I have to have been the biggest podcast holdout in America. Every person I know either loves 15 different podcasts or has their own podcast. Podcasts are everywhere, and I fought tooth and nail to avoid them. I'm just not someone who is easily able to concentrate on a person speaking for an hour. Eventually, I gave in and tried so hard for my friends to listen to their favorite podcasts, but it was all in vain. My mind would wander, I would start looking at something on my laptop, and before I knew it, the podcast was over and I only heard and retained the first 5 minutes. And then my friend Ashley gave me a print that said "You're in a cult, call your dad" and another Murderino was born.
Honestly, this book was on my radar before Ashley gave me that gift. The title is amazing and I was intrigued. What is this podcast? Who are these women who created it? I had questions and I needed answers. I also needed to know the origin of the quote "You're in a cult, call your dad" because it was just hilarious. So one afternoon in October when I was home with just my four parrots I decided to give episode one a listen. This was long before any of the quotes existed or even Murderinos for that matter, but it was good and I was immediately hooked. Eventually, I started listening on the weekends and my husband gradually became a Murderino too. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the podcast, Murderinos are what the fans dubbed themselves somewhere around episode 30. The podcast grew in popularity amazingly fast, and soon fans were making artwork with quotes from the episodes, and Karen and Georgia were selling t-shirts and setting up a Patreon account. They were getting big, but I don't think even at that point they had any idea just how big they would become.
The podcast started in Georgia's living room in 2016, and now it's so big that it has its own Fan Cult (of course it would be a "cult", not a "club"), and of course, this book that was published this year. I absolutely adore this book, and I think I read it at a perfect time. I usually listen to the podcast in the evenings or on the weekend because my husband would never miss an episode, so I'm still only about 33 episodes in, but it's nice to simultaneously learn about the hilarious duo in the podcast and the book as well. The book is divided into sections, and Karen and Georgia each write their own experiences as they pertain to the section theme. Karen is a born comedian and her chapters are delightful and hilarious. Georgia fully opens up about her life and the mistakes she made, and it really makes you love her even more for it. Actually both women are very candid in the book, and that's definitely what makes them relatable. They are just two women who had normal childhoods like everyone else (well, Georgia had a bit of a rough patch as a teenager) but it's those mistakes and how they open up about them that makes you want to keep listening. All of that, plus they completely remove any embarrassment about being interested in true crime or murder. So I finally found a podcast and my people. You just never know.
Oh, and Ashley...when I finally heard "You're in a cult, call your dad" in one of the episodes, I was ridiculously happy.
5 Stars
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Twitter: @gowsy33
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Oh may lord! I saw a “you’re in a cult, call your dad” bumper sticker a couple of months ago on my evening commute, I had to make a note of it as It caught me and I had no idea where it came from! And of course by the time I got home it slipped my mind. Now I know!!!