Crime Writers On...

Journalist M. Gessen’s cousin Allen rubbed everyone in their family the wrong way, an annoying windbag who moved from one hustle to another. To win his custody dispute with his ex-wife, he tried to get her deported. He kidnapped their son and fled the country — twice. And finally, he was arrested by the FBI for hiring a hitman to kill her. With relatives holding different opinions on Allen’s actions, Gessen decided to dig deeper into the family dynamic. After talking with the people at the center of the affair, Gessen came to the conclusion that Allen is an idiot.

In “The Idiot” from Serial Productions and The New York Times, M. Gessen recounts what happened when their pompous cousin is implicated in a murder-for-hire plot. They offer a grim-yet-humorous look at a family dynamic punctuated by co-dependence and irritation.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE IDIOT" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 13 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

In Crime of the Week: I'm living on the air in Cincinnati. 

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This show was recorded in The Caitlin Rogers Project Studio. Click to find out more.

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In high school, Isolde Raftery and her friend wrote in the school paper about rumors that a popular science teacher had been inappropriate around students. Backlash followed, as the community rallied behind Tom Hudson and a misconduct investigation went nowhere. For years she lived with the accusations she ruined a man’s life. Now a seasoned journalist, Raftery revisits the case to answer whether or not Mr. Hudson was a predator, what investigators knew, and where were the adults who should have been protecting the students.

From the Peabody-nominated team at KUOW’s Focus comes “Adults in the Room.” Raftery gets classmates and investigators to say now what they wouldn’t say then. The podcast explores how Hudson pushed boundaries that were loosely enforced, and how his actions have affected his hero-worshipping students all these years later.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "ADULTS IN THE ROOM" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

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This show was recorded in The Caitlin Rogers Project Studio. Click to find out more.

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Temp worker Anthony Norman has been hired to assist on a small company’s staff retreat. CEO Doug Womack is about to turn over Rockin’ Grandma’s Hot Sauce to his son. But when Dougie Jr. makes a huge mistake, his father considers selling the family business to some shady investors. While smiling his way through bizarre seminars and twisted team building exercises, Anthony’s suspicion of the investors’ motives increases. But what he doesn’t suspect is that both the business and the documentary they’re shooting are fake — and everyone around him are actors.

The Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated, Peabody Award-winning team behind “Jury Duty” returns with “Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat.” This time, the hidden-camera, semi-scripted comedy has its hero provide emotional support to Rockin’ Grandma’s quirky staff, while trying to save this family business from corporate vultures. The show shoots for all the feels, simply by putting a regular person in a situation to do the right thing.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "JURY DUTY PRESENTS: CORPORATE RETREAT" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 13 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

In Crime of the Week: be kind, rewind.

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This show was recorded in The Caitlin Rogers Project Studio. Click to find out more.

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Documentarians are granted unfettered access to a civil trial and the deliberations of its jury. The panel includes Ronald Gladden, who takes his role earnestly. What he doesn’t know is that the judge, the lawyers, and his eleven fellow jurors are all actors. 

On this CWO Classic Rewind, we go back to our May 15, 2023 review of the format-breaking, heart-warming hidden camera series “Jury Duty.”

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This show was recorded in The Caitlin Rogers Project Studio. Click to find out more.

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In Montana, a man puts up a gate blocking access to a private road. Two Florida women feud over a strip of grass each claims is on their own property. And an Indiana man is aggrieved when his suburban neighbor raises livestock in the backyard. While their grievances are both odd and petty, so are the people at the center of the conflicts. Their oversized personalities are only matched by those of their neighbors’, and by the lengths they’re willing to go to annoy one another.

HBO’s “Neighbors” delivers a cavalcade of high-strung people and their low-stakes disputes over fences, security cameras, and general resentments about the people living next to them. The series uses the idiosyncratic disputes to make a statement about our modern world of rage, suspicion, and incivility.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "NEIGHBORS" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 13 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

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This show was recorded in The Caitlin Rogers Project Studio. Click to find out more.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.