True crime podcasting goes daily with historical review

If True Crime is the poster child category of podcasting (and could someone please make a Serial-level new show that isn’t about crime?) its fans now have a daily touch point. Today in True Crime is a new show from Spotify-owned Parcast, the premise being a “this day in history” historical podcast.

It drops today. The press release from Parcast advises us to listen in Spotify, as a wholly-owned subsidiary should — and indeed that is the only place we could find it in a brief (and not comprehensive) search of podcatchers. Parcast assures us that the show is not a Spotify exclusive. The first episode is a 17-minute description of John Normal Collins, who was convicted of a murder on this date in 1970. His victim was 18-year-old Karen Sue Beineman. (The episode description says she was 21, while the spoken podcast says she was 18.)

The production style is single-person narrative performed by Vanessa Richardson (uncredited in the episode description). The narration pace is measured — one might say a little too slow. We set the playback speed at 1.2x, thanks to Spotify’s speed control, and that made the historical recitation sound more natural. Gentle music scoring is likewise understated, supporting the story without grabbing attention.

No sponsor is mentioned in the press release, show description, or in the show.

Brad Hill