll be deep diving the story of Henry Lee Lucas, a man who confessed to hundreds of murders that spanned the country.

This month, we have a documentary film following Bikram Choudhury, the man who popularized yoga in America. Returning hosts Kevin Flynn and Rebecca Lavoie speak with director Eva Orner and lawyer Micki Jafa-Bodden about the rise and fall of a yoga guru who preyed on the very women who trusted him.

In Steven Soderbergh's new film, "The Laundromat" he explores the world of offshore banking and the international crises caused by the Panama Papers. Screenwriter Scott Z. Burns, and journalist Jake Bernstein sit down with Soderbergh to talk tax evasion, casting Meryl Streep and to look at how they took a real-life scandal and adapted it into a feature film. 

The original series "Unbelievable" follows two policewomen (Toni Collette and Merritt Wever) trying to capture a serial rapist, and one girl (Kaitlyn Dever) who may, or may not, be a victim. It just depends on who you believe. For this episode, we have Kate Wells and Lindsey Smith (hosts of the podcast Believed) speaking with writer/director Susannah Grant and Executive Producer Sarah Templeton about how they adapted the true story into a series, and what steps can be taken to take these crimes more seriously (See "An Epidemic of Disbelief" in The Atlantic).

From Where She Stands: The OITNB Podcast is a new show that connects the storylines from Orange Is The New Black with the stories of real women whose lives have been impacted by prison. Hosted by Piper Kerman (author of the book "Orange In The New Black: My Year In A Woman's Prison"), each episode will feature an exclusive interview with a cast member from OITNB and will dive into the real stories from women navigating the prison system in America. Subscribe now so you don't miss an episode.

Remember back in 2016 when Cambridge Analytica admited to "hacking" Facebook? In this episode, Aminatou Sow (Call Your Girlfriend) talks with the directors of The Great Hack, Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer. They get into data rights, persuadable social media and how one company used personal information as a means to a political end. 

One year ago, Netflix released all 13 episodes of The Staircase, a documentary series that follows the trials of Michael Peterson. In this month's episode, we revisit the landmark series. Aaron Lammer (host of the Longform podcast) spoke with director Jean-Xavier de Lestrade to discuss the making of The Staircase and its legacy. 

Killer Ratings follows a Brazilian TV show host accused of ordering assassinations to feature on his program. But was it all a conspiracy, or is he guilty of much worse? Rebecca Lavoie and Kevin Flynn (hosts of Crime Writers On...) speak with director Daniel Bogado about this seven-part series.

This month, we bring you a narrative feature. We're getting into Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. Aaron Lammer of the Longform podcasts sits down with the film's director Joe Berlinger. Fun fact: Joe also directed the Ted Bundy documentary, Conversations With A Killer, which we discussed in a previous episode. Aaron and Joe dive into both the doc and the film, and how both jobs came to land on Joe. 

This month, we’re covering The Two Killings of Sam Cooke. This documentary is a part of Netflix's ReMastered series, and it takes a look at the untold story of the legendary soul singer and civil rights activist, Sam Cooke.  We have the director Kelly Duane De La Vega speaking with Tracy Clayton, host of the new Netflix original podcast Strong Black Legends.