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Hi Crime Junkies. I'm Ashley Flowers. >> And I'm Brit. In honor of our 8th year anniversary birthday podcast thing,
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we're going to talk about eight cases that really defined Crime Junkie. The first one is Israel Keyes.
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>> Mostly because it's one that no matter how long ago we did it, everyone brings
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it up and somehow he's the guy that like comes up anytime like we don't know what
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happened. Could it have been Israel? If it happened before 2012, could it have been?
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>> Truly anytime someone comes up and is like, "Oh, I listen to Crime Junkie." or
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"I introduced my friend, my significant other to Crime Junkie." it's always because I listened to Israel Keyes, I
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showed them Israel Keyes and now we can't stop listening. I honestly think one of like the case that defines us is
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the first one that we did, Nikki and Allen. So it was quite literally episode one of Crime Junkie and a couple of days
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later I got an email from her daughter and it was like that realization from day one, hey the people you're talking
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about are going to hear this and I think it it really like shaped how we think about cases.
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>> The case we said we'd never do, JonBenét Ramsey. I I yes, I think it's a a lesson
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to never say never. Uh-huh. And this was one where I mean like when you think about how far we've come, like JonBenét
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Ramsey was the case that like we knew as little Crime Junkies and you know 30-some years later to be like sitting
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in John Ramsey's home across from him and telling the story that we know so deeply. Really really mind-blowing.
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Father Patrick Ryan and the exoneration of James Reyes. Just I think it's a a real example of
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not only like what the show can do just by getting the word out. >> What our listeners can do. Yeah. Like
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it's only because somebody heard that episode and was like, "I should mention this."
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>> I should ask a question. And I should go do the thing. Like incredible what the
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community is capable of. Also think a big one is Alphabet Murders. Which is like not one that a lot a lot
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of people talk about. >> Sleeper hit. >> But it was the biggest episode of 2024 which beat out Donald Trump on Joe
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Rogan. Which that is a bad job always there. Another episode is What Serial Didn't
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Tell You. It set the precedent for like what I wanted to do which was like as a Crime Junkie, there's like you often get
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like this this like one version of things and that doesn't mean it's all that's all that's out there.
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>> [laughter] >> I think the next one would be like Sherrice Walker Bingham. It's a local
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Indianapolis case. It's still unsolved. >> And a ton of original investigative reporting here.
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>> why it stands out to me. That was the first time we had just brought in Nina who's still
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with us. >> Nina. And it was the first case like she did from top to bottom where you really
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couldn't find that story anywhere else. Another one that comes to mind is sexstortion and online scams.
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Some of the episodes that I most enjoy doing and that I think are most important for our community of Crime
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Junkies is our big exposé pieces like that where it's not just one story, it's a bunch of little stories that's
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happening every day to people. >> There's our eight cases that like I we feel like really shaped the show. We
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would love to hear from you. Like what's the stand out? What brought you to Crime
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Junkie? What keeps you here?