Everyone has that one podcast that they can’t listen to in public for fear of laughing out loud to themselves and looking like a weirdo. And if you don’t have one of those yet, give “Wine & Crime” a listen.
The tagline gives you everything you need to know: Three friends chugging wine, chatting true crime and unleashing their worst Minnesotan accents. Kenyon Laing, Amanda Jacobson and Lucy Fitzgerald give you exactly what they promise you.
The trio, friends since grade school, grew up together and now live apart (one all the way on a different continent), but nevertheless have found a way to not only stay close, but to make a mark on the true crime podcast world. A nice, big, wine-stained mark.
“Kenyon was home over winter break, and we just holed up in Amanda’s apartment and watched ‘Forensic Files’ and just got drunk on wine, like, all day and night,” Fitzgerald told Dailybreak. “We were just riffing and joking about their horrible reenactments and different true crime concepts, so we thought we were just so super funny and should make a podcast.”
Laing, drunk on the idea (excuse the pun), ran with it: Before they knew it, the ladies had a logo, social channels and a heck of a ton of content ideas.
The episodes are easy enough to follow along with (despite many listeners being unable to differentiate between their respective voices, a comment I heard at a live “Wine & Crime” show recently). Laing will announce a true crime topic; Jacobson will talk about a specific bottle of wine she’s chosen to “pair” with the episode. Fitzgerald will discuss history, psychology and background into the proposed topic, and Laing and Jacobson will follow up with specific cases they’ve researched in (sometimes) great depth.
“It really did start out as a hobby, and now it’s a full-time job for all three of us, so it’s been really cool to see it evolve into what it’s become,” said Fitzgerald.
And “full-time job” isn’t a nicety -- all three consider “Wine & Crime” their primary professional endeavor, with everything from buttons to sponsors their sole responsibility.
“We do everything ourselves, absolutely everything. Lucy is building the boxes that the merchandise is sent in in her living room and maintaining the inventory, I’m doing all the editing, Kenyon is recruiting all the advertisers and doing most of the administrator work; she posts the episodes,” Jacobson shared. “We don’t outsource a single thing at this point. Pretty much all we’re not doing is sewing together the pieces of merchandise that we’re selling.”
As such, the success is staggering: With nearly 100 episodes, enough catchphrases to last a lifetime and tours already under their belts, these gals have something special going.
“Our banter and our chemistry just resonates with people,” Fitzgerald said, attributing their achievements to “the humor level and the fact that we really have truly and honestly been best friends since third and seventh grade.”
“It’s our dynamic that’s very authentic and unique, and I don’t think it could be recreated. You only get that kind of connection from being lifelong friends,” Jacobson added.You can’t get any more authentic than the honest-to-God Minnesotan accents that ring out every episode, that’s for sure.
“We just knew that, especially if we were going to be drinking during the show, we were not going to be able to control the accent level, so we were like, ‘Let’s get ahead of it. Let’s just make it part of our thing, so that people are not giving us crap about it later,’” Jacobson shared with a laugh.
Turns out, being as genuine as possible is resonating more than Laing, Jacobson and Fitzgerald thought it would; listeners get a lot of personal benefit from the show.
“I think one of the biggest takeaways or surprising things is how much of a part of people’s self care this show has become. We talk very openly about our own mental health struggles on our show, and a lot of folks just really feel like it’s nice to hear those conversations happening in a context that isn't stigmatized, that just feels natural and organic,” Jacobson said.
It’s easy to wonder if the true crime genre will eventually fizzle out, given its immense following right now and just how many enthusiasts are profiting off of telling stories about the most heinous figures of history, but Jacobson is excited for that, if anything.
“Eventually maybe the podcast might change into something else, but I think what we’re really focusing on now is building a brand that’s going to have longevity and that we can diversify and go down some different avenues and explore some other creative projects,” she said.
As for what’s next, the gals said they have big plans for 2019, and Fitzgerald especially is dreaming big.
“I want to go to the Sydney Opera House and sell it out!” she said.
Find more on “Wine & Crime” here, and visit their Patreon page for even more Wine Coven content.