Mostly Murder (But Sometimes Not)

We’ve reached into the (open) vault to repost a classic episode! Our producer had a last minute hardware malfunction and a new episode is not available at this time, so we decided to share an older fun one! Recorded February 2018 and originally posted February 2020, it’ll take you back in time for sure. Barring any more complications we should be back in two weeks with a brand new episode for your listening pleasure!

REPOST: We talk about the original Hot Priest (ok vicar) as we cover the pilot episode of Grantchester. We do interchange ‘priest’ with ‘vicar’ and ‘reverend’ so be prepared for that; we can’t help our past indoctrination. We discuss swearing in front of our parents, pitch a new tv show (with great titles), speculate about what is in a Victoria sponge, and again, talk about how great dogs are. Katy is still pretending to know more about British TV than she does, Carrie longs to take a brisk chilly walk in an English field, Maddy hashtags in real life, and Mack gives a Skype performance for the ages. We also get confused by pronunciations, try to report crimes to Alexa, talk extensively about hot older people, debate if Amanda is a Manic Pixie Dream Girl and discuss the changing rate of crimes solved through the decades. Maddy tries a Tim Allen impression and Carrie owes Katy a quarter—it’s a fun one! Go live your best life Chris Evans!

TW: Suicide, sex workers and outdated terms, beheading

BAM! We’re back! New regular episode is out today! We watched S3E11 of the original Hawaii Five-O, “Over Fifty? Steal”, and mostly enjoyed it! We discussed how the theme song entered our consciousness as children, how this show probably influenced the modern procedural and “copaganda” shows, the surprisingly small amount of overt racism for it being 1970, and how we loved the cleverness of the thief and think he may have had the right idea? Katy just had to mention Jack Lord’s appearance in Bond, Carrie enjoyed the raw power of the rowers in the credits, Maddy lets us in on her retirement plan, and Mack busts out a card from Pirates of the Caribbean Monopoly. We realized Matilda taught us everything we know about odometers, think Benedict Cumberbatch may be an Animorph, share childhood toy box memories, and learned that Carrie is wrong sometimes? We also read Wikipedia information about DNA evidence, serial numbers, and royal palaces. Book ‘em, Danno! (Is that right?)

TW: American healthcare system, racism, copaganda

New episode out NOW! We’re shaking things up for the month of December! It’s the last of four brand new episodes along the same theme: the game Crack the Case. It’s Crack The Casemas!

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. We’re finally putting our detective skills to the test!

Mack hosts week four, where we talk about Christmas werewolves, minimum wage, and The Little Mermaid. Katy snaps in excitement, Carrie points out something obvious on the cards, Maddy couldn’t stand living with us, and Mack remembers Encarta. We also sing a wonderful holiday interlude!

Give it a listen! Let us know if YOU solve it before we do!

New episode out NOW! We’re shaking things up for the month of December! It’s the second of four brand new episodes along the same theme: the game Crack the Case. It’s Crack The Casemas!

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. We’re finally putting our detective skills to the test!

Carrie hosts week two, where we talk about European bodies of water, murderous musical instruments, and the scars we still hold from misread cards. Katy shares an odd story about a sinking ship, Carrie gets very finicky about verbs, Maddy makes more than one sound effect, and Mack tells some awful-ly amazing puns.

Give it a listen! Let us know if YOU solve it before we do!

SURPRISE! New episode out NOW! We’re shaking things up for the month of December! For the next four weeks you’ll get a brand new episode along the same theme: the game Crack the Case. It’s Crack The Casemas!

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. We’re finally putting our detective skills to the test!

Katy hosts week one, where we talk about game strategy, thrift shops, and library cards. Katy gives frustratingly unclear answers, Carrie forgot the Hindenburg, Maddy almost chokes for no reason, and Mack comes up with a new scheme to get rich.

Give it a listen! Let us know if YOU solve it before we do!

TW: Death by suicide

New episode! We watched the 1995 film Devil in a Blue Dress, based on the Walter Mosley novel of the same name. We discussed that although it had the same beats as any other 1950s LA-set noir (of which there are many), the added element of a Black lead and Black characters gave new eyes and experiences to the old tropes. We also wonder if most LA crime is just marginalized people being hired by the rich to do all their dirty work, rail against the LAPD, try to decide if it matters that the mystery is a bit convoluted if the characters have a journey, and express our love for period movie production design. Katy shares Casanova facts, Carrie sees Kamala Harris everywhere, Maddy thinks all white men detectives are insufferable, and Mack spoils the Chucky Cinematic Universe. We also discuss whether a person with a pencil thin mustache can actually be good, talk about the “missing woman=magic vagina” trope of these noir movies, try to convert historical currency to today, reminisce about LOST, and torture Carrie with traumatic childhood movie memories. Also—what was the deal with the tree guy?? Give it a listen!

TW: LAPD, police brutality, racism, colorism, pedophilia, police corruption

New episode out now! We watched season 3, episode 10 of Castle, titled “Last Call”, and it was — fine! We discuss the dynamic between Castle and Beckett (and how half of it seems to be smirking), complain about the things that bother us about crime procedurals, wonder who exactly the target audience was for this show, and get annoyed at the lack of crime scene etiquette. Katy makes a secret confession, Carrie is a real stickler for historical outlet design, Maddy solved the case way ahead of us, and Mack makes plans for 2076. We also have a mini-roast of our dad, share Prohibition facts, reveal that we have no room to judge those who read flashy mystery thrillers, discuss boomer culture, and come up with some great bar names/Vegas club ideas. In this episode we learn about flood levels, union rules, insurance requirement variations, and what Randy Newman looks like. It’s fun! Full spoilers for all of Castle so watch out!

New episode! We watched 2009’s Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey, Jr. as the famous detective. We discuss the Guy Richie-ness of the film, weigh the balance between Hollywood blockbuster and Holmes adaptation, decide if the anachronisms are acceptable due to the bohemian-steampunkiness of it all, ponder the science vs. supernatural elements, and love that Holmes and Watson are basically an old married couple. Katy trash talks Murdoch Mysteries (with love), Carrie gives Tower Bridge a TripAdvisor review, Maddy has problems with Watson’s blood pressure assessments, and Mack wants to recast Irene Adler with Fran Drescher. We also discuss Holmes’ fanny pack (or bum bag if you’re British), decide whether the Kellogg company can appoint you as a Lord, wonder if we own enough robes and cloaks to constitute a cult, reminisce about working in a small town movie theater, and contemplate how scared we are of being known. This episode also includes a lecture on mudlarking, bad Porky Pig impressions, cocaine facts, and more! Give it a listen! (Also we promise no more Holmes for a while.)

TW: serial murder of women briefly mentioned, hanging, alcohol and drug abuse, animal cruelty

CORRECTIONS:

--The rules for mudlarking on the Thames river have changed since Katy did it. Don’t try without getting a permit and researching first. Per the Port of London Authority, “Anyone searching the tidal Thames foreshore from Teddington to the Thames Barrier - in any way for any reason - must hold a current foreshore permit from the Port of London Authority. This includes all searching, metal detecting, ‘beachcombing’, scraping and digging.” It’s £85 per year or you can buy a single day permit for £40 that must be used within one month of purchase. See here for more details.

--We know Fran Drescher is not from New Jersey. It was a joke.

--Ok fine. Remote controls and radio waves were technically around in the 1890s. Per Wikipedia the first time something was wirelessly controlled from a distance was in 1894, and the first time radio waves were demonstrated was in 1895. But they were BRAND NEW and really only used by INVENTORS and not EVERYONE.

--OK again. The US Secret Service was created in 1865. Wiki

--Alphonse Bertillon didn’t use ear shapes exclusively regardless of what Katy said. He basically created the standardized mug shot, and applied the system of anthropometry as a way to track and ID criminals. It was more about skull measurements, proportions, and photos. Here’s his Wiki page.

--The trench coat design was popularized for soldiers in WWI (literally a “trench” coat) but two different clothing manufacturers claim the initial invention, and one of them says it goes back to the 1850s. Here’s the Wiki. We couldn’t clarify whether leather would have been used in the 1890s but probably not; they were mostly for soldiers in the beginning and used things like gabardine.

SURPRISE! Bonus episode out today! We watched the brand new Netflix movie Enola Holmes and we have some opinions to share. Mostly good! We cover the excellent casting and how great Millie Bobby Brown is, the fun not-quite-period design but how we forgive it due to "whimsy," the similarities and differences to canon Holmes tropes, and how this is the most YA Netflix movie not to originally be made by Netflix. We do discuss the current lawsuit from the Conan Doyle estate and also how Henry Cavill is just too big of a person to be in Victorian clothes, as well as the varied portrayals of all kinds of women in the Victorian age. Katy had to get over some of her Holmes sister hangups, Carrie held her first (of many) Cavill Corners, Maddy was perhaps a bit hungover and therefore less forgiving than normal, and Mack got sad about statue destruction. We also cover our ignorance of and disregard for the English aristocracy and their unspoken pronunciation rules, ponder just how much syphilis was around in the East End, wonder if whalebone can stop bullets, play spot-the-actor from Agatha Christie adaptations, and try to decide if farts can propel a vehicle. Carrie got distracted by a forest and Mack does a very odd Darth Vader impression. Give it a listen! P.S., spoilers abound so listen with caution!

TW: domestic terrorism, misogyny

CORRECTIONS:

-For more information about Joseph Pujol, the professional farter, see this Wiki page

-Katy did not mean to imply that feminine ladies could not also be strong women; she was alluding more to the fact that Enola’s mother raised her purposefully not in the same way as was common in the day for young aristocratic women. If they were educated at all it was mostly in what was deemed “appropriate” for a young lady and did not encourage much original thought most of the time.

-See the Great Ormond Street Hospital’s statement on the copyright of Peter Pan here