Morbid
Also in True Crime
True Crime
The Idiot
by Serial Productions & The New York Times
Today: #196 in True Crime on our combined chart.
Chart positions today
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Ranking history
Position on the True Crime combined chart over the last 30 days. Toggle platforms to compare their positions. Lower rank numbers are better; #1 is at the top.
View as table
| Date | Combined Rank | Apple Podcasts |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 6 | #196 | #178 |
| Oct 5 | — | #188 |
| Oct 4 | — | #196 |
| Oct 3 | — | #192 |
About the show
The New York Times writer M. Gessen is widely known for their award-winning writing about totalitarianism, terrorism and the erosion of human rights. Now, M. is examining a more personal target: their least favorite cousin, Allen. For decades, they saw Allen as a fool, a pompous ‘international businessman’ who bragged about shady deals. But then Allen is arrested for trying to put a hit out on his ex-wife, and M. cannot wrap their head around the news. He’s just an idiot, right? Not a would-be murderer?
Latest episodes
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BONUS | M. Gessen on "The Opinions"
April 16, 2026 · 37 minOn a recent episode of the podcast “The Opinions,” M. Gessen has second thoughts about the future, and Allen’s place in the family. M. talks about their dilemma with their friend Harriet Clark, whose mother, Judy Clark, served 37 years in…
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Chapter 5
March 26, 2026 · 29 minAllen will almost certainly be released in a few years. What should M.’s family do with a guy who refuses to own up to his own crime? Can he be re-integrated into the family? Should he be? While M. has grown increasingly compassionate…
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Chapter 4
March 26, 2026 · 1 hr 3 minAllen finally agrees to talk … and talk and talk, for 35 hours of interviews. M. wants to understand Allen on his own terms, to try and figure out how this scion of bohemian intellectuals ended up hiring someone to kill his ex. It’s hard…
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Chapter 3
March 26, 2026 · 50 minM. attends Allen’s trial in San Francisco. The FBI’s star witness, an agent who went by “David," plays his undercover recordings of Allen. They reveal how Allen’s scheme to deport Priscilla turned into a murder-for-hire plot. Allen is his…
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Chapter 2
March 26, 2026 · 50 minM. seeks out Allen’s ex-wife, Priscilla, who tells her side of the story. It begins with a whirlwind romance but quickly turns to chart Allen’s betrayal: taking her son from Russia and stranding Priscilla and her daughter in Moscow. What…
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Chapter 1
March 26, 2026 · 22 minFor decades, M. simply disliked Allen. They saw him as a fool, a pompous “international businessman” who bragged about shady deals and drove fancy cars while living in Eastern Europe and Africa. But one day Allen suddenly shows up at their…
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Trailer
March 17, 2026 · 1 minThe New York Times writer M. Gessen is widely known for their award-winning writing about totalitarianism, terrorism and the erosion of human rights. Now, M. is examining a more personal target: their least favorite cousin, Allen. For…