Podcast
The Girlfriends: Spotlight
Hosted by iHeartPodcasts and Novel · EN
The number 1 hit true crime series is back with more women fighting crime, battling injustice and seriously kicking ass.In Season 1 of The Girlfriends: Spotlight, our global gang of girlfriends grew to include P***y Riot’s punk icon and political prisoner Nadya Tolokonnikova, British Nigerian beauty queen and founder of Miss Trans Global, Miss saHHara and ‘The Erin Brockovich of East Africa’, environmental activist Phyllis Omido. Now host Anna Sinfield returns with more incredible stories of women like bodyguard Jacquie Davis, who set out on a daring mission to free a pregnant British woman trapped in Pakistan. We’ll hear the story of Helene, a member of the French Resistance plotting to escape the brutality of a concentration camp. We’ll also meet Visaka Dharmadasa, a Sri Lankan mother who sat face to face with notorious terrorists and helped end a civil war.
The Girlfriends: Spotlight is produced by Novel for iHeartPodcasts.
For more from Novel visit Novel.Audio
68episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
The Girlfriends S4/E1: No Place Like Home
Nov 1700:32:00Summary readyWhen tragedy strikes on a quiet spring morning, Niko Quinn’s tight knit community is torn apart. But that moment is just the start of an investigation that will uncover deep corruption, decades of abuse and a dark scandal at the heart of her hometown, Kansas City Kansas. US resources for Violence and Sexual Assault: https://rainn.org/ International resources for Violence and Sexual Assault: https://nomoredirectory.org/ US Suicide & Crisis Helpline: https://988lifeline.org/ International Suicide & Crisis Helplines: https://blog.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines/ The Girlfriends: Untouchable is produced by Novel for iHeart Podcasts. For more from Novel, visit https://novel.audio/. You can listen to new episodes of The Girlfriends: Untouchable completely ad-free and 1 week early with an iHeart True Crime+ subscription, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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The Girlfriends S4/E2: So Help Me God
Nov 1700:34:57Summary readyAs Niko Quinn grieves the loss of her favorite cousin and Lamonte McIntyre stands trial for a murder he says he didn’t commit, buried secrets about the lead detective in the case begin to surface. US resources for Violence and Sexual Assault: https://rainn.org/ International resources for Violence and Sexual Assault: https://nomoredirectory.org/ US Suicide & Crisis Helpline: https://988lifeline.org/ International Suicide & Crisis Helplines: https://blog.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines/ The Girlfriends: Untouchable is produced by Novel for iHeart Podcasts. For more from Novel, visit https://novel.audio/. You can listen to new episodes of The Girlfriends: Untouchable completely ad-free and 1 week early with an iHeart True Crime+ subscription, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Introducing Season 4 of The Girlfriends: Untouchable
Nov 1000:02:48Summary readyWhen Niko Quinn saw her favourite cousin murdered in broad daylight, her life turned upside down. She went looking for justice, but instead uncovered a dark scandal at the heart of her community: A police detective had spent decades targeting, threatening and sexually abusing black women across Kansas City Kansas. Detective Roger Golubski used the power of his badge to launch a reign of terror. He acted as if he was above the law, until Niko, and an incredible group of women, came together to take him down. The Girlfriends: Untouchable tells the story of a courageous sisterhood who exposed the dark underworld of a corrupt police officer, and brought their city’s horrifying truths to light. Because when the women of Kansas City Kansas realised the police weren’t coming to save them from their abuser, they stepped up to save themselves. US resources for Violence and Sexual Assault: https://rainn.org/ International resources for Violence and Sexual Assault: https://nomoredirectory.org/ US Suicide & Crisis Helpline: https://988lifeline.org/ International Suicide & Crisis Helplines: https://blog.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines/ The Girlfriends: Untouchable is produced by Novel for iHeart Podcasts. For more from Novel, visit https://novel.audio/. You can listen to new episodes of The Girlfriends: Untouchable completely ad-free and 1 week early with an iHeart True Crime+ subscription, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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The Girlfriends: Spotlight, E12: Lois Captures Criminals
Nov 300:37:16Summary readyLois Gibson has a rare gift: A gift for accurately drawing people she’s never seen before, from fragmented descriptions from traumatised witnesses. And that gift is incredibly useful to the Houston Police Department. Lois is the world’s most successful forensic artist. Over 40 years, on more than 5089 cases, she’s worked with victims and witnesses to painstakingly piece together a likeness of a suspect. And in more than 1313 cases, her drawings have nailed it with a conviction - case closed. This is the story of how she found this talent in one of the very darkest moments of her own life. The Girlfriends: Spotlight is produced by Novel for iHeartPodcasts. For more from Novel visit Novel.AudioSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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The Girlfriends: Spotlight, E11: Miss saHHara Crowns Queens
Oct 2700:43:03Summary readyMiss saHHara was born to be a beauty pageant queen. As a child at home in Nigeria she would wrap herself in a mosquito net and sashay along a make-believe cat walk, delivering inspirational speeches to an imagined audience. But when she grew up and started to compete, she found that not only was she rejected from all the mainstream pageants she tried to enter, even trans beauty pageants seemed to celebrate all the cliched cisgender beauty norms. So, Miss saHHara decided to do something about it: She founded Miss Trans Global, a pageant where everybody is welcome, and where your advocacy and community work mean much more than the lightness of your skin or the bounciness of your hair. Related Resources Sylvia Rivera Law Project Big Door Brigade - Mutual Aid Toolbox Transgender Law Centre Trans Rescue The Gender Reveal Podcast Jesse Lou Lawson - Media consultancy The Girlfriends: Spotlight is not affiliated to any of these organizations and we are not in a position to endorse them. The Girlfriends: Spotlight is produced by Novel for iHeartPodcasts. For more from Novel visit Novel.AudioSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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The Girlfriends: Spotlight, E10: Phyllis Saves the People from Poisoning
Oct 2000:32:40Summary readyPhyllis Omido is just a few months into a new job, when her infant son starts to get sick. Fevers, dehydration, hospitalisation - Phyllis is scared. Then the doctors give her some shocking news: Her son has lead poisoning. The metal smelting plant where Phyllis works, just outside Mombassa, Kenya, is leeching toxic chemicals into the water of the nearby river. And her son isn’t the only one who’s unwell: she believes the factory is poisoning the whole community. So Phyllis turns campaigner, and starts gathering stories from all over town. Children with skin burned off, babies dying in the womb, women with mysterious fatal illnesses… And she’s going to force her employer, and the Kenyan government, to pay attention. It’s a fight that will see her life threatened, and her dubbed ‘The Erin Brockovich of East Africa’.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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The Girlfriends: Spotlight, E9: Jasvinder Redefines Honour
Oct 1300:46:07Summary readyWhen Jasvinder Sanghera was just 15 years old, her mum told her that she was going to be married to a man she had never met. Jasvinder’s older sisters had been through similar things. But instead of going along with the way things had always been in her family and community, Jasvinder escaped. And then, she helped thousands of other women and girls to do the same. Related resources Karma Nirvana - https://karmanirvana.org.uk/ Unchained At Last (a US-based NGO) https://www.unchainedatlast.org/get-help/ The Girlfriends: Spotlight is not affiliated to any of these organizations and we are not in a position to endorse them.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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The Girlfriends S3/Bonus Ep 4: Live from Wilderness with Kate Summerscale
Sep 2900:28:07Summary readyThe fourth and final bonus episode of Season 3 and our first ever LIVE episode of The Girlfriends! Recorded in front of a live audience from Wilderness Festival in Oxfordshire, UK, Anna is joined by author Kate Summerscale to discuss her book, “The Peepshow” and the wider impact of the True Crime genre. If you’re affected by any of the themes in this show please reach out to NO MORE at https://www.nomore.org a domestic violence charity we’ve partnered with. The Girlfriends: Jailhouse Lawyer is produced by Novel for iHeart Podcasts. For more from Novel, visit https://novel.audio/. You can listen to new episodes of The Girlfriends: Jailhouse Lawyer completely ad-free and 1 week early with an iHeart True Crime+ subscription, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Introducing: Sacred Scandal: The Many Secrets of Marcial Maciel
Sep 2500:01:00Summary readyHello, Girlfriends Listeners! We want to share a new show you might enjoy, Sacred Scandal: The Many Secrets of Marcial Maciel About the show: Sacred Scandal is back for a fourth season. The Many Secrets of Marcial Maciel is a gripping investigative podcast that uncovers the mysteries behind one of the Catholic Church’s most powerful and controversial figures. Through the voice of Elena Sada—a former consecrated lady in the Legion of Christ—the series exposes Marcial Maciel’s double life of abuse, fraud, and manipulation, as well as the silence and complicity that allowed him to thrive. Blending survivor testimony and in-depth reporting, the show reveals how faith, power, and secrecy collided to protect a predator, and how those who lived inside his empire found the strength to break free. Listen here and subscribe to Sacred Scandal: The Many Secrets of Marcial Maciel on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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The Girlfriends S3/Bonus Ep 3: Is Abolition the Answer?
Sep 2200:41:44Summary readyAnna sits down with author, lawyer and activist; Leigh Goodmark, to discuss the problems of prisons. Especially when it comes to imperfect victims, like Kelly. And Anna asks - is prison abolition really the answer? If you’re affected by any of the themes in this show please reach out to NO MORE at https://www.nomore.org a domestic violence charity we’ve partnered with. The Girlfriends: Jailhouse Lawyer is produced by Novel for iHeart Podcasts. For more from Novel, visit https://novel.audio/. You can listen to new episodes of The Girlfriends: Jailhouse Lawyer completely ad-free and 1 week early with an iHeart True Crime+ subscription, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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