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An Arnold Rothstein Reader: The Big Bankroll and Blame for the Black Sox
April 8, 2024
Arnold "The Big Bankroll" Rothstein poses awkwardly with old technology. Do we put so much of the blame for the Black Sox on him because it's easier? ...In...
Scoop turns an infamous Prince Andrew interview into a thriller
April 5, 2024
Gillian Anderson and Rufus Sewell in Scoop. Credit: Netflix It was a reasonable concern when Scoop was first announced: How could a feature film adaptation...
The Docket 04.04.24: Is more Quiet on Set a good thing?
April 4, 2024
Amanda Bynes waves to the crowd while holding some Nickelodeon swag. She's not in the Quiet on Set update. (Chris Pizzello/AP via BI) Building a story road...
The Witch of New York argues that the good old days of journalism were not so good
April 3, 2024
Witch of New York's cover (l), "Polly Bodine at Newburgh Trial, 1848: Historical Pamphlet" (which is included in the book) After a fire consumed their Staten...
Edgar Awards round-up: In Light Of All Darkness
April 2, 2024
...These first 100 pages really pack a punch, and I was taken back in time to 1993, the image of Winona Ryder visiting Petaluma to lend her name and money to...
The Synanon Fix's slow-boil
April 1, 2024
Still from The Synanon Fix. Credit: Bruce Levine/HBO I always feel bad for projects that drop on April 1 — there’s always that search for the joke when the...
March 2024 Bonus Review: BUtterfield 8
$ · March 31, 2024
[cw: sexual assault involving a child; death by suicide] The crimeTrafficking and sexual assault of a minor, probably; extortion, allegedly; prosecutorial...
Airbnb crime, a bad vegetarian, and a peep at a marshmallow scam.
March 29, 2024
This is actually relevant to one of today's stories, I swear! Best Evidence readers know that the end of the month isn’t just for making your car payment....
The Docket 03.28.24: Ask Us Anything II
March 28, 2024
You asked, we answered; we asked each other, we answered! Genealogical mysteries, masters of IRL horror, and much more. Elsewhere down the Shore......
Has Serial passed its sell-by date?
March 27, 2024
An aerial view of the notorious Camp 7 at Guantanamo Bay. "Gitmo" is Serial's subject this time around. (Wikimedia Commons) Before I talk about Serial Season...
The Lost Sons of Omaha illustrates the issues with both-sides-ism
March 25, 2024
On May 30, 2020, in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, protestors took to the streets in Omaha’s Old Market District. There,...
Roadhouse's true crime ties
March 22, 2024
What hurts more, the diet, the exercise, or the waxing regimen? It’s Friday, it’s Sarah’s birthday, and I’m in the mood to plan my true crime weekend. I have...
The Docket 03.21.24: Homicide: New York’s failure of nerve
March 21, 2024
The Homicide: New York title card is like the show itself -- KIND of cool, but not thoughtful or creative at all. (Netflix) Today's Docket features special...
Edgar Award nominee Crooked tackles Harding-era corruption
March 20, 2024
Nathan Masters's Edgar-nominated book expertly captures the economic, social, and political landscape of the 1920s. Harry Daughtry, political fixer to...
Stormy: compelling subject, compromised execution
March 19, 2024
Stormy Daniels preps for a media appearance. (Peacock) In fact, Stormy‘s power lies primarily in evoking the poisonous side effects of that Trumpiness: the...
The Bishop and the Butterfly explains why you know the term ‘Tammany Hall’
March 18, 2024
Folks well-versed in New York history likely know all about Tammany Hall, the 1800s-era political organization that essentially ran the city (and boy oh boy,...
Manhunt is righteous, ambitious, and trying much too hard
March 15, 2024
The title card for Apple TV+'s latest, Manhunt. ...The desire to look again at Lincoln’s assassination and the disorienting days immediately following it,...
The Docket 03.14.24: James L. Swanson on The Deerfield Massacre
March 14, 2024
Cover detail from The Deerfield Massacre. (SDB) hello! Taking a break from regularly scheduled Docket programming to bring you SDB's interview with Manhunt...
Quiet on Set won’t stay silent about abuse at kids’ shows
March 13, 2024
...Writing my review, a day before you see it, a quick Google tells me that Drake Bell’s coming forward as the unidentified minor in the charging document...
Edgar Awards round-up: I Know Who You Are
March 12, 2024
The great Carol Daly. ...I Know Who You Are is equal parts memoir, genealogy guidebook, and true-crime thriller. Rae-Venter is a thoughtful and skilled...
Yellowstone producers to take on JonBenét Ramsey case
March 11, 2024
Twenty-eight years after the body of JonBenét Ramsey was discovered in her family's basement, we're no closer to learning who killed the six-year-old, or...
The Docket 03.07.24: Recent headlines we’d like to see adapted
March 7, 2024
We're back, and we're talking recent longreads we'd like to see adapted, plus participant consent, the Ocean's 11 default, and why rich people don't...
The Program review: a captivating story of teen resilience
March 6, 2024
Survivors of the Academy of Ivy Ridge "school." Courtesy: Netflix If it weren't for Katherine Kubler, new Netflix docuseries The Program: Cons, Cults, and...
Edgar Awards round-up: Tangled Vines
March 5, 2024
Edgar Allan Poe, who lends his name to the Edgar Awards, spikes a brow at Murdaugh-case overview Tangled Vines by author John Glatt. (l to r, the Poe Museum...
As We Speak: Rap On Trial makes a compelling case
March 4, 2024
Hip-hop artists and the doc's "host" Kemba, R, prepare to illustrate the comps between rap and Shakespeare in As We Speak: Rap On Trial. (Paramount+)...
Announcing the return of true crime podcast The Docket
March 1, 2024
Enjoy this message from a fan TGIF! We’re ushering in the weekend with some news we’ve been teasing this week: The Docket, our podcast on true crime,...
Serial announces Season 4, Hotel California on trial, Channing Tatum’s true crime turn
February 29, 2024
Serial's fourth season will be about detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Credit: Justin Norman Best Evidence readers know that the end of the month isn’t just for...
American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders shows compassion for crackpots
February 28, 2024
An old-school PC shows the load screen for PROMIS, a "spy VICAP"-type program that sends the late Danny Casolaro down the conspiracy rat hole in American...
Blood On Their Hands doesn’t play to its own strengths
February 27, 2024
Victims of the Feb. 24, 2019 boat crash that touched off the Murdaugh-case firestorm. Paul Murdaugh, the alleged driver of the boat, is at right. (Photo: SC...
Pathological: The Lies of Joran Van Der Sloot could have been so much more
February 26, 2024
The key art for Pathological: The Lies of Joran Van Der Sloot If you're looking for a perfectly serviceable rundown of how Joran Van Der Sloot was finally...
Gross anatomy: The Flesh and the Fiends (1960)
February 23, 2024
Peter Cushing as Dr. Knox in The Flesh and The Fiends. (Triad Productions) The Flesh and the Fiends is just one of the scripted properties devoted to Burke...
February, 2024 is a record-breaking month for new true crime TV
February 22, 2024
Still from God Bless Texas: Hometown Prison Longtime readers of Best Evidence know that there have been some weeks that Sarah and I have had to scrape the...
Zenith Man review: a surprisingly confessional Georgia courtroom tale
February 21, 2024
From the cover of new true crime book Zenith Man You can see why Zenith Man, the first book from Georgia politician-turned-criminal defense attorney...
Blood & Orchids review: An ’80s miniseries takes on the Massie Affair
February 20, 2024
...B&O is making its best attempt at noir for a network miniseries, which means everyone is compromised, plus Bergman’s much younger wife (Sean Young) is...
February Bonus!: Your TCM Watch Guide
$ · February 16, 2024
The Wrong Man Hello again, premium subscribers! Thanks so much for sticking with Best Evidence as we found/settled into a new situation. Slowly but surely,...
New true crime this weekend: Killer Performance, Far North, Jake Tapper, and more
February 16, 2024
Far North (Sundance Now/AMC+) For many folks in the U.S., we’re heading into a long weekend: Presidents Day is Monday, which means most offices and...
The Truth About Jim review: It’s not about the Zodiac
February 15, 2024
...The press materials and the opening credits also strongly implied that yet another misguided soul in search of healing would spend four hours trying to...
Will you be watching Selena & Yolanda?
February 14, 2024
Selena & Yolanda: Oxygen I’m not sure how to approach Selena & Yolanda: The Secrets Between Them, the Oxygen (Peacock if you’re streaming) docuseries that...
Longread round-up: Tupac Shakur, Truman Capote, Time, and the Thames
February 12, 2024
A contemporaneous interrogation of juuuust how “non-” Truman Capote’s “non-fiction novel” really was: Esquire 6/1/66 // The same issue of the mag also...
You’ve watched Lover, Stalker, Killer. What now?
February 9, 2024
Welcome to Pairings, a new Best Evidence feature in which we suggest reading, viewing, or listening related to a recent property that people seem excited...
Kings From Queens review: Peacock’s Run-D.M.C. doc strikes a tricky balance
February 7, 2024
The titular kings of Peacock's Run-D.M.C. docuseries, "Kings From Queens." From left, Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels, Jason "Jam Master Jay" Mizell, and Rev....
See the first trailer for Lincoln assassination thriller Manhunt
February 6, 2024
A while ago, Sarah and I were talking about period-set true crime books that could do with a dramatic adaptation, and I had a post-conversation l’esprit de...
As We Speak: Rap Music On Trial sounds like a great doc
February 5, 2024
The idea…well, no, really the FACT that Johnny Cash could sing about shooting a man in Reno just to watch him die, and have the culture understand that he’s...
News and views from Best Evidence HQ
February 3, 2024
Hello again! Welcome to Best Evidence's shiny new set-up. In case you missed an email: we've departed Substack and set up the newsletter/mailing side of our...
Maura Murray podcast, Maryland murder plot, Kristin Smart lawsuit
February 2, 2024
Best Evidence readers know that the end of the month isn’t just for panicking when you remember you forgot to mail in the rent check. It’s also when we clear...
FEUD: Capote vs. The Swans review: Indirect hits
February 1, 2024
...Let’s start with the good news – much like FEUD started with a shot of a vintage mid-eighties Mercedes-Benz, never the worst way to get this correspondent...
#CYBERSLEUTHS: The Idaho Murders: an old problem or TikTok trend?
January 31, 2024
At this point, I think we all agree that until we hear more from accused Idaho Murders suspect Bryan Kohberger, there’s not much to say about the November...
Get ready for FEUD: Capote vs. The Swans
January 29, 2024
FX’s FEUD: Capote Vs. The Swans "Pilot" premieres Wednesday, January 31 at 10 p.m. ET/PT -- Pictured: (l-r) Naomi Watts as Barbara "Babe" Paley, Tom...
Devil On The Web and Web Of Make Believe: two takes on cybercrime
January 26, 2024
...“Internet peril” books tend to come from the nineties; feature hilariously dated cover designs (think glowing green WarGames fonts) and hysterical overuse...
Griselda on Netflix: Is it true crime or is it fantasy?
January 25, 2024
...Advance word on the dramatic adaptation of the life and times of Miami-based drug boss Griselda Blanco is good, with the Guardian writing that it's "so...
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