Starter episode: “To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before”
This deep-dive series from The Australian newspaper chose its title for a reason — Hamish Watson, the Sydney-born con man at the heart of this show is a shape-shifter, operating under so many identities that it’s hard to separate truth from fiction. A compulsive liar, Watson claimed to unsuspecting victims that he’d survived a plane crash as a child, and that he was inside the World Trade Center on Sept. 11. The show details how Watson scammed millions of dollars from not only from investors, but also women he seduced via dating apps. Though many questions are unsurprisingly left unanswered, this is an insightful, riveting character study of a master manipulator.
Starter episode: “The Day Max Died”
This seductive con-man story from Wondery and The Los Angeles Times, which debuted in 2017, has spawned a whole podcast subgenre. John Michael Meehan used online dating sites to present himself as a catch, a wealthy anesthesiologist who had worked with Doctors Without Borders and just wanted to settle down. Debra Newell, an Orange County interior designer with a blind spot for sketchy men, fell hard and paid the price. Although the slow unraveling of their romance is gripping, the show finds its meatiest material in the standoff between John and Debra’s two daughters, who see the red flags waving from the start. “Dirty John” doesn’t make the mistake of focusing solely on the perpetrator’s psyche; it spends just as much time exploring why Debra was a perfect victim — a flashback to the history of male violence within the Newell family is arguably the most unnerving part of the show.
Starter episode: “The Real Thing”
After a rough divorce and far too many dispiriting online dating experiences, Arya was thrilled to meet Mordechai, a sensitive, charming, creative guy who also happened to be a millionaire. Unfortunately, he wasn’t what he seemed. This is an unusual catfish story, in that the man calling himself Mordechai Horowitz never physically hid himself from his victims. His ruse is also less extreme than many of the other examples — there’s no financial gain or violence involved, which doesn’t make the manipulation any less hard to stomach. Most surprisingly of all, Mordechai himself gives an interview to podcast’s host, Kathleen Goldhar, and hearing from him in addition to all the women he conned offers an unusually layered picture. Without ever making excuses for his behavior, this format allows listeners to draw their own conclusions about the mental illness that may be at play.
Starter episode: “A Knock On The Door”
Like so many couples in these stories, Lynette and Chris Dawson had a storybook romance from the outside. They were high school sweethearts during the 1960s, and built their dream home together above Sydney’s northern beaches, using the fortune Dawson made as a professional rugby player. But in 1982, Lynette disappeared — and within days, Dawson had moved his teenage lover into the house. This brazen act of betrayal is just the tip of the iceberg, and the journalist Hedley Thomas unpacks the dark truth about the Dawsons’ marriage in meticulous detail. Since the evidence against Dawson was all circumstantial, the authorities declined to arrest Dawson — until 2018, when the case was reopened thanks at least in part to The Teacher’s Pet. Since Dawson’s arrest, the show has had a strange afterlife. After becoming the first podcast ever to delay a murder trial, it’s been pulled from all platforms in Australia to comply with the country’s contempt-of-court rules. But if you’re elsewhere in the world, it’s well worth the listen.
Starter episode: “Bayview”