Graduation Date
Summer 2025
Document Type
Project
Program
Master of Arts degree with a major in English, emphasis in Applied English Studies
Committee Chair Name
Dr. Janelle Adsit
Committee Chair Affiliation
Cal Poly Humboldt Faculty or Staff
Second Committee Member Name
Dr. Natalie Giannini
Second Committee Member Affiliation
Cal Poly Humboldt Faculty or Staff
Keywords
True crime podcast, White feminism, Gossip, Critical race feminism, Intersectional feminism, Feminist rhetoric, Carceral society, Feminist true crime, Feminist media, My Favorite Murder, Sistas Who Kill, White epistemology, Intersectional representation in true crime, White feminism and morality in true crime, Voyeurism true crime, Feminist exploitation in true crime
Subject Categories
English
Abstract
This research examines the cultural impact and ethical implications of true crime podcasts (TCPs). In recent years, TCPs have become a powerful cultural force, with White women often emerging as the primary storytellers and most visible participants in the genre. Their dominance in this space is not neutral and it carries representational weight. It explores the potential for feminist activity made possible by the auditory, self-publishing genre of podcasting. This work focuses on the buddy-comedy subgenre of TCPs. The concerns of this text are that TCPs are dominated by White feminist values and are not an intersectional feminist project. Textual analysis of hand typed podcast transcripts is used to compare two feminist TCP examples, My Favorite Murder (MFM) and Sistas Who Kill (SWK), to analyze how host positionality, especially in relation to race and gender, shapes storytelling and its engagement with feminist and carceral frameworks.
Citation Style
MLA
Recommended Citation
Matteri, Rachel C.C., "True crime podcasts as a scene of feminist reckoning: a comparative analysis of My Favorite Murder and Sistas Who Kill" (2025). Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects. 2322.
https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/2322
Included in
Other English Language and Literature Commons, Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Other Film and Media Studies Commons, Women's Studies Commons