The Best True Crime Podcasts to Binge Before VERDICT 2027
Nine of the best true crime podcasts running right now — every name, host, and detail verified. Load these into your player before you walk through the doors in August.
If you're looking for the best true crime podcast to binge before you walk through the doors of VERDICT 2027, you're in the right file. The true crime genre has produced some of the most-listened-to audio in history — Serial alone changed podcasting forever, and the shows that followed built a community 42 million listeners deep. Whether you're a longtime case file junkie or you're just building your first queue, these are the shows worth hearing before August.
Here are nine of the best true crime podcasts running right now — every name, host, and detail verified, ready to load into your player.
Serial
The show that detonated the modern true crime podcast boom. Hosted by journalist Sarah Koenig and co-created with Julie Snyder, Serial launched in 2014 with Season 1 — a week-by-week reinvestigation of the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee and the conviction of her ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed. It became the first podcast to win a Peabody Award and passed 300 million downloads, essentially inventing the serialized true crime format every show since has borrowed from. If you've never heard it, start at Season 1, Episode 1. It's the case file that opened the door for everything else on this list.
Crime Junkie
If Serial started the boom, Crime Junkie is the show that proved it was permanent. Hosted by Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat and produced by Flowers' audiochuck network, Crime Junkie releases new cases every Monday and has sat near the top of the Apple Podcasts charts for years. The format is straightforward — deep, well-researched storytelling about infamous and underreported cases — and the hosts' chemistry is the engine. Flowers has since built a true crime audio empire, also hosting The Deck and The Deck Investigates, but Crime Junkie remains the flagship. It's exactly the kind of show whose creators you could see recording live at a convention like VERDICT's Dead Air Row.
My Favorite Murder
The podcast that proved true crime could be funny without being disrespectful. Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark launched My Favorite Murder in 2016 and turned it into a cultural phenomenon — one of the most-downloaded podcasts of all time and a cornerstone of what's sometimes called the "true crime comedy" subgenre. The premise is simple: each host tells the other a murder story. The genius is in the tone — empathetic, funny, trauma-aware, and explicitly built around community and mental health. If you think true crime podcasts are all grim narration, this one will rewire your expectations.
Dateline NBC
The granddaddy of true crime, now in podcast form. Dateline NBC has been investigating real-life murder cases on television since 1992, and its podcast — featuring both current episodes and deep-cut classics from the archive — is essential listening. The correspondents are legendary: Keith Morrison (whose unmistakable delivery has become a meme and a national treasure), Josh Mankiewicz, Andrea Canning, and Dennis Murphy, with Lester Holt anchoring. If you want the long-form, network-grade, decades-deep version of true crime storytelling — the kind that influenced almost every podcast that came after — this is your show.
The Last Podcast on the Left
The most unapologetically intense show on this list. Marcus Parks, Ben Kissel, and Henry Zebrowski host The Last Podcast on the Left (LPOTL), a weekly deep dive into serial killers, cults, paranormal events, and the darkest corners of human history — delivered with a relentless, heavily-researched, deeply irreverent comedy style. It's not for everyone, and it knows that. But for listeners who want exhaustively researched multi-part series on everyone from Ted Bundy to Jonestown, paired with a level of gallows humor that keeps the material survivable, there's nothing else quite like it.
Criminal
The most literary show on this list, and arguably the most distinctive. Hosted by Phoebe Judge and co-created with Lauren Spohrer, Criminal is a weekly podcast about crime — but not just murder. Episodes cover everything from heiresses who rob banks to forensic entomology to the strange legal histories of ordinary objects. Judge's voice is the show's signature: calm, precise, almost cinematic, and utterly absorbing. Episodes are short (usually 20–30 minutes), beautifully produced, and the show has been named to the New York Times' best-podcast lists. If you want a true crime podcast that treats the genre as craft rather than content, start here.
Small Town Murder
Comedians James Pietragallo and Jimmie Whisman host Small Town Murder, a show that does exactly what the title promises: each episode examines a murder in a small town, layered with context about what makes that community tick. The hosts also run the companion show Crime in Sports, and their format — heavily researched cases delivered with genuine comedic chemistry and real respect for the victims and communities involved — has built a massive, loyal audience. It's a strong pick if you want true crime storytelling that leans into place and character as much as the case itself.
And That's Why We Drink
Hosted by Em Schulz and Christine Schiefer, And That's Why We Drink (ATWWD) is an award-winning weekly podcast where true crime and the paranormal meet. Each episode, one host tells a true crime story and the other tells a paranormal one — so you get murder and ghosts in the same sitting, delivered with warm, fast, best-friend chemistry. Launched in February 2017 and still going strong every Sunday, ATWWD has built one of the most devoted fan communities in the genre. If you like your true crime with a side of the supernatural and a lot of laughter, this is the binge for you.
RedHanded
The best true crime podcast coming out of the UK, and an essential listen for anyone who wants cases beyond the American canon. Hosted by Suruthi Bala and Hannah Maguire, RedHanded is a weekly show that delivers global true crime cases with sharp research, sharper wit, and zero sensationalism. The hosts met at a party, bonded over their shared true crime obsession, and turned it into one of the most award-winning and globally followed independent podcasts in the genre. If you've burned through the US heavyweights and want a fresh perspective — plus cases you almost certainly haven't heard — RedHanded is your next queue.
Where to Hear These Creators Live
Here's the thing about binging the best true crime podcast lineup before August 2027: a lot of the people who make these shows are exactly the kind of creators VERDICT is built to gather.
Dead Air Row — our live podcast studio floor — is where independent true crime podcasters record episodes in front of a live audience across all three days of the event. It's not a panel. It's not a meet-and-greet photo line. It's a working studio floor where the shows you listen to every week get made in real time, with you in the room.
If you're a podcaster yourself, that's also where you could be recording. The true crime convention 2027 lineup includes a Dead Air Row pod setup for participating creators — a 10×10 studio space on the floor, main-stage recognition, and VIP access for the weekend.
And if you're a fan, true crime convention tickets put you on that same floor — ten feet from the mic while someone you've only ever heard through earbuds works a case in person. That's the difference between listening to the genre and stepping inside it.
Your Next Move
VERDICT — An Event for Crime & Commerce. August 6–8, 2027. LeConte Event Center, Pigeon Forge, TN. From Conviction to Convention.