American Vandal, The Confession Tapes, and a Making a Murderer update

What this episode covers

Did Brendan Dassey's dubious confession on "Making a Murderer" make your skin crawl? The Chief Circuit Judge in his ongoing appeal said it did. But the other two federal judges may be leaning the other way. In podcast news: "Accused" will roll out a new season next month. Also, the teams behind HowStuffWorks and Up & Vanished are getting together to re-investigate a series of child murders in Atlanta that were solved in 1981. This week's podcast focuses on two very different series from Netflix. "The Confession Tapes" shows a series of cases in which the police used questionable techniques to get suspects to confess. Were they falsely given? Were they merely aggressive or provocative ways to get a killer to admit to their crimes? Next, the unexpectedly savvy satire of everything we love about true crime. "American Vandal" may start as a lowbrow take-off on "Serial" or "Making a Murder," but the comedy is surprisingly meta, embracing all tropes of the podcasts and documentaries which have become ubiquitous. In the end, we still want to know, "Who drew the dicks?" In the Crime of the Week - the FBI really shouldn't tell the Internet to ask them anything. EPISODE SPONSORS Madison Reed - Visit madison-reed.com and get 10% off plus free shipping on your first color kit with promo code: WRITERS. Exposed by Lisa Scottoline (audiobook edition) - To hear an excerpt, visit macmillanaudio.com/exposed. The podcast "Cults" - Listen now where ever your get your podcasts or at parcast.com/cults. Book of the Month - Get your first book for $9.99 at bookofthemonth.com/crimewriters. Felix Gray Glasses - Get a pair at felixgrayglasses.com/crime. Virtue Labs -  Get 10% off and free shipping their line of shampoos and conditioners with the code CRIME at virtuelabs.com. Click here to get the Crime Writers On After Show, plus more exclusive content, on Patreon.: https://patreon.com/partnersincrimemedia