True crime with a conspiratorial pulse.
The First Degree moves between structured crime storytelling and reactive deep-dive episodes that chase unsettling public stories in real time. Its best moments pair firsthand fear or grief with incredulous banter, then tighten into timelines, suspicions, and uncomfortable patterns.
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The First Degree is a true crime show with two speeds. One is the traditional case mode: a disappearance, a predator, a family trying to understand what happened, and a timeline that slowly turns ordinary details into dread. The other is the Deep Dive mode, where the conversation starts loose, suspicious, and funny, then slides into the stranger parts of public life. It is brisk. It is not detached. Episodes can move from a missing person case being transferred to major crimes to a riff about technology, billionaires, or the absurdity of public scandal. That tonal swing is part of the show’s identity. It treats crime as harm done to real people, but it also recognizes how often crime stories touch celebrity, money, institutions, and online rumor. The Deep Dive episodes lean into that overlap. Epstein files, Rebel Wilson, Palm Beach power players, Amy Griffin’s memoir The Tell, Disney adults, and the Haley Beck scandal all sit inside the same broad curiosity about what people hide and what systems allow. Cults are another recurring thread, including a Heaven’s Gate collaboration with Vanessa Richardson and forensic psychologist Dr. Tristan Engels. The show is especially alert to cases that feel like they should belong in fiction. That phrase matters because the episodes often frame real events through disbelief before turning back to evidence, sequence, and consequence. It can be irreverent. It can also be raw. The strongest case material lets firsthand voices carry the emotional weight, especially when people describe fear, abandonment, or the sense that nobody is coming to help. The lighter segments, including book club chatter and premium feed plugs, keep the feed conversational rather than austere. Listeners who prefer polished institutional reporting may find it too chatty. Listeners who want true crime with personality, skepticism, and pop-culture spillover will understand the appeal quickly. The First Degree works because it does not treat darkness as a sealed genre. It follows the connections outward, from the crime scene to the rumor mill to the money trail, while keeping one eye on the person who got hurt.
Made for: For listeners who want true crime that can handle grief, suspicion, banter, and public scandal in the same feed. It fits fans of case timelines, cult stories, celebrity-adjacent weirdness, and power-focused rabbit holes.
What sets it apart: The show’s edge is its proximity lens: crime is filtered through people near the story, then expanded into broader patterns of money, influence, rumor, and institutional failure. Its Deep Dive episodes give it a looser, more reactive identity than a standard scripted case feed.
Do you ever wonder what it’s like to be friends with a murderer? Or escape a kidnapping? Or have a father who was a serial killer? Join Jac Vanek and Alexis Linkletter on a chilling ride into the darkest corners of your worst nightmares. Murders, cults, kidnappings, and conspiracies—all told through the eyes of a guest who is one degree of separation from the story itself. From infamous serial killers to the unbelievable unknown murder in your own backyard, The First Degree delivers a new perspective to the already fascinating true crime landscape. And who knows... you may be our next guest. (Plus, join them every Thursday for Killing Time, the light-hearted, true crime-adjacent aftershow!)
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Detailed case reconstruction shares the feed with candid, fast-moving conversations about conspiracy, celebrity, and institutional power.
The First Degree moves between case-centered narration and freewheeling Deep Dive conversations, with Jack Vanek and Alexis Linkletter shifting from a homicide investigation to Heaven's Gate, the Epstein files, powerful social circles, and conspiratorial claims.
A homicide report sits beside tinfoil hats; Jac and Alexis let your true-crime mood pick a lane.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A conversation about wealth, power, and the fallout when the people involved can afford to push back.
Jack Fianek and Lex steer this deep dive from a shaggy opener into a sharper conversation about Amy Griffin's The Tell and the broader pattern of money, access, and power letting people win anyway.
A fashion detour becomes a jittery sweep through big names, institutions, and insinuation.
The episode opens with the show's familiar jitter, then settles into Vera Wang, her Chinese immigrant parents, her mother's U.N. translator work, and the MIT thread that keeps opening into speculation.
A missing M60 turns loyalty into a panic-heavy test of friendship.
A missing M60 machine gun puts Jerry in the worst kind of bind: pulled into Jake's theft, then left with the weapon sitting in the trunk of his car.
A brisk, gossipy dive that treats political posturing as part of the case.
The episode keeps its focus on Epstein, the politicians circling him, and the way public language can start to feel like cover. It moves from Bill Clinton's careful answer about Epstein's death to Trump's softened language about the Clintons, so the tension lands less on the…
A fatal crossing, a fleeing black truck, and witnesses trying to account for Toby's death.
Toby Beaugh's death is recounted through the sighting of a black truck that appears again a block later at Cadiz Street and Magazine Street, stopped as though waiting. The episode follows Toby as he turns toward it, raises his hands, and is struck when the driver accelerates.
Heaven's Gate comes into view through Bonnie Lou Nettles, Marshall Applewhite, and a lot of uneasy certainty.
The First Degree follows the early shape of Heaven's Gate as Bonnie Lou Nettles and Marshall Applewhite begin to settle into a shared sense of destiny.
A fast, messy rabbit hole that jumps from Epstein to celebrity spin to aliens.
The episode opens on Epstein and then keeps widening outward, from a tongue-twister start to Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, a Matt Gaetz clip, and an aliens thread.
Podcast discovery from the Sherpa Chalet.
Witchy banter with glorious detours.
Female crime, told with grave attention.
The First Degree hosts Jac Vanek and Alexis Linkletter collaborate with Serial Killers and Murderous Minds for a two-part deep dive into the Heaven's Gate cult.
This episode introduces a two-part series on the Hillside Stranglers case, discussing the sadistic nature of the murders and promoting premium content access.
This episode is a year-end special reviewing the major true crime cases that defined 2025, exploring themes of closure, accountability, and unanswered questions.
The hosts Jack and Lex introduce their podcast Deep Dive with a humorous and cynical take on holiday news, suggesting listeners need a 'thicker tinfoil hat' for upcoming content.
Jac Vanek and Alexis Linkletter dive into a week of bizarre and dark news, starting with Pam Bondi's firing amid Epstein file controversies.
This episode of The Deep Dive podcast explores mysterious topics like the Epstein case, aliens, and Mount Everest, examining the line between conspiracy theories and truth.
This episode discusses a missing person case where investigators suspect foul play involving a vehicle, with the case being transferred to major crimes.
This premium episode of The Second Degree podcast delves into the unfolding Haley Beck scandal, featuring real-time case analysis with pop culture ties and unfiltered discussion.
This episode introduces the topic of Disney Adults while promoting the host's book club community on Facebook and Fable, with brief mentions of the metaverse's failure.
The hosts discuss the persistence of predators in true crime cases and introduce their premium podcast content while touching on fears about technology.
Jack and Lex start loose, joking about different ways they open the show before veering into a billionaire story.
This episode is a collaborative deep dive into the Heaven's Gate cult with hosts from Serial Killers and Murderous Minds, exploring its history and psychological aspects.
It opens in a jittery, joking mood.
The First Degree follows Jerry Mathis, a former National Guardsman whose 1985 machine-gun theft case begins at the Henderson, Nevada armory and centers on an M60 with no serial number.
The hosts open with a joke-heavy, nearly breathless pass at the Epstein story.
A black truck follows Toby Bowe and Melissa home on Magazine Street after a Mardi Gras weekend night out, then accelerates into Toby on February 25, 2006.
This episode provides a deep dive analysis of the recent legal drama involving Blake Lively and Taylor Swift, examining court documents and public reactions after a week of developments.