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How I Turned Reading Wikipedia Into a Successful True-Crime Podcast

Hosting a podcast was supposed to be easy.

I did everything right. I got high with my friends and talked about what movies were coming out for hours. We laughed for most of the show, that’s how you know it’s good. But no one was listening.

Then one day my co-hosts couldn’t get out of their shifts and I was left alone with booked studio time in my roommate’s bedroom. I was pissed at their lack of commitment, so I made up a story about their untimely deaths and how they’d never be solved.

Holy fuck, it was my most downloaded episode! Apparently people will listen to any podcast even tangentially related to true crime. Only problem was that I didn’t know shit about true crime.

Related: 7 Best Podcasts About Unsolved Murders I Committed

 

Thank God for Wikipedia. Specifically, for its list of unsolved deaths page. There’s so many stories of death and violence documented for free on Wikipedia. I could monetize the fuck out of this. The great thing is that the research has already been done and as far your subscribers know, you’re like Tom Hanks in The Da Vinci Code.

Check out my upcoming line up: Black Dahlia (10 episodes), Lindbergh Baby (8 episodes), D.B. Cooper (6 episodes), the motherfuckin’ Zodiac killer (12 episodes- 13 if Ted Cruz confesses mid-season). By the time I get through that list I’ll probably be hosting a show on History Channel.

Some of these deaths have a shit ton of suspects too. That may seem overwhelming, but that’s what bonus episodes are for! You want to know who the celebrity suspects were in the murder of some heiress from 1910? Well hit up that Patreon, baby!

I have a lot of friends who do improv so I have them record interrogation recreations too. They’re used to working for free so I pay them in exposure on my ridiculously successful crime podcast.

I can’t use my two former co-hosts though. If my fans knew they were alive, people would think I was a fraud.

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Article by Bobby D. Lux @BobbyDLux