True crime, blunt opinions and a best friend's candor.
Host Katie tells cases like the Menendez brothers trial and the 1993 Petaluma case of 12-year-old Polly with a best friend's candor, jokes included. Between the case details she speaks plainly about abortion access, school lockdown drills and showing up in your own city.
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Suspect Podcast is a true crime show hosted by Katie, and she makes no attempt to hide where she stands. An episode can open like a friend picking up the phone: she greets listeners as her angels and tells newcomers and regulars alike that this is a safe space. Then the case begins. The Menendez brothers trial gets a close look at its procedure, from the separate juries for Eric and Lyle to their self-defense claim, which rested on alleged years of sexual and emotional abuse by their parents. Polly's story begins with who she was, a bright 12-year-old rehearsing for her school play who invited two friends to a slumber party in Petaluma in October 1993. Katie names Richard Allen Davis and warns that he will make listeners' blood boil. Even there, the humor stays in the room. She stops to note that Polly had her life more together at 12 than Katie did, since Katie was still working out how to use eyeliner. With Marcellus Williams, the focus is on the witnesses, Henry Cole and Laura Asaro, and on the confessions each claimed he made to them. That episode ends with an appeal to share it on Instagram in the hope of postponing his execution so the investigation can continue. At times the show leaves the case file behind entirely. 'Can’t Spell Uterus' traces the history of abortion access: a federal Medicaid funding ban that hit poor women hardest, harassment outside clinics, and the murders of doctors. Katie's verdict is blunt. She argues the movement was about control, not life. 'This Podcast Is Not For You' looks back on growing up with active-shooter lockdown drills, starting in elementary school. In 'Brutal Operations', a guest named Noah shares the mic for a looser conversation that takes in a preacher's confident cadence and a stay-at-home partner who resents the breadwinner's work travel. Katie is also open about how much work it takes to keep a podcast going. She quotes the creator KevOnStage on the first 100 episodes being the hardest, and she talks about the discipline of turning the mic on anyway. Her sign-offs carry the show's conscience: protect children, women and immigrants, and show up in your own city. She also asks listeners to send cases and suggestions through the show's Instagram. For a first listen, 'This Guy!' shows the case-driven side, and 'Can’t Spell Uterus' shows how far the commentary goes. There is a lot of profanity, and she never softens her opinions.
Made for: Suits a listener who wants case walkthroughs told in a chatty, confiding voice and who is happy to hear outspoken political commentary and strong language alongside the facts.
What sets it apart: Suspect Podcast does not keep its views out of the story. Katie puts her commentary on abortion, school lockdown drills and a pending execution right into the true crime, and several episodes end with concrete asks instead of a neutral goodbye.
Katie here! I’ve had a weird obsession with true crime since I was a girl. I remember watching forensic files by 10 (not your average Disney fan girl like ever). The weirdest thing that ever happened to me was when I tried to write a research paper on Ted Bundy, at 13, it freaked my teacher out, she called my dad worried. My dad told her I wasn’t interested in things other people perceived as intriguing. He was right, and still is 15 years later. Part of me feels like I can solve these cases myself, so join me as I try to. Therapy (sorta) and mediocre comedy included.
Katie's Halloween chatter precedes the Menendez trial; your taste for detours has found company.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A personal, openly argued case for abortion access and the stakes of returning the issue to the states.
Abortion rights drive this forceful episode of Suspect, which traces the issue from unequal access to the safety Katie says Roe gave millions of women, and then to the June 24, 2022 reversal that returned the question to the states.
Katie's Florida catch-up gives way to a furious, intimate account of Polly's 1993 abduction.
Episode 64 begins with Katie back in Florida, talking through a summer threaded with country concerts, before turning to Polly's 1993 abduction in Petaluma. The shift is stark.
Katie’s return connects Columbine to the school-safety fears children are taught to treat as routine.
Suspect Podcast brings Katie back to the microphone with a loose, personal opening about wine, workday fatigue, and the long break between episodes before turning to Columbine and the lockdown drills that became a familiar part of American school life.
A conversational return to the Menendez trial, where abuse claims and an unusual courtroom setup complicate a double murder case.
Suspect opens in an easy, conversational mode before settling into the Menendez brothers' murder trial, moving from seasonal chatter into a case defined by an unusual courtroom structure and allegations of long-term abuse.
Katie and Noah fold Steven and Tara's case into drunken banter and candid domestic talk.
"Brutal Operations" brings Katie and Noah together for a loose, alcohol-fuelled episode that moves through political sermon riffs, a breadwinner travel debate, and the case of Steven, who murdered Tara before dismembering her body at his father's tool shop.
True crime with drinks and side-eye.
Murders, monsters and molasses, talked through by Laura and Josh.
Clueless by admission, detailed once the case begins.
["One in four U.S.
Katie opens episode 64 with a rain-soaked Brad Paisley concert story in Florida, where she stood on a wet rail in cheap cowboy boots while her father and venue workers told her to get down.
["Katie frames Columbine as a 49-minute attack that changed school safety, lockdown drills, and public expectations around gun violence.", "She locates Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, and walks through the attack minute by minute from 11:08 a.m.
Suspect Podcast episode 62, "This Guy!," revisits the Menendez brothers case after Ryan Murphy's Monsters and Netflix's new Menendez coverage renewed attention on the case.
Suspect Podcast host Katie and guest Noah cover Tara Lynn Grant, a Michigan State business graduate who worked in downtown Detroit while Stephen Grant stayed home with their two children and the family's 19-year-old German au pair, Verena Dirks.
Katie discusses being laid off after anticipating the change for nine months, binge-watching How to Get Away with Murder, and planning a fuller Suspect schedule.
Suspect Podcast returns after an eight- or nine-month gap with the host describing dissociation since moving to Colorado during COVID and a new plan for two or three weekly episodes.
The Suspect Podcast host marks nearly three years of recording and turns 27 on February 7 while sharing lessons about relationships, identity, pain, and accountability.
Katie introduces a cold-case episode about Darlene Hulse, a 28-year-old Marshall County mother beaten to death on August 17, 1984 while her three daughters were at home.
Katie's Suspect Podcast episode pairs a Reddit collection of holiday work-party disasters with Jason D.
Katie examines the disputed Natalia Grace case through The Curious Case of Natalia Grace, a Max docuseries that presents Michael Barnett's account before Natalia Grace's response.
Katie's Suspect Podcast episode reviews Christmas-themed Reddit and TikTok stories about bad workplace Secret Santa gifts.
Suspect Podcast examines Donald Klein, an Indiana fertility specialist accused of using his own sperm on patients without consent, with at least 94 biological children identified by May 11, 2022.
Katie Kennedy returns to Suspect Podcast after a break since January, describing a birthday trip to Florida, demanding work toward a new position, and unpredictable spring weather in Colorado.
Suspect Podcast episode 51 combines Katie's account of vomiting in her manager's car after a Colorado work party with a case study of John David Bataglia Jr.
The host welcomes listeners to episode 20, shares personal updates about attending her brother's wedding, and expresses excitement for growing the podcast.
The host introduces herself and her lifelong obsession with true crime, explaining her approach to researching and presenting cases.
The host discusses recent developments in the 1985 cold case of Christy Crystal Creek and updates on her Sam Little notes.
The host apologizes for a hiatus and delays a planned episode on serial killer Sam Little, discussing her anxiety and commitment to detailed research.