Have you ever found yourself fascinated with solving a murder? Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark have. From grizzly to mysterious to just plain odd, murder is something they enjoy dissecting. So much so that they decided to create a podcast about it.
Titled “My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark,” the two hosts dive into the dark world of mystery and mayhem. Armed with quick wit, engaging personalities, and a cat that may or may not demand a cookie from time to time (his name’s Elvis), Karen and Georgia make for an interesting duo.
One of the most recent episodes I listened to was Episode 40: Squad Gourds. It brings to light two distinct cases (apart from whatever else they manage to sprinkle in as they go along).
The first case is the infamous “My Way Killings” from the Philippines, a string of unrelated murders. All victims of this case have only one thing in common, they all sang Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” at karaoke. Not one, not two, but more than twelve people have lost their lives to this inexplicable phenomenon. One of the murderers, a security guard, explained that the reason he fired his gun at a singer was because he was off key and refused to stop.
The second case takes us back to the 90’s, the era of reality television full of drama, intrigue, and questionable moral judgement. I’m not sure it changed much except now it has more legal constraints. They talk about the tragic case of a young man who gets murdered after confessing to his same-sex crush on his neighbour on a daytime talk show. His neighbor didn’t take it well and things turned homicidal.
“My Favorite Murder” is a smooth ride down a dark path. Dark subject matter presented in a casual manner and broken up by jokes, funny anecdotes, and other related topics makes the show easy to digest. Not gruesome, but conversational. Like you’re talking to old friends. This might be the reason why they’ve gathered a large and interactive following that call themselves “murderinos.”
Murderinos are encouraged to share their own stories with the hosts. This goes into their segment “My hometown murder.” Met with much enthusiasm from their fans, they soon received enough content for the hometown murders to grow from a segment to its own mini-episode series within the podcast.
If you’re like me, inherently curious about murder but severely lacking the time (or motivation) to do research, this might be worth the listen. At home when you’re trying to escape the cold, during your commute, or maybe at a party where nobody tells good stories.
Filled with personality, snark, and a pinch of dark humour that resonates with the murderino in each of us, “My Favourite Murder” brings you the charm of a night in with friends on a couch, cat curled on your lap, without leaving the comfort of your own home.
Give it a listen and don’t get murdered.
