PODCAST: ATLANTA MONSTER

PODCAST: ATLANTA MONSTER

From the producers of Up and Vanished, Tenderfoot TV and HowStuffWorks present, ‘Atlanta Monster.’ This true crime podcast tells the story of one of the city’s darkest secrets, The Atlanta Child Murders. Nearly 40 years after these horrific crimes, many questions still remain. Host Payne Lindsey aims to find truth and provide closure, reexamining the disappearance and murder of over 25 African American children and young adults.

MY VERDICT: I started by listening to Payne Lindsey’s first podcast, ‘Up and Vanished’ but haven’t quite got to the end of that yet – the reason? Because Payne Lindsey was recording it as he went. As exciting as the investigation can be, and the joy of revelation as it is – it doesn’t make for the best story-telling. All the best podcasts are investigated and then recorded and split into episodes with information being revealed as it goes – but the storyteller always knows where it’s going – therefore the narrative is controlled and always interesting. As compelling as the story was (‘Up and Vanished’ is about a missing school teacher and remained a cold case for many years – until this podcast caused people to open up and secrets to come out) it could be a little exhausting to listen to. Nothing was emitted to make the story more captivating, nothing was held back as a reveal later on, it was all laid out in every episode.

I think Payne Lindsey learnt from the mistakes of his first podcast (and it was commendable because it got amazing results) and this podcast ‘Atlanta Monster’ is a much more polished and well narrated, well curated story in comparison.

There was a lot of information to absorb, it’s a sad tale of so many young men going missing and many bodies being found. At its core is what seems like a really lucky find of the main suspect Wayne Williams, Many things point to his guilt and his innocence, and whether Williams is guilty is the main point of investigation for this podcast.

I think what we’re left with is the idea that yes, some evidence does point to the fact that he did do something. Possibly he killed some of the children, or young men – ultimately he was only convicted of killing two men and not all the children but the press or society, or both seemed to believe he might as well have been convicted of all the crimes. I’m on the side of the argument that says, yes he did commit some crimes but not all the murders and disappearances of the children were the work of one man. So there are some people who walked free, possibly they’ve passed by now, who benefitted from Wayne’s conviction.

I won’t give any more away, give this a listen.

PODCAST: BREAKDOWN SEASON 1

The jury deliberated for 40 minutes before returning a guilty verdict. And at 27 years old, Justin Chapman was sentenced to life in prison, with no possibility of parole for 30 years.

The investigation was also brief, and the trial lasted only a few days. It was swift justice in a quiet little town that is unused to murder: Bremen, Ga., population 6,300, lies about 50 miles west of Atlanta near the Alabama line.

The prosecutor remains certain to this day that he got the right man, and Chapman may well be guilty of the crime that killed Alice Jackson, 79. But his case is also an example of repeated breakdowns at nearly every level of the criminal justice system in Georgia.

MY VERDICT: This podcast was one of the many recommended by those ‘podcast similar to serial’ posts. This podcast is only similar to serial in that it is a serial telling of a single story, in every other way it is seriously lacking. I feel slightly bad in giving this one a bad review as it is clear that everyone involved worked hard on researching the story and trying to find an interesting narrative. Unfortunately, this story is not a particularly compelling one. A man’s house is burnt down and his neighbor dies in the fire and he is found guilty of setting his house alight. It is heartbreaking that he was found guilty with what seems to be absolutely no evidence but it just seems odd to me that someone would feel that this story would keep a listener entertained for more than one episode. This podcast is seven episodes long, and I held out to the end hoping for something to shock or excite, but unfortunately I was disappointed. It’s possible that I was spoilt by listening to some amazing podcasts but I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone. That being said it’s possible that the other seasons (there are now six) might be worth listening to, they might have more entertaining stories.