This week’s Podcast Spotlight is on one of my favorite podcasts ever! My Favorite Murder has quickly become one of the most well-known podcasts today within the true crime genre.
Hosts Georgia Hardstark and Karen Kilgariff publish new episodes every Thursday. They also release their minisode episodes, where they read emails from fans (“Murderinos”) who share their own hometown stories.
Karen and Georgia met at a party in 2014 where Karen was telling a story to a group of people about a terrible accident she saw. Georgia overheard her and wanted to hear more, and the two found they both have an interest in true crime and quickly hit it off. Hence, My Favorite Murder was born, and they began recording in Georgia’s apartment and released the first episode in January 2016.
Today, they own the Exactly Right podcasting network, where they record their show. Exactly Right also hosts Do You Need A Ride?, The Fall Line, This Podcast Will Kill You, and they recently announced The Murder Squad, which is hosted by retired investigator Paul Holes and investigative journalist Billy Jensen and focuses on unsolved murders and missing persons cases.
The episodes are usually around 60-90 minutes in length, with Karen and Georgia taking turns telling the other horrific stories with a hint of comedy. They discuss heavy hitters, such as serial killers Ted Bundy and Ed Gein, as well as less known murders, such as the unsolved Villisca Axe Murders of 1912. Harrowing survival stories are also shared, and there have been over 180 episodes to date.
My Favorite Murder has also had very successful tours of their live shows, with sell-out crowds in nearly every city they visit. The way their podcast is set up is also very unique: instead of talking about one case, they each research and go over a case, giving us Murderinos two stories.
They rarely have special guests; however, they have hosted Conan O’Brien, which you can listen to that episode here on Stitcher.
Not only do Karen and Georgia have a wildly popular podcast, they also have a brand new book named after their catchphrase. Stay Sexy and Don’t Get Murdered: The Definitive How-To Guide was released everywhere on May 28th, 2019 and quickly became a success. In this New York Times bestseller, Georgia and Karen each delve into their own past stories and talk about their own struggles with addiction, eating disorders and depression. You can find our article on their book here.
One of my favorite things I love about My Favorite Murder is that Georgia and Karen have really normalized being fascinated with true crime. Their wildly popular podcast helps remove the stigma associated with being interested in the subject.
My Favorite Murder has no hint of slowing down and has become such a household name everywhere, and I can’t wait to see where it goes from here.
Stay sexy, and don’t get murdered!