The Binge Crimes: The Vanishing of Janis Rose - Podcast Rankings and reviews

The quality of the story telling and the recordings pulled me in quickly. I enjoyed the story and feel I learned something about systemic issues in local government and institutions.

My only concern is in the last 5 minutes. After the main person of interest not only declines to be interviewed, but clearly states he does not want to be contacted ever again, the podcast team decided to “go see where he lives anyway”. This made me uncomfortable. This was stalker-like behavior and it didn’t add anything to the story. In fact, it made me question the entirety of the podcasts’ motives and validity given the podcast team is related to people whose lives were directly and permanently affected.

This podcast is so well done! The narration, the attention to detail, and the way they navigate complicated issues with empathy. I enjoy that it tries to stay fairly neutral, as well. My only complaint is that there are too many ad breaks for the amount of info given in each episode. I do agree with a previous review that the pacing was off at times. Otherwise a fantastic listen!

I binged this one and enjoyed it every minute. Highly recommended if you like true crime stories about drug smugglers and corrupt law enforcement. Rob is a captivating storyteller, and I hope to hear more content from him.

The power in Lori’s story is that it could happen in so many small counties and the listener (particularly those familiar with rural counties) can picture exactly the scenes described. Reporting this for almost two decades gave the storyteller such command of the material (unexpectedly terrific voice performance too) that he could ask tough questions in the moment. Very well produced and edited podcast that is, truly, bingeable.

This show is exactly the opposite of what this world needs right now. Filled with conspiracy founded in nothing and unabated commentary from a woman that only sought “evidence” to confirm her bias, this show plays much more like a YouTube spectacle than that of an investigative series. Saying a handful of times that things have been fact checked does not mean the vast majority of the conjecture was corroborated if you take Wendy’s crackpot theories as truth. Exhausting and I’m now wishing I had this time back.

Full Disclosure, I only got through the first three episodes before having to give up on this podcast. I just couldn’t get past the host's cruel portrayal of her cousin Richard. He’s the family’s Boo Radley, but without the benefit of an Atticus Finch to show him empathy and grace. I suspect that a lot of his behavior which resulted in the ugly finger pointing by family members was possibly the result of a neurodevelopmental disorder.
Writing a podcast to publicly out your awkward cousin for suspicion of murder can only cause his poor mother more hurt. Why do that?