rule

Yeah, everything real crime always felt exploitative to me. I get shows about police and prosecutors framing people but the ones that focus on the crime and criminal itself are just playing into this weird American obsession with serial killers. Other then Breivik I can't name any murderers from Europe. We just lock them up and forget about them. No need to turn them into celebrities.

No Child of Mine (1997) and similar, that spread awareness of a broken system, shouldn't be in the same category.
accident investigation is basically the same thing but actually educational and useful to spread awareness of
Fritz Haarmann - Wikipedia https://share.google/gnGCgBy1GbzFIWmsu
Is rather well known. There even is a song about him https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=f5U3J069As8
- Tbh, that kinda proves the point if you have to reach back to 1925 to find another good example.
We have a better knowledge of war criminals running away from their doings than serial killer in this region. And i'm serious.
Harold Shipman
- Never heard of him.
  I know there was a guy in Poland called 'the Vampire of.. someplace' but I don't remember his name. There was also a guy called Rurabomber, setting up bombs all over Warsaw. He too was caught and forgotten. I'm sure you can find their names on wikipedia if you're into those things but they simply don't exist in popular culture.

Everything must turn into content and be monetized

Hello, my name is Gloomy, from barleynews.wtf
Would you allow us to cite your comment in an upcoming article about the link between consumerism and a new AI driven trend, where an app takes random screenshots of you during your day and posts them to your social media account with AI enhanced captions fully automated?
- I'll be cold and dead in my grave before I let AI scrapers cite me as a source.

Where is the line between brutally murdered and regular murdered?

One happens to a cute white woman, the other happens to everyone else. Same thing for kidnapping.
One hurts a bit more and a bit longer.
I feel like anything above a gunshot is brutal murder
The mess?
- This true crime podcast is brought to you by Clorox! Out, damn spot!

I used to be pretty neutral about it -people are obsessed with all kinds of weird shit, why is this any different- but then my cousin did some truly horrifying national news making shit (and then in an unrelated incident, another family member was murdered incredibly publicly...) and... oh boy. The truecrime community is full of some of the truly most self-absorbed, main character syndrome people. A particular favorite was when someone who'd been hounding a family member for details, and who was subsequently blocked for it, dug up their address and wrote them a physical letter asking for details, in pink ink.

Just. How tone-deaf do you have to be to think that's at all appropriate? what the fuck?

I like crime, it's interesting, but in 99% of the true crime I'm interested in nobody gets injured. Weird how the "truecrime" podcasts never seem to feature, like, elaborate fraud schemes, you have to go to the financial podcasts to find it (and oh boy are they awful in new and exciting ways!)

Have you done the "swindled" podcast? I agree with you that the white collar stuff is more interesting and likely much more impactful in society

I feel torn. On one hand, whatever floats your boat.

One the other, I think my biggest issue is that this stuff makes people more afraid of their fellow human beings because of incidents that make up like 0.0001% of all deaths.

You're more likely to die early if you are constantly alone/asocial for a number of causes. Worrying about being murdered and chopped up into pieces by some nutcase is an extremely irrational fear to cultivate. And I know that these shows do that: They do it to me every time I watch/listen to one.

I think its a bit insensitive to the dead person.
I've heard of families who get hounded by podcasters after a member gets murdered.
- Yeah, its insensitive to the survivors. That's definitely another issue, and pestering them for "juicy information" is pretty gross and callous.
  (The dead person doesn't care though, they're dead.)
A lot of people are drawn to true crime because they think it's educational - learning what not to do, learn about red flags, learn how to keep oneself safe.
Same reason a lot of people watch aircraft disaster documentaries while they're afraid of flying. It's not to get further scared due to the disasters themselves, but to learn what was done about the problems that led to the incidents.
- I feel like this is even worse. Can lead to 'didn't wanna get murdered? Shouldn't've dressed so slutty.' vibes.
- Yep, I'm an educational fan. The less I understand something, the more I'm drawn to find out more about it. Things like true crime are fascinating because I can't fathom the minds of the perpetrators. I want to know what drives them and makes them tick.
  I've had experiences with psychopaths and narcissists numerous times in my life, mostly before I started to explore this genre. I've been victimized and used, and when I learned about the the dark triad, it was highly empowering. I could finally make sense of the people I've been around and the events I've been through.
  I became more savvy and aware. I also got to start healing from what I'd been through. I came to understand more about the dynamics between victim and perpetrator, as well as what red flags to look out for to minimize chances of being in that situation again.
  Although there is an inherent insensitivity in the concept of "true crime" being a form of entertainment, there's no denying the educational value that many people derive from it. I can't be the only victim who's found empowerment from acquiring a better understanding of the criminal mind.
- If it were purely for utilitarian safety and educational purposes, that would imply a much smaller footprint of their time spent consuming that information than is typical of those that listen/watch to these podcasts and shows.
  Most people if they want to stay safe/live-long just need to socialize frequently, eat healthy, get enough sleep, and look both ways when crossing the street/drive safely. Because people don't do those things and they end up dead more often as a result of those things than axe murderers.

Murder porn enjoyers are fucking weirdos

Im a big true crime fan and find most "true crime" podcasts disgusting. It's really hard to find ones that talk about it in a respectful way.
- Last Podcast on the Left does a pretty good job I think. They’re also not exclusively true crime. They cover aliens, cryptids, magic, all kinds of weird and creepy things
- I enjoy casual criminalist mostly because I'm sucked into the whistler verse
  Not a huge fan of how bloodthirsty he gets but I can understand it after having to read all the scripts he has
Sorry you feel that way!

I do find true crime terribly interesting and have watched Forensic Files, Dateline, etc for years, and liked that there were podcast forms of these shows and more (Crime Junkie.) Every now and then though I get a recommendation for a new show and 15 seconds in I feel echoes of the "murder muffin" sentiment and I just feel gross. No thanks.

It feels a bit juvenile to find murders exciting, like you've recently learned what murder is and find it thrilling to think about.