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
June 20, 2025 • 49 mins
In July 2010, a woman was on vacation with her boyfriend of six years — they were traveling around Italy in a van. One day, she was looking for a pair of sunglasses in the glove box, and she found a passport. It had her boyfriend’s photo — but a different name.
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June 13, 2025 • 35 mins
In the late 1960s, a yogi named Swami Rama came to the United States. His followers believed he could read their minds, visit them in their dreams, and manipulate reality. Shruti Swamy was one of them.
Shruti Swamy wrote a version of this story for the June 12th issue of The Believer. You can find it at https://www.thebeliever.net/.
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June 6, 2025 • 35 mins
John Buettner-Janusch was one of the first Americans to study lemurs. He held prestigious faculty positions at Yale, Duke and NYU, before surprising everyone with a series of increasingly bizarre crimes.
Phoebe and Lauren got to visit the Duke Lemur Center in person – hear all about it in our latest episode of Criminal Plus. Use the promo code “JOINUS” for 20% off an annual membership. You’ll get behind-the-scenes bonus episodes o...
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May 30, 2025 • 24 mins
Two years ago, we started making Criminal Plus episodes — behind-the-scenes conversations featuring Phoebe and Criminal co-creator Lauren Spohrer. Today, we’re sharing some of those conversations with you — about everything from Phoebe’s jangly bracelets to the reason a judge ordered a man to watch Bambi.
And we’re also sharing a promo code if you’d like to support our work and join our membership program. Use the code “JOINUS” fo...
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May 23, 2025 • 34 mins
“Anyone who went to Action Park understood you could get really messed up going there. It was part of why you wanted to go.”
Seth Porges made a documentary about Action Park, along with Chris Charles Scott. It’s called Class Action Park.
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May 16, 2025 • 37 mins
In the 1950s, a new television quiz show premiered called Twenty One. But the first episode was a disaster — so the producers decided to try something.
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May 9, 2025 • 38 mins
The night before she gave birth, Susan Horton had a salad for dinner. The next day, doctors told her she’d tested positive for opiates - and reported her to child welfare authorities.
This episode is from our friends at the Reveal podcast. Listen to a longer version here.
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May 2, 2025 • 36 mins
When Tabatha Trammell was 50 years old, she started studying to become a doula — a support person for pregnant women. Today, most of her clients are incarcerated. She says she always tells them her own story when she meets them: “I went down that same road. But I'm here today. And I'm going to tell you how to navigate this prison system.”
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April 25, 2025 • 32 mins
Not long into his job as prison superintendent, Frank Thompson had to prepare his staff to perform Oregon's first execution in three decades. They simulated each step of the process over and over and over.
This episode was first released in 2018.
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April 18, 2025 • 33 mins
When Jeffery Manchester escaped from prison, a lot of people weren't surprised. But they didn't expect what happened next. "I kind of figured he'd be on the beach with a margarita, but nope."
This is the second part of a two-part story.
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April 11, 2025 • 38 mins
Between 1998 and 2000, more than 40 stores and chain restaurants across the country were robbed by a masked man who always entered through the roof. Police couldn’t figure out where he’d turn up next.
To listen to Part 2 right now, sign up for Criminal Plus. You'll also get behind-the-scenes bonus episodes of Criminal, ad-free listening to all of our shows, special merch deals, and more.
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April 4, 2025 • 43 mins
In the midst of the 1996 race for North Carolina governor, a new candidate emerged. Her name was Jolene Strickland, and her campaign slogan was “Too Good to be True.”
Barry Yeoman wrote about Jolene Strickland for The Assembly. Tricia Romano's book is called The Freaks Came Out to Write.
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March 28, 2025 • 36 mins
In May of 2021, the National Park Service received a call that a woman had fallen over the Grandview Overlook at New River Gorge National Park. After days of searching with rappel lines, infrared cameras, and dogs, they didn't find anyone.
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March 21, 2025 • 43 mins
A Toronto police officer was having an affair with a government worker – and then they found out about an elderly man who died with a large estate, and no will.
For more on the story, read Katherine Laidlaw’s piece, “The Inside Job.”
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March 14, 2025 • 39 mins
Right after sunset, three boats sailed towards the rice plantations on the Combahee River. Harriet Tubman knew they had to hurry - they only had six hours before the changing tide would make it very difficult to get away.
Edda L. Fields-Black's book is "COMBEE: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom during the Civil War."
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March 7, 2025 • 80 mins
“Christopher Kinahan is probably the most successful and entrepreneurial criminal that Ireland has ever produced.”
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We also make This is L...
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February 28, 2025 • 42 mins
Last year, a committee of state lawmakers in Texas issued a subpoena for a man on death row to testify four days after he was scheduled to be executed. Today, what happened next in Robert Roberson's case.
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February 21, 2025 • 35 mins
The first time Ed Newcomer went to the L.A. Bug Fair, he met a man who called himself the world’s most wanted butterfly smuggler. It took three years of undercover work for Ed Newcomer to catch him in the act.
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February 14, 2025 • 42 mins
“He stole my watch. He stole my jewelry. I stopped wearing jewelry – just to see what else he would steal.” In 2004, Ava Do met a professional pickpocket at a bachelorette party in Las Vegas. And they fell in love.
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February 7, 2025 • 35 mins
On May 13, 1862, in Charleston, South Carolina, a man named Robert Smalls took command of a Confederate ship called The Planter and liberated himself and his family from slavery. As they passed the Confederate-held Fort Sumter, Robert Smalls was said to have saluted it with a whistle, and then added an extra one, “as a farewell to the confederacy.”
Robert Smalls’ great-great-grandson, Michael Boulware Moore, tells the story.
This e...
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