Best Evidence
Subscribe
RSS
Archive
The Docket 06.20.24 There Is No Ethan
June 20, 2024
[listen here] At long last, we’re discussing Anna Akbari’s There Is No Ethan: How Three Women Caught America’s Biggest Catfish, which is Akbari’s account of...
Does Cult Massacre: One Day In Jonestown have anything else to say?
$ · June 18, 2024
The crimeIf you've clicked on this review to find out whether to bother with Cult Massacre: One Day In Jonestown, I can't imagine you don't know the basics...
Two filmic takes on the Lonely Hearts Killers
$ · June 17, 2024
[read both reviews right here with a paid sub, or click through to see SDB’s coverage] There's something off-putting to me about the so-called Lonely Hearts...
Tell Them You Love Me tells a complicated and painful story with grace
$ · June 15, 2024
Daisy, Derrick, and John Johnson in a stall from "Tell Them You Love Me." Credit: Netflix Best Evidence members get our full review of Tell Them You Love Me...
The Docket 06.13.24: Linklater Hollandsworth LLC
June 13, 2024
Glen Powell in Hit Man and Jack Black in Bernie. Richard Linklater adapted another Skip Hollandsworth joint almost 15 years ago, which became Bernie; now he...
6 true-crime longreads: Matthew Perry, Mindhunter, muddled crime stats
$ · June 11, 2024
It's wedding and commencement season, and you know what that means! …Well, yes, bright futures, love is in the air, all that good stuff, but it also means a...
Where Texas Monthly's Hit Man ends, Richard Linklater's Hit Man begins
$ · June 10, 2024
The crimeMurder for hire. Almost. [read the whole email right now with a paid sub…or click through for SDB’s full review] The storyIt feels like we started...
How To Rob A Bank IS an instruction manual – but not for heists
$ · June 6, 2024
The crimeA string of almost 20 Seattle bank robberies, committed by a charismatic UNSUB whom law enforcement nicknamed "Hollywood." [don’t forget, a paid sub...
Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult might be the busiest true crime title ever
$ · June 5, 2024
Melanie Wilking, from true crime series "Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult" Credit: Netflix Remember, paid subscribers get every Best Evidence...
Happily Never After: Dan & Nancy and audio "comfort food"
$ · June 3, 2024
The crimeOn the morning of June 2, 2018, students arrived at the Oregon Culinary Institute to find their instructor, Chef Dan Brophy, dead of two gunshot...
I was wrong about The Life & Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson
$ · June 2, 2024
[read the full review here — or up your subscription and get full-lengthers in your inbox, no extra clicks] The crimeThe June 12, 1994 murder of Nicole Brown...
May 2024 Bonus Book Line-Up: Didion, Dunne, Watergate, Anarchy
$ · May 31, 2024
It's time for a book Line-Up! In case you're not familiar, throwing a bunch of properties in a Line-Up just means that we read the first 10 pages, or watch...
The Docket 05.30.24: Fraudolescents
$ · May 30, 2024
James Hogue, aka Jay Huntsman, aka etc etc. (NY Daily News) Today, we're talking about identity-con artists whose focus is high school and college -- the...
You've watched Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter. What's next?
$ · May 29, 2024
[CW: sexual assault, suicidal ideation, and substance misuse] I've only watched the first half of Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter, which premiered Monday...
MoviePass, MovieCrash is a true crime doc for the CNBC set
$ · May 28, 2024
A still from MoviePass, MovieCrash. Credit: HBO Watching MoviePass, MovieCrash, you suddenly get a clearer idea of why stories of startup shenanigans are...
The Beauty Queen Killer's surprising take on trauma and forgiveness
$ · May 24, 2024
[CW for sexual assault, harm to children] The crime In the spring of 1984, Christopher Wilder – known as both "the Beauty Queen Killer" and "the Snapshot...
The Docket 05.23.24: “Objectivity” in true crime
May 23, 2024
Is “objectivity” necessary in true crime? Do we need a different word for it? We’re talking about the value of intellectual honesty to reporting generally,...
Money, Murder, and Dominick Dunne: not mad, just disappointed
$ · May 21, 2024
The crime(s)The 1982 murder of Dunne's daughter, Dominique, which led directly to Dunne's longtime tenure at Vanity Fair – but also all the cases and trials...
The Jinx Part Two reaches its conclusion. Did you stick with it?
$ · May 20, 2024
Will you accept a collect call from “Baaaahb”? Credit: HBO Paid supporters receive all Best Evidence content directly in their inboxes. Everyone else is...
The Docket 05.16.24: Inspector Oldfield vs. the Black Hand
$ · May 16, 2024
Seems like your threatening symbol shouldn’t remind SDB of a kindergarten hand turkey? (Oldfield Collection) My esteemed colleague/MASTAS co-host Mark...
The wild times and beastly behavior of Bronx Zoo '90
$ · May 15, 2024
[read the full Bronx Zoo ‘90 review here, or upgrade to get all content ad-free in your inbox!] The crimes[inhales deeply] Harassment; extortion; possession...
The Berman Murders is a well-researched look at journalistic obsession
$ · May 14, 2024
Best Evidence supporters get the full article in their inbox, all others may click through to read. There's always that guy who brings Kahlúa to the party....
Spacey Unmasked: "The issue of Kevin was certainly well known"
$ · May 13, 2024
The crimeSexual misconduct and assaults allegedly committed by actor Kevin Spacey against numerous non-consenting colleagues, employees, and classmates. The...
The Docket 05.09.24: True Crime Story: It Couldn’t Happen Here
May 9, 2024
Hilarie Burton Morgan, host of True Crime Story: It Couldn't Happen Here, makes a relatable face in the second season. (Sundance) Is AMC+’s popular true-...
Bewitched, Borden, and black widow: The Elizabeth Montgomery BET-CRP
$ · May 8, 2024
Welcome back to another edition of the BET-CRP – the Best Evidence True-Crime Résumé Percentage! We haven't done one in a minute, plus I finally got my act...
True crime scores big at the 2024 Pulitzer Awards
$ · May 7, 2024
"Awards are pretty much all bullshit," Kirsten Dunst famously said. She's not wrong, and yet we all want to know who else has one. For people in journalism,...
Docket announcement: Book Club!
May 6, 2024
Hey all, SDB here. Our esteemed colleague Mark Blankenship and I will be chatting about Inspector Oldfield and the Black Hand Society: America's Original...
Behind Ctrl Alt Desire’s glib title is a thoughtful docuseries
$ · May 6, 2024
The crime Grant Amato killed his parents, Chad and Margaret, and older brother Cody. The story (warning: some structural spoilers ahead)I watched...
The Basketball Fix shoots an airball
$ · May 3, 2024
The crimeThe CCNY point-shaving scandal. The story I don't recall how 1951's extremely, um, 1951 The Basketball Fix wound up on my watchlist, but the NBA...
The Docket 05.02.24: Lives Of Crime
$ · May 2, 2024
Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, who died at 45, is one of the “famous/criminal” obit exemplars we’re discussing. When a major-case figure dies, what should that...
Depardieu detention, Antarctica a-holes, and Weinstein revelations
$ · May 1, 2024
Gerard Depardieu in "Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra" Best Evidence supporters get the full article in their inbox, but everyone can read for free at...
April 2024 Bonus Review: You're Wrong About's O.J. Simpson series
$ · April 30, 2024
The crimeThe June 12, 1994 murders of Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman. The storyI'm not a regular You're Wrong About listener, but I dip in occasionally on...
Who'll take the true crime crown at the 2024 Edgar Awards?
April 30, 2024
Over the past few weeks we’ve taken a look at the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award 2024 nominees for Best Fact Crime. Now it’s time for...
Rabbit Heart is a sharp look at crime-related trauma
$ · April 29, 2024
A detail from the cover of Rabbit Heart Best Evidence supporters can read the full article via newsletter, while folks with a free subscription can click...
Baby Reindeer vs. the algorithm
$ · April 27, 2024
[CW: depictions of sexual assault] The crimeStalking; rape. The storyBaby Reindeer apparently hit Netflix a couple weeks ago, and the Netflix algorithm did...
Best Evidence sub intel! Please read!
April 27, 2024
Hello, Best Evidence newsletter subscribers! Thanks so much for being here. We know the move and changes to editorial-dashboard stuff has been a bit of a...
Maybe Baby Reindeer isn’t true crime, but it’s true as hell
$ · April 26, 2024
[CW: depictions of sexual assault] The crimeStalking; rape. The storyBaby Reindeer apparently hit Netflix a couple weeks ago, and the Netflix algorithm did...
From the archives: Derf Backderf’s Kent State
April 25, 2024
Part of a page from Derf Backderf's Kent State. Many of Backderf's renditions of the May 1970 set-to may look eerily familiar. (Backderf/kent.edu) …I can’t...
Number Go Up is a compelling look at crypto's rise and fall
April 24, 2024
A detail from the cover of Number Go Up lampoons its dubious poster child. In 2021, cryptocurrency mania swept the world, heralded as the future of finance....
Three Catfish spinoffs I wish I could watch instead of Catfish
April 23, 2024
Original Catfish hosts Max Joseph and Nev Schulman (Photo by MTV) “Catfish is back for its zillionth season,” I slacked to Sarah. “We should talk about it on...
The Docket 04.22.24: The Jinx Part 2
April 22, 2024
A creepy latex mask stars in an "imagining" of Robert Durst's planned escape to Cuba in the credits of The Jinx's second season. (HBO) Early edition this...
From the archives: The Jinx’s 2015 finale
April 20, 2024
Robert Durst, R, tussles with his lawyer during a trial re-enactment shown in the 2015 episodes of The Jinx. What did SDB think of that "season"'s finale at...
The Docket 04.18.24: Let us now praise (not) famous (enough) true crime
April 18, 2024
Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu in Hustlers. Why doesn't the movie get more love? (Annapurna Pictures) The companion episode to last week’s, in which we...
Under The Bridge was worth waiting for
April 17, 2024
Under The Bridge finally brings Rebecca Godfrey's 2005 book to the small screen, with downbeat but compelling results. Vritika Gupta as Reena Virk. (Darko...
What Jennifer Did faces photo manipulation controversy
April 16, 2024
A detail from the main art for 'What Jennifer Did.' Credit: Netflix I would have forgotten about What Jennifer Did, but social media wouldn’t let me. The...
Chicago (1927): Ragtime, slapstick, and “yesterday’s news”
April 15, 2024
Roxie Hart (Phyllis Haver) tries to sell the DA (Warner Richmond) on her story. Will the 1927 silent movie sell YOU? (DeMille Pictures Corp) Phyllis Haver...
You’ve read Ice-T’s memoir. What’s next?
April 12, 2024
Ice-T in NYC. His 2011 memoir, Ice, has a lot to say about rap...and robbery process. WE'VE got a lot to say about related recs. (David Corio/Redferns via...
OJ Simpson dead at 76
April 11, 2024
Orenthal James Simpson, one of the most (in)famous people in the world, acknowledges a fan. (ESPN Films via NYT) Links and discussion continues here.
The Docket 04.11.24: Not mad, just disappointed
April 11, 2024
Your co-hosts, bracing for another PR blast...or Colin Firth and Toni Collette in HBO's scripted version of The Staircase. (HBO) A conversation on recent...
What Jennifer Did fails to satisfy
April 10, 2024
What Jennifer Did. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2024 The combination of time and geography meant that I went into new Netflix true crime documentary What...
Newer archives
Older archives