Happy Thanksgiving! Instead of a new true crime, strange coincidence or cultural controversy this week, we’re pausing to give thanks to one of the inspirations behind The Prime Detective. This week’s special features an exclusive preview from the daily podcast that inspired the tight, short-form structure of our show: Trek 365! Host Izaak Brown—who was...

How a Montreal murder trial pulled a hit Netflix series into the courtroom. A 24-year-old artist, Romane Bonnier, was murdered in broad daylight near McGill University. Her killer, François Pelletier, didn’t just confess — he wrapped the crime in a bizarre pop-culture narrative, calling himself the “Chief antagonist of the Black Mirror Society” and naming...

When actor Malcolm McDowell ‘killed’ Captain Kirk on screen in Star Trek: Generations, some fans couldn’t separate fantasy from reality. This episode investigates the bizarre, real-life consequences: The death threats, the involvement of a Deep Space Nine actor with surprising ties to McDowell, and the strange LAPD security detail assigned to a man whose only...

In 1996, a Star Trek fan named Barbara Adams showed up for federal jury duty wearing a full Starfleet uniform—tricorder, phaser, and all. She wasn’t just making a statement… she was making headlines. In this episode of The Prime Detective, Grayson investigates the real-life consequences of one woman’s cosplay in a courtroom tied to the...

Halloween’s most infamous killer hides behind a Captain Kirk mask. From a Hollywood magic shop to Shatner’s own confirmation, discover how Star Trek’s fearless captain became Michael Myers’ terrifying face. Links:Mike Myers mask at Amazon Was Michael Myers’ Halloween Mask William Shatner’s Face? startrek.com Bryan Fuller chose the Discovery‘s registry number, 1031, because he loves Halloween: Memory Alpha...

Cathy DeBuono was a background actor on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, playing one of Quark’s casino hostesses — known as “dabo girls.” But in real life, she helped expose a Hollywood predator whose scam auditions led to murder. This episode of The Prime Detective follows DeBuono’s close call, the testimony of women like Alice...

True crimes, strange coincidences, and cultural controversies that collide with the Final Frontier. In 2020, a Long Island grandmother surrendered her license plate and gave up driving for good. But that’s when the traffic tickets started arriving — from cities she’d never visited, for violations she couldn’t possibly have committed. And they all pointed back...

There are weak spots in the fabric of our reality, places where Star Trek and other science fiction stories spill over into real life. The Prime Detective is a short-form true crime and culture podcast that investigates those cracks between fact and fiction. Host Grayson (@TVGuyGrayson on social media) uncovers the unexpected ways sci-fi has...