Criminal Broads

Tori Telfer, author of Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History, hosts a true crime and history podcast focused exclusively on women who ended up on the wrong side of the law. Criminal Broads covers cult leaders, serial poisoners, con artists, swindlers, and women who faked ectoplasm at seances — the kind of stories that overlap naturally with the Victorian underworld that produced Jack the Ripper's victims. Across 77 episodes produced between 2018 and 2021, Telfer brings a historian's rigor combined with a writer's ear for absurd and darkly comic details. The show treats its subjects as complex figures rather than reducing them to simple villains, exploring how gender, poverty, and social expectations pushed women toward crime across different eras. Episodes on Victorian-era women are particularly relevant for Ripper listeners, providing context on what life looked like for women navigating the same streets and social structures as the Whitechapel victims. The iHeartPodcasts production ensures clean audio and professional presentation throughout the catalog. While the show is no longer producing new episodes, the existing 77 installments form a complete, bingeable collection that stands on its own. For anyone interested in the Jack the Ripper case who wants to understand the broader experience of women in historical criminal justice systems, Criminal Broads fills that role with intelligence and personality.