The 10 Best True Crime Podcasts
From a wrongly prosecuted Mississippi man to a mysterious New Hampshire barrel case, these are the true crime shows the internet's consensus keeps coming back to.
Ranked by ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini — models trained on just about every review, critic poll, fan forum and best-of list ever written. Ask them enough times and you get the internet's consensus.
What true crime podcast should I listen to right now?
Start with In the Dark, from Season 1 (the AIs rate Season 2 highest).
Already heard it? Try Serial (Season 1) · Deep cut: Crime Junkie
- 1
Madeleine Baran and APM Reports dig into the six trials of Curtis Flowers in Mississippi. It's investigative journalism that helped change the case itself. ChatGPT and Gemini both had it as their #1.
GChatGPT#1CClaude#2GeGemini#1 - 2
Sarah Koenig's 2014 deep dive into the murder of Hae Min Lee and the conviction of Adnan Syed made podcasts mainstream. Claude had it as its #1, and its influence is hard to overstate.
GChatGPT#2CClaude#1GeGemini#2 - 3
3.Criminal
Phoebe Judge
Phoebe Judge's calm, elegant storytelling turns strange crimes and the people around them into compact, humane episodes. It's the one that sits near the top everywhere, and it's still unmistakably itself.
GChatGPT#5CClaude#4GeGemini#5 - 4
4.Bear Brook
Season 1
New Hampshire Public Radio unravels the barrels found in Allenstown and the decades-old mystery behind them. It's a patient, twisty, reported series that moves from cold case to genetic genealogy. ChatGPT and Gemini both rated it highly.
GChatGPT#3CClaude#11GeGemini#3 - 5Your Own Backyard
5.Your Own Backyard
Chris Lambert
Chris Lambert goes deep on a killing close to home in a slow-burn, personal investigation. ChatGPT and Gemini both rank it highly, while Claude never mentioned it. Cult favorite energy.
GChatGPT#4CClaudeskipped itGeGemini#4 - 6
6.Casefile
Australian-based
An anonymous Australian narrator delivers meticulous, no-frills case summaries from around the world. It's a reliable heavyweight, and Claude put it well up its list. The facts do the talking.
GChatGPT#7CClaude#3GeGemini#8 - 7
7.Dr. Death
Season 1
Wondery's story of Dallas neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch is a medical horror story with real victims. It's compulsively listenable and made every engine's top 10. Hard to hear without wincing.
GChatGPT#9CClaude#6GeGemini#9 - 8
8.Crime Junkie
Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat
Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat built a true crime empire on conversational, weekly case retellings. Claude loved it, while ChatGPT and Gemini left it off entirely. It's the most divisive pick here.
GChatGPTskipped itCClaude#5GeGeminiskipped it - 9Cold (Season 1)
Dave Cawley's first season follows the disappearance of Susan Powell in Utah, and its twists and reporting are gripping. Gemini and ChatGPT rated it well, while Claude skipped it.
GChatGPT#8CClaudeskipped itGeGemini#7 - 10Hunting Warhead
10.Hunting Warhead
CBC Podcasts / VG, hosted by Daemon Fairless
CBC and VG follow host Daemon Fairless as he investigates the dark-web child abuse network known as Warhead. It's harrowing, important reporting, and Gemini kept it in its top 10 consistently.
GChatGPT#12CClaudeskipped itGeGemini#6
Lone wolves
In one AI's top 10, never named by the others.
- GSomeone Knows Something
- CCrime Junkie
- CUp and Vanished
- CMorbid
- CSuspect
Questions
- What true crime podcast should I listen to right now?
- Start with In the Dark, from Season 1 (the AIs rate Season 2 highest). Already heard it? Try Serial (Season 1) or, for something less obvious, Crime Junkie (only Claude picked it).
- According to AI, what is #1 of the best true crime podcasts?
- In the Dark (Season 2). ChatGPT and Gemini put it first; the combined vote across all 15 answers made it #1.
- Do ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini agree on the best true crime podcasts?
- Partly. 6 of the 10 picks made all 3 AIs' lists. The biggest split was Your Own Backyard: ChatGPT #4, Claude didn't list it, Gemini #4.
- Which best true crime podcasts did only one AI pick?
- Someone Knows Something (only ChatGPT); Crime Junkie (only Claude); Up and Vanished (only Claude); Morbid (only Claude); Suspect (only Claude).
- How was this ranking of the best true crime podcasts made?
- We asked ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini "What are the 10 best true crime podcasts? Rank them from 1 to 10, best first." 5 times each, every time in a fresh chat with web search on, in 2026-10. A #1 earns 10 points and a #10 earns 1; each AI's points are averaged over its runs and each AI gets an equal say.
Keep arguing
Some links are affiliate links: if you buy through them we may earn a commission, at no cost to you. It never affects the rankings — the AIs don't know.
How this list was made · image credits
We asked ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini “What are the 10 best true crime podcasts? Rank them from 1 to 10, best first.” 5 times each, every time in a fresh chat with web search on, collected 2026-10-10. A #1 earns 10 points and a #10 earns 1; each AI's points are averaged over its runs, and each AI gets an equal say.
- In the Dark (Season 2): via Wikipedia (non-free, used for commentary)
- Serial (Season 1): Kenneth C. Zirkel, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Criminal: Vox Media, Public domain
- Bear Brook: via Wikipedia (non-free, used for commentary)
- Casefile: via Wikipedia (non-free, used for commentary)
- Dr. Death: via Wikipedia (non-free, used for commentary)
- Crime Junkie: via Wikipedia (non-free, used for commentary)
