Question-setters Anna Ptaszynski and James Harkin get in the competitive spirit with Quite a Good Sport. Plus: five of the best podcasts about America
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Earlier this week, my colleague Archie Bland of First Edition fame enthusiastically recommended the podcast In the Dark to me. Despite being a super-successful investigative series – acquired last year by Condé Nast/The New Yorker – I’d never actually listened to the pod and its feted second season about Curtis Flowers, who was tried six times for the same murder. Or at least I thought I hadn’t listened to the podcast – I had actually caught the spin-off miniseries about discontent in Dubai’s royal family – The Runaway Princesses – back in January, but hadn’t quite joined the dots about it being part of a larger true-crime stable (maybe I’m an idiot, maybe the huge font size for “Runaway Princesses” and the tiny one for “from In the Dark” threw me?)
The Runaway Princesses didn’t blow me away, but I’m still curious about the show which – like Serial – has risen above the true-crime surfeit and been acquired by one of the biggest names in journalism. It is back this week for its third proper run, which sees Madeleine Baran explore the infamous killings of 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians in 2005 by US marines, and ask why justice wasn’t served – the first two episodes are out now.
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