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True Crime XS is a weekly true crime talk show with your hosts Meg and John. Together, they like to talk true crime and poke holes in well known cases, while dissecting and recounting cases that have never made their way off of the court documents page. Why are we all so fascinated by True Crime? What aren't the main stream media and talking heads telling us? Who missed a major thing in a case that would turn the whole thing on it's head? True Crime XS (pronounced EXCESS) digs deep into the annals of courthouse basements and in the...
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
True Crime XS pairs conversational case analysis with careful attention to court records, disputed details and failures inside the criminal-justice system.
John and Meg move between case reconstruction and criminal-justice scrutiny, pairing a conversational exchange with close attention to records.
Four reported cash totals, and John and Meg won't pretend one is settled.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A fugitive case opens into a loose, revealing look at the records and online sources that shape true-crime research.
True Crime XS starts with the case of Michael Wiseman, an Arizona man charged with multiple counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and arrested after nearly 14 years as a fugitive.
A grim procedural turn into questioning, psychiatric testimony, and responsibility after the Orchard Brook murders.
True Crime XS follows the case after Willie Stillman and Doug Retzler are caught, starting with the bloodstained boots, jeans, and brown grocery sack found in their car, then moving into the questioning that follows the Orchard Brook house murders.
A patient, uneasy pass through a 2019 Virginia case that keeps the answer out of reach.
True Crime XS treats the 2019 Virginia missing-persons case as something that never quite closes. It moves from the disappearance to the later recovery of remains, then stays with the homicide ruling and the reported detail that belongings were found half a mile from the car,…
A blunt look at police misconduct and the cycle that can keep it going.
True Crime XS follows a police-case discussion that keeps coming back to misconduct, civil rights violations, and the cost of letting bad conduct slide until it hardens into routine.
A steady, records-focused look at John Burge, Andrew Wilson, and Chicago police torture allegations.
True Crime XS traces John Burge from Chicago's South Deering to the allegations involving Andrew Wilson, whose attorneys said he was beaten, suffocated, burned, and shocked during an interrogation connected to the February 1982 murders.
A Massachusetts legal-news discussion on public defenders, pretrial release, drug court, and the wider impact of lower-level charges.
Massachusetts' Lavallee Protocol frames a broad True Crime XS discussion about public defenders, who they serve, and how conflicts of interest can strain that work.
A locked gas station, a missing attendant, and a phone call that changes everything.
A Utah gas-station disappearance gives the episode its steady unease. Maureen Hunsaker vanishes during a shift while customers are still waiting to pay, the door is locked, her coat remains inside the cashier's booth, and a radio keeps playing.
ABC Audio's Theranos fraud series that also introduces its other true-crime podcasts.
LA Times reporter Christopher Goffard traces con man John Meehan's fraud, abuse, and its Bravo TV adaptation.
True Crime XS links Michael Wiseman, Anthony Michael Lennon, and Anna Keppner into one true-crime news roundup.
Investigators recover bloodstained boots, bloodstained jeans, and a grocery sack of victims' property from Willie Stillman and Doug Gretzler's car after the Orchard Brook massacre.
Hosts Meg and John investigate the 2019 disappearance and murder of Chad Austin at Panther Falls in Virginia, discussing forensic evidence, his criminal record, and police theories about a confrontation leading to his death.
The hosts introduce more stories about dirty badges and share a bizarre true crime news item about a burglary suspect fraudulently released for two months in Kakasu Paris, sourced from local Gulf Coast news channels.
The hosts investigate police misconduct, focusing on cases of child sexual abuse by officers, including a North Carolina cop who impregnated a 13-year-old and an LA detective who raped a victim he was assigned to help.
True Crime XS follows John Burge, the Chicago police commander linked to at least 118 torture victims and the 1982 Pullman murders.
Massachusetts defendants like Deshaun Lawrence and Brittany Dagrica are being released under the Lavallee Protocol after public defenders stopped taking new cases in a pay dispute.
["True Crime XS opens with Audrey Backeberg, a 20-year-old Reedsburg, Wisconsin mother who disappeared in July 1962 and was found alive in another state 60 years later.", "The host says Sauk County sheriff Chip Meister and detective Isaac Hansen traced Backeberg through a sister's Ancestry.com account, then spoke with her for 45 minutes after a possible address surfaced.", "He also cites missing-person numbers from NamUs, saying annual reports can run from 180,000 to 700,000 and that 25,639 cases are currently listed.", "The episode then turns to Ralph Leroy Menzies and Maureen Hunsaker, using Utah court records, a gas-station disappearance, a hiker's discovery at Storm Mountain, and jail evidence to reconstruct the case."]
The hosts interview a guest who has deeply investigated the 1992 murder of 11-year-old Holly Staker, discussing overlooked details and why the case remains unsolved despite adjudication.
The host discusses recent true crime news about Juliana Perez-Migales and introduces a series on multiple serial killers with unsolved aspects.
The hosts discuss their preference for crime over paranormal and introduce a case update on Asha Degree along with true crime news.
The hosts discuss a missing persons case and the controversy surrounding Marcellus Williams' execution.
The hosts discuss upcoming episodes covering true crime news updates, a case involving the Supreme Court, and a lesser-known case with multiple serial killers.
True Crime XS examines Charlie Javice's Frank acquisition, where JPMorgan Chase paid $175 million in 2021 for a company claiming 5 million students but reportedly had 300,000 users.
Princess Doe became the first unidentified body entered into NCIC, linking a 1982 New Jersey case to a national database.