True Crime Obsessed · True Crime Obsessed

True Crime Conversations: Gillian Pensavalle, Alvin Williams, and Lanie Hobbs

December 21, 2025·1 hr 6 min·5 clips

Alvin reveals why he launched Affirmative Murder after noticing no Black men in true crime podcasting.

This episode features True Crime Obsessed host Gillian Pensavalle in conversation with fellow creators Lainey Hobbs from True Crime Cases with Lainey and Alvin Williams from Affirmative Murder. They discuss their personal journeys into podcasting, their creative processes, and the evolving ethics of true crime content. Gillian explains she started with a Hamilton-themed podcast before co-founding True Crime Obsessed with Patrick Hinds after bonding over documentaries. Alvin launched Affirmative Murder in 2017 to bring a Black male perspective he felt was missing from the genre. Lainey began her podcast after seeking deeper historical details in cases than other shows provided, with Albert Fish being her first episode. Alvin notes his show is a true crime comedy podcast, while Gillian's recaps documentaries. Lainey, who has a history degree, emphasizes her focus on deep research and victim details. Alvin describes initially holding back his political and social commentary for years before embracing it as integral to the stories. Gillian details her intensive preparation, watching a documentary multiple times to create roughly 40 pages of notes before recording. She and her co-host record two episodes per session, balancing lighter topics with heavier ones like the Hulu documentary "Stalking Samantha." A surprising insight is that Alvin and his co-host took an improv acting class to improve their on-mic chemistry and do breathing exercises before recording. Gillian reveals she sometimes experiences personal flashbacks while covering difficult topics and must pause during recordings. Lainey shares that returning to recording after a personal break, like following her father's passing, can induce anxiety. The hosts agree that creators must develop their own ethical standards and not capitulate to every piece of audience criticism to avoid losing their authentic voice. They discuss the challenge of audience members who lack media literacy or engage in "whataboutism," often missing the specific context of a documentary discussion. Alvin stresses the importance of recognizing a baseline "floor" for ethics in the space, like not exploiting crime scene photos, while allowing for different styles above that line. The conversation is casual, confessional, and supportive, with hosts sharing vulnerabilities and laughing about their early technical mishaps, like Alvin being sent overly complex condenser microphones. Fans interested in the behind-the-scenes realities of podcasting, from research methods to handling listener feedback, will find this episode engaging. Listeners seeking a structured analysis of a specific criminal case or those uncomfortable with candid discussions about creator mental health might choose to skip it.

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