my 5 favorite podcasts
We all have our favorites. Favorite shirts we wear again and again. Favorite songs we listen to over and over. Favorite meals we order every time at our favorite restaurants. And of course, our favorite podcasts.
Every day, I take a 5-mile stroll around the neighborhood, and almost without exception, I find myself turning to one of my favorite podcasts to keep me going. Every now and then, I venture into new territory and try something new, but eventually I always gravitate right back to one of my favorite talks.
Have you been looking for something new to listen to on your walk or in the car on the way to and from work each day?
Here are my favorite 5. One is from the most amazing writing expert I know. She has no equal. Three are true crime. Don’t you love it when a murder mystery turns out to have actually happened? And one is all about my all-time favorite mystery writer.
Who knows? One of these might be just the thing you’ve been looking for.
“Helping Writers Become Authors” with K. M. Weiland
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/helping-writers-become-authors/id319307387
I’ve been listening to K. M. for years, and I’ve read every book she’s published on writing. She’s been instrumental in my development as a writer and in shaping my stories. K.M.’s forte is story structure, plot, and the nuances of character development, which is really all the same thing. As the plot goes, so should the protagonist's development. The external conflict addresses the internal, and the internal solution solves the external. As she explains in her books and podcasts, writers should be fully aware of their hero’s wants and needs, and how his desire is a catalyst for the external circumstances of the story, It’s only when the character grows within himself that he is fully prepared to overcome the conflict that’s been pressed upon him. I came across her book Creating Character Arcs: The Masterful Author's Guide to Uniting Story Structure as I was writing my first novel, We Planned a Murder, and it revolutionized my understanding of writing. I highly recommend her book and her weekly podcasts to writers who want to become authors. Each podcast is about 20 minutes. Not too much to overwhelm you, but trust me, she’ll have you thinking about your writing for the rest of the day. You can learn more about K. M. Weiland, the rest of her books, and all of the amazing resources she has on her website www.helpwritersbecomeauthors.com.
“All About Agatha” with Kemper Donavan
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/all-about-agatha-christie/id1155061645
This is such a fun podcast! Begun in the fall of 2016, Kemper Donovan and his original co-host Katherine Brobeck set out to read and discuss and rank all 66 mysteries written by Dame Agatha Christie. Katherine sadly died five years into the project before she and Kemper completed their rankings. Incredibly Donovan carried on and completed the rankings just over a year later. And it wasn’t just the 66 novels he and Katherine discussed. They also went over every short story fearing Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, and Tommy and Tuppence (Jaxson and Holiday would be so proud!). And even now, with the rankings complete, he continues the podcast with guest interviews and other topics related to the writings of Agatha Christie.
A word of warning, however: since each episdoe is focused on one book there are tons of spoilers. I read about 3 of Christies a year, and when I have another one under my belt, I treat myself to the corresponding “All About Agatha” podcast on my walk. It’s such a pleasure listening to the book being discussed and analyazed after reading it. It’s like I’ve joined a book club while I’m walking!
Kemper is a frequent guest speaker at the International Agatha Christie Festival held every fall in Torbay, England, the birthplace of Christie. And he’s become an author as well. He’s penned two volumes of his “Ghostwriter Mystery” series with a third set to be published early in 2026.
If you would like to know more about Kemper Donovan and/or his “All About Agatha” podcast you can visit www.kemperdonovan.com
“Root of Evil: The True Story of the Hodel Family and the Black Dahlia”
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/root-of-evil-the-true-story-of-the/id1450277129
This story will shock you!
It begins when retired LA homicide detective Steve Hodel’s father dies. His half-sister, Tamar, calls him and casually mentions that their father had been the killer of Elizabeth Short, often referred to as The Black Dahlia. You may recall that in the late 1940s, Short’s bifurcated body was found lying in a field across from a neighborhood, the upper and lower portions of her body separated from each other. Steve is stunned by Tamar's words and sets out to prove her wrong with his investigative skills. What he discovers is that their father, George Hodel, had been the prime suspect in the murder of Elizabeth Short, and for very good reason. The more he investigated, the more he became convinced that his father, a genius with an abnormally high IQ who’d been a pianist prodigy as a child and gone on to become a celebrity LA doctor, not only killed The Black Dahlia, but possibly dozens of other women as well. Steve published his findings in a series of books, the last of which is Black Dahlia Avenger: Case Closed: The Definitive Edition. The podcast tells the story of how George Hodel became the root of all the evil in the Hodel family. It’s a story of sex and incest, of murder and evil and pain that lasted for generations, and of one little girl who survived only because she was saved by a ghetto.
You can learn more about Stevel Hodel and his investigation into the murder of Elizabeth Short at https://stevehodel.com
“Wicked Words: A True Crime Podcast” with Kate Winkler Dawson and “Ten-Fold More Wicked” with Kate Winkler Dawson
These two podcasts by Kate Winkler Dawson are really one and the same. With “Wicked Words,” Dawson interviews true crime authors to understand the effect of the story on the author, and with her sister podcast, she tells in stunning detail the story of a true crime that happened in the early twentieth century or as far back as the pre-American Revolution period. Dawson is a journalism professor at The University of Texas in Austin where she makes her home. About an hour in length, each episode takes you, as she likes to say, “on a deep dive into the story behind the story.” Dawson is also an accomplished true crime historian, having authored several publications on the subject. You can find out more about Kate Winkler Dawson and her podcast at https://www.katewinklerdawson.com.
“Redhanded” with HANNAH MAGUIRE and SURUTHI BALA
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/redhanded/id1250599915
Ready for some extremely irrelevant true crime from two of the funniest women you’ll ever hear? They’re loud. They swear. And they’re from England, too! I love their accents! “Redhanded” is hosted by Hannah McGuired and Suruthi Bala, and they’ve won the British Podcast Award gold award three years in a row. Back to back to back golden winners, and for good reason. These two ladies do their research and get down and dirty with the facts surrounding each case they investigate. Some of the stories you may have heard, but you won’t truly know what all happened until Hannah and Suruthi are done. Remember the Amityville Horror case? It’s not what you think. And there are many other stories you won’t know. I sure didn’t! Hannah and Suruthi have also penned a book, RedHanded: An Exploration of Criminals, Cannibals, Cults, and What Makes a Killer Tick. After years of research, MaGuire and Bala have a lot to say about the criminal mind. Let me warn you, these ladies do love to swear, so if that’s gonna offend you, this is not the podcast for you. But if you don’t mind a little colorful language throughout an otherwise serious discussion of true crime, you may have just discovered your next new favorite listen. You can learn more about Hannah and Suruthi and the “Redhanded” podcast at https://redhandedpodcast.com.
Well, there you have it. My favorite five. I can walk some serious miles listening to these guys. And when the walk is complete, I’ve done something great for my body and something wonderful for my mind.
What podcasts are your favorites? Email me and let me know. Who knows? One of your favorites could become mine too!