RedHanded Podcast: True Crime For Women

  Sometimes, life does imitate art. True-crime podcasts are known for chance encounters, weird twists of fate, and people meeting a challenge.

Consider this: Nine years ago RedHanded hosts Hannah Maguire and Suruthi Bala met at a party, got drunk and decided to set up a true-crime podcast together. Then against all the odds, they did — with a £10 microphone in a cupboard under the stairs.

 Born in India, Suruthi Bala moved to the United Kingdom at the age of five and was raised there, later studying economics at university with the intention of building a career in finance. After entering the corporate world, Bala experienced early burnout and began seeking a more creative and fulfilling path, eventually transitioning into roles such as conference production before taking time off to travel for a year and eventually returning to London.

Hannah Maguire, born and raised in the United Kingdom in a single-parent household Hannah learned how to multitask early. Hannah studied anthropology at university, because she thought it would make her sound cool, but these days she is the only one of her SOAS cohort who actually uses her degree to analyze why people do what they do. 

Before RedHanded, Maguire pursued a range of careers across multiple countries, including teaching English in Costa Rica and South Korea, before returning to London to pursue theatre production. When she met Suruthi, Hannah was working three jobs and took on a fourth to launch RedHanded. Everyone told her not to - they were wrong.

Today, RedHanded is an internationally renowned, hit podcast racking up millions of downloads every single month. RedHanded has built a global audience drawn to its distinctive blend of intelligent analysis, candid conversation, and irreverent wit. From infamous serial killers and cult leaders to lesser-known cases that deserve everyone’s attention, the podcast explores the social, cultural, and psychological forces that shape crime.

There are many popular true-crime podcasts that follow the well-worn formula to attract an audience. What makes RedHanded so distinct is the chemistry of the co-hosts, the show's focus on women, and the narrative skill displayed in every episode.

One of my favorite episodes is a recent one -- ShortHand: The Death of Marilyn Monroe -- where the co-hosts explain: "Naked, clutching the telephone receiver, and with a stomach full of prescription meds, Marilyn Monroe was pronounced dead at 4:25 AM on the 5th of August 1962. Today, a century after her birth, the iconic “blonde bombshell” is still one of the most famous people who has ever lived. She epitomized Hollywood: the fame, the fortune, and the chaos. Rumors placed her in bed with two Kennedys – and under surveillance from the FBI and CIA. Marilyn Monroe was the tainted American Dream. Could someone so special really have died from something as simple as an overdose?" Marilyn Monroe's death is a tale told thousands of times since 1962. Yet, the co-hosts infuse the narrative with new life.  The RedHanded co-hosts tell us that, "Women are nearly twice as likely as men to listen to true crime - and a 2025 study in the British Journal of Psychology just confirmed it’s not just entertainment. Researchers identified defensive vigilance as a key driver: women using crime stories to understand risk, process fear and anger, and feel more in control." That's critical because the co-hosts didn’t build that audience simply by covering crime. They built it by understanding exactly why women keep coming back to the genre.  Hannah and Suruthi told Ear Worthy, "Everything RedHanded is, we taught ourselves from scratch."  Hannah and Suruthi explain: "Early episodes were recorded in improvised spaces with minimal equipment, and much of the learning happened in real time. The very first episode was recorded in a cupboard under Hannah’s stairs. Hannah spent many hours editing episodes locked in the showers at her previous job because it's the only place no one would find her."  This lack of formal training ultimately became an advantage, the co-hosts admit, allowing them to build a format and tone that felt authentic rather than industry-driven. RedHanded began almost accidentally. After meeting in London at a Thanksgiving dinner in a condemned flat Hannah was occupying, Suruthi and Hannah bonded over a shared obsession with true-crime podcasts, particularly American shows that were dominating the space at the time. They saw a clear gap in the UK market for a podcast that approached true crime in the way the U.S. had already begun to capitalize on. Hannah and Suruthi told us: "What started as a creative experiment quickly became something more serious. We weren’t trying to build a business - we simply wanted to create the kind of show they felt was missing: one that combined thorough research with unfiltered conversation." Hannah and Suruthi continue: "All the credit goes to our ever-growing family of listeners. Accolades like this create amazing opportunities to make greater content for our listeners, it opens doors, and puts us on the radar for bigger interviews and bigger sources."  RedHanded has two formats. It has long-form episodes that run well over an hour, and its short-form episodes called appropriately, Shorthand. I like the two formats because they break up the show and offer variety for the audience. The show has gained a lot of well-deserved notoriety, with three consecutive Gold wins at the British Podcast Awards, a Sunday Times bestselling book, sold-out tours across the UK, and Europe, back-to-back Listeners’ Choice winners, British Podcast Awards Champions, and the #1 true-crime podcast on Spotify UK. RedHanded reports four million monthly downloads without a media company behind it. I love the indie aspect of the show. These two women built a true-crime juggernaut and didn't the resources of Amazon, iHeart, or Spotify. As entrepreneurs, Hannah and Suruthi work extremely hard to monetize their show. "Our big hitters are Patreon and Ad revenue currently sold by Audioboom. Touring brings in six figures annually, with sold-out shows across the UK, Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand. Merchandise also plays a role, contributing to the revenue generated from live shows. Beyond that, advertising, partnerships, and branded content drive revenue, alongside additional podcast formats like Shorthand, which work expand both audience and content offering." Hannah and Suruthi explain what is unique about RedHanded: " From the beginning, RedHanded has focused on the why behind crime, not just the what. True crime is naturally repetitive; it’s true because it happened. RedHanded is very well-researched; a minimum of 15 pages of script goes into a one-hour episode. However, their true strength lies in storytelling. While many shows center on retelling events, we approach each case through broader lenses, examining cultural context, systemic failures, psychology, and social impact. Their backgrounds in economics and anthropology naturally lend themselves to deeper analysis, which has become a defining characteristic of the show.  "The dynamic between us, combined with the relatability of how they link cases to our own lives and experiences, helps make true crime feel less dark and sordid, and more human." There has always been an inherent draw to the extremes of human behavior, and true crime feeds that appetite. However, ordinary, grassroots voices talking about true crime were noticeably missing. Consumption of the genre typically came through documentaries, news articles, or books – there wasn’t really a vessel for everyday people to discuss it. When podcasting came along, Suruthi and Hannah stepped in to fill that niche.

The co-hosts assert: "No matter how dark, desolate, and dystopian things got in the middle, we always end with a bang." 

Check out RedHanded. In a marketplace chock-full of derivative true-crime podcasts, co-hosts Hannah Maguire and Suruthi Bala have managed to create an internationally acclaimed true-crime podcast known for its sharp analysis, dark humor, and deeply researched storytelling.