Real-life mysteries are the bread and butter of modern podcasting. Seven years
ago, “Serial” pushed the format into the mainstream with its gripping
reinvestigation of the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee, a Baltimore high school
student, and the questionable conviction of her ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed.
اضافة اعلان
The
feverish response to “Serial” was fueled by the seemingly endless ambiguities
and questions surrounding the case, many of which remain unanswered to this
day.
Unsolved
mysteries can be frustrating, but they also leave more room for speculation and
armchair sleuthing than the ones with tidy endings. In the years since
“Serial,” there has been an explosion of shows trying to recreate its appeal by
delving into cold cases, disappearances and mysterious events.
These
are four of the best, offering everything from compelling true-crime journalism
to a quirky Hollywood mystery with Tom Hanks at its center.
‘Missing
on 9/11’
On the
evening of Sep. 10, 2001, a security camera in downtown Manhattan recorded
Sneha Anne Philip shopping at Century 21. It was the last time she was ever
seen alive.
After
the 9/11 attacks the following morning, Philip, who was 31, became one of
thousands reported missing. Since she was a doctor, her relatives assumed that
she had died helping victims at the towers, but this gripping iHeartRadio
series reveals a much more complicated picture of her still-unsolved
disappearance.
Solid
information is scarce, but “Missing on 9/11” rarely feels like it’s treading
water — in one especially compelling chapter, the host, Jon Walczak, enlists an
expert on the art of “pseudocide,” aka faking your own death. The podcast ends
abruptly after 10 episodes, and it’s unclear whether more are coming. But if
you’re craving more, the same team previously produced “Missing in Alaska,” an
equally intriguing show about the vanishing of two congressmen in 1972.
Starter
episode: “9/10”
‘Dead
Eyes’
This
delightfully low stakes yet emotionally engaging Hollywood mystery is hosted by
actor-comedian Connor Ratliff, whom you may recognize from bit parts in shows
like “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”
Two
decades ago, fresh out of drama school, Ratliff landed a small role in the HBO
miniseries “Band of Brothers” alongside Tom Hanks, only to be unceremoniously
fired on the eve of shooting. The reason? According to a tactless assistant, it
was because Hanks himself watched Ratliff’s audition tape and was put off by
his “dead eyes.”
Still
haunted by this devastatingly specific critique, Ratliff embarks on an audio
quest to figure out if America’s most-beloved actor really hates his eyes,
aided by a few famous friends including Jon Hamm, Damon Lindelof and even a few
“Band of Brothers” alums.
Now in
its third season, “Dead Eyes” has evolved beyond its core mystery to become a
broader window into the humiliations of Hollywood, which Ratliff plumbs with
such affable warmth that you’ll be rooting for him to finally get the answers
he craves.
Starter
episode: “He’s Having Second Thoughts”
‘Suspect’
This
coproduction from Wondery and Campside Media centers on the unsolved 2008
murder of Arpana Jinaga, a 24-year-old software engineer who was found dead the
morning after a raucous Halloween party at her apartment complex near Seattle.
That
gathering provides a wide array of suspects, all of whom are investigated in
this absorbing, emotional 10-episode series. Ultimately, the police do home in
on one chief suspect, but that conviction proves to be deeply flawed. “Suspect”
uses its central case to explore the dizzyingly rapid evolution of DNA technology,
as well as racial bias in the justice system.
Starter
episode: “The Halloween Party”
‘Someone
Knows Something’
The
sheer volume of murder mystery podcasts out there can feel overwhelming, but
this anthology series from the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. is a consistently
rigorous, intelligent gem.
The
host, David Ridgen, was a filmmaker and documentarian before he created
“Someone Knows Something,” and his flair for character-driven storytelling is
evident, as is his ambivalence about “true crime” as a genre (the series begins
with a prologue in which Ridgen admits to being wary about making it at all).
Each
season chronicles a different cold case, beginning with the 1972 disappearance
of 5-year-old Adrien McNaughton. The third season focuses on the devastating
story of Charles Moore and Henry Dee, two Black men whose murders in 1964 by Ku
Klux Klan members resulted in no convictions for more than 40 years.
The
fourth follows a family’s search for answers after a man is murdered by a mail
bomb sent to his house. Whichever season you choose to begin with, you’ll
likely be hooked.
Starter
episode: “The Wrong Body”
Read more Trending
.jpg)
.jpg)
