Hey all –

So while this blog has a primary focus on beauty stuff, I am a notorious talker about everything.  I wanted to ensure there was a little place on this continuum of space and time for me to give a brief chat about whatever random stuff I can’t get enough of at the moment.

The first thing I can’t stop gushing about is a podcast, My Favorite Murder.  Hosted by Georgia Hardstark and Karen Kilgariff, every week each of the ladies research (sometimes loosely) a murder and tell it the other.  Aside from scratching my true crime itch, this show is hysterically funny.  There’s this intense power to me in laughing in the face of horror (though, of course, never at victims).  GH and KK are making sure to punch up (mocking crappy police jobs, stupid murderers, and themselves), and make sure to be aware of the atmosphere surrounding criminality, victims, and the justice system.

As someone who has been into this stuff since I was a kid, I appreciate the diversity of the types of stories they tell.  While some are extremely historical, old, and infamous (Ted Bundy, Albert Fish), others are newer.  The hosts make sure to describe more recent stories with sensitivity and added insight into various social issues.  One of my favorite episodes features the story of Mitrice Richardson (Episode 65), a woman who – to keep it short as Georgia tells it better than I would – died mysteriously following an arrest that came about due to a mental break.  While definitely not sociologists, the discussion around mental illness, black women in society, the police, etc. was thoughtful and real.  In fact, that’s probably the heart of why I enjoy listening to this: They don’t pose as experts on anything in particular, and their conversations are – while often funny – are the type of conversations I think more of us should be having.  They’re the kind of conversations that I have with my girlfriends: Important, meaningful topics where you can’t quite figure out how you feel about something, but also know that there are people willing to listen to you sort yourself.  And you’re all learning along the way.

Last, I’m super into their merch and the community surrounding the show.  Lots of artists make lots of cool shit based on MFM sayings, scenarios, and stories, and because MFM is unapologetically feminist, their tshirts/totes/etc. have something for anyone who’s sick of the Men bringing them down – whether or not they listen to My Favorite Murder.

So here it is!  The show page!  It’s Saturday, what else do you have to do with your life?

A few notes: The first few episodes (meaning, the first recorded), have major sound/production issues, but also a lot of phrases or jokes that inform later episodes.  Also, if you want a brief intro and aren’t sure you’ll be into it, there are mini-sodes (about a half hour long) that feature “Hometown Murders” – listeners send in stories of weird murders and happenings they know locally.  They give you a sense of the community surrounding the show as well as quick judgment of whether Georgia and Karen’s sense of humor is to your taste.  Also, they started these later, so the production is better.  If a show is marked Live, more recent ones are better because the audience doesn’t obnoxiously scream over the hosts as much.  Finally, though this may seem obvious: This show is about true crime, specifically murder.  If you do not watch a lot of Dateline, 20/20, if you don’t have that Gift of Fear guy’s speech from Oprah stuck in your head 24/7, this probably isn’t the show for you.  While they don’t play up gorey descriptions, they don’t shy away from factual description.  Stay sexy, don’t get murdered!