The Murder Media Podcast

Episode 11: Time for a cooling off period...

We made it! We made it to the end of the first series of The Murder Media Podcast. Stella has to go off and be a lecturer now, so, the podcast has to take a break. In this episode, Stella takes a look at how the actual book is shaping up, with a little walk through the chapters, some more of the case studies, and a sneaky look at what else is to come in The Murder Media Project. 
Thank you to everyone who has listened, liked, shared, and thank you to all of my brilliant guests. 
The Murder Media Podcast will be back..... this is just a cooling off period...
 
Sources used in this episode: 
Lotz, A.D. (2014). The Television will be Revolutionized. New York University Press
Nowell, R. (2011). Blood Money: a history of the first teen slasher film cycle. Continuum. 
Sharma, S. (2016). 'Netflix and the Documentary Boom,' in McDonald, K,. & Smith-Rowsey, D. (Eds). The Netflix Effect: Technology and Entertainment in the 21st Century. Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 143-155
 
Follow The Murder Media Project on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, or email directly at murdermedia81@gmail.com, or visit the website https://murdermedia81.wordpress.com/
 
 
Music:
 
Cybertruck by Mood Maze
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/mood-maze/cybertruck
License code: 2F2G6DAKEWYFVVC9
 
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/matrika/neon-desert
License code: VYEEJAZCIFRKWWPK
 
All music and trailer clips are used in the spirit of Fair Dealing (UK) and Fair Use (US Law). No copyright infringement intended.
 
 

Episode 10: Chatting with Dr Tom Watson about the West Memphis Three and the Paradise Lost trilogy.

This week Stella has a good long chat with Dr Tom Watson about a case that they both remember and both know in lots of detail: The West Memphis Three and their fight to get out of prison after being wrongly convicted of murder. Joe Berlinger's Paradise Lost trilogy of films is unpacked, alongside chats about the case and the heavy metal community, true crime documentary more generally, and Tom's weird connection between haircuts and true crime. 
 
Sources: 
Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (Berlinger, 1996) 
Note: For UK listeners the three Paradise Lost films are currently on NowTV. 
 
Bien-Kahn, J. (2022). 'The Man Behind Netflix's Jeffrey Dahmer Docuseries is a True Crime Hit Factory,' Bloomberg, October 20,https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-10-20/the-man-behind-netflix-s-jeffrey-dahmer-docuseries-is-a-true-crime-hit-factory?leadSource=uverify%20wall&embedded-checkout=true 
Echols, D. (2012). Life After Death: Eighteen Years on Death Row. Blue Rider Press. 
Watson, T. J. (2013). 'Rethinking History through Documentary: Paradise Lost and the documented case of The West Memphis Three,' in Mee, L,. & Walker, J. (Eds). Cinema, Television and History, New Approaches, pp. 200-222. Cambridge Scholars Publishing
 
Follow The Murder Media Project on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, or email directly at murdermedia81@gmail.com, or visit the website https://murdermedia81.wordpress.com/
 
 
Music:
 
Cybertruck by Mood Maze
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/mood-maze/cybertruck
License code: 2F2G6DAKEWYFVVC9
 
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/matrika/neon-desert
License code: VYEEJAZCIFRKWWPK
 
All music and trailer clips are used in the spirit of Fair Dealing (UK) and Fair Use (US Law). No copyright infringement intended.
 
 
 

Episode 9: True Crime and Ghosthunting: "It was JOHN!"

This week, Stella visits one of her fabourite YouTubers, Glam & Gore, and explores a video from the 2019 Halloween series where Mykie and friends stayed at various reportedly haunted locations. Merging historical true crime and ghosthunting, this YouTube video might just finally solved the 130 year old case of the Borden murders. Examining media crossovers of true crime, ghost hunting and the conventions of YouTube, this episode explores old and new media, the digital and the analogue, and their application to this very contemporary mode of true crime content. 
 
Glam & Gore video: 'Ghost told us who did the Lizzie Borden Murders' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_MbWnZHCmk&t=1404s
 
Glam & Gore video: 'I talked to a ghost at the haunted Chateau Marmont?' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP3QS-HciKo 
 
Glam & Gore video: 'I can't explain what happened in Salem.' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDzJkcUyVGk 
 
Sources: 
Koven, M. J. (2007). 'Most Haunted and the convergence of traditional belief and popular television,' in Folklore, vol 118(2), pp. 183-202 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00155870701337403 
 
Reed, W. (2017, October 30). Ghost Hunting in the 21st Century: Science or Science Fiction? Sciencebuffs.org https://sciencebuffs.org/2017/10/30/ghost-hunting-in-the-twenty-first-century-science-or-science-fiction/ 
Sconce, J. (2000). Haunted Media: Electronic Presence from Telegraphy to Television. Duke University Press
 
Follow The Murder Media Project on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, or email directly at murdermedia81@gmail.com, or visit the website https://murdermedia81.wordpress.com/
 
Music:
 
Cybertruck by Mood Maze
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/mood-maze/cybertruck
License code: 2F2G6DAKEWYFVVC9
 
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/matrika/neon-desert
License code: VYEEJAZCIFRKWWPK
 
All music and trailer clips are used in the spirit of Fair Dealing (UK) and Fair Use (US Law). No copyright infringement intended.
 

Episode 8: Murder Media Comics: Bleeding off the page.

This week Stella tackles true crime comics: graphic novels that tell tales of murder. First looking at Maids by Katie Skelly, the story of the Papin sisters and their brutal murder of their employers; then The Butcher of Paris written by Stephanie Phillips, which tells the unbelievable story of serial killer Marcel Petiot, a monstrous man who used the desperation of those fleeing Nazi occupied France to his advantage. And finally, Becoming Unbecoming by Una, a heartbreaking, poignant yet sadly recognisible to many, story of growing up in the shadow of the Yorkshire Ripper. 
 
Sources used in this episode: 
Hutcheon, L. (2006). A Theory of Adaptation. Taylor & Francie Group
McCloud, S. (1993). Understanding Comics. Harper Collins
Mee, L. (2022). Reanimated: The Contemporary American Horror Remake. Edinburgh University Press
 
Do check out And Now The Podcast Starts! Join Dan, Stella, Ian, and Kirsty as they chat about all things horror. You can find the podcast in all the usual places. 
 
Follow The Murder Media Project on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, or email directly at murdermedia81@gmail.com, or visit the website https://murdermedia81.wordpress.com/
 
If you would like PDFs of the images / panels I talk about, drop me an email or give me a nudge on Instagram of Facebook. 
 
 
Music:
 
Cybertruck by Mood Maze
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/mood-maze/cybertruck
License code: 2F2G6DAKEWYFVVC9
 
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/matrika/neon-desert
License code: VYEEJAZCIFRKWWPK
 
All music and trailer clips are used in the spirit of Fair Dealing (UK) and Fair Use (US Law). No copyright infringement intended.
 

Episode 7: True Crime and Comedy: ‘Do we need that many dicks?’

This week, Stella chats about two of her favourite podcasts: All Killa No Filla and The Last Podcast on the Left, and picking up from episode 5, their approaches to the Jeffrey Dahmer story. Told via the skills of stand up comedians, observational and sketch comedy, and improvisation, these podcasts re-present this well-worn story with a dark wit, woven into meticulous research. Episode 7 takes the fundamentals of how true crime is understood to deal with grisly details and subversive characters, yet at the same time, uphold law and order. What happens then, when these fundamentals collide with comedy?
 
Sources:
 
Gaynor, S. M. (2023). ‘Bones are life!’ True crime podcasting, self-promotion and the vernaculars of Instragram with Cult Liter, in, Popular Communication: The International Journal of Media and Culture, vol 22(1), pp. 1-16 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15405702.2023.2281581
 
Sherrill, L. A. (2020). The Serial Effect and the True Crime podcast ecosystem, in Journalism Practice, vol 16(7), pp. 1473-1494 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17512786.2020.1852884
 
The Last Podcast on the Left – Episodes 122, 123, and 124 cover Jeffrey Dahmer.
 
All Kille No Filla – Episode 10, Jeffrey Dahmer. This is a very early episode of All Killa, and the audio quality is a little muffled.  
 
Both podcasts are available via iTunes and Spotify.
 
Follow The Murder Media Project on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, or email directly at murdermedia81@gmail.com, or visit the website https://murdermedia81.wordpress.com/
 
 
Music:
 
Cybertruck by Mood Maze
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/mood-maze/cybertruck
License code: 2F2G6DAKEWYFVVC9
 
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/matrika/neon-desert
License code: VYEEJAZCIFRKWWPK
All music and trailer clips are used in the spirit of Fair Dealing (UK) and Fair Use (US Law). No copyright infringement intended.
 

Episode 6: Chatting to Dr Shellie McMurdo: Live, Laugh, Toaster Bath!

This week Stella is joined by fellow academic and all round legend, Dr Shellie McMurdo. We tackle the same questions from episode 4, and get to the bottom of such condundrums as:
What do we actually mean by celebrity? 
Could we take Bundy in a fight? 
Is Bundy as famous as Mr Blobby? 
Shellie is the author of Blood on the Lens: Trauma and Anxiety in American Found Footage cinema, published in 2022 with Edinburgh University Press. 
https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-blood-on-the-lens.html
Shellie's article on Tate in American Horror Story and its links to Columbine, can be found here: 
McMurdo, S. (2019). 'It's a filthy goddamn helpless world': Reimagining Columbine, Tate Langdon, and the spectre of school shooters, in European Journal of American Culture, vol 38(1), pp. 57-69
 
Follow The Murder Media Project on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, or email directly at murdermedia81@gmail.com, or visit the website https://murdermedia81.wordpress.com/
 
 
Music:
 
Cybertruck by Mood Maze
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/mood-maze/cybertruck
License code: 2F2G6DAKEWYFVVC9
 
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/matrika/neon-desert
License code: VYEEJAZCIFRKWWPK
 
All music and trailer clips are used in the spirit of Fair Dealing (UK) and Fair Use (US Law). No copyright infringement intended.

Episode 5: Cult Liter and Jeffrey Dahmer: "Bones are life!"

This week Stella examines a true crime comedy podcast, Cult Liter, with a close look at the episode that covers Jeffrey Dahmer. Exploring how true crime develops across digital media, Stella unpacks what drives users over on Instagram, and what happens when the drive to gain likes and follows, collides with Dahmer’s grisly tale.
 
Sources:
 
Caldeira, S. P. (2020). ‘It’s not just Instagram models:’ Exploring the gendered political potential of young women’s Instagram use, in Media and Communication, vol 9(2), pp. 5-15
 
Dumas, T., Maxwell-Smith, M., Davis, J., & Giulietti, P. (2017). Lying or longing for likes? Narcissism, peer-belonging, loneliness and normative versus deceptive like-seeking on Instagram in emerging adulthood, in Computers and Human Behavior, vol 71, pp. 1-10
 
Gaynor, S. M. (2023). “Bones are life!” true crime podcasting, self-promotion and the vernaculars of Instagram with Cult Liter, in Popular Communication: The International Journal of Media and Communication, vol 22(4), pp. 1-16 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15405702.2023.2281581
 
Hancock, D., & McMurtry, L., (2017). Cycles upon cycles, stories upon stories: Contemporary audio media and podcast horror’s new frights, in Palgrave Communications, vol 3(1), pp. 1-8
 
Hand, R., Hancock, D., & McCullum, V. (2019). Beware the untruths: Podcast horror in Trump’s America, in McCullum, V. (Ed). Make America Hate Again: Trump-era Horror and the Politics of Fear. Routledge
 
Horeck, T. (2019). Justice on Demand: True Crime in the Digital Streaming Era. Wayne State University Press
 
Schmid, D. (2005). Natural Born Celebrities: Serial Killers in American Culture. University of Chicago Press
 
Seltzer, M. (1998). Serial Killers: Death and Life in America’s Wound Culture. Routledge.
 
Sheldon, P. (2015). Social Media: Principles and Applications. Lexington Books
 
Follow The Murder Media Project on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, or email directly at murdermedia81@gmail.com, or visit the website https://murdermedia81.wordpress.com/
 
 
Music:
 
Cybertruck by Mood Maze
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/mood-maze/cybertruck
License code: 2F2G6DAKEWYFVVC9
 
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/matrika/neon-desert
License code: VYEEJAZCIFRKWWPK
 
All music and trailer clips are used in the spirit of Fair Dealing (UK) and Fair Use (US Law). No copyright infringement intended.
 

Episode 4: Chatting with best mate Laura (including Beyonce and J-Dog).

In episode 4 I am joined by Laura, my best mate of over two decades. We've always chatted between ourselves about true crime and cults, and this week we discuss where our interest in true crime started, what we watch and don't watch, and get to the really hard hitting issues, such as:
Why do we want to know the details of these crimes? 
Is true crime making inroads into inclusivity and diversity?
And is Jeffrey Dahmer as famous as Beyonce? 
Join us for a bit of a laugh as we scrutinize our own engagement with murder media content.  
If you want to puzzle over these questions too, and join in over on Instagram or Facebook, here is what I asked:
Where did your love / like of true crime start? Do you remember what you first watched or read?
Kinds of true crime that you don’t engage with – and why?
Do you watch / listen to / read about the same cases over again, and why? What do they offer?
What do you think has changed – if anything – in true crime in the last few years?
Is the deluge of Netflix documentaries adding anything to the genre?
Where do you stand on key scholars points on serial killers and celebrity status?
What do we learn from true crime content?
Note: When Laura mentions a Netflix documentary and recent news story, the name we meant is Lori Vallow, not Valentine. And that documentary is Sins of Our Mother, which can be found on Netflix.
I also realised when editing that I didn't introduce myself: I am your host, Dr Stella Marie Gaynor.
One more note: The sound isn't the best in this episode: Two people and one mic isn't the most ideal set up. 
Also mentioned:
Stolen: The Search for Jermain. This podcast is hosted by Connie Walker, and can be found on Spotify and all the usual podcast places. 
Klebold, S. (2016). A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the aftermath of the Columbine Tragedy. Ebury Publishing
Schmid, D. (2005). Natural Born Celebrities: Serial Killers in American Culture. The University of Chicago Press
Follow The Murder Media Project on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, or email directly at murdermedia81@gmail.com, or visit the website https://murdermedia81.wordpress.com/
Music:
Cybertruck by Mood Maze
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/mood-maze/cybertruck
License code: 2F2G6DAKEWYFVVC9
 
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/matrika/neon-desert
License code: VYEEJAZCIFRKWWPK
 
All music and trailer clips are used in the spirit of Fair Dealing (UK) and Fair Use (US Law). No copyright infringement intended.

Episode 3: What else can they add?

Lets finally be done with Mr Billy Bullshi*t, AKA Ted Bundy. In this episode, we look at the story when its is told by women. We'll look at an episode of the My Favorite Murder podcast, the brilliant documentary series from Trish Wood, Falling for a Killer, and we'll finish up with a more detailed look at Bailey Sarian's Murder, Mystery and Makeup series, and her episode on Ted. 
We'll explore the story when it is told with empathy, grief, and with a little more respect for the women directly connected to the story. 
You can find Falling for a Killer on Prime Video; My Favorite Murder in all the usual podcast places, and Bailey Sarian's channel is over on YouTube. 
Edit: That interview I mention with Bailey Sarian in The Guardian... it's not The Guardian! It was with BBC News. Linked below. 
Follow The Murder Media Project on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, or email directly at murdermedia81@gmail.com, or visit the website https://murdermedia81.wordpress.com/
Sources: 
Bruzzi, S. (2016). 'Making a genre: the case of the contemporary true crime documentary,' in Law and Humanities, vol 10(2), pp. 249-280
Gaynor, S.M. (2023). “What Else Can I Add?”: Inverting the Narrative through Female Perspectives in Falling For A Killer, My Favorite Murder, and Murder, Mystery & Makeup, in Larke-Walsh, G. S. (ed). True Crime in American Media. Routledge, pp. 180-195
Greer, A. (2018). 'Murder, She Spoke: the femake voice's ethics of evocation and spatialisation in the true crime podcast,' in Sound Studies, vol 3(2), pp. 152-164
Horecks, T. (2019). Justice on Demand: True Crime in the Digital Streaming Era. Wayne State University Press
Jordan, D. (2022). 'The YouTuber making millions from true crime and make-up,' BBC News. July 22. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61948546 
Seltzer, M. (1998). Serial Killers: Death and Life in America's Wound Culture. Routledge. 
The quotes from Wanda Sykes can be found in:
Willet, C. & Willet, J. (2019). Uproarious: How Feminists and Other Subversive Comics Speak Truth. University of Minnesota Press
 
Music:
Cybertruck by Mood Maze
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/mood-maze/cybertruck
License code: 2F2G6DAKEWYFVVC9
 
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/matrika/neon-desert
License code: VYEEJAZCIFRKWWPK
 
All music and trailer clips are used in the spirit of Fair Dealing (UK) and Fair Use (US Law). No copyright infringement intended

Episode 2: Ted Bundy Tapes: Who's fault is it anyway?

In the second episode, Stella takes a long hard look at Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, exploring the documentary form, the title credits, and a brilliant article from Bryann McCann. 
 
Sources:
Aufderheide, P. (2007). Documentary Film: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press
Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes (Netflix, Berlinger, 2019). 
Gaynor, S.M. (2022). ‘Better the Devil You Know: Nostalgia for the Captured Killer in Netflix’s Conversations With a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes,’ in Robinson, B. A, B., & Daigle, C. (eds). Serial Killers in Contemporary Television: Familiar Monsters in Post-9/11 Culture. Routledge, pp. 135-153
McCann, B. J. (2021). 'Duplicity and the Depraved Uncanny in Mediations of Ted Bundy.' Women's Studies in Communication. Vol 44(3), pp. 340-359
Murley, J. (2009). The Rise of True Crime: 20th Century Murder and American Popular Culture. Praeger Publishers.
Simpson, P. (2003). 'America's Scariest Home Videos: Serial Killers and Reality Television,' PostScript 22, vol2, 103
Smith, V. L. (2011). 'Our Serial Killers, Our Superheroes, and Ourselves: Showtime's Dexter,' Quarterly Review of Film and Video, vol 28(5), pp. 390-400
Watson, T. J. (2013). 'Rethinking History Through Documentary: Paradise Lost and the Documented Case of "The West Memphis Three,"' in Mee, L. &. Walker, J. (Eds). Cinema, Television & History. Cambridge Scholars Publishers. 
Music:
Cybertruck by Mood Maze
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/mood-maze/cybertruck
License code: 2F2G6DAKEWYFVVC9
 
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/matrika/neon-desert
License code: VYEEJAZCIFRKWWPK
 
All music and trailer clips are used in the spirit of Fair Dealing (UK) and Fair Use (US Law). No copyright infringement intended.