True Crime Podcasts - Stranger Than Fiction Theme - Halloween

Continuing our Stranger Than Fiction theme for Halloween, Quizmaster Tanner lined up four true crime podcasts. But one of them is a completely fake podcast that investigates a fictional crime! Our fearless hosts, Andi and Sups, must turn detectives to uncover which podcast is the imposter. Think you're a true crime expert? Tune in and see if you can find the fake podcast! 

Transcript

Andi 0:01

He had to quick think of that. He wasn't sure if he decided his fake podcast was over or not. man stalks girl, follows her around, murders her.

Sups 0:13

mean, now I'm just wearing like an investigator

Andi 0:16

like an investigator. Yeah, now

Sups 0:16

hat, right? Of

Andi 0:18

Now we're, we're, we're investing in it. This is a crime. The, Tanner's lies.

Sups 0:23

Exactly.

Andi 0:25

Hello and welcome to this episode of I Should Have Known, the trivia game show that can't be trusted. Each week, one of our quiz masters will present you with four facts about a topic, but one of those facts is a lie. And we are doing... Stranger than fiction this month to celebrate Halloween. And today we have quite a meta episode, our quiz master is Tanner. And he is going to be presenting you with a find the fake episode on true crime podcasts. So, he will tell us about four podcasts that cover true crime, except one of these podcasts he has invented, and it covers a fictional crime. So, some kind of crime from fiction that maybe we're supposed to know. I don't know. We'll see. So, join me, Andy, and our other host, Supes, in figuring out which one of his podcasts is stranger than fiction.

Tanner 1:17

It's about true crime, but one is not true. Yeah

Andi 1:20

Yeah.

Tanner 1:21

All right. so let's start with the pub quiz question.

Andi 1:24

Alright, PQQ.

Tanner 1:26

What true crime podcast did the New York Times call podcasting's first breakout hit?

Andi 1:33

Oh no.

Sups 1:34

I know we're podcasters, and apparently we're supposed to know things about podcasts, but, I have no

Andi 1:40

Yeah. Oh, what is that called? It's like one word.

Tanner 1:44

And it's

Andi 1:44

It's it's like... No, it's like, it's like, it's, it's,

Tanner 1:49

kind of like

Andi 1:49

it's kind of like a play on words. It's like... Cereal. Cereal. Oh, yes, I got it.

Sups 1:56

Yeah, that's true. Yeah.

Tanner 1:58

Yeah, so it's a pun on serial crimes and serial episodes. in

Andi 2:02

Yes, okay. the whole true crime genre is like, yeah, not my thing. So, this should be very

Tanner 2:09

was an easy one. That was like, low ball.

Andi 2:12

I

Sups 2:12

think I've listened to Like, five minutes of, true crime podcasts.

Andi 2:15

Oh my god, So, do you think that someone who's into True Crime Podcasts, would this be super easy to them? Yeah. Okay. It'll be entertaining for you to hear how, uh, stupid we sound because we don't know who we're talking about. It should be fun. But I want to reiterate so you're invented a fake

Tanner 2:32

Mm-hmm. and that

Andi 2:33

and that fake podcast covers a fictional crime. So it's kind of a two ways to approach this. So we'll see, we'll see how that

Tanner 2:42

that goes. So, actually, all of these podcasts cover multiple crimes, but it's, like, one.

Andi 2:47

Incident.

Tanner 2:49

Some of them are bloody,

Andi 2:50

them are, Alright, but we're not debating if the crimes happened. We're debating if someone made a podcast, so. Okay. Okay.

Tanner 2:57

Podcast number one, The Shrink Next Door. The crimes covered in this are manipulation, coercion, and fraud. And So it tells the story of a shrink who. slowly, through psychological manipulation, takes over his patient's life. He isolates him from his family. has him transfer over his assets And there's eerie emotional control exerted over him.

Andi 3:23

That's creepy. And tell us about the podcast.

Tanner 3:26

So the host of this podcast is Joe no Sarah through personal interviews and investigative journalism, he uncovers how this shrink took over this other guy's life.

Andi 3:37

Okay. So each episode is talking about like an element of

Tanner 3:40

mm-hmm..Exactly. Here are a couple episode names. Welcome to the neighborhood. Sibling rivalry. and the decision.

Andi 3:49

Okay.

Sups 3:50

is this podcast still running?

Tanner 3:51

No. it's over.

Andi 3:52

Okay. He had to quick think of that. He wasn't sure if he decided his fake podcast was over or not.

Sups 3:58

And I'm guessing this is an American podcast? Yes. Okay,

Andi 4:02

Interesting.

Sups 4:03

The shrink next door.

Andi 4:04

Okay, this is interesting because what I know, what little I know about true crime. It's that it's murders, and like, usually women, and it's always the husband. Um,

Sups 4:15

The woman is blonde.

Andi 4:16

yeah, right, she's a white woman, obviously, come on, we just, So it's interesting that we started off with something that's not murder, creepy, and gross, but not murder.

Sups 4:27

Mm-hmm.

Andi 4:27

And so it's kind of one of those things where it's like, do I think people would want to listen to that?

Sups 4:33

Yes. I agree to the point that this is not your standard True Crime Podcast, right?

Andi 4:38

I mean, but what do we know?

Tanner 4:39

mean, but

Andi 4:40

We have established we don't really know.

Sups 4:43

But What I really liked, he said that this was like, he actually went and interviewed like the real characters of this crime. Right?

Tanner 4:51

Yeah. Personal

Andi 4:52

Or people.

Sups 4:53

Or people. Or people, yeah. Okay.

Andi 4:55

Soups already is suspicious of this one.

Sups 4:58

that's very interesting.

Andi 4:59

Hmm.

Sups 5:00

well, I have to say, honestly, I've never heard of this host.

Andi 5:04

He's sitting being, I've never heard of you either.

Sups 5:06

so, But just the plot itself, I think it's like quite interesting. I really liked the plot.

Andi 5:10

Yeah, I think this one's probably real. Yes. Because I do think people would be interested in hearing about psychological manipulation

Sups 5:20

Yes.

Andi 5:21

And also, Do. I think Tanner would've come up with that. There wasn't really anything about the podcast itself that told us much.

Sups 5:29

Hmm. is why I think this is true.

Andi 5:31

okay.

Sups 5:32

we know a thing or two about lying right after lying for four years. I think the description was really straightforward, and this comes from the show notes, which is what makes me think that he didn't try to, like, you know, make it, a little bit twisty, turny, like, you know,

Andi 5:46

That makes it a little suspicious, but I'm, I'm not sure. We'll have to definitely have to hear more.

Tanner 5:51

it a Podcast number two A Life at Stake. the crimes of stalking, abuse, Cantata, it tells the story of this woman who gets in a toxic relationship with this guy who stalks her, moves across country lines to follow her, abuses her, eventually murders her. Okay, so, Journalist Vanessa, she tells the story through letters and journal Pistolary podcast.

Andi 6:21

Okay.

Tanner 6:22

The episode titles include Nightfall, The Transformation, and The Hunt Begins.

Andi 6:28

Okay.

Tanner 6:29

It is not around anymore. It was about seven episodes.

Andi 6:33

Oh. A very short one season run. This one was a little more interesting as far as the elements of the podcast goes. Because making it more of a narrative, more like a story, less of just like, This happened, and I interviewed these people, which is interesting, but like, Okay,

Sups 6:49

the name of the host, that's such a podcaster name. Like a Vanessa Shout out to Vanessa. you have, great true crime podcast name But I'm also very, very suspicious about this one. actually. definitely more suspicious than number

Andi 7:04

suspicious than number one.

Sups 7:06

My head just goes to like... Four or five Netflix series that I can think of from the plot.

Andi 7:11

Well, sups, I can't be the first person to tell you this. Yeah. But men murder a lot of women. So,

Tanner 7:18

a new concept.

Sups 7:19

So... Oh wow! Thank you for enlightening me. I had no idea.

Andi 7:24

But yeah, there are a lot of stories of man stalks girl, follows her around, murders her. So

Sups 7:32

it's more common than we would like to think about

Andi 7:35

I, yeah, I mean, I feel you that the plot doesn't sound particularly unique, which that's a good point, like why this crime? I'm guessing that the whole crossing international lines is more interesting and Tanner just kind of like. He doesn't want us to know What I liked is that, and it makes me both suspicious and makes me feel like it's real. Is that it's creative. I mean, it's epistolary. It's all like letters and stuff. So

Sups 8:01

that element, I really liked

Andi 8:03

yeah. So that's either like a really cool setup for a podcast. And that would make sense that Tanner would, it would pop up as like, this is a cool true crime podcast. Or it's an epistolary novel that he based the crime off of.

Sups 8:15

of. it. Yeah,

Andi 8:16

So I'm more suspicious of this one than the first one. The first one was much more vanilla than this one.

Sups 8:22

you say the title was a life at Stake? Okay, that's a cool title.

Andi 8:27

maybe we should hear some more. See what we think. podcast

Tanner 8:29

Podcast number three, S Town. The crimes covered in this podcast are suspected murder, a possible cover up, corruption, and suicide. That's

Andi 8:42

Oh. That's why I paused. I was like, huh.

Tanner 8:44

So, host Brian Reed investigates through interviews and actually going to S Town, The son of a wealthy family who allegedly Has been bragging that he got away with murder. along the way, a nasty feud takes place. A hunt for hidden treasure. And another Unexpected body

Andi 9:06

Okay.

Tanner 9:06

the podcast? It's through interviews, it's 7 episodes. Some titles would be We're such haters. Instead of the first one, it's, If you keep your mouth shut, you'll That's a chapter. That's, they're really, like, quotes or,

Sups 9:20

okay, okay, I see.

Andi 9:21

You don't, or and you don't really need the titles anyway'cause you're just autoplaying through through it.

Sups 9:26

Yeah.

Andi 9:27

that makes sense. But okay. Brian or Tanner, those are not very good titles. I'm just gonna throw that out there, I'm sorry to say!

Sups 9:33

Can I just say, when you were saying this, I just felt this is like a 90s Bollywood movie. I swear, I could pick up. Yes, I could just totally imagine like at least two movies I know which have the exact same plot line that you just described.

Tanner 9:47

plot.

Sups 9:47

Like a rich dude, like, you know, bragging with his friends, you know, like that girl or whatever, Murdered. Yeah, it's

Andi 9:54

Yeah, I guess this time now, instead of being like, just men are terrible now, rich men, yeah, this, again, this story has been told many times do we think Tanner went into the Bollywood archives for his fiction? that would be a

Tanner 10:09

That

Sups 10:09

Yes. twist. I mean, yes.

Andi 10:11

And the podcast, question S town. Is it actually called S town or did you just not want to say the name of the

Tanner 10:19

name of the town? It is actually called S Town. S Town. S town.

Andi 10:22

Okay. Oh, that's interesting because I was thinking maybe he like, didn't want to say the name of the town because it'd be too obvious. I don't know why, it's like, thinking like anime or something when you say that. But I don't know. When you first said that, I immediately was thinking of Pokemon for some reason.

Sups 10:39

And this one also has seven episodes.

Andi 10:41

Yeah.

Sups 10:42

mean, now I'm just wearing like an investigator

Andi 10:44

like an investigator. Yeah, now

Sups 10:45

hat, right? Of

Andi 10:46

Now we're, we're, we're investing in it. This is a crime. The, Tanner's lies.

Sups 10:51

Exactly. I mean, the number of episodes is the Same as the second podcast. That's interesting. Why would he choose that? the episode titles, I'm sorry.

Andi 11:00

It kind of sounds like an AI came up with those names.

Sups 11:03

So, that's what makes me one, think that this is a possible fake one. The fact that I have this vague connection but also the name Brian Not a super PO like Vanessa, that's a podcast. You name like Brian.

Andi 11:17

just talking about people's

Sups 11:19

I mean,

Andi 11:19

You're really grasping at straws here. Um, but the crime itself was Bonkers, like it definitely sounds like something you would want to cover in a podcast because or some kind of show because it's very interesting or it's fiction, right? Like it's too, there's a treasure hunt at some point, you said I mean, that's larger than life. That's stranger than fiction. I think. so it's tricky. It's tricky. We have one more. See if you can wow us with this one. Cause otherwise we're going with the middle two.

Tanner 11:55

Podcast number four called Dirty John. Yeah.

Sups 12:01

Okay, fine.

Tanner 12:02

That's the name.

Sups 12:04

Okay. cool.

Tanner 12:05

The crimes covered are theft, endangerment, stalking, and attempted murder. The Host is Christopher Goffard, and he covers, again, a toxic relationship between a guy named John and this woman, and he starts out, you know, available, handsome, attentive, and he It increasingly Turns dangerous, deceptive and ultimately it's the woman's fight for survival. And so Christopher, Tells it in a narrative, using interviews, police reports, documents to further expose John. It is. Yes. Six episodes, episode titles are Newlyweds, Forgiveness, and Escape.

Sups 12:52

Cool. Was podcast number one, also six episodes, right? Yeah.

Andi 12:56

These all have a very short run.

Sups 12:57

Yeah.

Tanner 12:58

A very short run. Yeah, well, they're usually like 45 to 60 minutes. so they have Fewer episodes in a season. and Some of them only did one season.

Sups 13:05

of all the four podcasts that I've heard, this one sounds the most real to me. In terms of like the format and the setup and the crime itself, I think This is something that... people would want to hear. Yeah. that's my feeling.

Andi 13:18

I was going to say kind of the opposite where it sounds so contrived that it's like, well, yeah, this is, among the true crime I could come to the same conclusion, but for the opposite reason that like to me, this is what true crime podcasts, this is what they're about. This is the story. Some guys, Mr. Perfect. And then. Turns

Tanner 13:38

Dirty.

Andi 13:38

I cannot that name. I'm sorry, but like, no. So like that's the plot of like every true crime podcast. guess no one actually got murdered in this one. It was, we only have attempted murder. So that's nice, I guess.

Sups 13:52

One life saved.

Andi 13:54

do we think that Tanner invented that title? I don't know.

Sups 13:58

Yeah. In this case, I would like to give Tanner some credit because I think if he were to invent, he would not come up with Dirty John. I have higher expectations from him.

Andi 14:08

I would like to invent it, he would not come on. I have higher expectations. We would be like, that's ridiculous. We would just laugh him right out of this room, be like, get out of the studios. Like that's ridiculous. So, yeah, I feel like someone else must have done that. What, what does that mean? Like, is that like a pod? Christopher explain yourself,

Sups 14:26

please.

Andi 14:26

Like it's dirty. Is that a pun?

Sups 14:28

I'm trying to think. It's like a euphemism for

Andi 14:31

something. I know, right? Exactly. I'm like,

Sups 14:33

Dirty John.

Andi 14:34

Is that like a phrase from something? I don't know.

Sups 14:36

Like, I can't imagine.

Andi 14:38

Okay, but yeah. There was nothing really about the Description of the podcast itself. That really told me much. It was kind of like the first one where it was just a little bit like, Hmm. It's just they tell the

Sups 14:47

Yeah.

Andi 14:48

Okay. Well, we've heard all the true crime podcasts and the crimes that inspired them. But one of them is a Tanner fake. covering a fictional crime, but before we guess which one is stranger than fiction, Tanner, can you please repeat the four podcasts for us?

Tanner 15:13

podcasts? Sure. Podcast number one, The shrink next door. Podcast Number two, a life at stake. Podcast number three, S Town. And podcast number four, Dirty John. One of those is a fake podcast about a fictional crime.

Andi 15:33

a Tanner Schrenk original. We didn't really talk about the names of the hosts, because they don't really give anything away. like Tanner invented one of these names or it from somewhere. So like,

Sups 15:44

What was the first host's name?

Tanner 15:46

You

Sups 15:47

Joe. So we've got Joe. Vanessa.

Andi 15:50

Brian and

Sups 15:52

and Christopher. Okay.

Andi 15:53

Christopher's last name was the only one that sounded like, Tanner didn't come up with that. You know,

Sups 15:59

but I also like that we have a female representation. in the trip, So that's

Andi 16:02

Yeah, that's true. Yeah. Assuming that one's real.

Sups 16:06

But Vanessa is a very cool name.

Andi 16:08

it's funny because to me that's the one I'm most suspicious of.

Sups 16:12

What are your first thoughts?

Andi 16:13

the second one is suspicious because of the podcast structure, not the crime. And the third one is suspicious because of the crime, not the podcast structure.

Sups 16:25

Yeah. You're bang on. I think 100%. I have nothing additional to add to your commentary on, the second and the third podcast. I agree. For me, the third story is bizarre. I don't think this is an American setup. The second one sounds very TV ish, it's time to pick one. So which one are you going with I'm gonna go with number I'm gonna go with Number three, then. but

Andi 16:50

yeah, yeah, yeah.

Tanner 16:51

Alright. So you're picking two and three? Yeah. Okay. The good news is that one of you is right. Yeah. So our listeners can tune in to the other two.

Andi 17:00

We were pretty confident in that. Yeah.

Sups 17:03

Pretty good detective

Andi 17:04

Yeah, I think so.

Sups 17:05

Yeah.

Tanner 17:05

Yeah. great job. The Shrink next door really is about this weird. doctor. And Dirty John really

Andi 17:12

does team. That's my only problem with that is the name. Yeah. Yeah. And dirty. Is that a pun? Am I missing something with the name of that show? Yeah, you're doing well. You can explain

Tanner 17:23

it.

Sups 17:23

show? They

Tanner 17:23

the fake one is number two. Yes.

Andi 17:27

I also have a suspicion of what the fiction is. Oh,

Tanner 17:32

you

Andi 17:32

think is? I think I know.

Tanner 17:34

What's the crime or who's the

Andi 17:36

You gave yourself away for two reasons. One, you made it epistolary. yep with letters and then you couldn't resist a pun in the title Because it's a life at stake as in what you use to murder a vampire because it's

Tanner 17:53

you

Andi 17:53

Yes I

Tanner 17:55

it's Dracula. Yeah, exactly, yeah. I couldn't

Andi 17:56

He couldn't resist I

Tanner 17:59

You I wanted like a taste for blood. or, like,

Andi 18:03

a little bit To get it, and then I asked the name again, and I was like, That, M. Effer put a pun in his fake title.

Sups 18:11

Yeah.

Tanner 18:12

Yeah. So I made up Vanessa Cantata.

Andi 18:14

Yeah. How? Right.

Sups 18:15

I said that's a very cool podcasting name. Like how did you come

Tanner 18:19

So So I wanted a woman and I took a character in Dracula named Van Helsing. And I made Van Vanessa, and then I was like, okay, how did I get Helsing? I was like, sing. And then the word Cantata just occurred to me, so I'm like, that sounds like, a podcaster name. Yeah.

Andi 18:34

to

Sups 18:37

Auntie, you want to take that as like your stage name? Like we just change it to like, to Vanessa. I don't know, it's like, hosted by Tenor Soups and Vanessa. Now that sounds so cool. That's a podcast I would listen to.

Andi 18:51

to take that name? It's a good time. Is that my drag name Me with my man's name over

Tanner 18:57

podcast y enough name to

Andi 18:59

My boy's name.

Sups 19:00

don't. what about the third podcast?

Tanner 19:02

So S Town. They named it S Town because it's short for Town.

Andi 19:06

What?

Tanner 19:07

I don't know. The explanation doesn't really help. this guy hates his town in Alabama. He calls it a town. And he calls in NPR, and he's like, investigate this rich guy. He keeps saying he killed somebody. and so they come down and investigate So it's actually made by the same people who made Cereal. So, This American Life people.

Andi 19:25

I mean that, crime that it's based off of Sounds stranger than fiction. Yeah.

Sups 19:29

fiction.

Andi 19:29

But yeah, you couldn't resist the pun and it gave you a way Yeah. That it was

Sups 19:36

But also to be honest, when you were doing this description that's the exact also plot line. for This Netflix TV series, You.

Tanner 19:44

Netflix TV series

Sups 19:47

relationship. Yeah. Toxic relationship. Talker, crossing international B, boundary

Andi 19:52

Maybe they were inspired by

Sups 19:54

Who knows? I mean, that was also a novel, and that's why I was asking like, you know,

Andi 19:58

oh, that's what you're thinking.

Sups 20:00

yeah,

Andi 20:00

the fact that it was letters also kind of gave it away, but it was the pun and the name that did you in it was the stake in the heart of your lie.

Tanner 20:08

Yeah. I couldn't resist.

Andi 20:10

Alright, but it was spooky getting, getting Dracula in

Tanner 20:13

there for Halloween. One of the

Andi 20:14

So,

Tanner 20:15

costumes, right?

Andi 20:16

spooky. spooking it up. So

Sups 20:18

well done.

Andi 20:19

I, should have

Sups 20:20

I should have

Tanner 20:20

known. I should have known.

Andi 20:22

Thanks for listening to this episode of I Should Have Known. We will be continuing with our Stranger Than Fiction theme for the rest of the month, celebrating Halloween. Next week, I will be your quiz master and I'm going to be talking about cryptids beyond Bigfoot. So be on the lookout for that, or on the hunt, maybe? Well, we'll see. And as always, thanks for there's no Hippocratic Oath for dominatrices, okay?