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TES^MARCH 20 20y Favorite Murder
was born, fi ttingly, at a
Halloween party in the
Los Feliz neighborhood
of Los Angeles in- The gathering was thrown by a
mutual friend of the podcast’s future
cohosts, Karen Kilgariff (page 21, left),
a standup comic and comedy writer,
and Georgia Hardstark, a host on
the Cooking Channel. The women
had met before. But “it wasn’t until
this party that we realized we were
both really into true crime and didn’t
have anyone else to talk to about it,”
says Hardstark, 39. They stationed
themselves in the kitchen, ignoring the
other guests and swapping tales of gore.
“Which is stuff I like to do at a party.”
“It was a perfect moment,” Hardstark
adds. “I met someone who... didn’t want
me to shut up about murder.”
Millions of others, it turns out, didn’t
want them to shut up either. Listeners
can’t get enough of the pair’s darkly
humorous tales about murderers
like Scott Scurlock, the Hollywood
Bandit, and Robert Hansen, the
Butcher Baker of Anchorage, Alaska.
Today My Favorite Murder gets 35
million downloads a month, and last
year it was the seventh-most popular
podcast on Apple Podcasts, ahead of
repurposed programming like NPR’s
Fresh Air and This American Life.
The duo’s little true-crime empire
is growing. In the past year, they’ve
performed 40 live shows; published a
New York Times bestseller (Stay Sexy &
Don’t Get Murdered, a nod to their show’s
catchphrase); signed a development
deal with podcast publisher Stitcher
worth at least $10 million; and built a
55,000-person fan club—members pay
$40 annually for exclusive episodes and
access to presale tickets to live shows.
In other words, the duo is killing it,
and their earnings show it. They made
an estimated $15 million in 2019,
placing them at No. 2 on our inaugural
ranking of the top-earning podcasters.
It’s a boom time: Advertisers likely spent
close to $700 million on pods last year,
according to estimates by PWC and the
Interactive Advertising Bureau, a nearly
sevenfold increase in four years; Spotify
spent $250 million to acquire podcast
networks Gimlet and Parcast. Apple,
reportedly, is hot on Spotify’s heels with
plans for its own network after years of
doing nothing. “People are realizing that
podcasting is special,” says Kilgariff , 49.
“I think people are isolated and really
lonely.” And in the case of My Favorite
Murder, “it’s nice to listen and process
terrible [things] together. There’s
something really cathartic about that.”
Another recent endeavor for Kilgariff
and Hardstark: their own podcast
network, Exactly Right. They’ve greenlit
fi ve shows, including This Podcast Will
Kill You, a series about infectious diseases
hosted by two epidemiologists. “It’s very
fun and cool and old-fashioned show
business to discover talent,” Kilgariff says.
“We’re lucky because ours is popular that
we have this fuse, and we can connect
this fuse to people who deserve it.”M
SIGN OF THE TIME
As Chinese zodiac signs
go, the Year of the Rat may
not be as alluring as, say,
Horse, Tiger or Dragon, but
that hasn’t stopped luxury
watch brands from fi nding
considerable beauty in the
litt le rodent. Plus, rats do
have some good qualities.
Those who fall under the
sign—which occurs every
12 years—are said to be cun-
ning, charming and thrift y.
And since it comes fi rst in
the zodiac, you’re already
ahead in the rat race.SIGN OF THE TIME
As Chinese zodiac signs
go, the Year of the Rat may
not be as alluring as, say,
Horse, Tiger or Dragon, but
that hasn’t stopped luxury
watch brands from fi nding
considerable beauty in the
litt le rodent. Plus, rats do
have some good qualities.
Those who fall under the
sign—which occurs every
12 years—are said to be cun-
ning, charming and thrift y.
And since it comes fi rst in
the zodiac, you’re already
ahead in the rat race.Year of the Rat
special edition
in white gold by
Blancpain (price
on request)Métiers d’Art The
Legend of the Chi-
nese Zodiac, Year of
the Rat in platinum
(price on request)Chopard L.U.C. XP
Urushi Year of the
Rat in rose gold
($24,600)Premier Chinese
New Year Automatic
36mm in rose gold
by Harry Winston
(price on request)Panerai Luminor
Sealand Year of the
Rat in stainless steel
(price on request)Forbes FindsDOWNLOADING DOLLARS
The hosts on our fi rst-ever ranking
of the top-earning podcasters opine
on everything from basketball and
baseball to movies and murder.- JOE ROGAN
The Joe Rogan Experience
2019 EARNINGS: $30 MIL*
Topics:
UFC, politics, standup comedy - KAREN KILGARIFF AND
GEORGIA HARDSTARK
My Favorite Murder
$ 15 MIL
True crime, pop culture - DAVE RAMSEY
The Dave Ramsey Show
$ 10 MIL
Personal finance - DAX SHEPARD
Armchair Expert
$ 9 MIL
Hollywood, current events - BILL SIMMONS
The Bill Simmons Podcast
$ 7 MIL
Sports, Hollywood