Session 24 ft. Sistas Who Kill

Summary

Crissle’s Couch: Session 24 ft. Sistas Who Kill

Podcast: Crissle’s Couch
Host: Chrissal (CAKE MEDIA)
Guests: Marah and Taz (Sistas Who Kill podcast)
Date: April 28, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode of Crissle’s Couch features a candid and profound conversation with Marah and Taz, high school best friends and the creators of Sistas Who Kill, a true crime podcast that centers on the often-overlooked stories of Black women who commit murder. The discussion dives deep into the origins of their show, friendship dynamics, patterns in true crime cases involving Black women, issues of societal accountability, and the ethics of storytelling in the true crime genre. The episode is a compelling mix of culture, critique, personal narrative, and gentle accountability—delivered with humor and warmth.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

Origins and Conception of Sistas Who Kill

[02:10–04:48]

• Marah and Taz share how the idea for the podcast originated: boredom and true crime consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• They wanted to create a show for Black people and women, centering Black women in true crime, but not just for shock value—also to humanize subjects and explore systemic issues.
• Notable Quote:

  "We don't want to just highlight that they're doing murder. Let's talk about what may have led them there... whether or not they got a fair trial and, kind of, humanize them." – Marah [03:40]

The Importance of Context When Telling Black Stories

[04:48–05:15]

• Traditional news coverage often lacks cultural context (e.g., misunderstanding how Black moms show love).
• The podcast brings in nuanced cultural understanding to tell stories more authentically.

Friendship to Business Partners: Challenges and Dynamics

[05:24–07:51]

• Marah and Taz discuss maintaining friendship outside of work, protecting their personal bond as the show gains success.
• On living in the same state for the first time since high school, how sharing work has reshaped their collaboration.
• Notable Quote:

  "We still value our friendship outside of the show... so that we can do work together." – Taz [06:03]

Story Selection, Themes, and Patterns

[07:51–10:28]

• They focus on a diverse range of cases with changing themes to keep content digestible and thought-provoking.
• Limit episodes about harm to children to avoid trauma—prioritizing cases to highlight different causes and consequences.
• The central message: an impulsive or heat-of-the-moment decision can drastically alter one’s life.

Observing Systemic Patterns & Historical Parallels

[10:28–12:54]

• Many stories reflect systemic patterns: Black women facing similar discrimination and media framing now as in the 1800s.
• Economic inequality and lack of resources impact legal outcomes and life trajectories.

Highlighting Societal Responsibility

[11:57–14:16]

• Recurrent theme: if more resources were invested in preventing trauma and supporting vulnerable people, fewer lives would be lost or shattered.
• Discussed the Tiffany Woods case post-Katrina—lack of support led to tragedy, but public judgment often ignores these nuances.
• Notable Quote:

  "The Saints took a whole year off after Katrina, but this lady was supposed to recover in three months." – Anonymous Comment, repeated by Marah [14:04]

Patterns in Mental Health & Childhood Trauma

[18:37–20:46]

• Almost all cases involve significant childhood trauma and lack of mental health support.
• Black communities often have taboos against seeking mental health support, contributing to long-term challenges.
• Notable Quote:

  "My trauma, you trauma, everybody..." – Taz [18:43]

Societal Indifference and Resource Disparity

[20:46–22:07]

• Disparities in local resources (schools, afterschool programs) lead to increased vulnerability and crime in marginalized communities.
• Notable Quote:

  "If only somebody would just... give a fuck about the youth, I think the world would be just a better place." – Taz [20:56]

Nature of Crimes and Media Framing

[21:57–23:56]

• The majority of cases involve women killing, or arranging to kill, male partners—often following abuse or betrayal.
• The conversation explores how trauma, gender, and self-defense shape these cases—but also discusses other scenarios (landlord, roommate, financial motives).
• Notable Quote:

  "Divorce. It ain't free, but it's cheaper than prison..." – Taz [23:57]

Balancing Empathy and Accountability

[24:34–28:46]

• The hosts emphasize providing context and complexity—not excusing murder, but challenging simplistic, stigmatizing narratives.
• They openly acknowledge when murder feels contextually understandable, especially in cases of protecting children.
• Draw comparisons to the empathy often extended to white women in similar cases.
• Notable Quotes:

  "It's never that simple. And people will sit here and give all the excuses to the white girls... that same compassion that you can show for white women, we can have that same compassion for our people." – Marah [26:05–26:23]
  "The law is black and white. But the case isn't." – Marah [27:08–27:14]

Experiences with Victims’ Families

[29:01–33:16]

• Some families ask them to remove episodes for being too painful or disagreeing with the account; occasionally, families appreciate the added perspective.
• This feedback has shaped their approach, making them more sensitive to timing (e.g., not airing episodes before funerals are complete).

Adjusting Podcast Rules Based on Feedback

[33:16–39:12]

• Shifted criteria for airing cases (wait until the case is ‘complete’ and the funeral held).
• Not all cases fit the “murderess” framing – sometimes it’s organizations or circumstances at fault (e.g., cases of accidental death during hazing).

Favorite and Impactful Cases

[40:38–46:25]

• Marah’s Favorite (Tazwell case): A poisoning with acid leading to disability, eventual death, and a change in legal charges.
  [40:46–42:32]
• Taz’s Favorite (Virginia Christian case): The only Black woman executed in Virginia, age misrepresented due to racism, enduring abuse as a child laborer. [42:58–45:32]
• Both highlight systemic racism, misjudged intent, and historical continuity in how Black women are treated by the justice system.

The Sistas Who Kill Tour: Back from the Dead

[46:25–48:16]

• The tour covers major US cities, following up on their successful “Alive” tour.
• Live shows blend storytelling with visual elements, plot twists, and audience interaction for a theatrical but informative experience.

Navigating Mental Health as Podcast Hosts

[49:41–51:44]

• Their approach: compartmentalization, switching off after recording, and self-care through escapist TV (reality TV, sitcoms).
• Notable Quotes:

  "When the episodes come out on Friday...like, I don't remember." – Marah [50:13]
  "Self care is doing the whole nighttime routine...But my self care is reality TV, of course." – Marah [51:12–51:15]

Reflections on Fame and the Future

[51:44–53:30]

• Marah prefers anonymity, Taz embraces public persona and performing.
• Both see the podcast as a launchpad for broader creative and impactful work.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “The ability to still talk shit. We like gossiping about people that we know, people we don't know. We love that.” – Taz [05:46]
• “One bad decision can change your life.” – Taz [08:08]
• “Jazz and Taz, they were monsters for killing their mom, but Gypsy Rose, everybody wanted to sit here and highlight her and give her all this stuff.” – Marah [26:06]
• “The Saints took a whole year off after Katrina, but this lady was supposed to recover in three months.” – Marah [14:04]
• “If only somebody would just...give a fuck about the youth, I think the world would be just a better place.” – Taz [20:56]

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Important Timestamps

• Origins of the Podcast: [02:10–04:48]
• Cultural Context in Storytelling: [04:48–05:15]
• Friendship & Business: [05:24–07:51]
• Episode Selection Process: [07:51–10:28]
• Historical vs. Modern Cases: [10:28–12:54]
• Societal Responsibility: [11:57–14:16]
• Black Women’s Mental Health Patterns: [18:37–20:46]
• Resource Deficits & Societal Neglect: [20:46–22:07]
• Crime Motives Patterns: [21:57–23:56]
• Ethics & Storytelling Balance: [24:34–28:46]
• Dealing with Victims’ Families: [29:01–33:16]
• Favorite Cases: [40:38–46:25]
• Tour Information & Live Show Experience: [46:25–48:16]
• Coping with Heavy Content: [49:41–51:44]

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Episode Highlights

• The “Sistas Who Kill” approach is as much about centering empathy, complexity, and social critique as telling true crime stories.
• The hosts are deeply influenced by their own backgrounds, friendship, and the feedback they receive from both their subjects’ families and their audience.
• The show challenges existing narratives in true crime by offering context, challenging black-and-white thinking, and confronting the biases in legal and media systems.
• Both Marah and Taz use humor, cultural connection, and honesty to make their heavy subject matter thoughtful but accessible.

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Find Sistas Who Kill on Tour:
Tickets and information at sistaswhokilllive.com
Follow them on Instagram (@sistaswhokillpod), TikTok (@sistaswhokillpodcast), and Twitter/X (@sistaswhokill).

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“We interact with the audience...when we listen to y’, all, we feel like we're talking to our homegirls and we talking to y' all in the car.” – Taz [48:58]

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For listeners, this episode offers a powerful, nuanced look at the intersection of race, gender, crime, and media—and a model for how empathy and complexity can transform the true crime genre.

Transcript

[Marah]

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[Chrissal]

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[Marah]

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[Marah]

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[Taz]

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[Marah]

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[Marah]

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[Taz]

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[Chrissal]

Rated R under 17. Animated without parent only. Theaters May 15 with special engagements in hi and welcome to Chrissal's Couch, the show where I answer your letters for advice and talk to the most interesting people in the world. Today on Chrissal's Couch, I'm joined by Marah and Taz, high school best friends and the creators and hosts of Sistas who Kill. It's a true crime podcast focused on black women who commit murder. Created to challenge how these stories are traditionally framed, reported and remembered. Through careful research, cultural context and thoughtful conversation, the show looks beyond the crime itself to examine race, gender, power and the criminal justice system, all while centering the humanity of women whose stories are often flattened or sensationalized. Since its launch, Sisters who Kill has become an essential voice in true crime, not just for what it covers, but for how it asks listeners to think differently about accountability, empathy, and whose lives are afforded the benefit of complexity. And now you can catch them live on their Back from the Dead tour. Crazy name girls. It's happening across the country this summer. Please welcome Mara and Tess to the couch.

[Marah]

Hello. Hi.

[Chrissal]

Thank you so much for being here.

[Taz]

Thank you for having us. Of course.

[Chrissal]

I'm very excited. I've heard a lot of great things about your show. Tell me how it sort of came into existence. How did this idea come about?

[Taz]

Well, back in the day, I had never heard of a podcast before. My best friend said, you should listen to these podcasts, they're so amazing. And I heard this amazing voice come from the speakers. Okay, and here we go. I said, wow, we're just as interesting, but what will we talk about? Not hot topics, because I don't keep up with what's going on on the Internet. And years passed. And I said, taz, I think we got a good idea. Because just like all great ideas Covid happened.

[Chrissal]

Right.

[Taz]

And then we started talking on the phone, and we realized that we had nothing to talk about but what we were consuming. And Taz was consuming a lot of documentaries, I was consuming a lot of podcasts, and we just started talking about true crime. And I said, by golly, I think we got it.

[Chrissal]

And it went just like that. So how did it. The whole premise kind of sounds like snapped, except just black women. Did you all say, hmm, we're noticing a trend in these true crime stories where black women are just, like, being ignored or you just assume the worst or what have you sort of uncovered as you've started doing this show that made you realize something was off in how black women's stories are being told.

[Marah]

Well, when we were first fleshing out the idea, we knew we wanted to be true crime. And I was like, anything I do, I want it to be for black people.

[Chrissal]

Okay.

[Marah]

I was like, anything that I do, I want it to be for women. So that's when we love. That narrowed it down to black women. And we were like, but we don't want to. In talking about murder, we don't want to do black women a disservice. Right, Right. We don't want to just highlight that they're doing murder. So we was like, let's talk about what may have led them there. Let's talk about injustices they may have faced along the way. Let's talk about whether or not they got a fair trial and kind of, like, humanize them. So we had this case. Our first case was Jazz and Taz. We went to high school with them.

[Chrissal]

Oh, wow. So two people y' all went to.

[Taz]

They were twins.

[Marah]

They were twins.

[Chrissal]

Oh, Jazz and Taz. I get it. And they murdered somebody together.

[Taz]

And their mom.

[Chrissal]

Oh, shit. They murdered their mother.

[Marah]

Yeah. And then came to school, and then

[Chrissal]

this was when y' all was in school. Yeah. No, shut up. So this is. So y' all was like, remember in ninth grade? Oh, damn. Okay. So y' all were like, yeah, let's start with them girls we went to school with who popped they own mama.

[Taz]

Okay.

[Marah]

Because it was a story that we kind of closely followed.

[Chrissal]

Right, right, right.

[Marah]

But I think one of the things that we noticed when hearing the story was it was white newscasters telling the story.

[Chrissal]

Oh, yeah.

[Marah]

And their mom, they would always be like, it was so unfortunate because their mom took such good care of them. They always had their hair done. They always had nice clothes. But how do black moms apologize?

[Chrissal]

Buy you something. You know what I mean? Yep.

[Marah]

And so white people just don't have that context to tell the story. So it was like, we're going to bring in that context when we're telling the story.

[Chrissal]

Damn. So y'. All. You've been friends since high school. Were y'. All. Y' all were friends already when this happened, the twin murder? Were y' all already, like, close?

[Marah]

Was that 11th grade?

[Chrissal]

Did y' all get.

[Taz]

Were we friends yet? Cause we weren't friends at first.

[Chrissal]

Okay.

[Marah]

We might probably, I think, 10th grade, I think so we had to be.

[Taz]

We were just becoming friends.

[Chrissal]

Okay.

[Taz]

Yeah.

[Chrissal]

So what has. What has stayed the same since high school, do you think, since those early

[Marah]

days, like, in our friendship. Yeah.

[Chrissal]

Between the two of you, the ability

[Taz]

to still talk shit. We like gossiping about people that we know, people we don't know. We love that.

[Chrissal]

Okay.

[Marah]

And I think we kind of bring that gossip style talk into the show.

[Chrissal]

Okay. Yeah, yeah.

[Marah]

We're very much talking, like. And then she said, you know, so

[Taz]

we still value our friendship outside of the show. So we still go out, play tennis and be like, wow, it's so fun to spend an hour with you and not talk about work.

[Chrissal]

Right.

[Taz]

We still try to keep that element in our friendship so that we can do work together.

[Chrissal]

Yeah. Cause I definitely want to dive more into the show itself and those themes you brought up. But I'm also interested in that transition from being friends to being business partners. Cause it's not always an easy one. And the more successful you get, sometimes the more that strain can be. So it's interesting to hear y' all talk about. You know, we make sure we prioritize that time outside of, like, work. Right. So it's like, the only time I'm seeing you is not just to sit down and talk about business, but you make sure to nurture that. So you've been doing this. You've been doing this show for six years?

[Taz]

Five.

[Chrissal]

Five years.

[Marah]

20. 21.

[Chrissal]

Okay. And, I mean, it is blowing up. I heard about the Vogue feature, and.

[Taz]

Yeah, that was fun.

[Chrissal]

Yeah. Y. On tour and all this. So the success is definitely there. Do you feel like there's been an impact on your friendship more in a positive way? Do you think maybe it strengthened things or has it just made your friendship look different?

[Marah]

I think it just looks different.

[Chrissal]

Okay.

[Marah]

Like, one. This is the first time since high school we've lived in the same state.

[Chrissal]

Oh, okay.

[Marah]

Because she's going to college all out of state. Florida, Alabama, Virginia, all of that. And so I think we're seeing each other A lot more. We're having to talk to each other a lot more. And I think, you know, before in the friendship, what she had going on was what she had going on, and what I had was what I had. So, you know, you live your life. I don't have an opinion about it, but now it's like, okay, this is ours. We have to agree upon it. Yeah. I think there was just, like, different points where I think it's different because both of our opinion matters, and we had to learn how to value and hold both, even when they contradict.

[Chrissal]

Okay. Yeah. So when you all are sitting down thinking about, like, what the next episode of the show is gonna look like, how do you decide which stories are more important to tell? Like, what does the prioritizing process look like?

[Taz]

I think they're all important to tell. I think it's just in a way that our audience can constantly digest it. So we really limit the cases where the deceased is a child or where abuse comes to a child. Those happen once every other month, max.

[Chrissal]

Yeah.

[Taz]

And there's certain cases that, like, are really popular, really sensationalized, that we're just like, you know, the case. Go. Go do another podcast. Because it's just a lot to talk about, but I think that we just tried to make sure that the themes change. So it may be a drunk driver or maybe somebody hit by a car three episodes in a row. Right. But one is because of drunk driving. One is because of a medical condition. One is because of texting and driving. We want to make sure that the themes are constantly changing so people can realize that anything can change your life. I think that's the big takeaway. That one bad decision to text and drive, one bad decision to pull up at your boyfriend's side girl house, when you know you shouldn't, like, that one bad decision can change your life. So we try to make sure that we're keeping it entertaining because it's still entertaining for the people we hope, and we want to make sure that we're bringing new life to every episode.

[Chrissal]

Okay.

[Marah]

Yeah.

[Chrissal]

Yeah. Because that such a good point. And I think maybe more of us know, like, ooh, you know, driving drunk, obviously not something you're supposed to do. Driving distracted. But a lot of people get caught up in, like, that heat of the moment, that sudden anger that comes over you. And I feel like that's what a lot of true crime stories are about. It's like a woman found out that her partner was doing something messed up, and she was like, you know what? I'MMA do go over there and I'm going to assert myself. And then before you know it, one or more people are dead. And it's just like, girl, the ability to take a step back would have gone a long way here.

[Taz]

I think we talk a lot about the emotional maturity because there's some cases where these Girls are like 19, 20 years old and they're in prison for the rest of their lives because you just didn't know how to just cool down.

[Marah]

Yes.

[Taz]

And I said this in a recent episode, this girl, she had a gun and the gun ended up being what she used to kill somebody else. But she broke into somebody's car to get that gun. I was like, you can't break into somebody's car and find a therapist. You can break into somebody's car and find a gun. So I think that it's still. People need to think about the fact that you have to go a level deeper with how we help people not make bad decisions.

[Chrissal]

Yes. And some of that, like you said, that's youth. Your brain's not even done developing at 19 or 20. So while you should have some ability to regulate yourself, it's a little more understandable when somebody that young is flying off the handle. But you all cover all kinds of stories and not even just modern ones. Y' all go back in the day to talk about black women who was murdering in like the 1800s and stuff,

[Taz]

but you know, the system hasn't changed. Like America has upgraded their system, but the so called wills of justice are not like the outcomes are the same for black women.

[Marah]

Going through those stories. So many similarities from the way the newspaper talks about the women.

[Chrissal]

Yes.

[Marah]

Like they'll a kinky haired Negress or you know what I mean, like in the old ones. And you still see them like describing them that way or people are talking about how people look. You have it to where people are fighting for their rights and they asked for help but didn't have resources to get help back in the day. And now they're here today still not having resources to get help. It's the same patterns that are going.

[Chrissal]

Yes. And like so many other aspects of American culture, how much money you have and how many resources you have makes all the difference when it comes to how much time you serve in prison,

[Taz]

if any, if any.

[Chrissal]

Right. It's really all about what you can afford. And if you can't afford that top dollar lawyer who can wheel and deal you out of that prison sentence and you'll be going to jail for the Rest of your life at 18 for one impulsive decision.

[Marah]

And so many episodes were like, if we took all this money and invested it into getting the care in the front end, come on, then we wouldn't have to lose life on the back end. And I think that's when we have to sit there and question, like, as a society, at what level are we responsible? You know what I mean? Yes, but I think we are. People wanna sit there and complain, oh, you went to trial and spent our tax dollars like, yeah, they're fighting for their lives. And this money could have been better spent. Right. Getting help when they were younger so that they could manage through the situation better.

[Taz]

It makes me think about an episode we just did. Tiffany woods, and she just got denied parole and she, her child ended up passing away because after Katrina, lost everything. Benefits, you know, those were physical benefits at the time. If you were in New Orleans or you were in Shreveport because you were leaving New Orleans, you had nothing, you had no money. She couldn't buy formula. She couldn't buy anything for the baby. She could buy stuff for the big kids.

[Marah]

She ran out of her wig.

[Taz]

She ran out of her womb.

[Marah]

And her baby was on a specialized formula, so it was more expensive.

[Taz]

And so then she started giving the baby cow's milk. Oh, no, that's not the right thing to do. She didn't. She was like, okay, like, you know, formula has a picture of a cow on it. And if you don't know, if you're a young parent and they're not giving you the proper education when you are pregnant, you don't know what to do. And so now she's in jail for the rest of her life because they said that since it was cruelty against the child, but what has it been, like 30, 40 years now?

[Marah]

And they're like, she should have been able. She had beer in her fridge. She had beer and they had cigarettes. And they was like, if you can afford beer, you can afford.

[Chrissal]

Well, that's not true.

[Marah]

Totally different price.

[Chrissal]

Formula beer is way cheaper than formula.

[Marah]

Totally different price point, but, like, way cheaper. And I think she was. They was like, well, you saw your baby getting skinny and you didn't do anything. And she was just like, my baby was premature. I didn't. Well, you have other kids. You should have known. They said all the other kids well fed, you know, a little dirty, but well fed, fridge was stocked with food, but she just didn't have the right resources. And they were like, no, there was resources everywhere for New Orleans.

[Taz]

And no, there's not.

[Marah]

Somebody made a very good point. They commented after the episode. And they said the Saints took a whole year off. Did took a whole year off at the Katrina. But this lady was supposed to recover in three months.

[Taz]

So after not even she didn't even know if her family was still alive.

[Marah]

You know what I mean?

[Taz]

And she's trying to keep all these children, the Pelicans too.

[Chrissal]

They came to Oklahoma City. That's how we ended up getting the bath. Not that that's the point, but the major sports teams in New Orleans stopped playing in New Orleans. Shut everything down.

[Marah]

They can't recover with all that money. You have a lot of expectations for a mom or four kids with a premature baby three months after she lost everything she owns, right?

[Chrissal]

This episode of Crystal's Couch is sponsored by BetterHelp. May is mental Health Awareness month, and I want to remind you that whatever it is you're going through, you don't have to go through it alone. Life is full of ups and downs, and if you're anything like me, you're very, very used to isolating yourself and trying to figure it all out on your own. But the truth is that no human is an island, and we all deserve to have someone who listens, understands and supports us through life's challenges. It truly can make all the difference. So this month is really a great time to check in with yourself and understand where you are right now. Feeling overwhelmed, stuck, anxious, or unsure is way more common than you think it is, babe. We've all been there before and honestly, we'll probably be there again. Okay? There's no need to try to do it all yourself. If you've been feeling this way, regularly meeting with a therapist can help you manage that stress. As someone who's been in therapy for over eight years, I can personally vouch for how life changing the experience has been for me. BetterHelp is the world's largest online therapy platform with over 30,000 fully licensed therapists ready to support your Overall well being. BetterHelp takes some of the guesswork out of finding the right therapist by using a short questionnaire to help identify your specific needs and preferences. But if you're not satisfied with BetterHelp allows you to switch to a different therapist at any time from their tailored recommendations. You don't have to be on this journey alone. Find support and have someone with you in therapy. Sign up and get 10% [e-mail] chrysal that's betterhelp.com C R I S S L E this Episode of Chrysalis Couch is brought to you by Squarespace. Now, whether you're just starting out or if you're trying to grow your business, Squarespace is that perfect all in one website platform designed to help your business stand out and succeed online. Squarespace gives you everything you need to offer services and get paid all in one place. Now, if you've ever run a business, you know how clutch it is to have everything you need consolidated in one easy to navigate place. From consultations to events and experience experiences. You can showcase your offerings with a customizable website designed to attract clients and grow your business. Plus, you can get paid on time with professional on brand invoices and online payments. Plus streamline your workflow with built in appointment scheduling and email marketing tools. I've used Squarespace for years for both personal and business websites. I'm actually revamping chrysaliscouch.com right now thanks to Squarespace and their collection of cutting edge design tools. I mean, anyone can build a beautiful professional online presence that perfectly fits their brand or business. I know, because if I can do it, you can do it. You can choose from a library of professionally designed and award winning website templates and then use their intuitive drag and drop editing and gorgeous styling options to make your website all yours. Now that's very important to me because I need to be able to update these multiple sites that I have through Squarespace whenever, with ease. I don't know how to do coding. I don't know C or whatever the girls are using these days. I have no idea. Okay, so whether you just need a landing page or if you need an in depth full service website, Squarespace has you covered. I've done both multiple times. This could not be an easier process. So head on over to squarespace.com couch for a free trial and when you're ready to launch, use offer code couch to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. So that kind of leads me into my next question of you all have covered so many of these stories for the past five years. What patterns have you noticed in black women's mental health that seems to repeat across these different events?

[Marah]

Childhood trauma.

[Chrissal]

Well, shall we get into it? Cause childhood trauma is my whole thing.

[Taz]

My trauma, you, trauma, everybody.

[Chrissal]

Yeah. So you've noticed most of these perpetrators went through something real messed up in their youth. Okay, yeah, that and like this kind of ties back into the earlier conversation about resources. When your community don't believe in mental health, they believe in praying about it. Or talk to Jesus talk to. To pastor. And. And that being the end all be all. And you don't have really anything outside of that to help you. People are just trying to figure it out on their own, and that has disastrous consequences.

[Taz]

And sometimes it's not even the church, it's mom didn't know what to do, Grandma didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to do, so

[Marah]

I didn't know who to talk to.

[Taz]

Right. We didn't even know that it was an option for somebody to say, no, don't do that. And I think a lot of times it's really interesting. Like, Taz and I have been friends forever, but like, her childhood trauma is different from my childhood trauma. We can both say, you know, it was rough growing up.

[Chrissal]

Right.

[Taz]

But it forms in two different ways, which makes us see the world in two different ways, which means we're probably gonna commit two different types of murders, you know?

[Chrissal]

Yep, exactly.

[Taz]

And it's those nuances of how do we intervene early and how do we make these resources available. Now, I went to like a political forum the other day and I was like, okay, so you gu are talking about infrastructure and the housing. And I was like, what are we going to do about the kids? Like, there's nothing in, especially our county, DeKalb County, Georgia, there's nothing there for the youth. And we're wondering why there's gangs everywhere. Wonder why everybody's getting shot every night. Because there's nothing for the youth. Are we going to do arts? Are we going to do sciences? What are we going to do?

[Marah]

And I think even the schools in DeKalb are trash.

[Taz]

But like, on a local level, especially on a federal level, you have to figure out how we're going to intervene in the communities that need the help. There's the best art programs on the white side of Atlanta. These kids, their nannies drop them off and their nannies pick them up. But the kids whose mom has to work at night, probably being the rich kids nanny, they are sitting at home, letting themselves in, letting themselves out, getting. Getting in trouble.

[Chrissal]

Yeah.

[Taz]

And I think that if only somebody would just. If it just clicked in the government's mind to give a. Then like, I don't know if I can cuss, but like, if it would

[Chrissal]

just click to just give a.

[Taz]

About the youth, I think the world would be just a better place.

[Chrissal]

Yeah.

[Taz]

Like, call me an optimist.

[Chrissal]

Well, that would require the government to actually care about the well being of its black citizens on the local and federal level. And Depending where you are. I mean, the federal government, we all know. But locally, you know, you have a very different experience in Georgia than you do in parts of California or parts of New York versus Texas or wherever else. Like, the resources and what your government is willing to do for you vary so much. And so all of that, combined with the systemic inequality and the racism, the discrimination, and the specific hell of misogyny that black women face, that combination of racism and misogyny, have you all noticed that a lot of the women that you profile end up killing their male partners? Is that how that works out? Or is it kind of spread across?

[Marah]

Mostly killing the male partners.

[Chrissal]

Okay.

[Marah]

Or hiring somebody to kill the male partners. Sometimes it's because they were abused.

[Chrissal]

Yep.

[Marah]

And felt trapped. Sometimes it's because he cheated and they hurt. Yeah. And.

[Chrissal]

Yeah.

[Marah]

You know, just. But, yeah, there's a lot with. We'd be like, okay, we. We can't do another girl killing her boyfriend. Please let me get a roommate, a boss, something. Something else.

[Taz]

And we have people. I mean, not killing the. We had one that, like, killed her landlord. That was always interesting. She wanted to pay her rent.

[Chrissal]

Well, I mean. Yeah. And I feel you. I think housing is a human right. And at the same time, you can't really take somebody's life for that.

[Marah]

Yeah.

[Chrissal]

But then sometimes those landlords are very predatory. Sometimes they're the abusers. Sometimes they're like, oh, well, I can take some money off the rent if you're willing to do something strange. But like you said, if you've gone through a childhood where you were abused, mistreated, neglected, all this other stuff trigger something in you, 9.9 times out of 10, you gonna grow up and seek out that same dynamic and not even know it. So I just. I wondered, because a lot of the true crime stories I see on TV that feature black woman, they're almost all, I killed that man because he was beating me or because he cheated on me. Like, almost all of them. So I was wondering if y' all were noticing that same. And you're very specific. Like, I feel like others kill for all kind of reasons. We pretty much have those two. Like, you messed with me, you messed with my baby, or you stepped out. Something like that. And I just flew into a fit of rage. Or, you know, he had been. These women are, like, 68, and this man been cheating for 40 years, and she finally got fed up. Something like that.

[Taz]

Or he's a good man, and he had a great. And life insurance. And she said, me and my new Boo need that million dollar policy so that we can go live happily ever after.

[Chrissal]

All right, that's raggedy.

[Marah]

There's definitely killing for money. There's killing because he said he didn't want to be with me no more. Like, it's all of it.

[Chrissal]

Oh, man.

[Taz]

Divorce. It ain't free, but it's cheaper than prison.

[Chrissal]

I mean, I would think it's better than prison at the bare minimum, but I guess that allure of $1.2 million life insurance, he got a pension or whatever you like. Yeah, I'm getting all that. Yeah.

[Taz]

Just don't get caught.

[Chrissal]

Well. Well, we won't go there, but. So how do you all. It sounds like you're very deliberate about navigating these conversations in a way that brings understanding to your audience without stigmatizing the women themselves. How do you balance that?

[Marah]

I think we're always like, you know, of course, wrong is wrong and nobody should kill right.

[Chrissal]

Usually. I'm not gonna say always, though.

[Taz]

You fantasize about murder.

[Chrissal]

I don't anymore. But I do think murder is justified in some circumstances.

[Marah]

And I will say, like, there's definitely been cases like those abuse cases.

[Chrissal]

Like, if I catch you sexually assaulting my child out of here, I'll gladly kill you.

[Taz]

Out of here.

[Chrissal]

I'll do it gleefully.

[Taz]

We had one woman that did that. Her only problem is that she got too many people involved in beating his ass. She, like, drug him to every male member up her family. Said, it's your turn to whoop his ass. It's your turn to whoop. Which I love.

[Chrissal]

That's a bad thing. Yeah, you can't.

[Taz]

You gotta just do it yourself.

[Chrissal]

You gotta just do it yourself. Cause then it's like, oh, girl, premeditated. You sat here and you. You went on Google Maps and you said, and the next stop. And the next stop. Can't do that.

[Taz]

So justified.

[Chrissal]

Yeah. So, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cut you off, but you were. You were talking about.

[Marah]

I lost the question.

[Chrissal]

So how you all balance. Talking about, you know, the mental health side of things, and. And you don't wanna excuse unnecessary harm, but you wanna talk about, you know, the bigger picture. It's not just, she killed somebody. There's other aspects here. How do you balance that?

[Marah]

I think it's definitely just in highlighting it. Like, a lot of people will say, I didn't think about it that way. But we'll be like, you know, what if this happened? Or, what if that happened? And sometimes we get backlash. Like, oh, you Caping for them, like, murder's not wrong. And I'm like, I'm not saying that she's right. I'm just saying it's not as simple as y' all are making it to be.

[Chrissal]

Yes.

[Marah]

And so I think that's why I try and stand in all of it. It's never that simple. And people will sit here and give all the excuses to the white girls, even going back to Jazz and Taz, they were monsters for killing their mom. But Gypsy Rose, everybody wanted to sit here and highlight her and give her all this stuff.

[Taz]

Yeah.

[Chrissal]

I love her.

[Marah]

So it's that same compassion that you can show for white women. We can have that same compassion for our people.

[Chrissal]

Yes. And we are usually the ones who are denied that benefit of doubt. Right. Like, we're trying to just never given that understanding of, like, we're human. And one of the things that I learned in grad school that was so important to me is really breaking out of black and white thinking, like, almost nothing is black and white. There's so many layers to everybody's story. There's so many complexities to everybody's human experience. And so almost nobody is just, okay, you 100% dead wrong or whatever. Like, there's always something else going on here that doesn't excuse it, but it can help you understand how somebody got here.

[Marah]

And I think sometimes that's the issue with the law. Everybody's like, you know, the law is black and white. The law is black and white. But the case isn't right.

[Chrissal]

You know what I mean? Yes. Yes.

[Marah]

And so how do you put in those factors when you're sitting here trying to say, oh, but she did think about it ahead of time. So that is this. And it's like, okay, again, going back to us as a society.

[Chrissal]

Right.

[Marah]

We saw her cry for help this time.

[Chrissal]

Yeah.

[Marah]

She was in a domestic shelter here. She was back looking for help here and was still not getting the resources she need. But now we want to say, it's your responsibility. Eat it.

[Taz]

And I just. This is asking the powers that be to care again. So wishful thinking here.

[Chrissal]

Right.

[Taz]

But if we see a girl and we see that there is potential for her to go back into society, maybe after 10, maybe after 15, maybe after 20 years. But we see that there's potential if only we cared and said, you know, this prison has this program for you. Let's. Let's make sure that your 20 years in prison are going to benefit you so that when you get out with, I don't know, probably only $22 in a bus ticket. You still will have the skills to be ready for the new. It's going to be a new world in 20 years. But again, asking people to care about people more than money, and that's just too much.

[Chrissal]

Right. It's almost like we could spend less on preventing these situations than what we do to house and feed these people for decades of their lives.

[Marah]

Not to mention the inhumanity, prison being a business.

[Chrissal]

And it's very much. And it very much so is, yes, they don't want prison reform because then the people who own these and operate these private prisons will lose their money.

[Taz]

So, damn, if only we gave a fuck.

[Chrissal]

Yes. So what sort of responsibility do you all feel to the victims or their families when you're telling these stories? Do you think about that?

[Marah]

Yes, I think we feel like we just can't go too overboard, definitely, like in trying to empathize with the murderers, not victim blaming. And sometimes that's a hard line to follow, you know, like, I remember we had this one case where this girl was bounced around and her aunt said, I'll take her. And her aunt spoiled her daughter, got her brand new shoes. And the girl, they got into a fight and she ended up killing her cousin, stealing her shoes and all her birthday gifts. And I was just on a. I was on the end of, you know, she's saying that they got into an argument, but you don't know what that argument triggered in her. Like all this family she's been bounced around. Maybe that made her feel less than. Maybe it felt that maybe the girl, they're teenagers, so you don't know how her cousin came at her to make her, like, get to that point. And they're like. So you're saying it's. No, I'm not saying it's a cousin's fault. The cousin should have never died. But I'm just saying we have to look and see again what's leading them to that point. And I think that also, I just think it should be taken into consideration.

[Chrissal]

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, children is a whole other ball game. That's where I get very defensive because people already act like they don't really care about what kids really need. And so when you have a case like that where kids have been bounced around, they don't have a stable home or stable parents, that already sets you up at such a huge disadvantage. So then you end up with an aunt, but you're living in the same household where your cousin is being shown this favoritism. Receiving things that it sounds like you're not receiving.

[Marah]

And even just the way the mom talked about her daughter. My daughter was perfect. She deserved everything. And it's just like maybe it was some jealousy brewing there that she didn't know how to do. Understandable, you know what I mean?

[Chrissal]

Cause you're a teenager and you already come from such lack. And so now you in this house where you seeing somebody else be blatantly favoritized and showered upon and treated like a princess. And you're over here like you're the leftovers or the sloppy seconds that would put most people in they feelings. Grown women, much less a teenager. So it's like. But yeah, people don't really want to consider that. We kind of just want to hear the basics of the situation and say, okay, you wrong, or I can understand. And that's it. Like, people don't really want to look at it in a more complex way, but I think that's what our lives are. They are that complex, all of us. So do you ever hear from the families?

[Marah]

Sometimes?

[Chrissal]

Yeah, sometimes. Okay, and what has that feedback been like?

[Marah]

Sometimes it's, please take this episode down. Wow, this was very hard for me. Sometimes it's, you got the story wrong. That's not even what happened. Which we say, would you like to come on and clear it up? No, it's too hard for me to talk about it.

[Chrissal]

Okay then. Well, understandable. But then I'm gonna have to leave that up.

[Taz]

I'm gonna have to go with the sources that are out there. One time we had a family that said those videos that you posted were wrong. I said, this is a video of you.

[Marah]

It's police footage.

[Taz]

It's police. You want to come on our show and tell us how you lied to the police? And so sometimes that happens.

[Marah]

We did have one early on. This girl, Mikayla, these white people moved into the neighborhood. They were gentrifying the neighborhood. They had these dogs that wouldn't stop and she ended up killing them because they would. She wouldn't shut their dogs up. But when we started talking about like the effects of gentrification, her family reached out to us and was like, we never considered that. Thank you for. And I was like, wow, I respect that much. White people ain't doing.

[Chrissal]

The white family said, we did come in this black neighborhood.

[Marah]

Thank you for that perspective.

[Chrissal]

Yeah. Oh, wow. I mean, I get it. I mean, I'm not gonna condone killing dogs, but I do understand. It's like you came here and you disrupted the way we do Things. And I'm sure somebody asked you more than once about getting your dogs together, so. Lord. Okay, so I was gonna ask, has that hearing from the families, has that shaped the way you all tell these stories?

[Marah]

Yes, it has.

[Taz]

Yeah. We had a case where it was a murder suicide. So one of the rules that we came up with was that the case has to have an ending, whether the person has been tried on a date, took a plea, or everybody is. Has had their demise. So this case was a murder suicide. And it was hot on TikTok. It was the hottest case. Everybody was talking about it. We were like, we gotta ride this wave and tell this story. The information is out there. Let's tell the story. I think we told the story. It came out on Friday, but the funeral for the family was that Saturday. And they were like, they ain't even around yet. They were like, they're not even in the ground. Yes. Big on TikTok, but y' all are a huge platform. And we haven't even buried my mom. And I was.

[Marah]

We were like, that probably was too soon.

[Taz]

You know, we'll give.

[Marah]

Shown a little more respect.

[Taz]

Yeah. So even though we have the rule of everything needs to be complete as a sign of respect, we needed to figure out what completion really means.

[Chrissal]

Interesting. Hmm. Cause I do wonder, is that more of a cultural. Do you feel like that's more of a cultural consideration? Like, out of this sort of. You know, I feel like black people, we kind of have this, you know, our little rules, where it's like, okay, okay. You know, you're not in the ground yet. You know, that sort of thing. Whereas I feel like journalists would be like, well, this story is.

[Marah]

It's hot and fresh.

[Chrissal]

Right. And it's done. Like, it could be cultural. I'm wondering if that's more of a cultural consideration for you as a part of. Opposed to, like, two people who are. You know, you're not sloppily telling these stories. You're doing your research. You're. You're. You're approaching it responsibly. So it does sound like that's more of like, okay, black people. We get it. We do have a thing about people being in the ground. We do.

[Taz]

Yeah.

[Marah]

Yeah.

[Chrissal]

We have a thing about the funeral being over. And so y'.

[Marah]

All.

[Chrissal]

So that's like a rule for y' all now.

[Marah]

Like, let's give it some.

[Chrissal]

Services are done. And. Okay.

[Marah]

We also had another case, and when we first recorded it, I was like. Cause we call the person who murders. We call him a Murderess. And when we recorded, I said, I really don't wanna call her a murderess. But the case was the girls were pledging or the girls were. The girls were pledging.

[Taz]

The girls were joining an organization.

[Chrissal]

Okay.

[Marah]

And it was hell week and they were just about to cross and they had like people assigned to drive and they were driving to get their hair done for their probate or whatever. And the girl having to stay up, keep her grades up, all the stuff. Falls asleep at the will.

[Chrissal]

Oh, no.

[Marah]

Kills two of her sorority sisters in the backseat, she ends up in the hospital, whatever. And she was like. Then we came out and was like. I was like, I don't really want to call her murderess. Because there was definitely no intent at all. She fell asleep at the will, trying to manage everything. That day the episode dropped, we get this long email. Or the next day the episode dropped, we get this long email from the girl from. From the girl who fell asleep.

[Chrissal]

Okay.

[Marah]

And she's just like, imagine me getting ready to go out and I said, let me put this podcast on, girl. And then hear myself named a murderess after some. Like. She was like, we, you know, when you go through that, you're trauma bonded. She was like, I love these girls. And then I had to go to school and be called a murderer. And now here it is 15 years later. Woo.

[Chrissal]

Oh, 15 years ago. Oh, wow.

[Marah]

So I was just like, ah, sorry,

[Chrissal]

my bad girl. It's like a technicality.

[Marah]

Right. I was like, I promise you, I didn't want to do it. But we ended up having them on the show to tell their side of the story. And she said it was very cathartic and like, you know, we ended off in a good place. But I was just like, now sometimes me and Mariah be like, we did they. We gon.

[Taz]

So now we'll be like, murderess, question mark.

[Chrissal]

Yeah. Trying to like draw a distinction between people who accidentally murder someone versus people who very much set out to do that thing. I can see how hearing from that woman, I mean, my heart goes out to her. I wouldn't have even thought of that. But like, yeah, you. Fifteen years later, you've probably done a lot to try to move past that past and struggle. Right. The guilt would be overwhelming. My God.

[Marah]

And she's like, battled with like suicidal ideations.

[Chrissal]

Yeah. I'm not surprised by that.

[Marah]

And she was like, and now I'm right back in that spot. I'm right back 15 years ago. I was just like, I could see how I did that.

[Chrissal]

Yeah. Well, I Mean, unfortunately, part of that is the consequences of what happened. But I think we can have empathy for her because you obviously did not intend to do this. And it's a sad story, but it did still happen. So it's interesting how you all take that sort of feedback and decide little ways to tweak the episode going forward.

[Marah]

Cause she was like. She was like, can you take the episode down? And I was like, I honestly think the episode's pretty important since we're talking about this hell week and the hazing and everything that's happening. We ended up changing the murderess to the organization as the murderess.

[Chrissal]

Oh, cool. The organization. Did they send y' all an email? Like, wait a minute. All right, let me not put that into the atmosphere then. Cause I know they like, hold up, hold on.

[Marah]

We were treading very carefully, and they was like, when we come on here, don't even say their name. Cause we don't want nothing.

[Chrissal]

Yeah, I bet. I bet.

[Marah]

But we were just like, our murderers.

[Chrissal]

Yeah. And she doing her thing, y'. All.

[Marah]

And then by the time, it was funny because a month afterwards, they received an email that they implemented a new anonymous report for hazing. And it was like, we think this is cause of y'.

[Chrissal]

All.

[Marah]

I was like, I don't think it's cause of us, but I'm glad that you feel better about it.

[Chrissal]

Well, because hazing is a huge part of the problem. Like, and it's banned by all these organizations officially. Right. It's banned for a reason. Like, it is these very events.

[Marah]

It's just so many cases of people dying.

[Chrissal]

Yes. And I feel like it happens every school year, right? Every school year, some secret.

[Marah]

A secret line or whatever get involved. Trying to, like, Right.

[Chrissal]

Grad students and stuff coming in just to whoop ass.

[Taz]

I mean, older than that. The old heads.

[Chrissal]

Oh, no, not the 30s.

[Marah]

It was done. Yes. No, it was done to me. And it's your turn.

[Taz]

But Those are the 30s and 40s that don't have a real job. That this is the highlight of their life career.

[Chrissal]

They still be on campus with a

[Taz]

book bag, don't have no class, sitting

[Chrissal]

on a dummy wall. I remember, like, you was lame when I was in school, not you still here, bro. Oh, that's sad. But yes, it's like, this is important because it's still happening. Like, the stories of these hazing and these kids are trying to balance and all this other stuff, and terrible things happen like this. So I can see the hesitant. I would be hesitant to take the episode down Too. But I'm glad that she was able to come on and sort of, like, give her side and some perspective to the story. So do either of you have, like, one particular case that really has stuck with you over the years?

[Marah]

Like, a favorite?

[Chrissal]

Yeah, like a favorite. Or do you share the same favorite?

[Marah]

No.

[Chrissal]

Okay.

[Taz]

I know she's itching to tell her favorite. Okay.

[Marah]

Tazwell is my favorite.

[Taz]

Okay.

[Marah]

They met. They met in an AIDS love connection thing in the uk. In the uk, aids.

[Chrissal]

Like Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. Okay.

[Marah]

You know, afraid they won't be able to find love with the disease. So now people can come together. And so they met. But the girl was toxic, like, and the guy was just nice to her, and she's just like. She yelled at him, hit him. He was like, okay, I just can't do this anymore. I can't be with you. Even moved on, got a new girlfriend. And she was like, no, you need to be with me. You need to be with me. So she was like, threatening her life. Like, I need you to just come be with me. I need you to just come be with me. He was like, I do still care about you, so I'm gonna just come over for tonight and make sure you good. So while he's laying in the bed, she gets a cup of acid, throws it on his face. He's running out the house. I mean, they said the doorbell was melted. 70% of his body melted. He's yelling in the street, acid. Acid. People thought he was high on acid.

[Chrissal]

Like, oh, my God.

[Marah]

He's just like. Like, body burnt all over. So he ends up going blind. He's got tubes in his mouth. He can't speak. He's paralyzed.

[Chrissal]

Like, oh, my God.

[Marah]

He's lost all quality of life. But he survives.

[Chrissal]

Okay?

[Marah]

He survives for two years, and it just. His health is just declining. He's getting surgery after surgery from the burns, from the vision. It's always kind of. He's just been staying in a hospital pretty much since these two years. So he then moves to Germany so that he can do a medical suicide.

[Chrissal]

Okay.

[Marah]

And they retried her case as a

[Chrissal]

murder because he ended up doing the medically assisted death.

[Marah]

And it was like, I think we're gonna have to trump your charges from assault.

[Chrissal]

Yeah.

[Marah]

To a murder, because at the end

[Taz]

of the day, you did kill him.

[Marah]

You caused his death.

[Taz]

You did.

[Chrissal]

You did.

[Marah]

The only reason he took his life is cause you made it unbearable.

[Chrissal]

Right?

[Marah]

So I thought it was so cool, like, just the nuances of it.

[Chrissal]

He said, I Love that shit. Cause she probably was like, I lowkey got away with that

[Marah]

after two years. Imagine two. Like, actually, we gonna chomp it up a little bit.

[Chrissal]

Yeah. But girl, you deserve that.

[Marah]

And you know, you absolutely.

[Chrissal]

Damn. That's so messed up. Rip, what about you?

[Taz]

I think my. The case that I go back to the most is Virginia Christian, which is the only black woman to be executed in the state of Virginia. She was only 15 years old. She. Oh, but the court said, no way that this dark skinned, Busty girl is 15. She must be 21.

[Chrissal]

What?

[Taz]

So again, over sexualizing young black girls. Young black girl, she was. The late. The white lady that she was working for was constantly accusing her of stealing clothes, stealing silver. And she's like, no, I'm not. I am just trying to feed my family. Parents are both paralyzed. And the only thing she can do since she can't go to school is be a maid for this white woman. This is supposed to be her last day working for this white woman because she found a new white family to work for that are gonna treat her better, gonna pay her better. She said, you stole my silver. No, I didn't. Yes, you did. No, I didn't. They get into a fight. The white woman is trying to hit her with the broom. And they have this old school spit can. They're like sterling silver, they're heavy. And so she hits the white woman with that white woman goes down and then she. They come, they find her bloody clothes. But I think the biggest takeaway is that you were abused by somebody that you were working for.

[Chrissal]

Right?

[Taz]

She was trying to leave. There were multiple times where she tried to have somebody intervene between her and this white woman, including her parents, because this white wing woman kept accusing her of stealing. And most of the time it was her kids that were, you know, mom, I take mom's skirt, not the servant is taking your skirt. And so she, to this day, is the only person executed in the state of Virginia. And they said that they were gonna execute her because they did not believe that she was actually 15 years old.

[Chrissal]

What?

[Taz]

And it just goes to show this

[Marah]

is a historical piece and we don't have records.

[Chrissal]

I'm thinking like early 1900s or.

[Taz]

Yeah, it's. And they. And I always reference this case because I think it just goes to show how much the so called justice system has not changed. How they still look at black girls, how they still judge black girls, how we're always seen as less than. We're always over sexualized, aged up, because, you know, like, just because a 15 year old, like if a 15 year old girl was today wearing Sophies, you know, the little Sophie shorts. 15 year old black girl can't wear that. Because now you're being fast. Now you're the person that's being aggressive. Stand up for yourself in the ways that other people can. And I think that that case just shows that. And the fact that this minor was executed is beyond me. It's beyond me. Yeah.

[Chrissal]

It really goes to show how when black women do anything, whether it's justified or not, we have so much more to overcome in the process of, you know, going through this justice system than other people would. That's such a sad case. Like you just defending yourself from this woman who's constantly attacking you, berating you, abusing you, and you end up being executed by the state. But I'm also not surprised, especially in the historical context. A white woman is dead. Your black ass is going down in Commonwealth, Virginia. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. You're out of here, sister. Unfortunately.

[Taz]

Yeah.

[Chrissal]

And, you know, not too much has changed in that regard really when you think about it. So it sounds like you all are really doing some incredible work with this show. Talk to me about the tour. Back from the Dead. Whose idea was that? What a name.

[Taz]

So this is our second tour. The first year was the Alive tour because they wanted to. It was their first time seeing us

[Chrissal]

in person too much.

[Taz]

And so we, after that we recovered from the tour. Touring is kind of exhausting. And then we were like, okay, we're back from the dead, so got you. So here we are. We've already hit a couple of cities. We've hit Atlanta, we've hit Nashville.

[Chrissal]

Nice.

[Taz]

We're headed to dc, to Orlando, to Houston, to Dallas, to Denver, Colorado. San Francisco, New York, New York. Get your tickets.

[Chrissal]

Okay.

[Marah]

Okay, come see me.

[Chrissal]

Come straight to the camera.

[Taz]

Gotta sell these seats.

[Chrissal]

Yes. So what is the live dynamic like for you versus when you're. Cause I know all about it, but I wanna hear what your experience is like when you're recording just by yourselves versus when you're in front of an audience,

[Marah]

when it's just by ourselves. We definitely get a lot more chances to like mess up and edit out.

[Chrissal]

Oh, okay. Yeah.

[Marah]

Because it's so much fact, you know, dates and stuff like that. And so it's just like, okay, did I get that right? So this is a lot more of memorizing it, but we also like to try and put in an extra element to our live shows. A little visual effects, if you will, just to keep Them focused.

[Taz]

A little razzle dazzle on the stage,

[Chrissal]

some little vignettes, maybe photos and videos to Illustra. The point of what's going on, something

[Taz]

to really give you a full theatrical experience while we're sitting down telling you a good story.

[Chrissal]

Yeah. I heard one of you is an actress, and I think it's probably you.

[Marah]

Yeah, yeah.

[Taz]

Yes. Theatrical experience,

[Chrissal]

it kind of just jumped out at me. So. So has the. Has the live show format changed the way you think about the impact of your show?

[Marah]

I think for our live show, we definitely want, like, we're very specific about it. Like, it's gotta be a plot twist in it.

[Chrissal]

Okay.

[Marah]

We want a little black history in it. I bet y' all didn't know that it was something. You know what I mean? Have y' all ever heard of this person? Well, guess what? They did. You know, so we always do a

[Taz]

little bit of that.

[Marah]

And then I will make you laugh. I will make sure you have a good time.

[Chrissal]

Yeah.

[Taz]

And hopefully you're drunk enough to enjoy it.

[Chrissal]

Right. It's. It's a strange thing to try to balance being entertaining, but also, we're talking about something pretty gruesome almost all the time. So it's like, here go our real fucked up story, y'. All. But we gonna tell it in a fun way.

[Marah]

Yeah, right.

[Taz]

And we have always been very casual, and everybody says when we listen to y', all, we feel like we're talking to our homegirls and we talking to y' all in the car. So we interact with the audience. Love it. We'd be like, what you said. I know, right? Some people really enjoy it.

[Chrissal]

Yeah. It sounds like a good. I might have to come through in New York when y' all come. Yes. I need to see what this live dynamic is like because it sounds fun. So with the heaviness of everything you all cover, how do you take care of your own mental health after, like, you know, you go through all these horrible details and you. You learn about all these terrible stories. How do you take care of yourself and make sure you're bringing joy and peace and all that back into your mind and your space?

[Taz]

I don't have the healthy, correct answer for this question.

[Chrissal]

Well, and, I mean, that's also an answer you like, I don't do that, girl. I don't.

[Taz]

You know, it's. We spend so much time on a case each week, and when you're consuming this much information, it's. I compare it to, like, studying for a science test where you cram it in your mind, you know every single piece of information. You can spit it out when the teacher asks you.

[Chrissal]

Oh, yeah.

[Taz]

And as soon as you walk out

[Chrissal]

of that classroom, gone.

[Taz]

I don't know any of this.

[Chrissal]

Yes, I relate.

[Marah]

When the episodes come out on Friday, they'd be like, and when you said. I said, what was I talking about?

[Chrissal]

Oh, my God.

[Marah]

Like, I don't remember.

[Chrissal]

No, that happened to me. All people were like, you've said such and such. And I'm like, am I gonna have

[Marah]

to go back and listen to get what you're talking about?

[Chrissal]

As soon as I step away from that mic, I have no idea what I said. My cousin be talking to me.

[Marah]

She'd be like. And then y' all was talking about. And I'd be like, who? She was like, you just did this episode. I'd be like, tell me more.

[Chrissal]

And I don't know what you talking about.

[Taz]

And if things come up, like, sometimes nonprofits, organizations come up that really speak to us. We. When we are recording, we'll like say, okay, hold on, let's do a donation to this nonprofit. As soon as this camera comes off, we're gonna be talking about what's for dinner. And we want to still make sure that we're doing the impact that we want to do. When the cameras are on, we work. And then when the cameras are off, we chill.

[Chrissal]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Taz]

You know, sometimes self care is accidentally falling asleep with your makeup on, you know?

[Chrissal]

Yeah.

[Taz]

Sometimes self care is doing the whole nighttime routine. I think it's different for everybody.

[Marah]

But my self care is reality tv, of course.

[Chrissal]

Oh, yeah. I love to zone out, like, let me just turn on some.

[Marah]

Let me get to somebody else's problem.

[Taz]

Let me get to like, turn on my 90 day fiance. Put on everybody else's business. Oh, baby, talk shit about all these people.

[Chrissal]

Okay. Cause I need to do before the 90 days, I need to do 90 days overseas. I need to do the follow ups, all of that. Like, just let me turn on something where I can turn my mind off.

[Marah]

I'm in my house Wives.

[Chrissal]

Oh, yeah, you got to have your housewives. And I love, like, my. My feel good sitcoms, like Abbott Elementary.

[Taz]

Abbott elementary. I'm turning on the office. I'm turning on Rick and Morty. I'm turning on all the things that just. I can just.

[Chrissal]

Bob's Burger. Good place. Y. I love Parks and Rec. Yeah. Stuff like that. Right? So how has the success of this show? Do you all feel like, oh, my God, I'm famous now. The burden of I'd be like, please

[Marah]

don't call me famous. And she's like, that's what I've been waiting for.

[Taz]

I could use more.

[Chrissal]

You're like, I am exactly where I'm supposed to be. I knew this was where I was going. And I'm on my way up.

[Taz]

Absolutely. I didn't think it was gonna be with True Crime. And Taz and I have always been trying to figure out what our next thing is. Cause we know that Sisters who Kill is our constant. We love it. But what is the next thing that really flows into our brand? So I know that, like, performing and getting on stage, and somebody booked me. Please do.

[Chrissal]

Boy, she is hitting this camera. Okay. I told you.

[Taz]

I watched the Office. I'm like. But I know that that one's. I want that to be my next step. Taz is business.

[Marah]

Taz is.

[Taz]

I don't know how I convinced my friend to be on camera. But, like, business, fashion, being a smart person, like, that's her thing. So we're trying to.

[Chrissal]

We all got you.

[Taz]

We love what we're doing, and we're always trying to figure out what the next best thing is that's real.

[Chrissal]

You feel the same way, or you just kind of. Cause she's got a very big personality.

[Marah]

It's so funny. I remember being in high school, we had SAT prep together, and she was like, I know what I want to be. I want to be an actress. And I don't care. I don't care if I have to be a starving artist. I know what I want to be.

[Taz]

That doesn't change. I do not want to be a starving artist.

[Chrissal]

I'm no longer willing to starve.

[Marah]

I said, I don't want to be famous. I don't even want to know somebody famous. And she was like. I said, all right, except for you.

[Chrissal]

And now look at y'. All.

[Marah]

Yep. She done dragged me along.

[Chrissal]

Yeah. Yep. But y' all are doing an incredible job. Congratulations. Thank you.

[Taz]

Thank you.

[Chrissal]

On the success of the show. Please tell the people where they can find and where they can get tickets for your show.

[Taz]

That's right. Back to the camera. You can get tickets to our [e-mail]. that's sisterswhalkilllive.com you can follow us anywhere. Instagram, sisterswhokillpod, TikTok, sisterswhokillpodcast. X. Twitter, sisterswhokill. Personally, you can follow me arathemagnificent.

[Chrissal]

Love that. What about you, Taz?

[Marah]

You can follow me. And I'm Taz.

[Chrissal]

Oh, my God. Even your usernames are so reflective of your personality.

[Marah]

It's literally when we do the episode, she says, what's going on, everybody? I'm Mariah. And I say, and I'm Tess.

[Chrissal]

Everybody loves it. Well, again, congratulations on the show. Thank you all so much for joining me today on Chrysalis Couch. This was incredible. I cannot wait to see y' all when you come to the city. So thank you again, and thank you for tuning into Chrissal's Couch. You can find me at. At Crystal's Couch, and if you have a question for me, please send me an email. Advicerystlescouch.com we'll see you next week.