Episode 8 - A criminology and video game crossover!
Prison Architect - your chance to enter the world of video games and build your own prison, complete with death chamber!
A massively popular game, how does a cultural phenomenan like this sit alongisde criminology and what we might understand about prisons and prison design.
Alex and Kia are joined by Dr Abbie Hartman, a cultural and public historian specialising in video game history (yes, she's absolutely as cool as she sounds) at Macquarie University.
Have you played it? Would you play it? Shoul you play it?
28 Jun 2026
Episode 7 - Scams, cons and why you will know a victim of this
We know, we know it's been a while!
Blame Kia for having two jobs and Alex for proposing and then the need to plan a wedding and two wedding parties!
But we are back and talking about scams and cons!
Because, if you look around the people you know, it's very likely someone you know has been a victim of a scam or a con.
Things are changing, scammers get smarter and it's hard to know where the next con is going to come from.
Shoutout to some of our favourite scam podcasts:
Scamfluencers
Scam Factory
Scamanda
Birth Keepers
And many much more!!
13 Apr 2026
It's a little one: NSW throws out 'good character' references
NSW courts have become the first to abolish 'good character' references in sentencing.
Alex's response to this was caution, Kia was optimistic - and that represents community views around this change.
So what is it, who could it benefit and where do we still need to ensure that everyone is getting a fair and equal process through the sentencing process?
9 Mar 2026
Episode 6 - Does policing having a culture problem?
Are police forces failing 50% of their community?
Alex recently wrote about this for The Conversation. Inpsired by the clashes between police and protestors in Sydney, but also because there have been reviews and reports and media articles on the problematic cultures we see in the police force without much change.
So what's it going to take to have a police force that keeps their entire population safe?
This is what Kia and Alex take a look at today, focussing on reviews in Australia and around the world.
You can read Alex's Conversation piece here: https://theconversation.com/australias-masculine-policing-culture-is-failing-women-and-children-276176
16 Feb 2026
Episode 5 - A look at 'The Mushroom Tapes'
It was the biggest case in Australia, but also the world in 2025.
The trial of an Australian woman found guilty for three counts of murder and one count of attemtped murder after feeding members of her extended family beef wellington laced with death cap mushrooms, a highly toxic fungi.
There were podcasts, journalists, documumentary makers, true crime influencers (whatever the heck that is) and authors in the court room.
Three of them whipped a book out at the end of 2025, The Mushroom Tapes by Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper and Sarah Krasnostein.
Kia enhaled this book and couldn't wait to talk about it and Alex had been asked a lot about why we were so into this case as it played out, so we've brought a bit of a review and convo on this case togther.
14 Jan 2026
It's a little one: An update on what the UK is proposing for the future of jury trials
A little update, or not so little update depending on what happens, to our episode talking about jury trials.
After we hit go on that episode (we don't think the two are linked, but you never know) the UK Government released their proposed changes to trials and jury trials across the UK.
Alex has been following the developments closely and takes us through what's planned, why and what flow on we might see in criminal cases across the globe.
31 Dec 2025
Episode 4 - Is there really a criminal gene?
You've no doubt heard about the 'criminal gene'.
It is the basis for so many stories in pop culture - TV, movies and books.
It's the idea that there might be a genetic marker that could allow us to know if someone is more likely to commit crime, especially violent crime, than someone who doesn't have this genetic marker.
So is this a work of fiction or something that actually exists?
It's one of Alex's favourite (it isn't) topics, so buckle in!
10 Dec 2025
It's a little one: Will you think of the youth!
Do Aussie youth need a cuddle or to sit in the corner and have a hard think about what they've done?
Young people are in all the headlines in Australia at the moment.
On one hand, the social media ban has started locking under 16's out from a range of platforms. On the other, the states are changing their laws to provide "adult time" for offenders who are under 16, in some cases for kids as low as 10.
So how can we be saying youth are vulnerable and need protecting from social media while also locking up 12 year olds in criminal institutions?
Kia and Alex take a look at these two topics together in this little ep.
Some of Alex's recent pieces on youth crime in Australia.
The Conversation - https://theconversation.com/is-australia-in-a-youth-crime-crisis-heres-what-the-numbers-say-270375
ABC Sunday Extra - https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/sundayextra/youth-crime-crisis-castle-law/106108392
24 Nov 2025
Episode 3 - When juries became entertainment as well as legal process
Juries seem to be so hot right now!
You can watch countless TV documentaries and series about juries, there are board games, theatre shows, books, movies, the list goes on!
And at the same time, juries are still very much apart of the court system in Australia. You might have received your call up (Kia is very jealous) and have done your civic duty by spending some time on a jury.
When the world is more connected than ever, social media and a 24/7 news cycle make it hard to avoid news, updates and memes about highprofile jury cases - does the jury system still work and what purpose does it serve?
Please find your seat amoungst your 12 jury members, let's get this trial started.
3 Nov 2025
It's a little one: Louvre over there!
It was better than any TV series or movie.
In 4 minutes they had the world's attention and took off with millions of dollars of historic jewels.
Kia was transfixed, Alex was still reading the football results.
Let's talk the Louvre heist!
30 Oct 2025
Episode 2 - Haloween special: The Ghosts of criminology
So, it's Halloween.
A time where people put fake limbs out of their letterboxes and aren't freaked out by it.
Sure, we don't understand why Halloween is taken off in Australia, but we also aren't here to yuck people's yum. Instead, we'll dive right into the hooky and the spooky and take a look at haunting, eerie, Halloween and true crime.
It's the themed episode you never knew you needed, until it hit your ear holes just now.
So sit back, relax and let the ghost* stories take you away.
*Note: there are actually not ghost stories in this episode. Sorry.
8 Oct 2025
Episode 1 - But why do we love true crime?
So you love true crime! There's quite a community of you these days listening to podcasts, reading books, watching documentaries.
But why??
You might have heard of the CSI effect when the forensic science TV show was at its most popular leading to a boom in people wanting to study forensics. But now that true crime is so wide reaching, are we seeing similar trends in people turning to criminology as a profession?
But also... where has this love of the creepy, the scary, the true crime come from?
In episode one, Dr Alex Simpson (criminologist) and Kia Handley (true crime fan) get into the nitty gritty of the love of true crime and the flow on effect we are seeing from that.
28 Sept 2025
Episode 0 - Get ready for launch!
Get ready for your new favourite true crime podcast.
Sure, there's a lot of them - but none quite like this.
Bringing the world of true crime and pop culture together with the study of crime by tapping the mind of a real, life criminologist!
Join Dr Alex Simpson (Macquarie University) and Kia Handley (of no real place of interest except behind the microphone) for this new podcast delving into the world of the true crime vibes you love, with the criminological vibes you want to know more of!
Epsiodes dropping REALLY SOON!
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