American Criminal

4.7 (23K) · TRUE CRIME · UPDATED WEEKLY

Campside Media's true crime anthology series — each season a deep dive into a single American crime story, told with cinematic detail and rigorous reporting.

3D AGO

Season 4, Episode 8: The Verdict — What Justice Looks Like

The final episode of Season 4. After seven episodes building the case against pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli 2.0, the jury has reached a verdict. Host Josh Dean reflects on what the outcome reveals about how America prosecutes white-collar crime — and why the answer is both complicated and unsatisfying.

10D AGO

Season 4, Episode 7: The Defense

The defense's case rested on a single argument: that the government had criminalized aggressive entrepreneurship. Their expert witnesses were compelling. Their argument was coherent. And yet something wasn't adding up. This episode follows the cross-examination that may have changed everything.

SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

Season 3 Bonus: The Sequel — Where Are They Now?

An extended update on all key figures from Season 3, recorded 18 months after the season finale. Where is the defendant now? What happened to the detective who broke the case? And the victim's family — have they found anything like peace?

24D AGO

Season 4, Episode 6: The Star Witness

The prosecution's star witness had everything to gain from testifying against her former boss. But her credibility was complicated by her own legal history, her financial arrangements with the government, and a text message that the defense had been waiting to introduce since day one.

31D AGO

Season 4, Episode 5: The Crime Nobody Noticed

The most unsettling aspect of this season's case: it was happening in plain sight for years before anyone called it a crime. This episode examines how regulatory capture, industry capture, and the particular culture of pharmaceutical pricing created the conditions for fraud.

38D AGO

Season 4, Episode 4: The Whistleblower

She worked inside the company for three years before she reported what she was seeing to the FBI. The decision destroyed her career, ended her marriage, and made her the government's most important witness. This episode is her story.

45D AGO

Season 4, Episode 3: How the Money Moved

A forensic accounting deep-dive into the financial architecture of the alleged fraud — where the money went, how it was hidden, and the specific accounting techniques that made it nearly invisible to outside auditors for nearly a decade.

52D AGO

Season 4, Episode 2: The Man at the Center

A portrait of the defendant — his upbringing, his early career, the specific ambitions and grievances that shaped him. Host Josh Dean interviews former colleagues, business partners, and people who knew him before he became infamous.

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Hosts & Guests

Josh DeanHost & Executive Producer

4.7

out of 5

23K Ratings

The Dr. Death of white-collar crime

American Criminal does for financial fraud what Dr. Death did for medical malpractice — makes a complicated technical story completely gripping. The forensic accounting episode in Season 4 should be assigned reading in business schools.

CrimeReporter · Mar 6, 2026

Campside does it again

Campside Media has the best production team in true crime podcasting. American Criminal has the same cinematic quality as their other shows and the writing is exceptional. Josh Dean is a brilliant host.

PodcastProducer · Feb 20, 2026

Thoughtful and important

What I appreciate most is that American Criminal always situates the individual crime within a larger system. It's not just "bad person did bad thing" — it's "here's how the conditions were created for this to happen." More true crime should work this way.

JournalismFan · Feb 5, 2026

About

American Criminal is a true crime anthology podcast from Campside Media, the production company behind Dr. Death and Chameleon. Each season follows a different American crime story from beginning to end — the crime, the investigation, the trial, and the aftermath. The series is distinguished by its cinematic production quality, its access to key players, and its commitment to exploring the broader social context of each case. American Criminal is not interested in crime as entertainment — it's interested in crime as a lens through which to examine American institutions, American justice, and the specific conditions that allow extraordinary things to happen in ordinary places.