#KetchupTalks: Desi Crime Studio talks about producing a crime podcast and making an effort to stay true to the victim's story

Aryaan Misra and Aishwarya Singh from Desi Crime Studio dive into their journey of accidentally starting a crime podcast and making a conscious effort to meet every journalistic standard.

Entertainment holds different meaning for every individual. With multiple channels to choose from and the countless ways it is presented, people have grown to embrace content and obsess over it without feeling guilty. Crime podcasts are one such obsession and we know at least one person in our circle who plays them in the background as they carry out daily chores. While delving into a popular crime or understanding the psyche of the criminal is exciting for them, how does it feel to the ones producing these shows? What does it look like to be that source feeding people’s weird obsession to learn about a crime? We speak to Aryaan Misra and Aishwarya Singh, the dynamic hosts behind the Desi Crime Podcast about this and more.

Known for delving into the world of South Asian crimes with its engaging narratives, Desi Crime Studio uses its unique storytelling to share information on major Indian crimes that left us shaken. According to Aryaan, Aishwarya has always been a crime juggernaut who loved devouring crime podcasts, crime junkies, and other podcasts in the West. As an avid listener, she insisted he listen to few although he was never into crime. Aryaan mentioned that he would rather do the research and writing side of it. "So after she prodded me for a while to listen to one of the white Western crime podcasts, I just quipped at her saying, why don't you listen to Indian crime podcasts? There's a lot of crime happening back home. And in that moment, we realized that's because there are none.” Being writers and auditors themselves and the fact that there were no Indian crime podcasts, at least in 2020, encouraged them to start their podcast as a side project.

Also Read: Revisiting Siddhant Sarfare’s memorable videos from his creator journey

While life played out and they have become a part of the podcasting world sharing their research on the heinous crimes committed over the years, dealing with the gore associated with the content needs special attention to be dealt with. Does making their content palpable for their audience also become part of their process? Desi Crime Studio thinks otherwise. They know that people who are attracted to true crime don't feel the need to glaze over the details because people are there for the gore not despite the gore. They're there for the minutiae details of forensic science, the modus operandi, and how the murder went down. 

DCS realise the importance of proper research that typically lasts between five to seven days to bring the stories out to the public. Being meticulous with the information they gather is the top of their priority while doing justice to the victim's story. “The effort is always to get in touch with as many primary sources, find as many primary sources as we can on a case.” Their research usually involves interviews with people who were related to the crime and trying to reach out to professors who've done extensive studies on a crime. When that doesn't happen, they opt for secondary sources which involves studying works by journalists who have done extensive research and written a series of articles on many cases.

It is also through this rigorous research and studying the cases for a long time that they have understood the things one should remember when creating content around serious topics like crime. One is having journalistic standards and the other is not to sensationalize the crime. “You should get clicks by how good your storytelling is, not by how click worthy your content is, especially in this space.” Aryaan and Aishwarya know that good content and story writing usually win out at the end of the day. 

What are your thoughts on crime podcasts? Are you a fan too? Let us know in the comments below.