When true crime podcasting worlds collide: ‘Disgraceland’ stops by ‘My Favorite Murder’ for Jake Brennan’s hometown story
Universes collided when “Disgraceland” met “My Favorite Murder” for a rare, crossover episode with the popular podcaster Jake Brennan. He recently recounted a crime-filled hometown story in a 50-minute episode. Before sharing his hometown story, Jake, Karen, and Georgia chatted about high school career tests, Jake’s first bands, objectivity in storytelling, the origin story of “Disgraceland,” and more. And they had plenty in common when discussing their writing processes.
Jake shared that he works with his dad on the podcast. His fondest early experiences include seeing his dad’s band open for The Ramones in the 1980s, which was a huge deal. Before seeing them live, Jake’s dad explained The Ramones’ sound as a louder version of the Beach Boys. Music was a constant presence in Jake’s life, and he started learning more about music history, becoming obsessed with stories like Jerry Lee Lewis’ questionable behavior. He segued his passion for these sorts of tales into podcasting and writing his book, Disgraceland: Musicians Getting Away with Murder and Behaving Very Badly.
“My Favorite Murder” has dazzled fans since 2016 with over 600 true crime episodes including short minisodes, and hometown stories from celebrities. Earlier this year, we listened to hometown stories from the likes of Phoebe Bridgers, Wanda Sykes, and Nicole Byer. New episodes are available semiweekly.
Jake’s hometown story starts around this episode’s 28-minute mark. But before that, Georgia and Karen asked Jake if there are musicians or crimes he has not covered due to legal or personal reasons. Jake avoids stories involving child abuse as much as possible, but he feels like he’s prepared to discuss R. Kelly and Michael Jackson in future episodes. He is currently researching the blues guy, Robert Johnson.
Jake was raised in Clinton, MA, a town with tons of funeral parlors and bars. The town’s creepy vibe provided the ideal backdrop for shows like season one of Steven King’s Castle Rock and the new-ish series Salem’s Lot. Jake’s firsthand account involved a prison break party, events that hit close to home, and what inspired him to change his life in high school. It’s a must-hear for true crime fanatics and fans of Jake’s storytelling style.
Tune into Jake’s amazing collection of podcasts including the Hollywood history show, “Badlands.” Past “Disgraceland” episodes explore musicians’ bad behavior and crimes that have happened to them with previous coverage on Taylor Swift’s stalkers, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Ozzy Osbourne, Whitney Houston, David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, A$AP Rocky, and Led Zeppelin – just to name a few.
On “27 Club,” Jake tells musicians’ stories that sadly did not live past their 27th birthdays. There are episodes on Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, Jim Morrison, and more in over 50 episodes.
Hear about truck robberies on Jake’s series “Armored.” Jake produces “Dear Young Rocker,” a scripted, non-fiction series highlighting stories from female and trans musicians. “Blood on the Tracks” shares a different historical fiction story arc each season, as narrated by Jake. He co-hosted “Dead and Gone” with podcaster Payne Lindsey, a series investigating dead and missing Grateful Dead fans.
Exactly Right’s “My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark” recently snagged the Audible Audio Pioneer Award at the iHeartRadio Podcast Awards in February. “Disgraceland” won a 2021 Webby in the Best Music Podcast category.
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