Linda Fairstein · WM3 · The Situation · Murder House Flip
It's the roundup of all roundups: tons of stuff to listen to, read, and anticipate
the true crime that's worth your time
That joke Sarah made yesterday was truer than she knew. “Thursday on Best Evidence: Eve’s one-star review of sheltering in place!” she wrote in Wednesday’s issue. I’d give sheltering in place no stars were it allowed, I rip off Yelp review writers to say. Not just that, but I’ve been on shift at my day job for a full seven days and, boy, are my arms tired.
All that to say that I’m less interested in telling you what I think about things today than I am in sharing with you some of the stuff I’ve found most interesting, inspiring, goofy, and distracting to consume in the narrow windows of time I’ve had in between work and bed. So that’s what I’m going to do, in what I hope is a somewhat coherent form. — EB
OMG there’s finally a trailer for Murder House Flip, which is exactly what it sounds like. It drops April 6 (yay) on Quibi (groan). [“This was a clue on Extra Hot Great’s Game Time yesterday, yay! I did not receive it, groan.” - SDB]
Here’s a roundup of true crime faves from staffers at the New York Times. That made me think about Times plagiarist Jayson Blair, and this great Baltimore Sun piece on his brief reemergence into the spotlight.
Did Season 2 of Mindhunter spur this HBO docuseries on the Atlanta Child Murders? Tell me what you think in the comments, and brace for the five-parter later this year. Here’s the official site.
Anyone else watching Jersey Shore: Family Therapy? …Yes, I know that’s not the name; no, I’m not too good to watch it either. Anyway, I know I JUST slagged the Post yesterday and I’ll do it again tomorrow, but today I’d like you to read this Page Six bit where Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino and Michael Cohen traded chicken in federal prison. If any other Jersey Shore viewers can get to this funfetti-cake joke, let’s hear it. — SDB
Prosecutors want more DNA tests from the alleged Golden State Killer. Why? I don’t know. But I’ll bet you have some theories! The AP’s got the scoop.
A documentary on the disappearance of Yingying Zhang was supposed to premiere at SXSW, but this fucking virus screwed that up too. The Daily Beast reports that Finding Yingying, a feature about the Chinese student who disappeared after she came to the U.S., has had all its screenings canceled as gatherings are canceled to avoid the spread of COVID-19. Keep an eye out to stream it, as that seems like the only way we’ll see anything for a while. (Showtime has also delayed Outcry, which was set for an early-April release; SDB already got screeners and everything.)
Oxygen’s The Forgotten West Memphis Three is a two-night special that attempts to solve the 1993 murders that are arguably best known for wrongful convictions in the crime. The show’s host is Bob Ruff of the Truth and Justice podcast. The show airs on March 28 and 29.
80-year-old Leonard “Bot” Buteaux lived a life of crime then self-published a book about his exploits. He used Barnes and Noble’s platform to get his story into the world, and now The Daily Iberian is calling it a “page turner.”
Australia is in the midst of a trial so big that even the new coronavirus won’t stop it. I went down a hole the other night reading about the Claremont serial killings trial, which is presently underway in Perth. Here’s The West Australian’s archive on the trial, and, yes, I bought a subscription to catch up on the Bradley Robert Edwards case. So now I subscribe to a foreign newspaper, which makes me the cosmopolitan person I’d long given up on becoming. If you don’t want to go to those lengths, there’s also a podcast on the case and trial that’s already in its second season.
Have any of you guys tried this BuzzFeed Unsolved show? I’m a big fan of the site’s reporting, but every time I go to the series’ YouTube page I crap out. Its new season premiered last Friday, which I think of fondly as a time when I was still legally allowed to leave the house.
Not now, Linda Fairstein. The Central Park Five prosecutor picked a hell of a week to sue Netflix and When They See Us director Ava DuVernay for how she was portrayed in the series. Fairstein was played by real-life jailbird Felicity Huffman in the show, which couldn’t have worked out better if everyone had planned it. Netflix tells Deadline that the suit has no merit.
We can’t wait to hear what you guys think of Tiger King. I wrote it up for Primetimer (no, that wasn’t my headline; oh well). It’s fascinating but frustrating, and may not have taken the best approach to the material…but boy is this material nutty, and I’m kind of hoping there are more seasons, because there’s just.so.much. “Hey, what if I’m not keen to see big cats abused?” Good news: you won’t! Seeing them in cages isn’t anyone’s favorite, but this isn’t that Humane Society ad, so you’re probably safe to proceed. — SDB
Best Evidence is free all week, which is good because after this will money even be a thing anymore? OK, I’m kind of (?) kidding, and to prove that I don’t believe that the world is over, here’s me asking you to subscribe so we can cover the Theranos trial this summer live and in the courtroom. If we get 2000 paid subs, I’m there, and 3000 gets Sarah in there with me.
Friday on Best Evidence: Sarah and I are cooking up a great day of community-driven conversation. It’s going to be a blast!
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