Criminal
Criminal is the first of its kind. A show about people who’ve done wrong, been wronged, or gotten caught somewhere in the middle. Hosted by Phoebe Judge. Named a Best Podcast of 2023 by the New York Times. Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Episodes
April 17, 2026 • 38 mins
On the morning of May 20, 1957, a bomb exploded under Don King’s front porch. Police got a tip that they should search the home of someone he knew - a woman named Dollree Mapp. But when they got there, she refused to let them in. Soon, her case would go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Carolyn Long’s book is Mapp v. Ohio: Guarding Against Unreasonable Searches and Seizures.
Say hello on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Sign ...
Listen
Mark as Played
April 10, 2026 • 40 mins
Alice and Leonard Rhinelander had only been married for a few weeks when his family lawyer came to their house and took Leonard away with him. The next time Alice saw her husband was a year later, in a courtroom.
Say hello on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Sign up for our occasional newsletter. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts.
Sign up for Criminal Plus to get behind-the-scenes bonus episodes of Criminal, ad-free ...
Listen
Mark as Played
April 3, 2026 • 37 mins
For years, John Moore and Tanner Mansell ran shark diving tours off the coast of Florida. One day, they came across a fishing line in the middle of the ocean – with over a dozen sharks caught on it. “This looked like something very illegal going on. And we felt like if we didn’t act, these sharks would definitely die.”
Say hello on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Sign up for our occasional newsletter. Follow the show and review us...
Listen
Mark as Played
March 27, 2026 • 33 mins
On Christmas Eve in 1926, a man came running into Bellevue Hospital in New York screaming that Santa Claus had been chasing him for blocks with a baseball bat. Not long after that, he died. And then another person arrived in the emergency room. And then another. This started happening in emergency rooms around the country. And it was happening because of a plan created by the U.S. government.
Deborah Blum’s book is The Poisoner’s ...
Listen
Mark as Played
March 20, 2026 • 54 mins
When Elzire Dionne gave birth to five identical babies, she caught the attention of reporters and doctors hundreds of miles away, the Chicago World’s Fair – and the Ontario government. Before the quintuplets were ten months old, they passed a new law: the Dionne Quintuplet Guardianship Act. “These children are our own royal family.”
Sarah Miller’s book is The Miracle and Tragedy of the Dionne Quintuplets.
Say hello on Facebook, ...
Listen
Mark as Played
March 13, 2026 • 35 mins
When Cecilia Gentili was growing up in Argentina, she felt so different from everyone around her that she thought she might be from another planet. “I think that we are all aliens until we find our communities.”
This episode was originally released in 2019.
Say hello on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Sign up for our occasional newsletter. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts.
Sign up for Criminal Plus to get behind-...
Listen
Mark as Played
March 6, 2026 • 59 mins
When Angelo Quinto died, his family said police were responsible for his death. But a lawyer told them his official cause of death would likely be something called “excited delirium.”
You can read more of Renu Rayasam's reporting on "excited delirium" at KFF Health News.
Arjun Byju's article for Current Affairs is: Excited Delirium: How Cops Invented a Disease.
Reporter Chris Gelardi obtained Rochester Police Department training...
Listen
Mark as Played
February 27, 2026 • 47 mins
After a gang leader was murdered in San Francisco’s Chinatown, the only witnesses who would talk with the police were tourists. They looked through so-called “mug books” filled with photographs of Asian men - and pointed out a man named Chol Soo Lee. Years later, a journalist decided to investigate his case, and described it as an “unreal, Alice-in-Chinatown murder case."
Today’s episode comes from the Smithsonian’s Sidedoor podca...
Listen
Mark as Played
February 20, 2026 • 42 mins
In 1864, a 41-year-old woman named Mary Surratt was running a boarding house in Washington, D.C. One of the most famous actors in the country began visiting her – which led to her becoming known as the woman who “kept the nest that hatched the egg."
Kate Clifford Larson’s book is The Assassin’s Accomplice.
Join our newsletter by 2/28/26 to be entered to win a free year of Criminal Plus: thisiscriminal.com/newsletter. (Addition...
Listen
Mark as Played
February 13, 2026 • 48 mins
In the early 2000s, the hip hop group Silibil N’ Brains seemed like they were on the brink of becoming very famous. They had a record deal with Sony, had been on MTV, and were talking about making a TV show. But they weren’t who they said they were.
Gavin Bain's book is California Schemin'.
Join our newsletter by 2/28/26 to be entered to win a free year of Criminal Plus: thisiscriminal.com/newsletter. (Additional rules apply....
Listen
Mark as Played
February 12, 2026 • 41 mins
This episode is unlocked and available for everyone to listen to!
Phoebe tells a story about an uncooperative plane passenger. Plus, Lauren and Phoebe discuss what embarrasses Phoebe the most, the intentional vagueness of Criminal episode descriptions, and whether or not Phoebe is a "finger princess."
If you enjoyed listening to today's Criminal Plus episode and you'd like more - join us on Patreon. We put these episodes with Ph...
Listen
Mark as Played
February 6, 2026 • 41 mins
When Mike Williams went missing while duck hunting on Lake Seminole, investigators wondered if he had been eaten by alligators. But Mike’s mother was sure something else had happened.
Mikita Brottman’s book is Guilty Creatures: Sex, God, and Murder in Tallahassee, Florida.
Say hello on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Sign up for our occasional newsletter. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts.
Sign up for Criminal Plu...
Listen
Mark as Played
January 30, 2026 • 33 mins
In 1963, Jeanne and Alan Abel traveled to Washington, DC to picket in front of the White House. They said they were part of a campaign that wanted to put clothes on animals — including the first lady’s horse.
Say hello on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Sign up for our occasional newsletter. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts.
Sign up for Criminal Plus to get behind-the-scenes bonus episodes of Criminal, ad-free lis...
Listen
Mark as Played
January 23, 2026 • 37 mins
While investigating a murder, a Polish detective discovered an unusual clue – a novel that contained an odd number of similarities to the real-life crime.
David Grann is the author of The Wager and Killers of the Flower Moon, and his article about Krystian Bala is contained in his collection The Devil and Sherlock Holmes.
Say hello on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Sign up for our occasional newsletter. Follow the show and revie...
Listen
Mark as Played
January 16, 2026 • 46 mins
One night in 1989, Karen Palmer got in her car with her husband and two daughters and drove away from their home in California. They didn’t tell anyone where they were going.
Karen Palmer’s memoir is She’s Under Here.
Say hello on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Sign up for our occasional newsletter. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts.
Sign up for Criminal Plus to get behind-the-scenes bonus episodes of Criminal, ...
Listen
Mark as Played
January 9, 2026 • 35 mins
One day in 2011, Lindsey Schweigert’s roommate came home to an open garage, a missing dog, and an overflowing bathtub. Lindsey remembers waking up in police custody.
Ramya Nagesh is the author of A Practical Guide to Insane and Non-Insane Automatism in Criminal Law – Sleepwalking, Blackouts, Hypoglycaemia, and Other Issues.
Say hello on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Sign up for our occasional newsletter. Follow the show and rev...
Listen
Mark as Played
December 26, 2025 • 43 mins
In 1982, Sister Helen Prejean was invited to write a letter to a man on death row named Elmo Patrick Sonnier. She told us, “I thought that all I was going to be doing was writing letters. And lo and behold, two years later, I am in that execution chamber.” When we spoke to her in 2021, she was 81, and had been present at the executions of six men.
Sister Helen’s book, Dead Man Walking, is about her time as a spiritual advisor to E...
Listen
Mark as Played
December 19, 2025 • 36 mins
Stories of animals really going for it.
Say hello on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Sign up for our occasional newsletter. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts.
Sign up for Criminal Plus to get behind-the-scenes bonus episodes of Criminal, ad-free listening of all of our shows, invitations to virtual events, special merch deals, and more.
We also make This is Love and Phoebe Reads a Mystery.
Artwork by Julienne Alex...
Listen
Mark as Played
December 12, 2025 • 32 mins
On Christmas morning, Laura Nowlin was in her living room with her infant son. They were getting ready to leave to spend the day with family. Then, Laura heard a knock on the door. She says it sounded frantic.
Say hello on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Sign up for our occasional newsletter. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts.
Sign up for Criminal Plus to get behind-the-scenes bonus episodes of Criminal, ad-free lis...
Listen
Mark as Played
December 5, 2025 • 44 mins
In 1833, a writer named Catharine Williams began working on a new book. She’d published books of poetry and about the Revolutionary War before, but this book was going to be different. It was going to be about a Methodist minister, a mill worker, and a murder.
Kate Dawson’s book is The Sinners All Bow: Two Authors, One Murder, and the Real Hester Prynne.
Say hello on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Sign up for our occasio...
Listen
Mark as Played
Popular Podcasts
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
UConn basketball star Azzi Fudd brings her championship swag to iHeart Women’s Sports with Fudd Around and Find Out, a weekly podcast that takes fans along for the ride as Azzi spends her final year of college trying to reclaim the National Championship and prepare to be a first round WNBA draft pick. Ever wonder what it’s like to be a world-class athlete in the public spotlight while still managing schoolwork, friendships and family time? It’s time to Fudd Around and Find Out!
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Saskia Inwood woke up one morning, knowing her life would never be the same. The night before, she learned the unimaginable – that the husband she knew in the light of day was a different person after dark. This season unpacks Saskia’s discovery of her husband’s secret life and her fight to bring him to justice. Along the way, we expose a crime that is just coming to light. This is also a story about the myth of the “perfect victim:” who gets believed, who gets doubted, and why. We follow Saskia as she works to reclaim her body, her voice, and her life. If you would like to reach out to the Betrayal Team, email us at betrayalpod@gmail.com. Follow us on Instagram @betrayalpod and @glasspodcasts. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations, and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience, and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack.