JD Vance heads for peace talks with Iran

Summary

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Global News Podcast – June 21, 2026

Episode Title: JD Vance heads for peace talks with Iran
Host: Paul Moss, BBC World Service

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Episode Overview

This episode focuses primarily on high-stakes diplomatic maneuvering in the Middle East, as U.S. Vice President JD Vance travels to Switzerland for peace negotiations with Iran amidst conflicting reports about the state of the vital Strait of Hormuz. The episode also highlights Israel's ongoing military actions in Lebanon and Gaza, dramatic political tensions in Colombia ahead of a presidential election shaped by violence, a diplomatic spat between Ukraine and Poland, royal financial transparency in the UK, the persistence of cassettes in Kashmiri music culture, and the complicated popularity of true crime media.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. U.S.-Iran Peace Talks Amid Doubt and Contradiction

[01:08–03:38]

• Contradictory Claims Over Strait of Hormuz:
  • Iran claims it has closed the shipping lane, but the U.S. reports record levels of oil passing through.
  • Joe Inwood (BBC Correspondent):

    “We can see from tracking data that some ships are getting through and in fact J.D. Vance… was saying they’ve had almost record levels of oil going through over the last 24 hours.” [03:38]

  • The closure threat is viewed as a strategic weapon rather than an absolute measure—a means for Iran to exert pressure on the U.S.
• Connected Regional Conflict:
  • Iran links any possible deal to a comprehensive regional ceasefire, including Lebanon.
  • Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon kill civilians, escalating tensions and clouding negotiation prospects.

2. Shifting U.S.-Israel Dynamics

[04:39–06:12]

• U.S. Frustration With Israel:
  • There is a noticeable, historical shift in the U.S. government’s tone, now much more critical of Israel’s military actions in Lebanon.
  • Domestic and international pressures shape Netanyahu’s policies, with an eye toward upcoming Israeli elections.
  • Joe Inwood:

    "It's really, really extraordinary to see the shift in relations or the tone of some of the messaging you get coming from the United States, more critical of the Israeli government than something I've ever heard before." [04:55]

3. U.S. & Iran: Nuclear Ambitions and Hormuz Toll Debate

[06:45–08:54]

• Focus of Switzerland Talks:
  • The U.S. aims to curtail Iran’s enriched uranium and stabilize Lebanon/Israel.
• Donald Trump’s Intervention:
  • Declares there will “never be a toll on ships in the Straits of Hormuz,” in contrast to Iranian ambitions.
  • Thomas Morgan (BBC Washington Correspondent):

    “He has said if there were to be a toll, it would be the US that would implement them... the wording in his social media posts is very much in his Trump style, saying that he is the guardian angel or the US are the guardian angels of the countries of the Middle East.” [08:14]

4. The Ongoing Crisis in Gaza

[08:54–12:31]

• Post-Ceasefire Violence:
  • Ceasefire largely ineffective; over 1,000 Palestinians reported killed by Israel since October truce, according to Gaza health officials.
  • Recent Israeli strike kills journalist Ahmed Rushar; his brother, also a journalist, killed in a previous attack.
  • Nael Al Safadi (Gaza Resident):

    “These martyrs are my cousins. I was at home. The missile struck without warning... What kind of ceasefire is this? We are civilians.” [10:46]

• Humanitarian Crisis:
  • Limited access to food, water, health; rat bites and disease up; UN calls Gaza a “humanitarian nightmare.”

5. Ukraine–Poland Diplomatic Fallout

[12:31–14:41]

• Historical Wrongs Resurface:
  • Ukraine’s president names a military unit after the controversial WWII-era UPA, leading to Poland rescinding its highest honor to Zelensky.
  • Reciprocal return of medals by Ukrainian officials, who warn this rift only benefits Moscow.
  • Joanna Keane (BBC Global Affairs Reporter):

    “They say this is a strategic mistake by Poland, which only benefits Moscow.” [14:41]

6. Colombia’s Contentious Presidential Vote

[17:47–21:44]

• Election Atmosphere:
  • Heavy security amid a tense, polarized race between right-wing Abelardo de la Esprilla (“El Tigre”), promising crackdowns, and leftist Ivan Cepeda, advocating negotiation and social support.
  • Real-life stories illustrate the devastating impact of Colombia’s internal conflict.
  • Ione Wells (BBC South America Correspondent):

    “Those competing visions for tackling violence will have a huge impact on many people's lives and futures.” [20:12]

7. New Era of Royal Transparency

[21:44–23:04]

• UK Royal Finances Laid Bare:
  • King Charles to have his personal tax bill published for the first time—a move toward greater transparency after a series of royal scandals.
  • Notably, the monarchy is not legally obliged to pay tax; this is a voluntary disclosure.

8. Cassettes Endure in Kashmiri Music Culture

[23:04–24:40]

• Digital Divide and Sufi Heritage:
  • Unreliable internet in Kashmir keeps cassette culture alive, especially in the preservation of Sufi music.
  • Bismar Farooq (BBC Urdu Service):

    “It is sort of an escape for the young generation, like they can’t rely on the internet all the time. So they move to these cassette players.” [23:53]

9. CrimeCon: The Rise, the Risks, the Real Stories

[24:40–28:57]

• True Crime Obsession:
  • The CrimeCon convention in Las Vegas draws thousands of fans, victims’ relatives, and advocates.
  • Dr. Maggie Zingman (mother of murder victim Brittany Phillips):

    “We believe in justice... what’s even more impactful is probably the surviving families... You form teams—criminal justice people, podcasters, cold case families.” [25:50], [26:15]

  • Greg Wallace (father of missing Brittany Wallace Schenck):

    “I’ve got her name out there globally now and, you know, that just gives me more hope. You know, she could possibly be anywhere.” [26:52]

  • On Balance Between Advocacy and Exploitation:

    “I do believe there’s people out there who try to take advantage... try to improve their YouTube ratings... But I have more positive and more good than any bad relations or reactions I’ve gotten.” [27:24]

  • Nicole Ernest Pate (speaker and survivor):

    “I think as long as true crime is really focusing on victims and families and getting justice... that’s really the key to making sure this doesn’t veer into something gross... these are real human beings, real lives, real parents.” [28:00]

• Community and Commerce:
  • Tickets can cost up to $2,000; the event is both deeply meaningful and commercialized.

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Notable Quotes

• Joe Inwood, BBC Correspondent:

  “It’s really extraordinary to see the shift in relations or the tone of some of the messaging... more critical of the Israeli government than something I’ve ever heard before.” [04:55]

• Thomas Morgan, BBC Washington Correspondent:

  “The wording in his [Trump’s] social media posts is very much in his Trump style, saying that he is the guardian angel or the US are the guardian angels of the countries of the Middle East.” [08:14]

• Nael Al Safadi, Gaza Resident:

  “What kind of ceasefire is this? We are civilians. They targeted me, a civilian. What was my crime?” [10:46]

• Joanna Keane, BBC Global Affairs Reporter:

  “They say this is a strategic mistake by Poland, which only benefits Moscow.” [14:41]

• Bismar Farooq, BBC Urdu Service:

  “People do have their cassette libraries, even we do have one in my home.” [23:53]

• Dr. Maggie Zingman, victim’s mother:

  “I’ve learned and gotten relationships with many of the podcasters and that’s something that I really think is so important about this.” [26:15]

• Nicole Ernest Pate, speaker and survivor:

  “I think it’s really important for fans to understand these are real human beings, real lives, real parents.” [28:00]

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Timeline of Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment / Topic | |-----------|------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:08 | Headlines; JD Vance’s trip for U.S.-Iran peace talks | | 03:11 | Casualties in Lebanon; Israeli strikes | | 03:38 | Strait of Hormuz ambiguity and political context | | 04:55 | U.S.-Israel tensions; Netanyahu’s dilemma | | 06:45 | U.S. goals in peace talks; Trump’s social media pronouncements| | 08:54 | Gaza: Ongoing death, hardship since ceasefire | | 12:31 | Ukraine–Poland diplomatic dispute | | 17:47 | Colombia’s turbulent presidential election | | 21:44 | King Charles’ tax bill disclosure—UK royal transparency | | 23:04 | Kashmir’s cassette culture | | 24:40 | Inside CrimeCon: true crime culture and controversy | | 28:57 | Wrap-up and contact info |

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Conclusion

This episode delivers timely, deeply reported coverage on urgent international stories—from the precarious future of U.S.-Iran diplomacy to the humanitarian and political crises in the Middle East, South America, and Eastern Europe. Moving pieces on true crime’s complicated appeal and rare cultural phenomena (like Kashmir’s cassette culture) round out an edition filled with insights and the voices of those living the news.

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Transcript

[Paul Moss]

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[True Crime Advocate]

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[Thomas Morgan]

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[True Crime Advocate]

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[Paul Moss]

This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Paul Moss and in the early hours of Sunday, the 21st of June, these are our main stories. JD Vance heads to Switzerland for U S Iran peace talks, but what's with the contradictory claims about the Strait of Hormuz? After more deadly Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, we hear from eyewitnesses on the ground and Colombians are preparing to elect a new president, the contest defined by the country's ongoing and brutal conflict. Also in this podcast, my husband's like,

[Maggie Zingman]

you're going to kill me one day and you're going to get away with it. And I'm like, you're so silly.

[Nicole Ernest Pate]

I think it's really important for fans to understand these are real human beings, real lives, real parents.

[Paul Moss]

We go Inside the annual CrimeCon event to find out why true crime content is spiking in popularity and the problems that come with that. Let's start with those contradictory signals emanating from the Middle East. We may have become accustomed to mixed messages around peace talks within the region, but even by those recent standards, it's been a particularly difficult 24 hours for anyone trying to figure out what is actually going on. On the one hand, Iran says it's once again closed the Strait of Hormuz and yet the United States insists plenty of ships have been passing through. And despite this situation in the strait, both the US Vice President, J.D. vance and the Iran Iranian Foreign Minister are due to sit down together in Switzerland on Sunday to try to thrash out a deal. And all of this against a background of the ongoing conflict in Lebanon, something Iran insists must end if a peace agreement is to be possible. Israeli strikes are reported to have killed more than 20 people in Southern Lebanon. On Saturday, this man Qasim showed people around the home where an Israeli missile killed his family.

[Joe Inwood]

It was my in law's house, my wife's two brothers, my mother in law and her son. There are also two babies. One was just one month old, the other is two months old.

[Paul Moss]

So with this kind of suffering in Lebanon continuing, what are the prospects of U S Iran peace negotiations even going ahead, let alone succeeding? I spoke about this to our correspondent Joe Inwood and asked him first what to make of those contradictory claims about the Strait of Hormuz.

[Joe Inwood]

We can see from tracking data that some ships are getting through and in fact, J.D. vance, the US vice president, was saying they've had almost record levels of oil going through over the last 24 hours. But what we really can say for certain from this is it is just an illustration of the strategic weapon that the Iranians have been given by this conflict. Closing the Strait of Hormuz was not something that they would have threatened to do before the war started. And what's really interesting now, it's their go to weapon.

[Paul Moss]

Despite saying they've closed the strait, an Iranian delegation has gone to sweep Switzerland. So presumably they're still open to the idea of negotiating some kind of peace deal.

[Joe Inwood]

Yeah. Clearly the fact that they are saying they're closing the strait, that is not the end of things. It is, as I said before, a way of exerting pressure and effectively exerting pressure on the Americans. But obviously the whole thing is being set back by the situation in Lebanon and that's the point that the Iranians have made again and again. The ceasefire that we are seeing is needs to cover the entire region and at the moment it's not.

[Paul Moss]

Israel's attacks on Lebanon have caused an ever growing rift with the United States. The United States making it clear it's exasperated with Israel for doing this. It doesn't seem though that the administration, Benjamin Yahu, is being put off doing it by what the United States says.

[Joe Inwood]

It's really, really extraordinary to see the shift in relations or the tone of some of the messaging you get coming from the United States, more critical of the Israeli government than something I've ever heard before. It's felt that there is kind of a tonal shift because what we're seeing here is the divergence in strategic objectives between these two allies. For the Americans, they just basically want to get out of what many people see as a really strategically difficult situation in terms of the conflict they've got themselves into the Middle east, whereas for the Israelis, they have different objectives. And Benjamin Netanyahu has competing pressures on him because he has the international pressures, pressure coming from the United States to stop the war, to allow the peace process to continue, because the Israeli government are very dependent upon the American government for financing and political cover and the such like. But he has domestic pressures as well. He's got a right wing coalition, some members of whom are very right wing and have talked about raining fire, doing real destruction to Lebanon. And he has an impending election, October at the latest. And he knows that if he cannot get some sort of outcome in Lebanon, that he can sell to the people of Israel as meaning all of this was worth it, all of the destruction, all of the cost, all of the diplomatic damage that's been done. Well, he is going to be in real political trouble. And that is something he is clearly desperate to avoid.

[Paul Moss]

Joe Inwood, the Israeli Prime Minister, is not the only politician in this conflict facing pressure back home. The U.S. has midterm elections in November and all the signs are that its war with Iran is very unpopular with the American public, not least because of the rising cost of oil which it's caused. That gives more incentive than ever for the Vice President to reach some kind of deal as he jets off to Switzerland. And as our correspondent in Washington, Thomas Morgan, told me, J.D. vance insists that the original goals when the U.S. attacked Iran came can be achieved.

[Thomas Morgan]

He is maintaining that these discussions will be focusing on two things. It'll be focused on the nuclear situation in Iran, which, if you remember, is the whole reason behind why the US Went into this conflict with Iran. They wanted to curb the amount of enriched uranium Iran had to make sure they couldn't produce any nuclear weapons. So the discussions now will be around decreasing the nuclear stockpile that Iran have. And it will also be centered, J.D. vance says, around the Lebanon, Israel situation, making sure that ceasefire is maintained. And what we've also had within the last few hours is we've had the President, Donald Trump, announcing on social media that there will never be a toll on ships in the Straits of Hormuz. And he has said if there were to be a toll, it would be the US that would implement them. And this is significant because if you remember, the Iranians would like to impose a toll on ships in the future. For now, in the memorand, understand it is agreed upon that all ships would flow freely and they wouldn't be at all. But the text is open for interpretation about what happens after that. And I think now the Strait of Hormuz has come firmly back into the picture and the negotiations. After what we've seen over the last

[Paul Moss]

24 hours, is Donald Trump serious, suggesting that the United States could charge a toll for ships to pass through a waterway which, after all, is rather a long way from the American coast?

[Thomas Morgan]

It does seem rather fanciful, I guess. How on earth would that actually in reality operate? But I think the wording in his social media posts is very much in his Trump style, saying that he is the guardian angel or the US Are the guardian angels of the countries of the Middle east for the purposes of past, present and the future, to reverse the cost that they've put into that side of the world. I think in reality it is a US President throwing his weight around, wanting this deal and this next round of negotiation to focus on the one thing, however he may with his posting be shifting it onto something that had actually been put to bed.

[Paul Moss]

Thomas Morgan with all the focus on Israel's airstrikes on Lebanon, it's easy to forget the conflict which for so long dominated the headlines. Israel's war in Gaza, which left more than 70,000 people dead, the majority of them civilians. And that war certainly hasn't gone away in the seven months since a ceasefire with Hamas was agreed. Both sides have continually traded accusations of the truce being violated. The United nations says Palestinians are being killed every day. Indeed, in the last 24 hours, according to health officials in Gaza, at least 10 people have died in separate Israeli attacks. Stephanie Prentiss has this report.

[Stephanie Prentiss]

The family and friends of journalist Ahmed Rushar taking turns to hold his body in a morgue in central Gaza. The cameraman for Al Jazeera was killed during an airstrike on a refugee camp. His brother Mohammed, a correspondent for the same channel, was killed two months ago in a targeted attack on his car. The IDF claims both brothers were members of Hamas, something Al Jazeera has previously denied. They're two of what health officials in Gaza say are more than 1,000 Palestinians killed by Israel since the ceasefire was put in place in October. Another strike in the early hours of Saturday morning on an apartment block in Gaza City killed a woman and two children. Footage of the scene shows a wall blown off one side of the building, revealing a family home covered in rubble. Mohammed Al Safadi was inside. His four year old relative Zina was killed.

[Nael Al Safadi]

These martyrs are my cousins. I was at home. The missile struck without warning. I was injured and so was my wife. She's still under observation. Shrapnel is all over her body and her teeth are broken. This is the ceasefire. The occupation and the negotiators are talking about. What kind of ceasefire is this? We are civilians. They targeted me, a civilian. What was my crime? I never carried a weapon to resist.

[Stephanie Prentiss]

What is happening outside Al Shifa Hospital? Nael Al Safadi, another family member, said the people being treated inside were having limbs amputated.

[True Crime Advocate]

These are Netanyahu's targets. Children and innocent people. What have these children and innocent people done to deserve this? Are they the ones firing rockets? Did they take part in the 7 October attacks? They're civilians, citizens. They're not with us in Hamas. We hate Hamas.

[Stephanie Prentiss]

Further south in Khan Younis, footage shows medical teams rushing a child to hospital. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society, an independent humanitarian organization, say the young boy is one of a group targeted by Israeli drones with live ammunition. It says their crews transported a dead body and several others who were injured. The ceasefire deal also promised a flood of humanitarian aid into the territory. But across Gaza, displaced people living in camps report a daily struggle to find food and to access clean water. Sanitation issues have led to an increase in reports of rat bites from doctors. And at a recent meeting, the UN warned that Gazans are trapped in a humanitarian nightmare.

[Paul Moss]

Stephanie Prentice reporting. Let's turn to another conflict, one which has also had plenty of false starts when it comes to talk of a peace process, and that's Russia's war with Ukraine. Poland has been one of Kyiv's main allies in the war. It welcomed hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees. And the vast majority of humanitarian and military aid for Ukraine passes through its territory. But now the two countries have fallen out over the controversial naming of an army unit. It's led to Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, being stripped Poland's highest state honor. The unit was called the UPA and dates back to World War II. So what is the contemporary relevance and why has it sparked a diplomatic rout? Here's our global affairs reporter, Joanna Keane.

[Joanna Keane]

Well, it started last month when, as you said, President Zelensky named this military unit after the Ukrainian insurgent army. Now, many in Ukraine regard the UPA, which existed in the 40s and 50s as heroes who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Soviet Red army as well as Nazi Germany and the Polish authorities. So for Ukrainians, this title, Heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent army, was actually a major honor. Poland didn't agree. It accuses the UPA of genocide of ethnic Poles in 1943-45. And Poland's president, Karol Nevrotsky, said the decision was outrageous, deeply disappointing. And so on Friday, he stripped Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky of Poland's highest state honor, the Order of the White Eagle. Now, we've just learned that President Zelensky has now handed Poland back the medal. He said on social media, we believe that the order was awarded in 2023. It was meant for the Ukrainian people and our army. That was what was said at the time. Today. I've sent it back. He says three senior Ukrainian officials have done the same. They were given awards by Poland. They've handed them back. That's the president's chief of staff, Ukraine's foreign minister, and the ambassador to Warsaw. They say this is a strategic mistake by Poland, which only benefits Moscow. And they say they're handing their awards to show solidarity with President Zelensky.

[Paul Moss]

Joanna Keane reporting. Still to come in this podcast, Why an almost obsolete musical format has a stronghold in one part of the world.

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[True Crime Advocate]

Lots more.

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[Paul Moss]

The authorities in Colombia aren't taking any chances with the presidential election on Sunday. Security is high. 12 and a half thousand police officers are seeking to ensure a fair and above all, peaceful vote, helped by the military police, along with members of the country's special forces. And with anti drone measures also in place, this is a highly polarized contest, candidates bitterly divided on how to end the country's ongoing guerrilla conflict. It's no exaggeration to say that the future direction of the country is very much at stake. And yet, this being Latin America, it seems the football World cup is also on voters minds. As our South America correspondent Ione Wells now reports.

[Ione Wells]

Colombians have been closely following two huge contests this week, one taking place in a stadium in Mexico, the other taking place at the ballot boxes. In the election, the choice couldn't be more polarizing.

[Colombian Political Supporter]

Cepeda for president, this girl says

[Nicole Ernest Pate]

we

[Colombian Political Supporter]

need security for the country. We know who that means. El Tigre on the one hand, there's the right wing firebrand Abelado de la Esprilla, an admirer of Donald Trump and El Salvador's president Bukele. He calls himself El Tigre, the Tiger and wears the national football shirt to rallies which his critics accuse him of policing, politicizing. He's pledged a military crackdown on armed groups and cartels and to build 10 megaprisons in the jungle.

[Paul Moss]

I tell armed groups, I declare you a military target and I will take you down.

[Colombian Political Supporter]

On the other hand, Ivan Cepeda, a left wing senator whose father was killed by government aligned paramilitaries in Colombia's decades long internal conflict between the state and rival armed groups. He's an ally of the current President Petro and has pledged to continue his strategy of prioritising negotiation with armed groups over military action to reduce the loss of life.

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[Paul Moss]

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[Ione Wells]

For many Colombians, the stakes couldn't be higher. Those competing visions for tackling violence will have a huge impact on many people's lives and futures. In the last few years, violence has escalated, membership of armed groups has grown and it's left tens of thousands of people displaced. I'm at a support centre in Bogota for people who have been displaced by Colombia's internal armed conflict. And people here are desperate for change.

[Thomas Morgan]

I have a half brother on my

[Paul Moss]

father's side who was taken by the four guerrillas.

[Thomas Morgan]

We never heard from him again.

[Colombian Political Supporter]

We had no choice but to displace ourselves. I have a brother who was murdered for not paying an extortion threat in front of his children. Esprea has retained support in the Caribbean coastal region where he grew up, while Cepeda has had a lead among young voters. Maria Luisa Sanchez, a childhood family friend of Esprea's, says he has the character, courage, what we need for Colombia, a person who has his pants on, who's tough on drug trafficking, tough on guerrillas.

[Ione Wells]

The crowd here are ecstatic. A win for Colombia. People are cheering, singing, couldn't be happier. This is a moment that briefly is uniting the country. But the election result is going to be a lot more polarizing and we still don't know who's going to be celebrating them.

[Paul Moss]

Ione Wells reporting. It's been a subject of endless speculation over the years, but it seems the public will finally learn how much the British monarch earns. Because King Charles personal tax bill is going to be published. He'll be the first on the UK throne to have his finances revealed. It follows calls for more royal financial transparency generally in the wake of the scandals surrounding the former Prince Andrew Helena Wilkinson reports.

[Helena Wilkinson]

The king's personal tax bill will be revealed this week when the annual royal financial accounts are published. The decision is said to have come from the king himself, who also made his tax affairs public as the Prince of Wales. The bill will cover the tax year ending April 2025, and there's a commitment to release future ones annually. It'll include earnings from the king's private estates, such as Sandringham and Balmoral. A Buckingham palace spokesman said it was part of a wider drive to be more open with the public. Monarchs aren't obliged to pay income tax, capital gains or inheritance tax on what they receive from their predecessor, but the king voluntarily pays income tax on his private income and capital gains tax on any sale of private assets.

[Paul Moss]

Helena Wilkinson Most people around the world now listen to music digitally, usually on apps such as Spotify, perhaps, or YouTube. But in Kashmir, the northern region of the Indian subcontinent, it's long been a ritual for families to gather around the hum of a cassette player. For decades, cassette players have been used to preserve Sufi music, songs associated with Sufism, the mystical tradition within Islam. Even today, many Sufi music gatherings in the region are recorded exclusively on cassette tapes. Bismar Farooq from the BBC's Urdu service explained the popularity of this old technology,

[Bismar Farooq]

the Internet is not much reliable in the valley. The Internet disruptions have been recurring issue in Kashmir for years now. I remember in 2016 when the first time it was the longest Internet ban in Kashmir, it was around six months. So it's sort of an escape for the young generation, like they can't rely on the Internet all the time. So they move to these cassette players and it is bit difficult. But there are shops in Kashmir, in downtown area mostly where you can buy cassettes and you can borrow cassettes from friends. That's also the thing in Kashmir. People do have their libraries, cassette libraries even we do have one in my home.

[Paul Moss]

Bismar Farouk True crime stories are inescapable nowadays, from documentaries and dramas to televised trials and viral podcasts. Nowhere is the trend more evident than at the annual CrimeCon, where thousands of true crime enthusiasts get together with investigators, victim relatives and content creators to discuss murder, mystery and violence. This year's event is in Las Vegas and attendees have spent thousands to immerse themselves in true crime for a weekend. Our reporter Sheila Flynn went there.

[Sheila Flynn]

This year's CrimeCon is taking place at Caesar's Palace. It's a famed location on the Las Vegas Strip. Thousands of true crime fans are in attendance.

[Maggie Zingman]

I've got into the whole crime scene through YouTube. Nobody I know is into it. They think I'm a little nuts. My husband's like, you're gonna kill me one day and you're gonna get away with it. I'm like, you're so silly.

[Nicole Ernest Pate]

There's always new fascinating cases and they had so much fun the first time.

[Paul Moss]

We had to come back the second time.

[Maggie Zingman]

We believe in justice. I'm Dr. Maggie Zingman. I'm the mother of Brittany Phillips.

[Sheila Flynn]

18 year old student Brittany Phillips was brutally killed in her apartment in 2004. Her murderer has never been caught. Her mother has been driving a decorated car across the US for more than 20 years in an attempt to bring in tips and to highlight other cold cases.

[Maggie Zingman]

We have people who are learning about the story, but what's even more impactful is probably the surviving families. I mean, missing families, cold case families. Then I find people from criminal justice that we form teams. You know, I've learned and gotten relationships with many of the podcasters and that's some thing that I really think is so important about this.

[Greg Wallace]

I was so hesitant to come, but I am really grateful I did.

[Sheila Flynn]

Greg Wallace is the parent of another victim, Brittany Wallace Schenck, who vanished from Michigan almost eight years ago.

[Greg Wallace]

I've got her name out there globally now and, you know, that just gives me more hope. You know, she could possibly be anywhere.

[Sheila Flynn]

At a conference where tickets can cost nearly $2,000 and the merch store sells shot glasses and $80 sweatshirts. There's a delicate balance that needs to be struck between entertainment, advocacy, commercialization and exploitation. How do you think that balance is best struck and how do you think this event handles it?

[Greg Wallace]

I believe that, you know, there's true, genuine people out there that really want to help. But also I do believe there's people out there that try to take advantage of situations like mine and try to exploit people, you know, try to improve their YouTube ratings and stuff. But I have more positive and more good than any bad relations or reactions I've gotten out of Brittany's case.

[Sheila Flynn]

According to most people attending the event, CrimeCon is all about striking a balance. Speaker and rape survivor Nicole Ernest Pate is one of them.

[Nicole Ernest Pate]

I think as long as true crime is really focusing on victims and families and getting justice and where people can walk away learning something about human behavior, the complexity of humans, how crimes are investigated, I think that's really the key to making sure that this doesn't veer into something gross. I think it's really important for fans to understand these are real human beings. Real lives, real parents, real children, real spouses whose lives have been completely destroyed.

[Sheila Flynn]

The obsession with true crime has exploded over the past decade, and the numbers here at CrimeCon reflect this. And the craze shows no signs of slowing down. People here were already buying badges for 2027's convention in Orlando, but victims and advocates say they hope justice and the real people affected remain at the heart of it.

[Paul Moss]

Sheila Flynn and that's all from us for now. If you want to get in touch, you can email [e-mail] you can also find us on XBCWorldService. Use the hashtag globalnewspod. And don't forget our sister podcast, the Global Story, which goes in depth and beyond the headlines on one big story. This edition of the Global News Podcast was mixed by Tom Bartlett. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Paul Moss. Until next time. Goodbye.

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