Pull up a seat and shuffle the deck—this is The True Crime Reader, where we deal out the secrets behind the world’s most audacious, intricate true crime stories. Today’s episode dives into Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions by Ben Mezrich, the book that inspired a major motion picture and introduced millions to a heist like none before. But how much of this tale is fact, and how much is legend?

A school where children disappear may seem like a fantasy novel, but it was real life for the boys at the Dozier School...

Find out the truth behind the school shooting at Columbine in Dave Cullen's astounding book.

Sally Horner's kidnapping inspired one of the most well-known books ever. Is this ethical journalism?

The legendary life of Dr. Ann Burgess and the Mindhunters she inspired.

Why do we slow down at a car accident? Why are horror movies so engaging? Why are we down another true crime rabbit hole?

Join us in this discussion of the Turner-Stompanato affair and Casey Sherman's "A Murder in Hollywood".

Welcome back to The True Crime Reader, where we explore the stories that haunt us—and the people who live through them. I’m Kristen, and today’s episode is one of survival, resilience, and the long, painful journey of reclaiming a life once stolen.

We’re talking about A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard—a memoir that doesn’t just recount a crime, but reclaims a voice.

https://www.thejaycfoundation.org

Today we’re stepping into the uneasy intersection of personal history, racial injustice, and one of the most infamous crime sprees in American memory. Sebastian Junger’s A Death in Belmont is a work of creative nonfiction published in 2006, and it revisits a murder that occurred in the quiet suburb of Belmont, Massachusetts in 1963. The killing of Bessie Goldberg took place during the terrifying period of the Boston Strangler murders, which gripped the Boston area from 1962 to 1964. Junger’s book examines this single crime not only as a historical event but as a deeply personal mystery, because on the day Goldberg was murdered, Albert DeSalvo—the man who would later confess to being the Boston Strangler—was working as a carpenter in the Junger family home.

Welcome back to The True Crime Reader, the podcast where the past meets the macabre, and every story is more than just a headline—it’s a window into human darkness, complex motivations, and the societies that shaped these stories. I’m your host, and today we're immersing ourselves in the chilling world created by Tori Telfer in her acclaimed book, Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History. This isn’t just about shocking crimes—it's about the overlooked, misunderstood, and underexamined reality that women have, for centuries, been perpetrators of some of history’s most disturbing murders.