068: Unspeakable Crime: The Killing Of Jessica Chambers And The RFK Tapes
By The Blotter Presents
12/09/18ยท1h 13m
Toby Ball FINALLY returns to his dedicated spot on the Blotter HQ sofa to talk about the latest limited series from Joe Berlinger for Oxygen, Unspeakable Crime: The Killing Of Jessica Chambers. It's better than we expected, but we're still waiting for it to address certain issues teased in the opener -- inconsistent racism; the classism we're not sure we're supposed to note, or object to; the Heisenberging of the case by the internet -- and wondering whether the occasional meta moment is intentional. With bonus references to at least a dozen other crime properties both accoladed and annoying!
Later, we talk about Kennedy-assassination conspiracy journey The RFK Tapes, and what it says about the human drive to bring order out of chaos by seeing conspiracies in what might be straight-ahead murders. Toby adds to Sarah's history-book reading list, Sarah can't unknow Bugliosi sounds like a Simpsons character, and more as we discuss whether this well-regarded podcast is about Robert Kennedy's death, or about the listener.
(Corrections department! I mispronounced RFK host Zac Stuart-Pontier's last name at least once, and I apologize; pretty sure it's actually "Pon-tee-ay." As well, I guessed the wrong Kennedy as director of HBO docu Ethel; it's Rory, not Kerry.)
SHOW NOTES
Unspeakable Crime (https://www.oxygen.com/unspeakable-crime-the-killing-of-jessica-chambers/crime-time/preview-unspeakable-crime-the-killing-of-jessica-chambers) : The Killing Of Jessica Chambers
Katie J.M. Baker's "Troll Detective" (https://www.buzzfeed.com/katiejmbaker/who-set-jessica-chambers-on-fire-the-internet-is-trying-to-f) on Buzzfeed
The RFK Tapes (http://rfktapes.com/)
Dallas, 1963 (https://www.amazon.com/Dallas-1963-Bill-Minutaglio/dp/1455522090)
American Journey (https://www.amazon.com/American-Journey-Times-Robert-Kennedy/dp/0151910707/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1536693769&sr=1-5&keywords=plimpton+stein) : The Times Of Robert Kennedy
Prior discussions of Joe Berlinger's work: Ep 017 (Gone (https://theblotterpresents.fireside.fm/17) ); Ep 032 (Cold Blooded (https://theblotterpresents.fireside.fm/39) ); and Ep 058 (Wrong Man (https://theblotterpresents.fireside.fm/65) )
Ethel (http://www.ethelmovie.com/)
Crime Writers On (http://www.crimewriterson.com/) and Ball's Deep Dive (https://www.patreon.com/partnersincrimemedia)