Herd
Get App
Crimes of the Times podcast cover art

Crimes of the Times

ByL.A. Times Studios
29 episodes

Podcast Summary

L.A. Times reporter Christopher Goffard of “Dirty John” is back with another riveting podcast from L.A. Times Studios. In “Crimes of the Times,” Goffard goes deep behind the scenes of a new story each week, cutting through common myths and misconceptions to uncover what really happened in the most compelling cases from L.A. and beyond.

#1

Featuring: The Trials of Frank Carson, Episode 1

While you wait for season two of Crimes of the Times, please enjoy a featured season of the LA Times Studios podcast The Trials of Frank Carson. It’s about a criminal defense attorney who is accused of masterminding a murder conspiracy — and who insists he’s being framed.

2025-06-03•43mins
#2

Introducing: L.A. Crimes

Please enjoy a featured clip of L.A. Times Studio's latest production, L.A. Crimes. On this episode, Madison McGhee is joined by legendary Dateline host Josh Mankiewicz and esteemed L.A. Times Reporter Richard Winton as the three of them dive into all-things Menendez Brothers, the good, the bad, and the still unknown. New episodes drop every Wednesday.

2025-05-21•10mins
#3

Featuring: Man in the Window

Please enjoy a special feature of the first episode of L.A. Times Studios production, Man in the Window. In this episode, Phantom in the Fog, investigative reporter Paige St. John discusses how a series of brutal dog killings in a small town in California acted as the prelude for the coming danger and violence committed by one of California's deadliest serial killers.

2025-05-20•37mins
#4

Featuring: Detective Trapp

Please enjoy a special feature of my show, Detective Trapp’s first episode, All the Missing. In this episode, Detective Julissa Trapp fights her way onto the homicide unit in her hometown of Anaheim, California — and strives amid personal struggles to understand God’s plan for her. At the same time in a nearby city, women begin vanishing.

2025-05-13•38mins
#5

Featuring: Dirty John

Please enjoy a special featured episode of my show Dirty John. In this episode, Debra Newell, an interior designer in Southern California, meets John Meehan on an over-50 dating site. His profile looks exciting: Anesthesiologist, divorced, Christian. She falls in love fast. But her children dislike him and warn her that his stories don’t add up. A psychologist advises Debra to set firmer boundaries with her kids, saying she has a right to be happy.

2025-05-06•42mins
#6

The Arsonist in the Crowd

John Orr was a renowned fire investigator who was also a prolific arsonist, and whose thinly veiled novel helped to convict him. In this episode we hear from the fire captain who first suspected him—and from Orr himself. New episodes every Tuesday.To read more about these cases, visit Crimes of the Times at latimes.comVideo episodes will be available on Spotifyand Youtube.

2025-04-29•32mins
#7

The Execution of Barbara Graham

The case of Barbara Graham, known in the 1950s as “Bloody Babs” after the murder of a Burbank widow. Former prosecutor Marcia Clark joins us to reexamine the questionable tactics that sent Graham to death row. New episodes every Tuesday.To read more about these cases, visit Crimes of the Times at latimes.comVideo episodes will be available on Spotify and Youtube.

2025-04-15•35mins
#8

The Cult, The Lawyer, and the Snake

The story of Synanon, the drug rehabilitation group once known as “the miracle on the beach,” and the rattlesnake attack on the crusading Los Angeles lawyer who made an enemy of the group’s leader.New episodes every Tuesday.To read more about these cases, visit Crimes of the Times at latimes.comVideo episodes will be available on Spotify and Youtube.

2025-04-01•35mins

Listen to your favourite podcasts.

Now ad-free.

Download herd and enjoy uninterrupted, high-quality podcasts without the wait.

Download on the
App Store
#9

The Final Word on Manson: Part 2

Former Manson prosecutor Stephen Kay recounts the strange story of Ronald Hughes, the “hippie lawyer” who enraged the cult leader and vanished mysteriously in the middle of trial.New episodes every Tuesday.To read more about these cases, visit Crimes of the Times at latimes.comVideo episodes will be available on Spotify and Youtube

2025-03-25•32mins
#10

The Final Word on Manson: Part 1

The last living prosecutor of Charles Manson gives an inside account of the trial and the cult leader’s deadly vision. Stephen Kay recalls the case that still haunts America.New episodes every Tuesday.To read more about these cases, visit Crimes of the Times at latimes.comVideo episodes will be available on Spotify and Youtube.

2025-03-18•41mins
#11

The Black Dahlia

The Black Dahlia mystery: Wild theories, enduring myths and a long-overlooked suspect.New episodes every Tuesday.To read more about these cases, visit Crimes of the Times at latimes.comVideo episodes will be available on Spotify and Youtube.

2025-03-11•30mins
#12

Patty Hearst

The kidnapped heiress who became an “urban guerrilla” and embraced her captors.New episodes every Tuesday.To read more about these cases, visit Crimes of the Times at latimes.comVideo episodes will be available on Spotify and Youtube.

2025-03-04•39mins
#13

The Pentagon Papers Trial

Smuggled out of a Santa Monica safe, the top-secret documents that changed American history.New episodes every Tuesday.To read more about these cases, visit Crimes of the Times at latimes.comVideo episodes will be available on Spotify and Youtube.

2025-02-25•33mins
#14

George Franklin

A childhood memory sent her father to prison for murder. Was it real?New episodes every Tuesday.To read more about these cases, visit Crimes of the Times at latimes.comVideo episodes will be available on Spotify and Youtube.

2025-02-18•30mins
#15

McMartin Preschool

Wild claims of mass child molestation rocked an L.A. beach town. Truth was the first casualty.New episodes every Tuesday.To read more about these cases, visit Crimes of the Times at latimes.comVideo episodes will be available on Spotify and Youtube.

2025-02-11•34mins
#16

John DeLorean

A maverick from Detroit, John DeLorean built the “car of the future.” Then came the briefcase full of cocaine.New episodes every Tuesday.To read more about these cases, visit Crimes of the Times at latimes.comVideo episodes will be available on Spotify and Youtube.

2025-02-04•26mins
#17

Rebecca Schaeffer

A young actress, an obsessed stalker and a Hollywood murder that changed America.New episodes every Tuesday. To read more about these cases, visit Crimes of the Times at latimes.comVideo episodes will be available on Spotify and Youtube.

2025-01-28•28mins
#18

Introducing: Crimes of the Times

L.A. Times reporter Christopher Goffard of “Dirty John” is back with another riveting podcast from L.A. Times Studios. In “Crimes of the Times,” Goffard goes deep behind the scenes of a new story each week, cutting through common myths and misconceptions to uncover what really happened in the most compelling cases from L.A. and beyond.

2025-01-07•1mins
#19

Bonus Episode: Inside the TV Series "Dirty John" Part 3

In the last of three special episodes, Alexandra Cunningham, showrunner of the new Bravo series "Dirty John," offers insight into how she approached the writing of the show and its titular psychopath. Jeffrey Reiner, who directed all eight episodes, discusses the creative team’s ambition to transcend the conventions of a traditional thriller.

2018-11-21•10mins
#20

Bonus Episode: Inside the TV Series "Dirty John" Part 2

In the second of three special episodes, Connie Britton (“Friday Night Lights,” “Nashville”) talks about playing Debra Newell in the new Bravo series, and why the story feels timely. Julia Garner and Juno Temple, who play Newell’s daughters, discuss how they came to inhabit their roles, and the show’s production designer and costume designer share details of how they helped create the characters’ worlds.“Dirty John” premieres on Bravo at 10 p.m. on Sunday, November 25. You can also find the original LA Times series, plus 14 other pieces of narrative journalism, in a new collection called “Dirty John and Other True Stories of Outlaws and Outsiders” by Christopher Goffard, published by Simon & Schuster.

2018-11-19•14mins
#21

Bonus Episode: Inside the TV Series "Dirty John" Part 1

In the first of three special episodes about the making of the Bravo limited series "Dirty John," Christopher Goffard talks with actor Eric Bana about his portrayal of John Meehan and the parallels between actors and con men.“Dirty John” premieres on Bravo at 10 p.m. on Sunday, November 25. LA Times Studios is participating as a producer on the Bravo series. You can also find the original L.A. Times series, plus 14 other pieces of narrative journalism, in a new collection called “Dirty John and Other True Stories of Outlaws and Outsiders” by Christopher Goffard, published by Simon & Schuster.

2018-11-14•14mins
#22

Dirty John: Live at The Theatre at Ace Hotel

In the months since “Dirty John” was released, more of John Meehan’s victims have told their stories. Carolina Miranda from the LA Times interviews Christopher Goffard, Debra and Terra Newell, and John Meehan’s first wife. Plus, a panel on coercive control and a special live performance by Tracy Bonham. Recorded live at the Ace Theatre.

2018-01-16•1hr 19mins
#23

Terra

Jacquelyn and Terra Newell suspect that John has been watching them. When Jacquelyn tells her mother that he is in town, her mother believes she is mistaken. Jacquelyn warns Terra to carry her pocket knife. But Terra is preoccupied by a country-music concert, and she is watching for the wrong car.

2017-10-08•40mins

Listen to your favourite podcasts.

Now ad-free.

Download herd and enjoy uninterrupted, high-quality podcasts without the wait.

Download on the
App Store
#24

Escape

Episode 5: John finds a lawyer and plots to unleash a blizzard of lawsuits against his enemies, with the aim of proving to Debra that he is the victim, in case after case. The lawyer believes her life is in danger. As her painful isolation from her family deepens, she secretly plans her escape from the marriage.

2017-10-07•46mins
#25

Forgiveness

Debra is in hiding, living out of hotels and disguising herself with a wig. Debra fears she will meet the fate of her sister Cindi, who was killed by her husband as she tried to escape a bad marriage. John has explanations for the accusations against him. He weeps and apologizes. Three decades earlier, that had helped Cindi’s killer walk out of prison.

2017-10-05•42mins
#26

Filthy

Debra grapples with the question, “Who did I marry?” The story of John’s mysterious past unfolds through the eyes of his sisters, his law-school housemate, his ex-wife, and an Ohio cop who hunted him. The origins of John’s nickname are revealed. Bed-ridden in an Orange County hospital, he pleads with Debra to take him back.

2017-10-04•46mins
#27

Newlyweds

After an intruder appears in John and Debra’s livingroom, John insists that they install security cameras. Debra begins to wonder whether he is spying on her. Her nephew, Shad, looks into John’s background and confronts him with what he finds. Debra’s vision of an idyllic marriage is shattered when she discovers a stash of paperwork in John’s home office.

2017-10-02•35mins
#28

The Real Thing

Debra Newell, an interior designer in Southern California, meets John Meehan on an over-50 dating site. His profile looks exciting: Anesthesiologist, divorced, Christian. She falls in love fast. But her children dislike him and warn her that his stories don’t add up. A psychologist advises Debra to set firmer boundaries with her kids, saying she has a right to be happy.

2017-10-02•39mins
#29

Introducing Dirty John

A true story about seduction, deception, forgiveness, denial, and ultimately, survival. Reported and hosted by Christopher Goffard from the L.A. Times.

2017-09-11•2mins

Listen to your favourite podcasts.

Now ad-free.

Download herd and enjoy uninterrupted, high-quality podcasts without the wait.

Download on the
App Store