If you are one of the 55 million people traveling at least 50 miles for Thanksgiving this year, you might find yourself behind the wheel or strapped into an airplane seat for a long stretch of time. While you sink into your seat for the long haul, why not sink into a new podcast series? Here are six that explore true crimes, history, and other dramas in Washington, DC.
1. Dupont Investigations
Genre: Radio Drama
Duration of each episode: 30 – 50 minutes
Episodes: 6
Travel back to the golden age of radio dramas with this noir detective story set in 1930s DC. Follow private investigator Torsten Somersby through a shadowy and mysterious version of the capital city, where a fictional investigation into a tobacco heir’s death takes a surprising and supernatural turn. After the show’s premiere on November 21, it will be released biweekly.
2. Freeway Phantom
Genre: Investigative, True Crime
Duration of each episode: 45 minutes
Episodes: 10
In the early 1970s, six Black girls were murdered by a serial killer known as the “Freeway Phantom.” The crime went unsolved, in part because of a lackluster response from police. Journalist Celeste Headlee revisits the case and sheds new light on DC’s first serial killer.
3. Holy Week: The Story of a Revolution Undone
Genre: History, Social Justice
Duration of each episode: 30 – 45 minutes
Episodes: 8
When Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968, it rocked the entire country; DC was particularly devastated by the civil rights leader’s killing. This eight-part series from The Atlantic explores the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, and how those in DC responded, and explains how the week that followed King’s death set the stage for the modern landscape of civil rights.
4. Sports Explains the World: The Bison Project
Genre: Sports History
Duration of each episode: 30 – 40 minutes
Episodes: 3
The 1971 men’s soccer team at Howard University was the first at a historically Black college to win a Division I title in any sport. But why was their victory revoked by the NCAA? This brand new podcast looks at this “forgotten championship.”
5. The Dig: J Edgar Hoover
Genre: History, Biography
Duration: ~100 minutes
Episode: 1
How about a deep dive for your long drive? The Dig invites Yale professor Beverly Gage to discuss her Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of FBI director and DC native J. Edgar Hoover. Her book, G-Man, is the first biography of Hoover to use newly available information from the Freedom of Information Act, and includes stories about how his time at a GWU fraternity may have shaped his world view.
6. The Alley: DC’s 8th and H Case
Genre: True Crime, Criminal Justice
Duration of each episode: 30 minutes
Episodes: 8
In 1984, Catherine Fuller was found sexually abused and beaten to death in an alley by 8th and H streets, NW. The police decided it was a gang attack and sentenced eight Black men to life in prison. The men always maintained their innocence, and there later were allegations of negligent practices by the detectives and prosecutors. Now, for the first time, the accused men are telling their own story, and are currently seeking a presidential pardon to clear their names.
Hunter is a cat-loving Coloradoan who enjoys history, Halloween and board games. He studied audio production and radio storytelling at Hofstra University before moving to DC in 2022. During his editorial fellowship with Washingtonian in the fall of 2023, he ran Halloween Hunter, a section featuring local stories for the spooky season.
