you must remember this

Earlier this year, I became completely hooked on the podcast Serial. I wasn’t alone, as it rocketed to the top of the charts in every podcast directory, and became A Thing for about three months.

Ever since it ended, I’ve been looking for something to pick up where it left off, in terms of pacing, compelling subject matter, production quality, and intellectual stimulation. I expected that podcast directories like Stitcher and iTunes would be the place to find what I was looking for, but other than recommending This American Life, they weren’t very helpful.

Enter my friend Ed. Ed is a writer who is currently doing a magnificent comic about the early years of Hollywood called The Fadeout. Ed turned me on to a podcast called You Must Remember This, which is about Hollywood’s first century.

For the last couple of months, You Must Remember This has been looking back at the Manson Murders, unpacking where Charles Manson came from (both physically and spiritually), and how the changing scene within Hollywood (as a geographic location and an industry) in the 1960s created an environment where he and his followers could find each other.

This season, You Must Remember This will explore the murders committed in the summer of 1969 by followers of Charles Manson, and the Hollywood music and movie scene surrounding the killings. Throughout the series, we’ll learn how a single sociopath’s thwarted dreams of fame and fortune led to the gruesome events which became the symbolic “end of the sixties.” Future episodes will explore the various celebrities, musicians, movie stars and filmmakers (including Roman Polanski, Sharon Tate, The Beach Boys, Dennis Hopper, Doris Day and more) whose paths crossed with Manson’s in meaningful ways, both leading up to the murders and in their aftermath.

I love this podcast, and once I get caught up on the Manson episodes, I’m going to go back to the beginning and binge the whole series. I think some of you will like it, too.

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33 thoughts on “you must remember this”

I wonder if he ever stayed at Hotel Cecil because that was a pretty seedy place in LA in that period. A couple of serial killers lived there for a while.

I love You Must Remember This! You might also like The Memory Palace and, if you like classic film and radio drama, The Attaboy Clarance and The Secret History of Hollywood.

I found the recent Halo podcast Hunt the Truth (which admittedly is an advert for the upcoming game) was compelling in a very similar way to Serial.
Thanks for the podcast recommendation too, as I’ve been looking for something similar to listen to in the same way.
🙂

There is a podcast that still follows the cas from Serial, and they have unconvered way more facts than Serial did. The podcast is done by relatives and friends who are also lawyers. It is called “Undisclosed”. The earlier episodes are quite good, but there are some boring episodes (like when they talk about the cell phone data).

kodekitten says:

9 August, 2015 at 11:12 am

I’ll second this – Undisclosed is as intellectually addictive as Serial and completely changed the way I viewed the case. I wouldn’t characterize it as boring, however, because getting into the weeds of the case is often what I craved from Serial.

I would suggest picking any episode from Undisclosed and give a listen. Since having listened to Serial is the only prerequisite, you should be ok with any of the later, more polished, episodes of Undisclosed.
sunnyday72 says:

9 August, 2015 at 3:41 pm

I agree. I am five episodes in to Undisclosed, it is amazing, and I am completely addicted. I was a little on the fence about the conviction when Serial ended but Undisclosed has really changed my mind.
1. Logan says:
  
  9 August, 2015 at 6:38 pm
  
  Agreed! Once I heard the info on blood pooling, all the doubts I had at the end of Serial disappeared.

Check out Reply All from Gimlet Media.

beowuff says:

9 August, 2015 at 11:34 am

Oh yes! I was going to suggest all 3 of Gimlet Media’s current podcasts.
Heartfruit says:

9 August, 2015 at 11:42 am

I second this recommendation. I’m completely hooked.

This looks great. I mean, it’s not the Columbo Podcast but what is? Thanks!

I don’t remember this, but thank you. 🙂 Have a great week .. 🙂

Thanks for this! Just started listening to podcasts and only have a few that I follow. Will keep me entertained on my long walks.

This may be off topic. But wil I would like to ask you a question. What would you think about tabletop with the 11th doctor from the doctor who series, brizzy ( youtuber) and your wife? Men vs women. I think that would be interesting.

Thanks for the tip. With “The Thrilling Adventure Hour” coming to a close, I need something compelling to keep my interest.

I just listened to the Bruce/Brandon Lee “You Must Remember This” podcast, and would like to say this: the material was compelling, but the host’s use of “Vocal Fry” made it nearly unlistenable.

If this is representative of other episodes, I will be unable to continue because “Vocal Fry” is an over-used bullshit convention used by otherwise unimaginative narrators to give themselves “street cred”.

This is the single most annoying trend in public/recorded speaking EVER.

Seconding recommendations for Undisclosed and the Gimlet podcasts. Wil, I think you’d also love Pleasure Town, which is in the middle of its second season and is doing some unbelievable storytelling.

Hey, Wil – Have you not yet discovered Decoder Ring Theatre out of Canada? The writer is a guy named Gregg Taylor; his two main story arcs are a noir detective one and a comic-book hero one – Black Jack Justice and The Red Panda. His female characters are fabulous, his voice actors have been with him for over a decade now, and I just love all of his stuff. His writing is really, really good. You can find him by browsing for any of the titles above, and all his stuff is free. Oh, and did I mention he wrote a really plucky sidekick for his Red Panda character (he voices the Red Panda himself…) so he could thereby woo a lady voice actor he fancied and cast as the sidekick? It worked – they are married and have 2 kids now. 🙂

Has anyone else been listening to Lore? I’ve found it pretty fascinating, and love the narrator’s (Aaron Mahnke’s) voice. It’s “about true life scary stories” – so the true stories behind the scary stories, basically.

Wil,

Thanks for turning me onto the You Must Remember This podcast, the Manson episodes have been riveting.

That is all.

If you want to hear about a case where the justice system broke down repeatedly, you might try Breakdown by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Skeptics Guide to the Universe meets most of your criteria:

https://www.theskepticsguide.org/

I loved Serial so much and this podcast sounds great, I will check it out 🙂

My husband likes the History of Rome podcast and is now listening to the French Revolution podcast by the same guy, and they are just the right sort of length for his commute. (Haitians next, apparently.)

He also does his own podcast (Dissecting Worlds) with an old University friend.

You might enjoy Criminal. thisiscriminal.com

Thank you Wil! You rock, will definitely check this out!!!!

Wil,
I’ve been looking for something as well. I’ve been catching up on Radiolab and Nerdist podcasts but was thinking the other day what are some other good podcasts. Thanks for this recommendation.

Is there anything else that you enjoy/enjoyed listening to?

Still no news about Serial Season 2, waiting for the next “Hardcore History” by Dan Carlin takes forever, so thanks for the great tip. 🙂

Not directly related but if you’re looking for good podcasts I strongly recommend “The Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy”.

I have to recommend a podcast that I’m sure you’ll enjoy: The Beer Powered Time Machine by Mikey Mason. Comes out weekly, and is an entertaining hour-or-so of beer drinking, reminiscing, and storytelling. And Mikey is a seriously funny dude.