The Allure of True Crime

Podcasts, downloadable audio content intended to entertain, educate or both, continue to grow in popularity. True Crime podcasts, especially, and women are a huge part of the genre’s success, both from a consumer standpoint and as providers and producers of content. “Wine and Crime” is just one example, with its trio of female hosts, it boasts an audience that is 85 percent women.

I go back and forth between listening to true crime shows and news and politics, generally preferring ones with a humorous take. But when one genre has depressed me enough, I’ll switch to the other, for a fresh serving of shock over how people can treat each other.

I saw a headline recently about women fueling the popularity of true crime podcasts and the accompanying article attempted to articulate why women are so drawn to this topic. Without reading the article, my first thought was that the answer to that was obvious. There’s a desire to see a villain or a monster caught and held accountable for their actions and the horror they cause. True crime podcasts are a way to face deep, dark fears, from a safe distance, often knowing there will be a satisfying outcome to the story. Much like the appeal of horror movies and their continued success, true crime podcasts tell a story and create a narrative in which good vanquishes bad. They are the adult version of children’s books in which the dragon is slain.

That feeling of terror, facing it and walking away safely is what draws an audience. That feeling is why Stephen King continues to be one of the best-selling authors in modern times.

But unlike horror movies and fictional narratives, true crime podcasts show nuance. They take the listener on a journey showing no one is purely good or purely evil. Hindsight in looking at solved or famous cases may disavow us of this thought, but there is a reason many criminals continue to get away with their crimes. Criminals who avoided capture or eluded law enforcement showed enough good to fool people who were often close to them. And hearing these stories allows listeners who may have been victimized or feared being victimized that they were and are not alone. True crime shows that others have gone through what they have been through. and that truly monstrous people often blend in and hide their true selves.

Podcasts tell stories, true stories, that allow listeners to sympathize or empathize with people they’ve never met. The stories are told and believed. Perhaps for listeners there is a comfort in that alone.