Crime Writers On...

Did Brendan Dassey's dubious confession on "Making a Murderer" make your skin crawl? The Chief Circuit Judge in his ongoing appeal said it did. But the other two federal judges may be leaning the other way.In podcast news: "Accused" will roll out a new season next month. Also, the teams behind HowStuffWorks and Up & Vanished are getting together to re-investigate a series of child murders in Atlanta that were solved in 1981.This week's podcast focuses on two very different series from Netflix. "The Confession Tapes" shows a series of cases in which the police used questionable techniques to get suspects to confess. Were they falsely given? Were they merely aggressive or provocative ways to get a killer to admit to their crimes?Next, the unexpectedly savvy satire of everything we love about true crime. "American Vandal" may start as a lowbrow take-off on "Serial" or "Making a Murder," but the comedy is surprisingly meta, embracing all tropes of the podcasts and documentaries which have become ubiquitous. I