Serial season one

The pod that started it all, Serial’s first season deals with the disappearance and murder of high school senior Hae Min Lee in 1999 — and the subsequent conviction of her classmate and ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed, for her murder. Reporter and host Sarah Koenig follows up on thousands of documents and trial testimony while also talking to everyone she can find, resulting in reams of research that raise even more questions about what really happened. The podcast’s immense success even led to a popular spinoff, Undisclosed, that continues to follow Syed’s battle to prove his innocence.

Episodes: 10 in season one

Length: 1 hour or less

Missing and Murdered

The first season centers on the unsolved 1989 murder of Alberta Williams in British Columbia, following reporter Connie Walker as she meets with the person who sent her the tip in the first place. Season two shifts its focus to Cleo, a young Cree girl who was apprehended by child welfare workers in Saskatchewan in the 1970s. Her family tells a different story, however, of how she was stolen, raped, and murdered.

Episodes: 18 over two seasons

Length: 1 hour or less

S-Town

From the same producers as Serial, S-Town quickly became the podcast everyone was talking about. Its single season follows John, a man who despises his Alabama town and wants someone desperately to investigate the scion of a wealthy family who’s been going around town saying he got away with murder.

Episodes: 7

Length: 1 hour

Dirty John

Debra Newell is a successful interior designer who meets the titular John. He’s handsome, available, and just back from a year serving with Doctors Without Borders. Then things start to unravel. You’ll be hooked from the start.

Episodes: 6

Length: 1 hour or less

Crimetown

Season one explores the dark underbelly of Providence, Rhode Island, where organized crime and corruption once ran rampant. Didn’t expect a Godfather-style saga of alliances, betrayals, heists, mobsters, and crooked cops from this sleepy New England state? Prepare to be shocked. Season two, focusing on a new city (the sleuths of Reddit seem to think Detroit), will be released in fall 2018.

Episodes: 18, plus 7 bonus episodes

Length: 1 hour or less

West Cork

Presented as an Audible Original from Amazon, it’s no surprise that this audiobook meets true-crime podcast saga was a hit. What we know: Sophia Toscan du Plantier was found murdered on the edge of her property in Ireland, just days before Christmas in 1996. But things just begin there. Follow along with journalist Sam Bungey and producer Jennifer Forde as they try to solve this brutal mystery.

Episodes: 1

Length: Almost 8 hours

In the Dark

In season one, you’ll learn about Jacob Wetterling, an 11-year-old boy who was kidnapped in rural Minnesota. Picking up 27 years later, reporter Madeleine Baran reveals major concerns with how law enforcement mishandled Jacob’s abduction — and how this failure fueled nationwide anxiety around stranger danger, not to mention the creation of the sex-offender registry. The lauded second season takes a different path with the case of Curtis Flowers, a black man who, over the past two decades, has been tried six times for the same crime — and has maintained his innocence throughout. A great dive into the annals of the justice system.

Episodes: 17 over two seasons

Length: 1 hour or less

A Killing on the Cape

From ABC Radio and 20/20, A Killing on the Cape offers a chilling look at the 2002 murder that rocked an idyllic Cape Cod town. Fashion writer Christa Worthington was found stabbed to death with her 2-year-old daughter unharmed by her side, and after a three-year search, the entire community was under suspicion. Ultimately, Worthington’s garbage man was convicted of her murder and rape — but it doesn’t end there.

Episodes: 6

Length: 1 hour or less

Someone Knows Something

David Ridgen follows a different case each season, starting with the mysterious 1970s disappearance of a 5-year-old Ontario boy. Ridgen is incredibly thorough and his sensitive Canadian approach sets Someone Knows Something apart from the pack. He knows the questions you want to ask and isn’t afraid to ask them. Worth noting: Season four offers a fascinating, well-reported deep dive into a mail bomb murder.

Episodes: 36 over 4 seasons, plus a few short updates

Length: 1 hour or less, although a few tip just over an hour

Up and Vanished

The entire series of Up and Vanished focuses on the unsolved disappearance of Tara Grinstead. Host Payne Lindsey examines the 11-year-old case — the largest case file in Georgia history — and re-interviews persons of interest in the case to see whether there’s something that was overlooked.

Episodes: 25 with many additional follow-up episodes

Length: 1 hour

Atlanta Monster

From the creators of Up and Vanished and HowStuffWorks, Atlanta Monster turns an eye to one of the darkest moments in the city’s history: The 1979–81 Atlanta Child Murders, a two-year period that saw the disappearance and murder of over 25 black children and young adults.

Episodes: 10 with a few additional follow-up episodes

Length: 1 hour

Accused

Reporter Amber Hunt digs into the murder of 23-year-old Elizabeth Andes, who was found dead in her Ohio apartment in December 1978. Incredibly well produced and researched, it’s Cincinnati’s Serial. Season two, just released, focuses on the murder of a prison minister.

Episodes: 17 over two seasons

Length: 1 hour or less

Death in Ice Valley

Combining two powerhouses, BBC World Service and Norwegian NRK, this series offers a spectacularly dark look into the Isdal Woman, an unidentified woman found in the icy wilds of Norway in 1970. Prepare for constant chills and plenty of mood.

Episodes: 10

Length: 1 hour or less