Mostly Murder (But Sometimes Not)

New episode out now! It’s time to visit Cabot Cove—we watched Murder She Wrote! The season five episode “Fire Burn, Cauldron Bubble” had it all—cute guys, weird accents, ghost witches, the Universal backlot, libraries, Bill Maher dressed as a lady pilgrim, Southern exorcists, and of course the OG—Jessica Fletcher. We discuss Jessica’s BDE, wonder if Cabot Cove has a phone chain specifically for murders, try to name all the familiar guest stars, and discuss the murder rate for these small town murder shows. Apparently there needs to be a new crime every week, which can really skew the statistics! Katy teaches you how to trick a paywall, Carrie shares her hatred of A Christmas Carol, Maddy channels her inner NPR, and Mack likes his girlfriend. We also discuss small town Nextdoor shenanigans, write our own Miami Vice/Murder She Wrote crossover, share old prank stories, wonder about local burn permits, and divulge we are a pro-witch podcast. There is some real sibling energy in this one—enjoy!

TW: Police

New episode! It’s not what we promised last time, we know, but due to unforeseen computer problems we have to push Murder She Wrote until next time. But we think you’ll love what we’ve got instead!

It’s a very special “Just In Case” episode where we play Crack The Case, like we did back in December! As a refresher, Crack The Case is a Milton Bradley party game that came out in 1993, where players ask yes or no questions in order to solve a mystery. Mack hosts this one, where you’ll hear mention of thieves, wedding disasters, TikTok assassins, Radium Girls, and earnest boys. Katy flouts her limited Egyptian artifact knowledge, Carrie doesn’t get to play half of them as she’s too experienced, Maddy slips into a Mid-Atlantic accent unacknowledged, and Mack inadvertently gives disastrous chemistry advice.

Give it a listen! Let us know if YOU solve it before we do! And we’ll meet Jessica Fletcher in Cabot Cove on our next release day, June 8th! Enjoy!

TW: fatphobia

New episode out now! We enter the world of the 1980s with the season five episode of Miami Vice, “The Lost Madonna”. New to us all, we marveled at the wild fashions, the synth score, the feathered hair, and of course—the drugs. We really get into the Florida-ness of it all with the production design and color choices. And we talk extensively about Michael Chiklis’ ponytail. Katy critiques art packing techniques, Carrie thinks Don Johnson is very symmetrical, Maddy has started to see older people commercials tailored for her, and Mack tells a eulogy story. We also spoil St. Elsewhere, share college professor anecdotes, get excited about Indiana Jones, learn about product placement, and wonder why all Italian mafia members have a New York accent. We do introduce a new point of order in this episode and Katy is (justifiably) chastened for dominating research. And if you stick around after the end music, you’ll get a special treat! (A short interview with our parents re: Miami Vice that has terrible audio and random microwave beeping). Enjoy! As Maddy says, “Birds, boats, and boobs—what more could you ask for?”

TW: animal cruelty, drugs, audio surge warning at 06:58 for microphone issue

Show Notes/Links:

Book Recs:

New episode out now! He is vengeance. He is the night. He’s Batman! We have our first encounter with the Dark Knight in 1993’s Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and listeners, Mack is excited. Seriously, he’s like a Batman encyclopedia! We learn about the origins of the animated series that gave way to the film, discuss the iconic and game-changing animation style that only half of us noticed, and rave over the brilliant voice acting by Kevin Conroy and the Joker himself, Mark Hamill. We discuss different iterations of both Batman and the Joker and judge how the animated series stacked up. (Spoiler alert: Hamill may be the best one?) We also really enjoy how sassy Alfred is, think that Andrea calling out Bruce Wayne’s self-destructing tortured-man tendencies is very refreshing, critique Batman's detective work, and wonder why Gotham has so many dilapidated warehouses and amusement parks but somehow the municipal government has high rise offices. Katy shares a Girl Scout camp story, Carrie appreciates a good voice note recorder, Maddy comes up with a new tagline, and Mack just—really knows a lot about Batman. We also collectively share a surprising knowledge about various world’s fairs, learn that cartoon code for “we had sex” is one person wearing the other's shirt while thinking on a balcony, and we all try out a voice acting technique by imitating our favorite cartoon laughs. And don't worry - there’s also plenty of Batman impressions. Starting literally 60 seconds in. Enjoy! 

Show Corrections/Notes:

New episode out now! We took our first foray into the world of Midsomer Murders with the series three episode “Judgement Day”. We discuss the traditional high body count in Midsomer County murder cases, complain about the slightly confusing timeline, create actual suspect lists, try to psychoanalyze the murderer, and extensively discuss young Orlando Bloom. We get into the show’s dark humor and longevity, as well as the whitewashed portrayal of English country life. Katy complains about her coworker, Carrie gives relationship advice, Maddy gets lost in men’s names, and Mack shares his weird allergies. We also wonder if just everyone has racist dolls, tear apart late ’90s fashion, discuss how the attractiveness of actors can take away from the story, hate on the Charmin bears, share church festival memories, and reveal who among us loves the theremin. Enjoy!

TW: Racism, accidental disfigurement, the police, laboratory animal research

Show Notes:

New episode out now! We have our first podcast encounter with the famous teenage sleuth in 1938’s Nancy Drew...Detective. We discuss the literary origins and evolution of the character, how the film took liberties in order to fit into 1930s Hollywood, how annoying it is that practically nobody listens to women, and the surprisingly equal relationship between Nancy and her dad. Katy shares Wikipedia facts, Carrie resents Nancy’s perfection, Maddy hates the Mid-Atlantic accent, and Mack tells a truly terrible joke. We get into the logistics of carrier pigeons, have multiple tangents about medical history, argue about amateur photo developing, and try to decide if emotional manipulation is okay if you’re a victim of a patriarchal system. We also discuss 1980s diet culture, weird military tactics, Shrek, and 19th century lithotomy. Give it a listen!

TW: Animal cruelty, disturbing medical history

Show Links:

Nancy Drew...Detective Synopsis on TCM

New episode! We cover 2007’s Zodiac directed by David Fincher, which somehow ended up in the mystery tin even though it is depicting real people and events. But we watched it anyway because it is good! We discuss the excellent atmosphere of the film, created by the music, cars, costumes, props, colors, cinematography, styling, and constant, constant smoking. We also get into the amazing group of actors and how they don’t age, wonder how Graysmith’s evidence would hold up in court, discuss the depiction of mundanity in life and criminal investigation, and realize that it’s a whole movie of back and forth dialogue that was paced so well it held our attention the whole 162 minute run time. Katy annoys everyone by doing too much research for not being the host, Carrie misses being in an office, Maddy gets offended over Adventure Time, and Mack does a pretty good John Mulaney impression. We also get very disturbed by Palpatine imagery, are slightly annoyed about the Disney shareholder meeting announcements, spoil some Batman comic storylines, really wish that this case was solved, and wonder if the 1970s ruined everything from hitchhiking to picnics. And yes, we mention T*d Cr*z.

TW: Serial murder, animal abuse, child endangerment

Note: We did wonder how this got into the mystery tin as it is fully based on and depicting real crimes, people, and investigations; this is the first and most likely last time we will cover something depicting wholly true events.

Show Links:

Oh my glob it’s a new episode! We watched two episodes of Adventure Time, S2E19 “Mystery Train” and S3E12 “The Creeps” and it was mathematical! We discuss how the episodes play up the typical mystery tropes, the bizonkers-ness of Finn’s potential solutions, the influences of Agatha Christie and Clue, and how Finn should really deal with his trauma. We get into the whole series a little (so spoiler alert!), talk about the voice acting industry and some of the recent racial reckoning, discuss how we like the darker themes the show explores, and quote Lumpy Space Princess. Like, a LOT. Katy steals a joke from Bones, Carrie’s screech laugh makes an appearance, Maddy shares her favorite line from the entire show, and Mack calls out Chevy Chase. We also try out Boston accents (badly), make references to a number of '90s TV shows, discuss some very old shared family mp3s, try to come up with our own mystery party names, praise fart jokes, and yell into the microphones. (Sorry). It’s lumping fun! Algebraic!

TW: Racism

New episode out now! We watched the pilot episode of Riverdale, and wow did we have some problems with it! We discuss the CW’s penchant for adapting outside properties into “young, dark, and sexy” content and how that is often problematic, and how while two of us have watched more than one season we barely remember anything because it gets so convoluted. We do cover the awful inclusion of statutory rape, don’t like how the teens are unnecessarily sexualized, decide that the producers are not “woke” for calling themselves out on their cliché writing choices, and discuss who is actually writing this show and for what audience. We do admire the production design and talk about the Twin Peaks vibes it starts with, but ultimately land on the fact that it’s essentially just (bad) Archie fanfiction. Katy steals a joke and then owns up to it, Carrie gets triggered by the portrayal of the publishing industry, Maddy works on her voice acting, and Mack has a deep, deep well of rage inside himself. We aso wonder why Gen Z references Woody Allen movies, pitch a dark Teletubbies law drama, get confused by what MSG is, call out The Little Mermaid’s irresponsible behavior, reminisce about high school, and come to the conclusion that nobody’s really having a great time in Riverdale. Turns out teens doing sexy things makes us uncomfortable! Does that mean we’re old? Anyway, give it a listen! There’s something for everyone? 

SERIES SPOILERS

TW: Underage sex, statutory rape, incest