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It’s a lighthearted nightmare in Spencer’s, the go-to destination for rebellious and unapologetic products, as the retailer announced an exclusive merchandise collaboration with the popular true crime podcast Morbid, released by Wondery, the premium podcast studio and network.

Morbid is a true crime, creepy history and all things spooky podcast hosted by Alaina Urquhart, an autopsy technician, and Ash Kelley, a hairstylist. Join Alaina and Ash for a heavy dose of research with a dash of comedy thrown in for flavor.

The new Morbid Collection, inspired by hosts Ash and Alaina, is made for fans of the podcast, known fondly as "weirdos" and everyone that wants to celebrate Halloween in style. The collection represents Spencer’s and Morbid’s shared commitment to personal expression and is perfect for anyone who is looking to embrace their individuality.

The officially licensed merchandise includes drinkware, apparel, makeup, accessories, and more, available...

Start with Morbid for prime true crime storytelling; hosts dive into famous cases, dissecting them with ease and compassion. Explore chilling unsolved mysteries like "The Irish Vanishing Triangle" for spine-tingling tales. Witness stories of resilience in episodes like the survival of Mary Vincent.

The following article contains discussions of assault, rape, murder, and other disturbing acts.

Morbid: A True Crime Podcast stands out among similar true crime podcasts for its attention to detail and engaging story style, and the best Morbid podcast episodes offer intriguing new insights about well-known crimes or illustrate a previously unremarked upon story. True crime has been a major popular genre since before film, TV, and podcasts took an interest in them with dozens of true crime books lining shelves in every bookstore. It's an immensely engrossing kind of storytelling and podcasts, in particular, have made excellent use of the phenomenon using a medium best for this procedural storytelling.

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Podcasts hosted by Conan O’Brien; Ashley Flowers; Jay Shetty and the trio of Will Arnett, Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes received the most nominations for the 2023 iHeartRadio Podcast Awards.

In the fan-voted podcast of the year category, returning nominees like Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, Crime Junkie and SmartLess will compete against newcomers like Love and Noraebang, a narrative fiction series that blends elements of Korean dramas and telenovelas and stars Randall Park, Justin H. Min and Francia Raísa. Fly on the Wall, co-hosted by Saturday Night Live alums Dana Carvey and David Spade, is also nominated in the podcast of the year category alongside Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers’ Las Culturistas, Michael Hobbes and Aubrey Gordon’s Maintenance Phase, Alaina Urquhart and Ashleigh Kelley’s Morbid, Jay Shetty’s On Purpose and Laci Mosley’s Scam Goddess.

This year, iHeartRadio has...

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Marissa Hurwitz has been at the forefront of some of podcasting’s most exciting — and lucrative — deals.

The digital media agent and newly promoted partner at WME closed one of Spotify’s first major exclusive podcast deals, with Joe Budden, in 2018 — a licensing deal that helped pave the way for the audio giant’s licensing deals with behemoths like The Joe Rogan Experience and Call Her Daddy, even as Budden ultimately walked away from the platform two years later to pursue a wider distribution model for his show.

Since then, the podcast dealmaking space has seen the entrance of new buyers, including Amazon, which struck a massive ad sales and distribution deal earlier this year with Hurwitz’s clients, Alaina Urquhart and Ashleigh Kelley, who lead the Morbid podcast network. And thanks in part to the success of David S. Goyer’s Batman Unburied,...

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Crime Junkie, the true-crime podcast led by THR Next Gen 2022 honoree Ashley Flowers, was the most popular show on Apple Podcasts this year, the tech giant said on Monday.

To populate the lists, Apple looked at user listenership and engagement between November 1, 2021, through Oct. 31, 2022. Crime Junkie, the flagship show of Flowers’ Audiochuck company, also took the top spots in the top followed and top shared categories, while Audiochuck was honored as the top free channel on Apple Podcasts for the year.

For podcast subscriptions, Morbid — a true-crime show hosted by Alaina Urquhart and Ashleigh Kelley that has an exclusive ad sales and one-week windowing deal with Wondery and Amazon Music — landed at No. 1. Wondery retained its spot as the top subscriber channel on the platform.

Meanwhile, on Spotify, which released its annual Wrapped list on Nov. 30, the most listened-to podcast shows were led...

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Apple Podcasts on Thursday added charts for the top 100 most-subscribed shows and channels available on the platform.

Though Apple is not releasing specific subscriber numbers for each show or channel, Morbid — the true crime show hosted by Alaina Urquhart and Ashleigh Kelley — is the top subscription show while Wondery+ is the top subscription channel in the U.S. and Canada, according to Apple, which bases these rankings on a mix of subscription numbers and listener engagement.

For top subscriber shows, Morbid is followed by SmartLess, hosted by Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes; Something Was Wrong, hosted by Tiffany Reese; Fed Up, narrated by Casey Wilson; and Crooked City: Youngstown, Oh, created by Marc Smerling.

In the U.S., Wondery+ is followed by the channels Sword and Scale +Plus Light, Sony’s The Binge, Luminary and Pushkin Industries’ Pushkin+.

Apple first launched...