Three Ear Worthy Podcasts: California Corruption; The Bright Side; Murder Homes

 This week's iHeart gems are indeed a motley crew, but all three are entertaining, informative, and, in the case of the last one, deeply troubling. I will also note that, after reading this article, if you search for the Fallen Angels podcast, please know that there is a podcast called Fallen Angel. That podcast is about the secrets of the Victoria's Secret models, which actually sounds intriguing. 

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First, we have Fallen Angels: A Story of California Corruption, which premiered last week, this new journalistic thriller delves into the shadows of sunny L.A. Every Thursday, “L.A. Times” investigative reporter Paul Pringle goes deeper and deeper into the intermingled world of power and privilege. 

I love this concept because investigative reporters haven't been a thing since Woodward and Bernstein. In addition, ever since some politicians started calling the media fake news every time reporters caught them in a lie, investigative journalists have dropped below car salespeople and Big Pharma in respectability.

The engaging aspect of this podcast is that Pringle doesn’t simply narrate this story. As Paul Pringle and his team of reporting colleagues, who joined forces in secret from their bosses, investigate the story, they meet obstacles and stonewalling at every turn — from USC, from the city, and more troubling still, from their own organization.

Fallen Angels is a story about power and money and how they can slowly corrupt a place and destroy people’s lives in the process. It’s the story of an investigation that starts in a hotel room in Pasadena, California, and reaches all the way to the top of two of the most powerful institutions in the city of Los Angeles.

I hope it doesn't affect the Rose Bowl parade. Anyway, it's top-notch for corruption crime fighters.

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The Bright Side is a breath of fresh air. Start your day on a positive note with this new daily podcast from Hello Sunshine and iHeartPodcasts. Co-hosted by journalist, TV host and podcaster Danielle Robay and Emmy-nominated national correspondent, Simone Boyce, The Bright Side brings you a daily dose of culture and inspiration with the latest trends, celebrity interviews and real conversations with women doing amazing things while navigating life’s transitions. Join Robay and Boyce every weekday for entertainment, culture, wellness and more.

 Reese Witherspoon serves as executive producer on the podcast, alongside Maureen Polo and Natalie Tulloch for Hello Sunshine; and Ali Perry and Conal Byrne for iHeartPodcasts.

 

“Hello Sunshine is the perfect partner for this ambitious project, given their incredible sense of cultural issues and trends, and their astute, highly engaged fanbase,” said Will Pearson, President of iHeartPodcasts. “Podcasting has managed to reinvent a few genres now – from fiction to sports to health and wellness – and we believe it can also innovate on this idea of a daily “morning show,” a format that is prevalent in TV, but is still missing in the podcast medium. With Reese and her team at the creative helm, we are excited to launch this show together.”

Think positive. Be inspired.

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I think this next podcast will be perfect for true-crime podcast fans, but if you're a real estate agent, you may want to pass.  

The real estate market has never been hotter. Houses sell as soon as they’re listed. Bidding wars lead to all cash deals far above the asking price. But there is one kind of property that often sits on the market for years, no matter how much of a bargain it seems to be. Potential buyers come and go, the price keeps going down, and still the house stands empty.

The reason why is an unfortunate one – a horrible death occurred here. Each week, Murder Homes uncovers the story behind one of these properties. Part history, part murder mystery, this podcast mixes expert interviews, witness accounts and court records to pull back the curtain on the hidden stories each property has to tell. Tune into season two every Wednesday.

 Here are the summaries of two of the creepier episodes. "In the summer of 1975, a maniacal preacher named Vernon LeGrande hits upon a brilliant scheme to use fake nuns to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars in the New York City subways. His forty disciples operate out of a three-story brownstone in Crown Heights and a summer camp called 'LeGrande Acres' in the bucolic Catskills, where the bodies of his followers are still being discovered to this day."

If I were a potential buyer, I'd just move to Staten Island and commute.

Here's another: "On a chilly night in September 1958, an intruder breaks into a two-bedroom home and fatally stabs the mother and father living there, leaving three children alive. Days later, the homicides will cause mass hysteria across the county as attention focuses on a suspect that no one could have imagined – their eight-year-old son."

This concept is like fast food for true-crime fans. My only question is: Which is worse? A home where murders were committed, or a haunted house like in The Amityville Horror?