When Your Mother Tries to Kill You

My sister, criminal defense attorney Shannon McDonald Goldstein, is back for another Juicy Crimes! We start with an update on the Cornell case. I respond to some of the messages I got about my take on Shane Gillis’s SNL monologue. Then we dive into Netflix’s The Widower, the story of Thomas Randolph, a serial love bomber who was married six times, took out life insurance on his wives and spent decades working the legal system. Shannon explains why his first conviction got overturned and how the detective came out of retirement to finally get justice. Plus, we break down A Killer Story about Dana Chandler, the couple who dedicated a decade to proving her innocence, and the shocking decision she made right before her third trial that Shannon says no one should ever make. You don’t want to miss this one!

Former judge and attorney Michele Locke, host of the Love Lust Law podcast, is back on Juicy Crimes, and we have so much to get through. We start with Halle Berry’s custody war with Olivier Martinez and his child abuse accusation, and Michele explains what the judge’s temporary order really means. Then we get into the Northlake, Texas mom accused of stabbing her two babies and her husband, and whether there’s a disturbing pattern of moms snapping after the Lindsay Clancy trial. We cover the New York Times exec allegedly gunned down by his elderly in-laws mid-divorce, the Arcadia “house of horrors” couple with more than 20 surrogate-born kids, the Ohio family with 16 children found in one room, and the royal doctor killed during her kids’ sleepover. Plus Chris Watts’ new fiancée, why women fall for men in prison, and Michele’s take on how hard it is for a powerful woman to date.

My sister Shannon McDonald Goldstein, defense and criminal law attorney, is back on Juicy Crimes, and we start with the latest on the Cornell Seven. New text messages just surfaced between the 20-year-old sorority member and the first fraternity brother she was with that night. We go through her original 2024 statement to campus police, the ketamine, the "free" Snapchat sent to 54 Chi Phi members, and the Halloween party she was disinvited from. Shannon explains why New York's consent law made it so hard for the DA to prosecute, and why all seven men are now named in her civil lawsuit. Then we get into Kevin Reddington's new motions to acquit Lindsay Clancy after the mistrial, Caleb Flynn's guilty verdict and the 21-year-old girlfriend who kept pushing him, and the horrifying failed execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee. Plus I share my own sorority rumor story from my USC days, and why I'd ban threesomes if I ran a frat.

I’m joined by journalist Allen Salkin to dive into his new Hollywood Reporter podcast, Gerbil, which investigates the origins of the infamous, long-running Hollywood urban legend surrounding Richard Gere. We trace my own vivid memory of hearing the wild ER rumor back in the summer of 1989 and break down how pre-internet viral rumors, celebrity gay panic, mass media psychology, and deep-seated Hollywood jealousy fuel these unstoppable urban legends. Along the way, we connect it to the mechanics of public lies, touching on his Vanity Fair work behind Bad Vegan, Hilaria Baldwin’s accent controversy, and even my own personal experience facing a career-damaging, completely false tabloid rumor during my Chelsea Lately days.

I am with my sister, criminal defense attorney Shannon McDonald Goldstein, to break down some of the most disturbing cases making headlines: the shocking allegations against Real Housewives of Atlanta's Kim Zolciak's son K.J. Bierman, the horrifying murder of Sandra Birchmore by a married police officer who had been grooming her since she was a teenager, the chilling poisoning of pregnant Jade Bening by her boyfriend Blaise Taylor, the massive Colorado forensic scientist scandal involving Yvonne Woods that compromised over a thousand criminal cases, and the fast-moving case against former American Idol contestant and pastor Caleb Flynn, accused of murdering his wife Ashley in their Ohio home.