Through school work, internship work, and actual work, I barely have time to open a book which means I can barely lay my eyes on the wonderful things we call words that usually make up stories to which I can bury myself into for hours on end. Since I don’t have time for the magical practice of reading, I have begun burying myself into the world of audio stories we call podcasts. I originally wanted to start by the usual self-help podcasts like Routines and Ruts or Oprah’s, Optimal Living Daily podcasts. I am a young 23-year-old woman and I think it’s safe to say those don’t pull my attention quite like crime and gore do.
I opted for the genre of horror and storytelling podcasts like Lore and NoSleep which consist of someone basically reading a scary story to you that make you quake in your boots. Those were sufficient for a while and I loved listening to them every night before going to bed, especially when they made me think monsters were hiding in my dark closet. They were fun no doubt, but after a while they got a bit boring. It was usually the same story after another, some gory ghost or mythical creature that ate humans was afoot, or something like that. So, my quest for another podcast to quench my thirst was back on.
I wanted something that actually scared me, and talked about the true, real, monsters that lurk around us. That’s when I came across crime podcasts. I started with some other popular ones like, Unsolved Murders: True Crime Stories and Casefile: True Crime Podcast, but none were exactly catching my ear, until I found the adorable crime junkies Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat and their show Crime Junkie. I scrolled all the way down to the beginning of their podcast show, almost one hundred and eighty shows down the line, and I started listening to my heart’s content.
What I love about their show is the fact that they allow for different types of crime and case files such as missing persons, murders, kidnappings, and even today’s relevant cases that are still unsolved and open. They offer a wide variety of respectful stories that tell us the lives of victims, perpertraters, and even bystanders involved in each case. And they also add their own input which makes it feel as though you’re hanging out with a few friends talking about the specific case.
To wrap up the goodness of their podcast, they also have a website where listeners who might have any information on open cases can call, comment, or even just peruse around to help out with a case. They’re involved with a system of people who call themselves ‘crime stoppers’ who are people just like you and me wanting to help out in any way we can. I think it’s great that they offer these types of services while still getting the word of the case out there to as many people as possible,and I do know for a fact that they have helped numerous families in their crime junkie journey.