Nominated BEST TRUE-CRIME PODCAST at British Podcast Awards 2018 and iTunes Top 50. Subscribe via iTunes, Spotify, Acast, Stitcher and all podcast platform. Hey avid true-crime podcast listeners! If you're always slathering at the chops for the newest, freshest and best true-crime podcasts, you're in luck. On this blog, every week, I will be posting a fabulous Q&A by some of the best true-crime podcasters. This week, shamefully, it's my turn, as I discuss my very own British Podcast Award-winning Murder Mile True-Crime Podcast.
Michael's thoughts: I highly recommend Murder Mile True-Crime Podcast. Well, I would, as it's mine, but if you've never heard it before, I try to make it as different and original as possible, it's researched using the original declassified police investigation files, first hand accounts and as many authentic sources as possible, it's told from the victim's perspective and is presented like an audio drama, the idea being that "you'll feel like you're actually there". It's written, researched and presented with a lot of care and love, so if this sounds right up your street, give it a go. Mx Q & A with Michael from Murder Mile True-Crime Podcast Q - How did you get into true-crime podcasting? A - By accident, I had created Murder Mile Walks (featuring 12 murderers across 15 locations in 1 square mile) and realised there was so many more fascinating true-crime stories to tell and only able to give five to ten minutes per story on the tour, I realised by turning these other new stories into a podcast, I could give each victim enough time to tell their story properly. Q - What was your first episode and why was it an important story to tell? A - The Denmark Place Fire was one of Britain's worst mass-murders and yet is it almost entirely unknown, as having occurred during the the final year of the Yorkshire Ripper's killing spree, the press weren't interested, and as the inferno contained many people (who it was incorrectly claimed were illegally in the country) the press weren't interested. It took me almost a year to research the Denmark Place Fire by talking to locals who were there, knew the victims or the club. Q - What’s the biggest mistake you find that murderers make? A - Arrogance. Believing that they are above the law and that they are smarter than the Police. A prime example being The Blackout Ripper (who slaughtered four women and attempted to kill two others in four day) and yet, knowing he was about to be arrested, instead of running, he lay on his bunk bed smoking a cigarette. Check out the first of the eight part Blackout Ripper series here. Q - What’s the most obscure true-crime fact you know? A - John Reginald Halliday Christie was well-hung and wasn't circumcised. Q - Which piece of research are you most pleased with? A - I work hard on every episode I write, researching using as many official sources as possible, as newspapers are often inaccurate, biased and misleading, but I'm most proud of my in-depth investigation into the suicide (not murder) of boxer/actor Freddie Mills. His family have always stated he was murdered, tabloid myths have always suggested he was secretly a sadistic maniac called Jack the Stripper (utter tabloid tosh) but by carefully interrogating the facts using the original police files, I was able to prove his death was an "accidental suicide". You can listen to this two-part special here. Q - What have you learned about yourself whilst making your podcast? A - I've learned that I'm quite an emotional person, I never thought I was, but by delving so deeply into victim's personal lives, I've become quite close to them, I've learned to see their world from their eyes, and in some cases, like with lovable prostitute Ginger Rae I learned to love them. Q - If you had a time-machine, which murder would you love to witness simply so you could say “oh, that’s what happened?” A - It would have to be Jack the Ripper. Not so I could find out who Jack the Ripper was, but so I could prove to all of these "Ripperologists" that there is nothing unique about these murders and that they were committed by different people, and not a single maniac called Jack the Ripper. Q - Have you ever been contacted by the victim/killer’s family and why? A - Often. Almost all of the time, they get in touch to thank me for the sensitive way I have portrayed their loved-one, their life and death, as in most books the victim is simply relegated to being just a "name, an age and a collection of injuries". Sometime they're fascinated to learn the truth about a relative's hidden past (I did a private tour for the family of Ginger Rae and they loved it) but sometimes families do get in touch upset that I've dragged up details they would rather have forgotten (or - more often - didn't know the truth about, as families rarely do), and that's why I write it in a very clear, truthful and sensitive way, out of respect for the living and the dead. Q - Given their often tragic backgrounds, should we see murderers as victims too? A - I feel they should. No baby is born bad, just as no adult makes the conscious decision to become a killer, there's always an incident or series of events which turn a good child into a bad adult, so it's important not to use this as a way to excuse their actions, but to understand why they do what they do. Q - Do you have a message for your loyal listeners? A - Yes, it's a simple one, and it's "thank you". Without my listeners my podcast would be nothing, it would have died a long time ago, but by having such amazing listeners, they've help me through the difficult times and shaped the podcast for the better. So thank you. Mx A big thank you to me for taking part in this True-Crime Podcaster Q & A. Don't forget to check out my podcast. To explore this fine true-crime podcast further, click on the links. . Stay safe my friends Michael.x Michael J Buchanan-Dunne is a writer, crime historian, podcaster and tour-guide who runs Murder Mile Walks, a guided tor of Soho’s most notorious murder cases, hailed as “one of the top ten curious, quirky, unusual and different things to do in London”, nominated "one of the best true-crime podcasts at the British podcast Awards 2018", and featuring 12 murderers, including 3 serial killers, across 15 locations, totaling 75 deaths, over just a one mile walk
2 Comments
Lesley
12/6/2020 10:05:05
Just discovered the podcast- great stuff! Listen to it everyday on my way to work here in Australia 🇦🇺
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Murder Mile UK True Crime Podcast
12/6/2020 10:14:21
Thank you Lesley, that's very much appreciated. Mx
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AuthorMichael J Buchanan-Dunne is a crime writer, podcaster of Murder Mile UK True Crime and creator of true-crime TV series. Archives
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