The True Crime Reader

Kristen Barenthaler
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  • True Crime
  • Updated Monthly

Step into a world where true crime and literature collide. The True Crime Reader guides listeners through some of the darkest cases ever put to paper. Join our monthly book club online on Fable for more in-depth discussions!

  1. 2d ago

    21 and Counting: How Math Beat the House

    Pull up a seat and shuffle the deck—this is The True Crime Reader, where we deal out the secrets behind the world’s most audacious, intricate true crime stories. Today’s episode dives into Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions by Ben Mezrich, the book that inspired a major motion picture and introduced millions to a heist like none before. But how much of this tale is fact, and how much is legend?

    19 min

  2. Apr 14

    A School of Secrets

    A school where children disappear may seem like a fantasy novel, but it was real life for the boys at the Dozier School...

    21 min

  3. Apr 14 ·  Bonus

    Kidnapped, Forgotten, Fictionalized

    Sally Horner's kidnapping inspired one of the most well-known books ever. Is this ethical journalism?

    9 min

  4. Apr 14

    Mindhunters

    The legendary life of Dr. Ann Burgess and the Mindhunters she inspired.

    9 min

  5. Apr 14 ·  Bonus

    Morbidly Curious

    Why do we slow down at a car accident? Why are horror movies so engaging? Why are we down another true crime rabbit hole?

    5 min

  6. Apr 14

    Murder on Sunset

    Join us in this discussion of the Turner-Stompanato affair and Casey Sherman's "A Murder in Hollywood".

    18 min

  7. Mar 18 ·  Bonus

    A Stolen Life: Jaycee Dugard and the Long Road Home (Podcasthon)

    Welcome back to The True Crime Reader, where we explore the stories that haunt us—and the people who live through them. I’m Kristen, and today’s episode is one of survival, resilience, and the long, painful journey of reclaiming a life once stolen. We’re talking about A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard—a memoir that doesn’t just recount a crime, but reclaims a voice. https://www.thejaycfoundation.org

    5 min

  8. Mar 10

    A Death in Belmont: The Strangler, the Carpenter, and the Wrong Man?

    Today we’re stepping into the uneasy intersection of personal history, racial injustice, and one of the most infamous crime sprees in American memory. Sebastian Junger’s A Death in Belmont is a work of creative nonfiction published in 2006, and it revisits a murder that occurred in the quiet suburb of Belmont, Massachusetts in 1963. The killing of Bessie Goldberg took place during the terrifying period of the Boston Strangler murders, which gripped the Boston area from 1962 to 1964. Junger’s book examines this single crime not only as a historical event but as a deeply personal mystery, because on the day Goldberg was murdered, Albert DeSalvo—the man who would later confess to being the Boston Strangler—was working as a carpenter in the Junger family home.

    5 min
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About

Step into a world where true crime and literature collide. The True Crime Reader guides listeners through some of the darkest cases ever put to paper. Join our monthly book club online on Fable for more in-depth discussions!

Information

  • Creator
    Kristen Barenthaler
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    18
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Kristen Barenthaler
  • Show Website
    The True Crime Reader