The Alternate: Inside America's Biggest Trials

About The Alternate: Inside America's Biggest Trials

You’ve been summoned. Set your bias aside and take a seat in the jury box—The Alternate brings you inside America’s biggest trials, one season at a time. Hosted by Mama Margot, attorney, veteran, and creator of the hit podcast Military Murder, and Tabitha Kane, business owner and co-host of the hit podcast Housewives of True Crime, this daily podcast delivers serialized, (day of) trial-by-trial coverage in 30 minutes or less. Each season follows a single high-profile case (think Karen Read and Donna Adelson) from opening statement to verdict. No pretrial noise. No media spin. Just the facts revealed in open court—emotions included. Whether you’re tuning in daily or bingeing from the start, Margot and Tabitha are your eyes and ears in the courtroom. Follow The Alternate: Inside America’s Biggest Trials wherever you get your podcasts. For those who prefer visual content, there's a corresponding YouTube channel @alternatepod, where episodes are available. Don't forget to subscribe and turn on notifications. The mission of "The Alternate" is to make trial coverage accessible to everyone and to allow everyone the opportunity to see and hear a trial from start to finish - even if they can't sit and watch a trial for 8 hours each day. Season 1 // Karen Read Retrial (April 2025) Season 2 // Sean Combs Federal Trial (May 2025) Season 3 // Nicholas Kassotis (August 2025) Season 4 // Donna Adelson (August 2025)

Publisher

Mama Margot Productions LLC

Category

news · society & culture · true crime

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

14 Apr 2025

Latest episode

9 Sept 2025

Latest episodes

2 of 71 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   9 Sept 2025TRANSCRIPT

   FL v. Donna Adelson // Day 9

   Host Margot reviews Donna Adelson's guilty verdict, dissecting the prosecution's case and the defense's arguments in this interview episode.

2. 

   4 Sept 2025TRANSCRIPT

   FL v. Donna Adelson // Day 8

   Host [Host Name] interviews Kristen Addison and Linda Bailey as they discuss the defense's closing arguments and key testimonies in the FL v. Donna Adelson trial.

3. 

   3 Sept 2025

   FL v. Donna Adelson // Day 7

   Host Ron Gutterson interviews Ann Cunningham, Kelsey Guay, Richard Chagrin, and Eddie Varnes on Day 7 of the FL v. Donna Adelson trial, exploring family dynamics and challenging evidence.

Inside a recent episode

FL v. Donna Adelson // Day 9

Published 9 Sept 2025 · Transcript excerpt

[…] The defense worked hard to poke holes in the prosecution's narrative. They argued that the state's theory relies heavily on... circumstantial evidence, emails, emotions, and financial trails that don't prove that Donna ordered the hit. Instead, the defense emphasized that the people already convicted Donna's son, Charlie, Catherine McBonawa, they played the lead roles in planning and executing the murder of Dan Markell. According to the defense, Donna's involvement was speculative, and any inference about her guilt rests on an incomplete and biased picture. A key part of the defense strategy was to challenge the credibility of testimony from those jailhouse informants and others who pointed to Donna as the mastermind. […]

Who has been a guest on The Alternate: Inside America's Biggest Trials

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Kristen Addison
• Linda Bailey
• Ann Cunningham
• Kelsey Guay
• Richard Chagrin

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

24,884

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.5 / 5

112 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 62 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

57

Social presence

0

YouTube

76

Engagement

91

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