Mystery Show

You may think Mystery Show sounds like your average true crime podcast - but I urge you to think again, dear listener, because it’s anything but. Mystery Show is exactly what it sounds like: a show where mysteries are solved. But the mysteries almost fall to the background when you meet host Starlee Kine, who has a singsong, melodic voice and an ability to pull a story out of anyone.

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She sets out on quests to solve what might be the internet’s smallest mysteries: how did Britney Spears end up holding a copy of an unknown author’s unsuccessful book? Where did an intricately-designed belt buckle found by a boy in the middle of the street come from - and who was the original owner? How tall IS Jake Gyllenhaal?? While these might seem like small feats, each one takes her on a journey, and it’s the people she meets along the way that make this podcast (voted Apple’s top new podcast of 2015) an absolute delight: the people waiting in line to meet Britney Spears at a Las Vegas meet-and-greet; the elderly man whose belt buckle has the sweetest story behind it; and yes, Jake Gyllenhaal.

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The true mystery here is why this show only had one season - I stay subscribed in the hopes that one day, Starlee will reemerge to solve 2019’s mysteries with exactly as much empathy and aplomb as before.