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Meet the Duo Putting a Queer Spin on the True-Crime Podcast

When they're not roasting our favorite documentaries, the hosts of "True Crime Obsessed" cast a spotlight on serious misdeeds against the LGBTQ community.

In the world of podcasting, true crime has exploded in popularity over the past few years. But while most true-crime podcasts are serving up auditory spins of NBC’s Dateline or CBS’s 48 Hours, Patrick Hinds and Gillian Pensavalle bring humor—very adult humor—to their True Crime Obsessed podcast, which features hilarious reviews of true-crime documentaries and makes the criminals, never the victims, the butt of the joke.

The New York City–based duo are friends in real life and self-described superfans of theater productions (they actually met through the Broadway community and have separate podcasts about theater). Pensavalle says the idea to do a true-crime podcast came to them very organically. “We just wanted to hang around and talk. We both love our husbands, but we’re not going to get the same response with them as we will with each other.”

The initial concept was for True Crime Obsessed to be a serious mix of news, interviews, and documentary recaps, but that changed when Hinds and Pensavalle did a test pilot episode and discovered they had more fun offering up gags while dissecting true-crime films and series. The comedy in the show is “a way to get out our frustration and anger and sadness about [true crime] that people find so interesting and compelling,” says Pensavalle. “If [the humor] helps people get through it in some way, I’m honored.”

True Crime Obsessed launched in 2017 with an episode covering The Imposter, a documentary about French con artist Frédéric Bourdin, who tricked a Texas family into believing he was a missing relative—even though he was the wrong age, had a European accent, and had the wrong eye color.

Since then, the podcast’s hosts have developed a loyal following (including Patreon supporters), attracted sponsors, appeared on panels at events such as SXSW and CrimeCon, and done sold-out live shows around the United States.

Hinds and Pensavalle choose the documentaries they spotlight based on initial impressions from watching a trailer, audience requests, and sometimes pitches from outlets airing the docs, such as HBO or Netflix. Of the LGBTQ-centric episodes they've produced so far, Hinds says the most challenging was probably "Upstairs Inferno"—about an act of arson in 1973 at the UpStairs Lounge gay bar in New Orleans—“because so many people died so tragically.” Pensavalle adds that revisiting the doc "Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine" was also difficult, because the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard was considered a turning point in bringing more awareness to hate crimes against members of the LGBTQ community.

However, the queer true-crime episode that has gotten the biggest audience response is "The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson."

“Because it deals with a person of color and a trans person, it ticks boxes of people who are underrepresented in all forms of media,” says Hinds. “I don’t know of any other true-crime podcast that’s covered that case.”

Hinds and Pensavalle’s inclusive and welcoming outlook extends to how they interact with fans, who are often invited to have drinks with them after their live shows. Pensavalle says her and Hinds’ personas on the show very much align with who they are in real life. “If we go out for a drink, we’ll have the same banter and the same dynamic at the bar.”

Their first Pride edition of the live-show version of True Crime Obsessed, taking place on June 29 in New York City, will tackle the documentary Stonewall Uprising.

“We’re going to be showing a lot of old footage of how gays were treated in the ’50s and ’60s, and how that’s evolved,” Hinds says. “It does make a difference to see it rather than hearing us describe it.”

To elevate the experience, they’ve hired a crew of drag queens as greeters. “They’re going to be there to welcome people and take pictures with them,” Hinds says. Bridget McManus, a lesbian comic from Los Angeles, will open the show, and, as a bonus, on the morning of it Hinds will give a free guided tour of LGBTQ landmarks in New York to select ticket holders who made a reservation in advance.

“We have this really cool thing happening in our Facebook group: [Queer] people are coming out to us before they come out to their friends and family,” Hinds says. “I don’t know if people think of true-crime groups as a place to find love and support, but ours is totally a loving and supporting environment.” Parents of queer kids are also confiding in the duo and asking for advice.

As for their own advice on launching a successful podcast? “People think there’s a step-by-step guide on how to do it,” Pensavalle says. “There is no formula. There’s no trick. Find someone you can work with really well, work hard, put out good work. That’s it.”

True Crime Obsessed Podcast Live! will take place June 29 at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater.

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