'Criminal' Is on The 100 Best Podcasts of All Time
Criminal is a true-crime podcast that attempts to set itself apart from a crowded field through its humanity, with a mission to never depict people as simply 'good' or 'evil,' but to dive into the more complex nuances that lie between those cartoonish poles. Born in 2014, Criminal started out of the pockets of its creators, who recorded early episodes in a closet, before growing the series' platform and landing at podcast giant Vox Media in 2021. Host Phoebe Judge provides a compassionate look at the lives of real people—both those who have committed crimes and those who have been affected by them. With almost 400 episodes to date, the episodes span from the harrowing story of a Haitian migrant sent to Guantanamo Bay in the 1990s to a TV journalist who helped more than 100 murder suspects negotiate safe surrender to the police. She investigates and slowly pulls back the layers on their lives without engaging in the sensationalization, glorification, and gore that has long been associated with the genre. Judge dives into the meta-questions of what it means to be a victim, what it means to be a perpetrator of harm, and what it means to share your story of trauma.
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