{"id":43676,"date":"2025-09-29T16:17:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T20:17:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/event\/comtalks-true-crime-stories\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T16:41:55","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T20:41:55","slug":"comtalks-true-crime-stories","status":"publish","type":"bu-event","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/event\/comtalks-true-crime-stories\/","title":{"rendered":"COMtalks: True Crime Stories"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio is-style-background-yellow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"responsive-video responsive-youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PgYJ4h48Lq0?si=vPNuEsrphv4t6lg3\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The murder cases of Adnan Syed, explored in the popular podcast Serial, Karen Read, accused of hitting her boyfriend with her SUV and leaving him to die, and dozens of others captivate the public, inspire books and movies, and attract wall-to-wall news coverage.<\/p>\n<p>But why is it that we are so fascinated by true crime? What elements of a crime elevate it to pop culture status? What does it say about us as media consumers, citizens or simply human beings? These questions and more will be explored in a lively discussion with a researcher grappling with these questions and two journalists with deep experience reporting true crime stories.<\/p>\n<p>Panelists:<\/p>\n<p>Kathryn Coduto, Assistant Professor, Media Science, College of Communication, Boston University, and author of the recent study, \u201cCompulsive use of social media in emerging crime news stories,\u201d published in the journal, Psychology of Popular Media.<\/p>\n<p>Dick Lehr, Professor, Journalism, College of Communication, Boston University, and author of White Hot Hate: A True Story of Domestic Terrorism in America\u2019s Heartland and Black Mass: Whitey Bulger, The FBI, and A Devil\u2019s Deal, the basis for the movie Black Mass starring Johnny Depp and Benedict Cumberbatch. He is the host of the ABC podcast, Truth and Lies.<\/p>\n<p>Kate Winkler Dawson (COM&#8217;97), Professor of Practice, Moody College of Communication, University of Texas at Austin, and creator-host of the podcasts Wicked Words and Buried Bones. She is the author of Death in the Air, American Sherlock, All That Is Wicked, and, most recently, The Sinners All Bow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The murder cases of Adnan Syed, explored in the popular&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_event_starts":"1761321600","_editor_event_starts":"2025-10-24 12:00:00","_event_ends":"1761325200","_editor_event_ends":"2025-10-24 13:00:00","_url":"https:\/\/trusted.bu.edu\/s\/1759\/2-bu\/19\/1col.aspx?sid=1759&gid=2&pgid=18203&content_id=19613&appealcode=email","_event_id":"312035","_online_event":false,"_featured_event":false,"_api_data":"{\"starts\":1761321600,\"ends\":1761325200,\"summary\":\"COMtalks: True Crime Stories\",\"location\":\"Online Only\",\"id\":312035,\"oid\":null,\"url\":\"https:\/\/trusted.bu.edu\/s\/1759\/2-bu\/19\/1col.aspx?sid=1759&gid=2&pgid=18203&content_id=19613&appealcode=email\",\"allday\":null,\"topics\":\"379,380,5153\",\"recurs\":null,\"when\":\"12:00 pm - 1:00 pm on 24 October 2025\",\"description\":\"The murder cases of Adnan Syed, explored in the popular podcast Serial, Karen Read, accused of hitting her boyfriend with her SUV and leaving him to die, and dozens of others captivate the public, inspire books and movies, and attract wall-to-wall news coverage.rnrnBut why is it that we are so fascinated by true crime? What elements of a crime elevate it to pop culture status? What does it say about us as media consumers, citizens or simply human beings? These questions and more will be explored in a lively discussion with a researcher grappling with these questions and two journalists with deep experience reporting true crime stories.rnrnPanelists:rnrnKathryn Coduto, Assistant Professor, Media Science, College of Communication, Boston University, and author of the recent study, u201cCompulsive use of social media in emerging crime news stories,u201d published in the journal, Psychology of Popular Media.rnrnDick Lehr, Professor, Journalism, College of Communication, Boston University, and author of White Hot Hate: A True Story of Domestic Terrorism in Americau2019s Heartland and Black Mass: Whitey Bulger, The FBI, and A Devilu2019s Deal, the basis for the movie Black Mass starring Johnny Depp and Benedict Cumberbatch. He is the host of the ABC podcast, Truth and Lies.rnrnKate Winkler Dawson (COM'97), Professor of Practice, Moody College of Communication, University of Texas at Austin, and creator-host of the podcasts Wicked Words and Buried Bones. She is the author of Death in the Air, American Sherlock, All That Is Wicked, and, most recently, The Sinners All Bow.\",\"start_date\":\"2025-10-24\",\"end_date\":\"2025-10-24\",\"start_time\":\"12:00:00\",\"end_time\":\"13:00:00\",\"priority\":0,\"status\":0,\"class\":0,\"owner\":\"bglass\",\"created_on\":\"2025-09-29 20:03:24\",\"modified_by\":\"bglass\",\"modified_on\":\"2025-09-29 16:03:24\",\"timezone\":\"US\/Eastern\",\"short_summary\":\"\",\"published\":1,\"short_title\":\"\"}"},"interest":[],"discipline-type":[],"event-topic":[1420,1412,1414],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-event\/43676"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-event"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-event"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"interest","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/interest?post=43676"},{"taxonomy":"discipline-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/discipline-type?post=43676"},{"taxonomy":"event-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event-topic?post=43676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}