My Favorite Murder & the Failed Ethics of True Crime

My Favorite Murder is a popular "true crime comedy" podcast hosted by comedians Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Former fans have recently made TikToks exposing some of the more problematic aspects of the podcast.
Sources:
www.intheknow.com/post/my-fav...
www.tiktok.com/@itslaralikesa...
/ chopped_livr

[@chattychatotchannel]

As a victim of csa I think that donating money to stuff doesn’t make this shit right. It’s so messed up. They should be more tactful and educational

[@Cbbartelt]

Oh, I didn’t know that people were talking about this finally. I started listening to them within the first 5 episodes. The Facebook group was absolutely horrific. Their decision to allow that gigantic group with very little rules and piss poor moderation was the thing that initially decreased my interest in the show.
I can’t remember what started the conversation, but they were so much ableism to the point of praising eugenics in that group and I remember arguing back with someone and the argument ended with them saying that they’re jealous of people who are long term institutionalized because all they have to do is sit around and be in a rocking chair, and I detailed the ACTUAL torture of long term institutionalization in mid 80’s and before and the harm it does now and they doubled down with saying it’s a good thing and more eugenics, when I reported them to moderators NOTHING happened. Karen and Georgia’s ableism was one of the things they left unchecked as well.
This is just an addition to the things listened in your references all of which came together to make me stop listening them, of course this was all after going to a show. Even up to 2020 if you said Anything negative about them or that group you’d be jumped on and verbally abused.
Also, that article using sword and scale as a comparison is SICK, that man is a horrific abusive human who should have lost his platform before 2018.

[@odynobodie]

These people think they can just throw money at diff organizations to cover up for their crappy behavior instead of just….not doing weird shit?.

[@jules8273]

lol at first I thought the girls at the beginning were being serious because some creators are literally like that :/ I don't understand why anyone would want to listen to a comedy true crime podcast.

[@brin573]

Same

[@eskylent7962]

I’ve never understood why people watch horror movies - but they do.

[@RingTheBella]

I remember the Stephanie Hatlow video, your commentary on her is what made me follow you way back when you made that, because it was such a validation of a lot of the issues I had w true crime youtube videos that I hadn't been able to pinpoint.

[@baewulf]

spot-on video, queen. 🙌🏻

[@joser7011]

Great video

[@amandamandamands]

Sounds like they are using these cases like story times rather than thinking about that behind the cases there are real people that have been affected by what happened.

[@newsjunkie7135]

Comment for the algorithm.

[@RetroAchievementGuide]

Glad I decided to not get into true crime podcasts during their peaks, most of them give me the ick.

[@eskylent7962]

I don’t know why MFM is such a focus. There are other more problematic True Crime podcasts out there. Is it because it’s easier to pile on to female podcasters than male? How about Last Podcast On The Left or Small Town Murders ?
I realise the genre is problematic & I find that as I work on myself, my mental health, I’m less inclined to consume true crime as I’m being more mindful of what I allow into my sensitive mind.
It’s a really fascinating question though - what is the appeal of a dark reality & is it ethical to consume? Why does it soothe some people?
c x

[@EricaMones]

I have made videos on other podcasts. I don’t know much about the other podcasts you mentioned, so I haven’t had a chance to dig deeper. I will check them out.

[@lorinmccracken7299]

Just look at the name itself…

[@DrewSew]

I actually used to listen to both MFM and LPOTL. They were top-of-the-charts TC podcasts right when the medium started taking off, cementing their status in the true crime genre. They both had intensely problematic shit, but LPOTL actually grew and changed over time. I still listen to them, along with several other true crime podcasts - You're Wrong About, Sistas Who Kill, Women in Crime, and Crime Junkie are standout pods that are hosted by women.
That being said, true crime as a genre is gross and sexist - I'm sure that if MFM was hosted by men they wouldn't be nearly as piled on.