RBG · The Emmys · Alcatraz · Huisentruit
Plus Bill Kurtis, an Italian cycling avenger, "Coded Bias," and British imports.
the true crime that's worth your time
A lot happens on a weekend, and the Best Evidence story-budget Google doc looks like a Carrie Mathison crazy wall right now, so let’s clear it off with a bunch of quick hits! — SDB
Bad Educationwon an Emmy for Outstanding Television Movie! Also pleased to see Leah Remini picked one up for Scientology and the Aftermath…and maybe a little relieved Tiger King got shut out in the doc categories? (McMillion$ should have gotten more love, IMO.) Toni Collette didn’t win for Unbelievable, either, which is okay with me, because the nominations that project didn’t get kind of were the story there. A complete list of winners — almost uniformly from stuff I don’t watch, but Julia Garner was really great in S01 of Dirty John — is here.
The New York Times has a primer on Ruth Bader Ginsberg content online and where to watch/read it.
If you’d rather return to a simpler time unfettered by mourning, the original Cold Case Files with Bill Kurtis has landed on Netflix.
Our esteemed colleague Joe Reid boiled down all of the NXIVM/Hollywood connections in The Vow for Primetimer.
Another docu I talked about in TBP 147, Coded Bias, is set for theatrical release in November. If you watched Netflix’s The Social Dilemma, you should check this one out too. Here’s a synopsis from the film’s release-announcement email:
Coded Bias reveals the groundbreaking research of MIT researcher Joy Buolamwini, proving that facial recognition algorithms have the power to disseminate racial bias at scale. In June 2020, IBM, Amazon, and Microsoft said they would pause the sale of facial recognition to police. In a pivotal moment for racial equality, and a decisive moment for how big tech will yield power, Coded Bias is a trailblazing film for public understanding and engagement with the algorithms that impact us all.
Watch a trailer here.
Don’t ask* what wikihole spat me out at Outside Magazine’s features section, but 1) bless said wikihole, because Outside’s longreads made Jon Krakauer a household name and are consistently compelling, even for an indoorsy sort like me; and 2) how can you resist “Vigilante Justice on a Bike”?
“Enh.” Okay, but what about this:
Coronavirus hasn't stopped Italian heartthrob and two-wheeled avenger Vittorio Brumotti from righting society's wrongs. The cyclist has delighted audiences with his TV news segment "100% Brumotti," shaming people for parking in handicapped spaces and taking on no less than the Mafia.
Or the show Brumotti files reports for, which Outside’s Tom Vanderbilt describes as “The Daily Show, but with a muppet-like mascot and dancing showgirls”?
* I was looking for this, the article version of a book by Jon Billman I’m in the middle of and really enjoying; it’s not filed under “true crime,” strictly speaking, but there is crime in it and I’ll review it when I’m finished
Your paid subscriptions really help us with paywalls and book purchases, and they get you extras. Times are tight, but if you’ve got $5, we’d be honored. If you don’t, we’re still glad to see you.
Reelz has a handful of true-crime premieres coming in October, most of which look like reheated C-minus hash that gestures at centering victims (Ted Bundy: The Survivors) or focuses creepily on false closure from confrontation (Green River Killer: I Met My Sister’s Killer). I would like to check out The Battle Of Alcatraz, a special that tells the story of the 1946 uprising at, and ensuing military siege of, “The Rock.” More information on all of these properties — plus a Clint Eastwood doc and some British-royals material — is right here.
A&E’s Real Crime blog’s latest is an overview of the disappearance of Jodi Huisentruit, an Iowa news anchor who vanished 25 years ago. I’ve only got passing familiarity with the case, but clicking around this morning brought me to a podcast from the folks at FindJodi.com, a site devoted to working the case and keeping it active. Any of you readers familiar with the site; the podcast; or other longreads about the case?
HBO Max set a premiere date for import The Murders atWhite House Farm, which will hit the service on November 24. The dramatization of a 30-year-old true-crime investigation into the murder of three generations of a single family “at their isolated farm,” and the various surviving family members on whom suspicion fell. I talked early this year about having high hopes for this one, as it’s produced by the company that made The Missing.
…All of that was “— SDB,” by the way. What’s EB got for you tomorrow? I’m guessing some Baskin and some Epstein, but you just never know.
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