12 Disturbing New True Crime Podcasts to Binge in 2023

Nina Holson was once a detective for in the UK. After she left, she began her own investigation firm that has grown into an international operation utilizing a team made up of former special forces operatives, Secret Service, and even ex-criminals. And now she’s bringing a glimpse into her investigations to the public. Every week, Nina will give listeners an inside look into her cases through psychological experts, informants, undercover operatives, and in some cases, the victims themselves. The podcast premiered on January 9, 2023, with new episodes releasing weekly.

Very few people report the thousands of hate crimes that happen throughout America every day. Of those reported, even fewer are investigated. Every week, hosts Saadia Khan and Asad Butt explore crimes motivated by race, religion, or sexual orientation and discuss whether they should be qualified as hate crimes. The podcast premiered on January 12.

Janessa Brazil is an adult entertainment star, but she probably isn’t actually sliding into your DMs. Her stolen photos have been used to catfish unsuspecting victims all over the world. Hannah Ajala investigates how Janessa’s image has been used to scam people out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, talking to both victims and the scam artists who prey on romance for a living. This eight-episode series releases on January 23, 2023.

Dr. Ronald Dante was a lot of things. A hypnotist. A scam artist. And Lana Turner’s last husband. His cons spanned decades from the nightclubs of Hollywood in the 1960s to opening one of the largest fake universities in history. Host Sam Mullins follows Dante from yacht clubs to trailer parks, all the way to his conviction in 2003. Episodes premiere on January 9.

After the explosive episodes detailing the rise and fall of the creator of Girls Gone Wild, Vanessa Grigoriadis and Gabriel Sherman are back. This time, they’re going behind the scenes into the sex cult NXIVM. After news of women being branded shocked the nation, the cult tried to change the narrative by giving Vanessa exclusive access to some of their high-ranking members, including Allison Mack and Seagram’s heir Clare Bronfman. This five-part NXIVM series premiered on December 22.

When a coroner can’t determine the cause of death, this vague classification is printed on the death certificate. Investigative team Jessica Noll and former-Detective Todd McComas dig into the unsolved case of Jessica Easterly Durning, who went missing from her New Orleans home in 2019. Days later her body was found, but the cause of death was never determined. The series premiered in December 2022, with new episodes releasing weekly.

Though this series is now complete, it’s well worth the listen. Journalist Emily Bicks takes listeners through the life of Wes Clark Jr, son of a NATO General and presidential candidate. After leaving the military to try a career in film, he believes he was the target of multiple assassination attempts and other intelligence operations. Whether his accounts are true or not, this story is fascinating.

The last thing Laurence Pilgeram’s family expected after the 90-year-old died was to be told that Laurence’s head was being held at a cryogenics facility to be reanimated in the future. Co-hosts Alaina Urquhart and Ash Kelley explore the morbid business of storing frozen heads with their signature pitch-black humor. Is it a scam? Unrealized science? It’s a story about life, the obsession with escaping death, and what possibly could come next. Episodes are available on January 23.

Every year, it’s estimated that over 100,000 people vanish. It was the last thing Jake Adelstein expected when his trusted friend and accountant disappeared unexpectedly right before tax day. There were warning signs that things weren’t all that they appeared. Together with co-host Shoko Plambeck, they search for answers into the terrifyingly common world of Japan’s johansu, or the evaporated. The first seven episodes are available now, with more expected weekly. 

In 1993, a group of men parked a van in the garage under the North Tower of the World Trade Center, hoping the bomb inside would topple one tower into the other, taking them both down. The explosion killed six, injured thousands, and left a massive crater five stories deep. This is the story of the joint task force of NYPD detectives and FBI agents embarking on a unique international investigation to find the men and bring them to justice. The first three episodes are available now, with more releasing weekly.

For thirteen years, the disappearance of Brittanee Drexel haunted her friends and family. And then in May 2022, new information gave the case new insight, but more importantly, a chance for answers and justice. Through interviews with Brittanee’s family and unprecedented access to the case files, investigative reporter Anne Emerson explores the most infamous missing person case in South Carolina. The first three episodes, plus a bonus episode, are available now, with new episodes releasing weekly.

Gimlet is back with a fourth season of their Conviction series with the story of rapper Max B. Over the course of five episodes, host Brandon ‘Jinx’ Jenkins walks listeners through the timeline of events starting with when the rapper heard about a bag full of cash sitting in a hotel room and ends in chaos. An easy grab devolved into kidnapping, a dead body, and a trial so messy you can’t help but question the justice system. All five episodes are available now.