#redhanded the pod

[nagdabbit]

i am sleepy, i think i had a week of camping and hiking and no real *resting* cuz driving can be exhausting on its own sometimes, and just immediately going back to work has left me feeling so eh and sicky and i want to sleep.

but i can't sleep cuz oisin wanted to listen to a true crime pod and put on redhanded the first ep of the karen read trial and i am still so genuinely pissed off about it that i can't fucking sleep. we didn't even finish the entire episode, they did such a bad fucking job.

[thefolioarchives]

Reading of 2021, part X

I decided to revive this because, to be honest, it's been bugging me that I never finished the thing. November came along and we moved house and I started a new job and you forget certain stuff. But I was also quite proud of all the books I read last year and I also read some absolute, soul-wrenching, joy-filling bangers (as what follows will be a testament to) and I wanted to share that.

46. Redhanded: An Exploration of Criminals, Cannibals, Cults, And What Makes a Killer Tick by Suruthi Bala and Hannah Maguire

I've been a follower of Redhanded the podcast for a few years and I find Bala and Maguire's approach to true crime to be a breath of fresh air. It's on-the-nose, inquisitive, challenging and funny. They manage to cover a lot of cases I've never heard of before and that their episode covering the story of Robert Maudsley ("The Most Dangerous Prisoner in Britain") is the show at its best, is a hill I will gladly die on. Their book follows the same kind of style as their podcast and their "identity" is retained throughout. Each chapter follows a particular topic related to killers and serial killers, like "Genetics" and "Misogyny", where the girls dive into the science behind it, using a famous case as a "study". There were a few cases I hadn't heard of in this book and a lot of cases that are covered in the podcast. I found the chapter on Childhood to be particularly interesting and feel like I'm wrestling internally with the challenges posed by diagnosing children with psychopathy. The chapter on misogyny really made my piss boil (the incel chapter) and I found the chapter on cults also very fascinating. My two criticisms at this juncture is the decision to put in italic certain things in brackets, but not all. It was a stylistic choice that made the formatter in me twitch. Second criticism: The title promises an exploration of cannibals, as well as criminals and cults, yet I couldn't find a single mention or case of a cannibal in this book. Did I have a stroke and completely miss it? Is it a joke of some kind they've addressed in the podcast but at the end so I wouldn't have listened to it because I don't listen to it all the way to the end because I don't care to listen to everyone who's joined as Patreons? Either way, it was a great start to October!

47. The Red Tree by Caitlin R. Kiernan

The cover of this novel suggests more of a romance/supernatural narrative than the meta, digressing, nightmare-sequenced, nuanced tale Kiernan actually takes you on. Sarah Crowe has left her home state of Alabama for Providence, New England, in the hopes of finding the time and peace to write her next novel (now, if that doesn't make you want to read it, I don't know what will). She never starts the novel (obviously, what did you expect?), but what she does start is a journal of her time at the farm she now calls her current residence and the red oak tree, source of many a tragedy over the past 300 years. I'm still new to horror in fiction and I don't know that I've discovered exactly what terrifies me (apart from that one scene in VanderMeer's Authority when Control finds Whitby in that crawlspace/utility closet, crouching next to a cosmic horror mural, that scene will always send shivers down my spine), but I do know that I enjoy the creepiness of Kiernan's story. It reminds me of when I read The Haunting of Hill House for the first time, how everything was just slowly becoming more and more creepy, slowly edging towards some resolution after considerably, almost unbearable teasing. Coupled with this creepiness and unease, is Crowe as a writer. The prose is almost stream of consciousness at times, grounded by countless references to literature, art and popular culture. I, personally, enjoy when authors use references to other works in their writing. There's something comforting about the fact that people want to reference back to other works as if to say, This is not new, I did not have this idea first, to show how nothing is original and that things work in spirals and not a linear fashion. Which again is what Kiernan also does with the history and horror of The Red Tree. There is the sense that history will always repeat itself, but also that different places in history will touch each other, interact with each other. There is also something inherently primal to Kiernan's narrative and the horrors we encounter, which has been somewhat of a relief after my tumble down the "Christian" rabbit hole, so to speak. Not necessarily a retreat back to nature, although the story revolves around a tree, but to something more than that. Nature is maybe too simplistic a word for what we encounter here. Either way, I absolutely loved it and never wanted it to end.

48. The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher

What I've ultimately been intending with creating this catalogue of the books I've read in a year, is to remember the truly good ones. To put down my feelings about them on the paper, to reflect on what I've read so it can stay with me a little longer. This book is definitely one of those and I could not put it down. After finalising her divorce, Kara moves into her Uncle Earl's Wonder Museum, whilst working freelance as a graphic designer trying to get her life together. The adventure that follows is a page turning, deeply unsettling mind-bender. I haven't underlined the pages in a novel this much since I was studying for my master's. I kept going back and forth in the narrative, to make sure I'd understood everything and given myself enough time to reflect on what I was reading. The prose is hilarious and Kingfisher is very generous with her characters, they're all given time to truly shine on the page. Uncle Earl immediately stole my heart with his inherent kindness and love for Kara; Simon (the barista next door unwittingly thrust into an alternate dimension quest) becomes a voice of reason throughout the novel, the voice of every horror fan who've screamed at the TV because the characters in the film opened a door no one in their right minds would open; Beau, "the benevolent Ghengis Khan" of cats, making cats proud everywhere. In sum, reading this book felt like an absolute treat. I'm finally anchored in a genre where every reference felt like honouring a close friend and there is something darn special about that. I can't wait to read more of Kingfisher, she might be (definitely is) my new favourite author.

[desertfangs]

Catching up on Redhanded and in a recent episode, Hannah said something about how she can’t watch anything she cares about right now and I felt that in my soul. 

[freckle-queen]

If I started reviewing my favorite podcasts I listen to (which are varied and A LOT) would you like that? Would you still follow me?

[spurgie-cousin]

Please! What are your suggestions! I stopped listening to Morbid and I don’t know what else is out there.

I've gotten so many true crime recommendations from other disillusioned listeners on the Morbid subreddit, I haven't got a chance to try them all but here are a few of the most highly recommended!:

Redhanded (I'm only one episode in and so far so good but a lot of people say it has similar vibes to early Morbid as far as the hosts. Plus they make talking about mental health and violent crime victims with respect a big priority which I appreciate).

Small Town Murder (I'm a few episodes in and really enjoying so far!!)

Sinisterhood (haven't started it yet but it's one of the ones people recommend the most frequently bc hosts have a similar vibe)

Voices for Justice (also haven't gotten to yet but it's hosted by a woman who lost a family member to a notorious murderer and everyone says that she has a unique perspective that brings a lot to the discussions).

Necronomipod (on my list)

True Crime Garage (on my list)

Anatomy of a Murder (on my list)

Idk if you like the paranormal stuff like I do, but I'm still on the lookout for a pod I really like in that genre. I do listen to Where Did the Road Go?, and Strange Familiars for a paranormal fix every now and then.

[letslovefood]

If you want a good true crime pod, Redhanded is my fave. The hosts are funny and still respectful of the victims. They talk about loads of crimes, some that I haven't even heard of!

I’ve never heard of that!! I really like Small Town Murder for that reason, they’re funny and they’re asshole kind of like me, but they still pay respect to the victim, but they’ll talk so much shit on the perpetrator 😂

[polyadvice]

What are Zinnia's hobbies?

As a reminder, I’m celebrating 1,000 posts by taking a break from polyamory related questions and taking questions about literally anything else. Submit your non-polyam questions here! You can blacklist the tag “1kcelebration” if you don’t want non-polyamory-related posts on your dash.

What are some hobbies you have? If you have a job, what’s your job?

I write professionally - but not really the fun kind of writing; I write how-to guides and documentation for a tech company. I also work part time at my church, and I am a therapeutic foster parent, which is both “not a job” and totally a job, in the sense that it takes way more than 40 hours a week and uses all my professional and organizational skills. (Foster parents do receive money, but it is not a “salary” for the work that we do, it is intended to cover the costs of meeting the child’s needs.)

As for hobbies, I’ve already talked about playing Pokemon Go and enjoying forum roleplaying and tabletop gaming. In that vein, I also like board games, and I’m huge into Keyforge lately. I also like “solo roleplaying” which is just a silly way of saying “fiction writing” - the writing I do for fun lately is mostly high-fantasy adventures with worlds and characters I’ve created. And I’m just a big internet nerd, so I spend a lot of time goofing around with my friends on tumblr, discord, slack, and other forums I’m part of.

I like crafting, and the main things I do are beadwork and resin pouring. I started learning resin pouring to make Keyforge pieces but also make jewelry. I do alcohol ink techniques as well as “inclusions” - like glitter, stones, dried flowers, etc. It’s an interesting hobby because there’s lots of trial and error and you have to wait 24 hours to see how something came out, so it’s been a serious learning curve for me and it’s made me much less of an anxious perfectionist, which is nice.

I spend at least 3 hours a day driving because being a foster parent means lots of shuttling to and from appointments and other things, so I’m a huge podcast aficionado. Some of my favorites are Reply All, The Nod, Dear Prudence (and other advice podcasts, for “industry research”), RedHanded, Lovett Or Leave It, and Pod Save America.

I also read a lot, though I don’t have much time to read “fun” fiction lately and mostly read books that inform my work at my church or as a foster parent, so books about trauma, community building, youth work, parenting, etc. The last fiction book I read was Where The Crawdads Sing which was amazing and I can’t recommend it enough.

I love to cook and once a week I host a bunch of my friends for dinner. Coming up with weekly variations on large-scale meals, meeting everyone’s dietary needs, and keeping it under my budget is a challenge, but one I really enjoy! I also have 2 pet lizards, and taking care of them is a hobby, I suppose. I like to create healthy, varied meals for them, and to set up their “enrichment tub” with things to explore, climb on, and find to eat.

Perhaps the most “unusual” hobby I have is American Girl Doll collecting and restoring! I loved American Girl as a kid, and realized as an adult I could finally indulge in that! AG dolls are very expensive brand-new, though, so I usually buy damaged ones for a much lower price, and learned how to fix up their limbs, hair, eyes, and vinyl skin. While I grew up with the AG books and love the characters, I always make my dolls into custom OCs (original characters) and write bios and stories for them. Then I take photos of them in various outfits and poses. Because my daily life involves addressing a lot of trauma and challenges, it’s nice to have an escape that’s pure innocence and fun.

Technically, writing this blog is also a hobby! I would love to be able to make it a source of income, and I do have a patreon, but for now it’s just a hobby.

[2jam4u]

Your podcast recs are amazing!!! I’ve started listening to redhanded and sinisterhood and they’re both so GOOD (I am in love with the hosts) and I’ve never heard anyone mention these ones before! Do you have any other true crime pod recommendations?

If you didn’t see the list I posted the other day lmk and I’ll reblog!

[thefolioarchives]

Cult narratives

I'm currently reading about Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple and how he managed to recruit thousands to join his cult in California. "In a time long before TikTok, aggressive Facebook ads, or being Insta-famous, Jim Jones was the king of marketing. How did he do it? Well, he got himself a fleet of Greyhound buses, filled them up with a bunch of young, attractive devotees, and sent them off around the country, recruiting new members under the banner of socialism." (Redhanded: An Exploration of Criminals, Cults and What Makes a Killer Tick. p. 130). This immediately made me think of The Girls by Emma Cline, the creative interpretation of what life at the Manson farm looked like for the women and girls who lived there, where Manson (who's never actually named) is often just a blurry presence in the background. It attempts to tell the story of these women, who they really were, instead of leaving them to the sensationalism of the tabloids. I need more narratives with the participants of cults and the people who essentially made them possible, practically speaking. Jones' Greyhound fleet has the potential for so many different characters and stories, so many lives. I think there is something quite vulnerable in seeing how people can give themselves so completely to a cult leader, to disappear into a fantasy land together with others who believe the same thing. Were it not for the fact that my yikes-o-meter is so friggin' sensitive I think cults can potentially sound almost peaceful if you literally give your mind and body to the whole thing, but I guess that's brainwashing for ya. I'm also craving the shared normality of the absurdity, and what did the recruitment process even look like? How did these people come across to others? Who was the ideal target? Also, does this effectively make Greyhound a franchise?