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Earlier this summer, Netflix’s Maternal Instinct had everyone talking about its chilling depiction of a real COVID-era case. Now, a new season of Conversations with a Killer is landing this week. With the genre having a killer lineup this summer, we’ve rounded up the most fascinating true crime stories across TV, podcasts, and books. Let’s get into it!
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The Most Chilling True Crime Shows of the Year (So Far)
True crime TV isn't just popular right now, it's absolutely dominating. These are the new shows that made viewers stay up way past their bedtime, one creepy episode at a time.
Conversations with a Killer:
The Charles Manson Tapes
Joe Berlinger's docuseries returns for a new volume, tracing Charles Manson's rise as a cult leader through unreleased prison recordings, firsthand accounts, and archival footage most viewers have never seen. It's the franchise's darkest season yet, and the closest anyone's gotten to hearing Manson explain himself in his own words. Only on Netflix August 12.
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New & Unsettling True Crime Podcasts
From mysterious cold cases to shocking family secrets nobody saw coming, the best true crime podcasts of the year prove the genre still has new angles to explore.
The Idiot
For years, M. Gessen wrote about the world's worst people—dictators, terrorists, human rights abusers. Then their own cousin Allen got arrested for trying to have his ex-wife killed. Serial Productions' latest is the studio's funniest true crime podcast yet, and its most personal.
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Page-Turners: The Most Addictive True Crime Books of 2026
The best true crime writing turns real tragedy into something you can't put down without ever losing the human stakes. These are the books that have captured the cultural conversation in 2026.
London Falling
by Patrick Radden Keefe
Patrick Radden Keefe, the writer behind Say Nothing and Empire of Pain, tells the story of a London teenager who invented an entire identity as a Russian oligarch's son before he was found dead in the Thames. This devastating and spellbinding read is easily one of the biggest books of the year.
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