Pod Insights My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark MFM Minisode 425 About this episode This week’s hometowns include a trash kid and visiting a Jack the Ripper museum.
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Transcript Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.
0:01 Karen Kilgariff? This is exactly right.
0:06 Karen Kilgariff? This holiday season, celebrate the ones you know by heart with a gift that says it all.
0:10 Georgia Hardstark? Because the best gifts don't just look beautiful, they mean something, too.
0:14 Karen Kilgariff? From engraveable pieces that tell your story, to festive charms that capture special memories, to stunning lab-grown diamonds, Pandora has meaningful jewelry for the people who inspire you and have been there through it all.
0:25 Georgia Hardstark? Give a piece that says exactly what words can't.
0:28 Karen Kilgariff? Pandora, more than a gift.
0:29 Georgia Hardstark? Shop new styles in-store or online at pandora.net.
0:33 Karen Kilgariff? Goodbye.
0:35 Georgia Hardstark? Everyone loves the idea of spending an afternoon curled up with a good book.
0:38 Karen Kilgariff? Well, grow up, because it's almost impossible.
0:41 Georgia Hardstark? Luckily, you can take your next great story with you on Audible.
0:44 Karen Kilgariff? Audible has a massive selection of titles to choose from, including This American Life, new books by Michael Connelly, along with classics from Magathah Christie, and so much more.
0:53 Georgia Hardstark? Whether you want a mystery, a true crime story, or something completely different, there's always something new to listen to.
0:58 Karen Kilgariff? New members can start listening with a 30-day free trial at audible.com/mfm.
1:03 Georgia Hardstark? Audible, stories that speak to you.
1:05 Karen Kilgariff? Goodbye. Vacation planning should feel like a breeze, not a deep dive into countless travel sites searching for the best deal.
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1:18 Karen Kilgariff? You'll save time and money with the Budget Beach Finder.
1:20 Georgia Hardstark? Say goodbye to endless scrolling and tab hopping, and hello to Budget Beach bliss at your fingertips.
1:26 Karen Kilgariff? Go to cheapcaribbean.com to try out the Budget Beach Finder and see just how stress-free vacation planning should be.
1:32 Georgia Hardstark? Goodbye.
1:50 Georgia Hardstark? Hello.
1:51 Karen Kilgariff? And welcome.
1:52 Georgia Hardstark? To my favorite murder.
1:53 Karen Kilgariff? That's Georgia Hardstark.
1:54 Georgia Hardstark? That's Karen Kilgariff.
1:55 Karen Kilgariff? This is the mini-sode.
1:56 Georgia Hardstark? There you go.
1:57 Karen Kilgariff? I did the wrong line.
1:58 Georgia Hardstark? That's OK. We got there in the end.
2:00 Karen Kilgariff? It feels like the idea that we don't introduce ourselves for the mini-sode is really, it's very casual.
2:06 Georgia Hardstark? Yeah.
2:06 Karen Kilgariff? It's like, we're off the clock.
2:08 Georgia Hardstark? Yeah, and you guys know. It's presumptuous and yet familiar.
2:12 Karen Kilgariff? And yet, you're like, oh, these bitches.
2:14 Georgia Hardstark? I know who they are.
2:15 Karen Kilgariff? They're doing it again.
2:16 Georgia Hardstark? I fucking know who these bitches are. Why don't you go first?
2:18 Karen Kilgariff? OK. Starting off with a classic. Murder in my grandfather's laundromat, classic hometown. While visi- oh, it says, hi. While visiting my parents over the holidays, the topic of true crime came up. My mom, out of nowhere, said, you know, someone was murdered at your grandpa's laundromat.
2:35 Georgia Hardstark? Oh, my God.
2:36 Karen Kilgariff? And then it says, do go on, Mom. Here's what she told me. One day in 1988, she and her family were sitting around the breakfast table when there came a startling knock at the door. Three suits, as she called them, flashed badges and pushed their way inside. My grandpa was taken into police custody. He was the suspect of a murder. Early that morning, the body of a young woman had been discovered on a back road outside of our little Midwest farming town.
3:03 Georgia Hardstark? Holy shit.
3:04 Karen Kilgariff? So scary.
3:05 Georgia Hardstark? Yeah.
3:05 Karen Kilgariff? You're in a place that's like always quiet. There's not a lot going on.
3:08 Georgia Hardstark? Totally.
3:09 Karen Kilgariff? And then a bu- I mean, that's the beginning of so many movies. Horrible. Also discovered was a huge pool of blood trailing out the door of our family's laundromat.
3:18 Georgia Hardstark? Wow.
3:19 Karen Kilgariff? According to my mom, the victim was known to spend a lot of time at the laundromat. Another man was known to spend a lot of time there as well, who, according to small-town gossip, had a thing for her. That guy was tracked down by police at a car wash, and then this is italicized and bolded, literally cleaning blood out of his car. Can you say caught red-handed? Here's a quote directly from the case files.
3:44 Georgia Hardstark? That's some serious work.
3:46 Karen Kilgariff? Quote, "Police then approached him, told him he was not under arrest, and indicated that they wanted to talk to him about the murder. At that point, the defendant told police that, quote, 'Monday was a bad day.'"
3:57 Georgia Hardstark? Oh, my God.
3:59 Karen Kilgariff? End quote. So, obviously, my grandfather was very quickly dropped as a suspect. The man never admitted to the crime and appealed his case several times, but was sentenced to life in prison. Word around town is that he killed several people. That was just the one murder he got caught for.
4:15 Georgia Hardstark? Yeah.
4:16 Karen Kilgariff? There are a lot of details I'd love to add, but I'll leave you with this. Forensic investigation was complicated because it became apparent that someone unidentified had been in the crime scene after the murder and before it was discovered by the police.
4:30 Georgia Hardstark? Oh, no.
4:31 Karen Kilgariff? This person was later discovered to be a lady from town who had come in to do laundry and didn't tell anyone about the blood because, quote, "That wasn't any of my business," end quote.
4:42 Georgia Hardstark? Girl.
4:43 Karen Kilgariff? And then it just says, "Thanks, guys, no name."
4:46 Georgia Hardstark? Wow, man, like chilling detail.
4:50 Karen Kilgariff? Right.
4:50 Georgia Hardstark? That you'd walk in and just have no
4:56 Georgia Hardstark? emotions about it, you know?
4:58 Karen Kilgariff? Or whatever the emotions that you have about it, there's something else in you that says getting involved is dangerous or bad for me or something that it's like not an option. But it's almost like it makes sense to say it's none of your business if you were walking by outside and looking in.
5:16 Georgia Hardstark? Right.
5:16 Karen Kilgariff? You step inside, you're part of the crime scene.
5:19 Georgia Hardstark? Yeah.
5:19 Karen Kilgariff? Here in 2025, all of us step in or just need to know that.
5:24 Georgia Hardstark? Totally. Wow.
5:25 Karen Kilgariff? You're in it. Your DNA puts you in it.
5:27 Georgia Hardstark? That's right. That's a crazy one.
5:29 Karen Kilgariff? Yeah.
5:29 Georgia Hardstark? All right, let's, let's do a 180?
5:32 Karen Kilgariff? Yeah.
5:33 Georgia Hardstark? Okay. This is called Trash Kid: That Time I Committed Fraud. Dear ladies, you've heard the trash dad stories. You know all about the trash uncles and the trash moms. But what if I told you I was a trash kid and a criminal to boot?
5:48 Karen Kilgariff? Okay, I'm sorry, but first of all, hell, yes. What were we thinking not asking for this from the beginning?
5:54 Georgia Hardstark? Trash kids.
5:55 Karen Kilgariff? Because my favorite trash kid of all time is the very, I think, year one story of the little boy who rode around on his bicycle.
6:04 Georgia Hardstark? Chopping down.
6:05 Karen Kilgariff? Chopping down telephone poles with a fucking chainsaw.
6:09 Georgia Hardstark? Yeah, that got turned into an MFM animated, like one of the first MFM animated.
6:14 Karen Kilgariff? And also by an art, by a listener artist got turned into a pin that was given me at a live show that I have and carry around with me to this day. It was like for me, high art.
6:25 Georgia Hardstark? Yeah, it was really well done.
6:27 Karen Kilgariff? Unbelievably beautiful.
6:28 Georgia Hardstark? Okay, so send us your trash, trash.
6:30 Karen Kilgariff? Trash kid.
6:31 Georgia Hardstark? Kid stories, whether it's you or a sibling, we want to know.
6:35 Karen Kilgariff? Please, everything you did that got you got caught and in trouble for and then some.
6:39 Georgia Hardstark? Okay, so picture it, northern Vermont circa 1999. My parents were a part of a Friday night bowling league. At this point, I'm about six years old and rather than pay a babysitter, my parents dragged me along to sit at the bowling alley until late in the night.
6:53 Karen Kilgariff? Okay.
6:53 Georgia Hardstark? Of course they did.
6:54 Karen Kilgariff? Their fault.
6:54 Georgia Hardstark? Yeah. The bowling alley had a huge arcade and little me loved basking in the flashing lights of the kid casino. However, we did not have enough money for the arcade. All the money was earmarked for beer and pizza, obviously.
7:06 Karen Kilgariff? Yeah.
7:07 Georgia Hardstark? And so I and the other kids were delegated to simply looking at the games and pretending that we were playing them, which is a thing I forgot completely, just pretending that you're playing them.
7:18 Karen Kilgariff? Yeah.
7:18 Georgia Hardstark? Because they're doing, they're showing you what could happen.
7:20 Karen Kilgariff? Right.
7:21 Georgia Hardstark? In the video game, and you're just pretending that you're.
7:23 Karen Kilgariff? Trying to practice.
7:24 Georgia Hardstark? Yeah.
7:24 Karen Kilgariff? Especially on Centipede.
7:25 Georgia Hardstark? Right, when you've lost all your money already playing fucking Pac-Man.
7:29 Karen Kilgariff? Like, we'd usually get a dollar, four quarters, so that's four tries.
7:34 Georgia Hardstark? Which has gone in a flash.
7:35 Karen Kilgariff? Yes, I mean, especially when you're like, bad at, for us, they were literally the newest thing there was. So we're just like, how do you control this Centipede?
7:42 Georgia Hardstark? I've always been bad at them.
7:43 Karen Kilgariff? Yeah.
7:44 Georgia Hardstark? That was not enough, so a small group of us hatched a diabolical plan that would get us all the quarters we could ever want, and it seemed like such an easy solution. We were cute, adults love cute kids, right? Would adults just give cute kids money? Probably not, they needed a reason. Sick kids, that's it. We needed them to give us money to help sick kids.
8:06 Karen Kilgariff? No.
8:07 Georgia Hardstark? That's right, if you hadn't figured out our grand plan, it was to stand near the entrance to the bowling alley and tell people as they entered that we were raising money for the local children's hospital.
8:17 Karen Kilgariff? Oh, my.
8:20 Georgia Hardstark? Over the course of roughly two hours, we had hoodwinked enough people to get almost eighty dollars in donations. That is so many fucking quarters. It was all going according to plan, until it wasn't. It turns out, some of these adults had been talking with the manager about the cute little philanthropists at the front entrance, and the manager had no idea what they were talking about. Long story short, our parents were pulled from their games and I didn't see the sun for weeks.
8:46 Karen Kilgariff? Oh.
8:47 Georgia Hardstark? I also was dressed down by my mom, Becky, don't you dare call her Rebecca, who both instilled the fear of God in me and made me see the error of my ways. She was a small woman, but she made up for that with sheer volume and by being an absolute badass who raised six kids in a blended home.
9:02 Karen Kilgariff? Oh.
9:03 Georgia Hardstark? We lost her in 2023 to a mixture of throat cancer and COPD. Don't smoke, kids. Her loss has been the most profound of my life, up until she lost the ability to speak. She was the person I called every day on my way home from work, I told her everything. She was one of my biggest advocates when I came out as trans, she was my favorite person. I honestly don't think I'd be a fraction of the person I am today without her. Stay sexy and hug your mom, she may just save you from a life of crime. Ada, she/her.
9:33 Karen Kilgariff? Ada.
9:35 Karen Kilgariff? You know, that was one of my favorite stories.
9:38 Georgia Hardstark? Just.
9:40 Karen Kilgariff? But you deserved everything Becky brought to you and more.
9:43 Georgia Hardstark? Yeah, you did.
9:43 Karen Kilgariff? Eighty bucks, though.
9:46 Georgia Hardstark? She had, Becky had me a little proud.
9:48 Karen Kilgariff? I, I mean.
9:49 Georgia Hardstark? Secretly.
9:49 Karen Kilgariff? Because also, I just, I'm assuming, what, there were a handful of kids, five kids?
9:53 Georgia Hardstark? Yeah.
9:53 Karen Kilgariff? Like, they would have been just golden in that, that arcade all night long.
9:58 Georgia Hardstark? Oh, my God.
9:58 Karen Kilgariff? Then some.
9:58 Georgia Hardstark? Oh, my God.
9:59 Karen Kilgariff? Like, who wants candy? Want candy?
10:00 Georgia Hardstark? Yeah.
10:01 Karen Kilgariff? I'll go to a candy machine.
10:02 Georgia Hardstark? Yeah, corn dogs, corn dogs all around.
10:04 Karen Kilgariff? It almost feels like if you get past the, the finish line, you get to keep the money and then you're in trouble.
10:09 Georgia Hardstark? Right. They didn't say what happened to the money.
10:11 Karen Kilgariff? Also, how cute were these kids that without a bucket or any signage, they're just like.
10:16 Georgia Hardstark? They got it. They did it.
10:18 Karen Kilgariff? I don't know. I'm on the kid's side. The most annoying thing about dinner is that you have to keep making it.
10:25 Georgia Hardstark? And every single time, you have to figure out what you're going to eat.
10:29 Karen Kilgariff? It's time to take some of that work off your plate with Hungry Root.
10:32 Georgia Hardstark? Hungry Root is like having your own personal shopper and nutritionist all wrapped into one. They'll take care of the weekly grocery shopping and recommend groceries and meals tailored to you. It's so nice having Hungry Root just take care of the thinking part of dinner because I swear, like, every 10 minutes of my life is, what's for dinner? I'm so sick of it. And so I love when you can just open your fridge and be like, okay, great. We have roasted chicken with fries and broccoli from Hungry Root. Or wagyu ribeye steak with Green Goddess potatoes. Great. Let's go with that. I don't want to think about it. That sounds amazing and it's easy.
11:06 Karen Kilgariff? It's easy and it's good for you. You're not just ordering another pizza. You're gonna love Hungry Root.
11:11 Georgia Hardstark? For a love at a time, get 40% off your first order, plus get a free item in every box for life.
11:16 Karen Kilgariff? Go to hungryroot.com/mfm and use code MFM.
11:20 Georgia Hardstark? That's hungryroot.com/mfm, code MFM, to get 40% off your first box and a free item of your choice for life.
11:27 Karen Kilgariff? Goodbye.
11:28 Georgia Hardstark? The holidays are coming, which means we'll all be spending more time away from home.
11:32 Karen Kilgariff? Whether you're visiting family or doing something actually fun, you want to know your home is protected while you're away.
11:37 Georgia Hardstark? That's why now is a good time to think about home security with SimpliSafe.
11:41 Karen Kilgariff? Unlike traditional security systems that alert you after a break-in start. Simply Safe is designed to help stop intruders before they get inside. These days, you're worried about your house, you're out of town, and then something comes up and you get to look on your phone and Simply Safe is going to show you not only the video of like, it's a raccoon at your front door, but also that they have staff that's sitting there, they already know. And if it was something different or worse, they would have already been on it.
12:07 Georgia Hardstark? Yeah, I really think that's invaluable peace of mind, that just like relying on your neighbors, paying attention is not going to give you. We've partnered with Simply Safe to offer our listeners their biggest savings of the year. 70% off your new system with professional monitoring when you visit simplysafe.com/mfm.
12:24 Karen Kilgariff? That's simplysafe.com/mfm. And when you order, write in MFM at checkout and it tells them we sent you and it really helps the show.
12:32 Georgia Hardstark? Simply Safe, ahead of crime in real time.
12:34 Karen Kilgariff? Goodbye.
12:38 Karen Kilgariff? The subject line of this email is my visit to the Jack the Ripper Museum in London. So you and I haven't talked about the fact that they are claiming that they have solved the Jack the Murder case.
12:48 Georgia Hardstark? Jack the Ripper.
12:50 Karen Kilgariff? What did I just say?
12:51 Georgia Hardstark? Jack the Murder.
12:54 Karen Kilgariff? Do you mind if I don't pay attention while I'm talking during this one? Is that okay?
12:58 Georgia Hardstark? Necessary. Yeah, we'll talk about it. I'm skeptical.
13:01 Karen Kilgariff? Me too.
13:02 Georgia Hardstark? So let's wait until it's.
13:03 Karen Kilgariff? I'm also skeptical because, oh, by the way, back on TikTok.
13:06 Georgia Hardstark? People were telling me how to tell you to get back on it.
13:09 Karen Kilgariff? I mean, God, God bless our listeners who I got so many messages on Blue Sky, like, so nice.
13:15 Georgia Hardstark? Do it, yeah.
13:15 Karen Kilgariff? But the, one of the first things I saw was someone that was talking about that and how it's like, oh, okay, so just this apron or whatever that's been sitting there for years and anyone could touch.
13:26 Georgia Hardstark? Yeah.
13:26 Karen Kilgariff? Interesting. We should talk about that.
13:27 Georgia Hardstark? Yeah, yeah, we will.
13:28 Karen Kilgariff? Should we do like a retro style and just do a one subject Jack the Ripper episode?
13:33 Georgia Hardstark? We could, retell the whole story.
13:35 Karen Kilgariff? Mm hmm. Okay. It says, hi ladies and all MFM family, pretty much a day one listener and a second time writer. Thank you so much for getting me through a lot of time in the hospital over the last few years, having multiple surgeries for endometriosis.
13:48 Georgia Hardstark? Ooh.
13:48 Karen Kilgariff? Rough. I've lived just outside of London my whole life, but somehow I didn't know until recently that there was a Jack the Ripper museum. Did you know that?
13:57 Georgia Hardstark? No, but why wouldn't there be? Like, it makes sense.
13:59 Karen Kilgariff? And also, why didn't I go there when I was so smart, trying to cover Jack the Ripper woman?
14:04 Georgia Hardstark? Oh.
14:05 Karen Kilgariff? I mean, why wouldn't there be? Is that what you just said?
14:07 Georgia Hardstark? Yeah.
14:07 Karen Kilgariff? Because that's what this email says.
14:09 Georgia Hardstark? Whoa.
14:09 Karen Kilgariff? Sorry. "My son is also a murderino at the age of 14, and he's studying law and criminology. So when I was looking for days out for us to do together, we were both excited to discover this little gem of a museum."
14:21 Georgia Hardstark? Yeah.
14:22 Karen Kilgariff? "It's set in a townhouse-type building over four floors and close to the Tower of London and to the Ripper's hunting grounds. There are sections dedicated to the victims, the suspects, and reconstructions of one of the crime scenes and of what the Ripper's living room may have looked like, where you can hunt for clues as to his identity. We were absolutely in our element. Some of the best things we saw were the letters written to the police from Jack the Ripper and also the whistle used by one of the policemen who found the body of Catherine Eddow.
14:52 Georgia Hardstark? Wow.
14:52 Karen Kilgariff? Yeah, that's... That would be so creepy and fascinating to see the reconstruction of a crime scene of that, of those murders. God. Okay. "I would have loved to have done the walking tour too, but those cobbled streets don't go well with my wheelchair. Your idea for a virtual walking tour is perfect for me."
15:12 Georgia Hardstark? Great.
15:12 Karen Kilgariff? Yeah, I love that. "Just as an extra fact, the town I live in used to house the asylum that Aaron Kozinski, one of the suspects, who's the suspect they think they've identified..."
15:23 Georgia Hardstark? Yeah.
15:23 Karen Kilgariff? "...through DNA, spent his final days. It is now a park that is supposedly haunted."
15:28 Georgia Hardstark? Oh, it's the hauntedest park in parkland.
15:31 Karen Kilgariff? I mean, a haunted park, though, where it's like, we're the ghosts from the building that used to be here.
15:37 Georgia Hardstark? Yeah, we're still here. You'd knock the building down, but like...
15:40 Karen Kilgariff? Get off my bench.
15:42 Georgia Hardstark? Yeah.
15:42 Karen Kilgariff? I hate squirrels. Okay. "Also, my husband works for the Freemasons, and I like to joke that his employers are the reason Jack the Ripper was never caught."
15:51 Karen Kilgariff? S S D G M and keep trying to solve the Ripper mystery. Sarah, she/her.
15:55 Georgia Hardstark? Sarah must have written that before this DNA stuff came out.
15:59 Karen Kilgariff? I mean, if Sarah's a day one listener and a second time writer, this could easily be from 1997 and we just don't realize it.
16:07 Georgia Hardstark? Wow. Okay. Yeah, we're gonna have to get into that.
16:09 Karen Kilgariff? Yeah.
16:09 Georgia Hardstark? All right. This one's called glitch in the matrix slash instant karma. And I love it because I love those glitch in the matrix stories. Hi ladies. This story was buried deep in the recesses of my sleep deprived brain, but it came rushing back to me while listening to a recent hometown.
16:26 Georgia Hardstark? It was the early 2000s. I was a junior in high school. My friend and I were enjoying some chicken nuggets at Wendy's across town. Just the kind of crazy shit me and my bad girl crew used to get up to in high school. Just kidding. We were nerds.
16:39 Georgia Hardstark? When a somewhat disheveled woman came rushing into the restaurant, she scanned the place and came over to our table. This woman launched into a long story about how her car had run out of gas just before the exit and she had to abandon it, but she didn't have any money to buy gas because she left her wallet at home. And can we please give her some spare change so she could buy some gas just enough to get her back to her house? My friend shot me a skeptical look. I peeked in my wallet, hesitated for a moment, then handed over my last $5 bill. The woman looked shocked that her story worked? Question mark and said, oh no, that's too much. And I said, well, that's all I've got. Besides, that's not much gas. Thank you so much. I'll come right back once I get my wallet. I'll pay you back. Don't worry about it. I shrugged.
17:21 Georgia Hardstark? It's good karma. My friend rolled her eyes as the woman walked out. I bet she doesn't even have a car. You got played. Yeah, probably, I thought. The next day at school, I was packing up my things after a play rehearsal. I picked up my backpack from the auditorium seat to find a crisp $5 bill sitting under it. Now, mind you, these were the auditorium seats that fold up if there's nothing holding them down, like in a movie theater.
17:45 Karen Kilgariff? Yeah.
17:46 Georgia Hardstark? So this had to have been placed very carefully under my backpack. I looked around in disbelief. I even called my friend to ask if she snuck the money under there, but she had no idea what I was talking about. Quick turnaround for that karma, I guess.
18:01 Georgia Hardstark? Just was there.
18:02 Karen Kilgariff? And there's probably no way that woman knew where they were.
18:05 Georgia Hardstark? No.
18:05 Karen Kilgariff? Where they went to school or anything.
18:07 Georgia Hardstark? No, and it was a scam probably, which is fine, but like, it just happened. Like, maybe she put her bag down earlier.
18:12 Karen Kilgariff? For the exact same amount?
18:14 Georgia Hardstark? I know, and it's crisp.
18:15 Karen Kilgariff? Wild.
18:16 Georgia Hardstark? Yeah, like, someone went to the bank. Yeah, just, just fucking happened.
18:20 Karen Kilgariff? What?
18:20 Georgia Hardstark? A couple decades later, I now work as an emergency room doctor. Every day, I meet people in desperate circumstances, some of which they share with me and some things they don't. I have a few minutes to try and gain a patient's trust. When it goes well, it can be incredibly rewarding. When it doesn't, I try to remind myself that you don't need to know or understand a person's whole story to act with kindness, and that kindness will usually make its way back to you. Thank you for the incredible stories you share every week. This podcast has accompanied me on countless drives to and from the ER and stroller walks with my baby and toddler. And it says, see, sleep deprivation reference above. The work you do to help humans understand each other is important, and I am grateful whenever I can listen.
19:03 Georgia Hardstark? Stay sexy and trust in karma, Victoria.
19:06 Karen Kilgariff? Victoria, an emergency room doctor telling us that our work is...
19:11 Georgia Hardstark? I know!
19:11 Karen Kilgariff? What the fuck? Come on!
19:13 Georgia Hardstark? What a lovely message.
19:14 Karen Kilgariff? Also, just, that's such a hard job. Emergency room, it's like, it's the kind of thing where it's like, you have a job where it's the emotional equivalent of somebody that will, every night, right when you're at your most asleep, open your bedroom door and start screaming, right?
19:29 Georgia Hardstark? I mean, I make fucking TV shows about it. Like, there's no drama TV shows.
19:33 Karen Kilgariff? There's, yeah, exactly.
19:33 Georgia Hardstark? For a reason.
19:34 Karen Kilgariff? That is like, that is the ultimate drama.
19:36 Georgia Hardstark? Yeah, it's called ER. It's like, that's how hard it is.
19:39 Karen Kilgariff? God, that was a good show.
19:40 Georgia Hardstark? It was so good.
19:40 Karen Kilgariff? Thanks, Victoria.
19:43 Karen Kilgariff? The most annoying thing about dinner is that you have to keep making it.
19:46 Georgia Hardstark? And every single time, you have to figure out what you're going to eat.
19:50 Karen Kilgariff? It's time to take some of that work off your plate with Hungry Root.
19:53 Georgia Hardstark? Hungry Root is like having your own personal shopper and nutritionist all wrapped into one. They'll take care of the weekly grocery shopping and recommend groceries and meals tailored to you. It's so nice having Hungry Root just take care of the thinking part of dinner, because I swear, like, every 10 minutes of my life is, what's for dinner? I'm so sick of it. And so I love when you can just open your fridge and be like, okay, great. We have roasted chicken with fries and broccoli from Hungry Root, or wagyu ribeye steak with green goddess potatoes. Great. Let's go with that. I don't want to think about it. That sounds amazing. And it's easy.
20:27 Karen Kilgariff? It's easy and it's good for you. You're not just ordering another pizza. You're gonna love Hungry Root.
20:32 Georgia Hardstark? For a limited time, get 40% off your first order, plus get a free item in every box for life.
20:37 Karen Kilgariff? Go to hungryroot.com/mfm and use code MFM.
20:41 Georgia Hardstark? That's hungryroot.com/mfm, code MFM, to get 40% off your first box and a free item of your choice for life. Goodbye. The holidays are coming, which means we'll all be spending more time away from home.
20:53 Karen Kilgariff? Whether you're visiting family or doing something actually fun, you want to know your home is protected while you're away.
20:59 Georgia Hardstark? That's why now is a good time to think about home security with SimpliSafe.
21:02 Karen Kilgariff? Unlike traditional security systems that alert you after a break-in starts, SimpliSafe is designed to help stop intruders before they get inside. These days, you're worried about your house, you're out of town, and then something comes up and you get to look on your phone. And SimpliSafe is going to show you not only the video of like, it's a raccoon at your front door, but also that they have staff that's sitting there, they already know. And if it was something different or worse, they would have already been on it.
21:28 Georgia Hardstark? Yeah, I really think that's invaluable peace of mind, that just like relying on your neighbors, paying attention is not going to give you. We've partnered with SimpliSafe to offer our listeners their biggest savings of the year. 70% off your new system with professional monitoring when you visit simplisafe.com/mfm.
21:45 Karen Kilgariff? That's simplisafe.com/mfm. And when you order, write in MFM at checkout and it tells them we sent you. And it really helps the show.
21:53 Georgia Hardstark? SimpliSafe, ahead of crime in real time. Goodbye.
21:59 Karen Kilgariff? The subject line is this email's kind of cute ghost story?
22:02 Georgia Hardstark? Question mark in parentheses.
22:03 Karen Kilgariff? Cute ghost story, okay. It says, hello, all animals included. I'm pretty new here and have just started listening to the podcast a few months ago. Of course, from the beginning, as I don't want to feel excluded from inside jokes. We got to tell you, all these jokes are just repeating. There's nothing inside that's confusing.
22:21 Georgia Hardstark? Yeah, but it could be fun.
22:23 Karen Kilgariff? Oh, yeah. I mean, definitely start from the beginning.
22:26 Karen Kilgariff? Okay, so even though it's been a while since you guys have talked about ghosts, or at least up until episode 263.
22:32 Georgia Hardstark? Oh my god, we have so many fucking, we gotta, we gotta pause like this podcast so that people can catch up. You know what I mean?
22:38 Karen Kilgariff? Yeah, that's a great idea.
22:39 Georgia Hardstark? Take a few months off.
22:40 Karen Kilgariff? Yeah.
22:40 Georgia Hardstark? Everyone catch up.
22:41 Karen Kilgariff? Yeah.
22:41 Georgia Hardstark? And we'll meet you back here. Because we just keep adding and it's too many.
22:44 Karen Kilgariff? I know, it's really hard. It seems like we should go on vacation.
22:47 Georgia Hardstark? Wait, that's why we do the rewind episodes, right?
22:49 Karen Kilgariff? Yes, exactly.
22:50 Georgia Hardstark? That's a good one.
22:51 Karen Kilgariff? To help people catch up.
22:52 Georgia Hardstark? That's why.
22:52 Karen Kilgariff? To access that easier.
22:54 Georgia Hardstark? Yeah.
22:55 Karen Kilgariff? Okay. A few weeks ago, I witnessed something ghost-related. I knew I had to share with you, so here I go. It was a Friday night and we were home alone at my best friend's house. We were pretty baked and had the munchies, so we headed to the kitchen to look for snacks. As we did that, we never stopped talking. We talked for what felt like hours and then all of a sudden we stopped. What could have been a comfortable silence was actually much weirder. The kitchen door, which was almost shut, opened in a manner that only a gentle hand on the other side coming into the kitchen could have opened.
23:26 Georgia Hardstark? Oh god.
23:27 Karen Kilgariff? I must have looked clearly disturbed as my friend looked at me and said, "Don't worry, it's my great grandma." I asked her to please be clearer, as my weed-induced paranoia was about to kick in, and she proceeded to explain that the apartment we were currently in was where her great grandma used to live up until she passed away.
23:44 Georgia Hardstark? Holy shit.
23:45 Karen Kilgariff? Ever since my friend has been living there, there's always doors shutting or opening just like that day, as if she were still walking perfectly alive around the house. As it's hers, they just say hello and let her do her thing.
23:58 Georgia Hardstark? Oh my god.
24:00 Karen Kilgariff? Even though I almost threw up out of fear, this story made me feel better. Plus, I've always felt welcomed there and the lady had great taste in furniture.
24:07 Georgia Hardstark? Damn.
24:08 Karen Kilgariff? Days after that, I remembered something my own grandma used to say when we were all talking and conversations would suddenly end at the same time. I'm not gonna pronounce this correctly because I don't speak Spanish, but I'm gonna attempt.
24:19 Georgia Hardstark? Okay.
24:20 Karen Kilgariff? Paso un angel, which is an angel pass by. So that comforted me too, in a way. I mean, at least it's an angel and not anything else, right? Now that I've written it down, it sounds way less scary than it actually felt at the time.
24:34 Georgia Hardstark? I get it. It's like explaining a dream to someone and you're like, "You don't get it."
24:39 Karen Kilgariff? They say, so just try to remember the whole thing was happening while being high, which made it a thousand times scarier. But it is eerie because when things like that happen, if it was just kind of like a weird, you know, the wind or something.
24:50 Georgia Hardstark? Yeah.
24:50 Karen Kilgariff? That has a feel to it.
24:51 Georgia Hardstark? Totally.
24:52 Karen Kilgariff? A door just kind of very slowly opening.
24:54 Georgia Hardstark? Yeah, for no reason.
24:55 Karen Kilgariff? Ooh, yeah. To wrap it up, I'd like to say, I've always been the freak about murders and crime in my family and groups of friends, and that I really feel at home listening to you guys. Wish you all the best. Julieta from Uruguay. And then in parentheses, it says, pretty fucking far away.
25:10 Georgia Hardstark? We feel at home here, too. And the house is haunted, for sure. Whatever home this is that they've made.
25:18 Karen Kilgariff? Right.
25:19 Georgia Hardstark? There's haunted.
25:19 Karen Kilgariff? That great grandma is strolling around.
25:22 Georgia Hardstark? That's right.
25:22 Karen Kilgariff? Trying to be like, girls, do you have to smoke that much pot? Or can we make cookies and do some arts and crafts?
25:28 Georgia Hardstark? Oh, that was good. Um, okay, my last one's short.
25:32 Karen Kilgariff? Okay.
25:32 Georgia Hardstark? I'm not going to tell you the name of it.
25:34 Karen Kilgariff? Mm-hmm.
25:35 Georgia Hardstark? It just starts, I just listened to the hometown about a listener bumping into a Aretha Franklin, and I have to tell you about the time I spilled a drink on Jane Goodall.
25:44 Karen Kilgariff? Yeah. Oh, my god. Wait, are you a monkey?
25:48 Georgia Hardstark? She's just throwing her drink in her face. I was a PhD student studying chimpanzees and was attending my first major conference, and Jane Goodall, obviously an icon, was the keynote speaker. I was also like 22 and new to wine. At the reception after Goodall's keynote, I was holding a glass of red wine someone had handed me and trying to make small talk with big-name scientists. Hello, imposter syndrome. When I turned around to grab a bacon-wrapped shrimp or something equally exciting for a broke grad student from a passing waiter. But alas, right behind me was Jane Goodall, and my drink went all caps everywhere.
26:28 Georgia Hardstark? My only consolation is that because of Jane Goodall's prosopagnosia, which is the inability to recognize faces, she will never know it was me.
26:37 Karen Kilgariff? Yeah, nice.
26:38 Georgia Hardstark? Don't call me out, just call me E. SSDGM.
26:44 Georgia Hardstark? Prospagnosia. Prospagnosia.
26:48 Karen Kilgariff? Yeah, you say that all the time.
26:50 Georgia Hardstark? My favorite.
26:50 Karen Kilgariff? Prospagnosia. I feel like, because it's just a coincidence, I just saw a clip of Jane Goodall and her team releasing a chimpanzee, I believe, into the wild. And she seems like, just in this clip.
27:03 Georgia Hardstark? Yeah.
27:04 Karen Kilgariff? So incredibly serious and like, kind of like, it's, I feel like we couldn't pick a worse person to throw wine on.
27:13 Georgia Hardstark? No, she's like, an iconic, intelligent, probably pretty serious, you know, serious-minded person.
27:20 Karen Kilgariff? But if you know Jane Goodall to be different, please write in at [email protected] .
27:24 Georgia Hardstark? Oh, my God, what have we got? Jane Goodall is a bad tipper.
27:27 Karen Kilgariff? The full T.
27:29 Georgia Hardstark? We're trying to cancel Jane Goodall.
27:32 Karen Kilgariff? No, no, no, no, no.
27:33 Georgia Hardstark? One of the kindest, probably best people ever. Oh, my God, okay. Send us your, send us your embarrassing stories like that.
27:38 Karen Kilgariff? Did Jane Goodall steal your boyfriend? Let us know.
27:41 Georgia Hardstark? Myfavoritemurder@gmail.
27:43 Karen Kilgariff? Thanks, listeners.
27:44 Georgia Hardstark? Thank you.
27:46 Karen Kilgariff? We love you. We're here for you. Stay sexy.
27:48 Georgia Hardstark? And don't get murdered.
27:50 Karen Kilgariff? Goodbye, Jane Goodall. Elvis, do you want a cookie?
28:03 Karen Kilgariff? This has been an Exactly Right production.
28:05 Georgia Hardstark? Our senior producer is Alejandra Keck.
28:07 Karen Kilgariff? Our editor is Aristotle Acevedo.
28:10 Georgia Hardstark? This episode was mixed by Liana Scolacci.
28:12 Karen Kilgariff? Email your hometowns to [email protected] .
28:15 Georgia Hardstark? And follow the show on Instagram and Facebook at MyFavoriteMurder.
28:19 Karen Kilgariff? Goodbye.
28:25 Karen Kilgariff? Vacation planning should feel like a breeze, not a deep dive into countless travel sites searching for the best deal.
28:31 Georgia Hardstark? With CheapCaribbean's Budget Beach Finder, you can search every destination and every date, all in one search.
28:37 Karen Kilgariff? You'll save time and money with the Budget Beach Finder.
28:39 Georgia Hardstark? Say goodbye to endless scrolling and tab hopping and hello to Budget Beach Bliss at your fingertips.
28:45 Karen Kilgariff? Go to cheapcaribbean.com to try out the Budget Beach Finder and see just how stress-free vacation planning should be. Goodbye.
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29:22 Speaker 04 Football Sundays are at my house this year, so I've been making a Total Wine & More run before every kickoff. Cold beer for the group is a given, but this time of year I like to bring in some fall flavors. A bottle of maple whiskey and a salted caramel whiskey that even my friends who don't drink whiskey end up trying. I get everything I need at the lowest prices at Total Wine. Discover your new favorite fall flavors at Total Wine & More. Spirits are not sold in Virginia and North Carolina. Drink responsibly. Must be 21.
Previous 469 - Crochet Positive Next Rewind with Karen & Georgia - 35: A Small Foreign Faction Page updated November 3, 2026 · transcript and summary are machine-generated