This podcast is interesting and has wonderful hosts. Love the drink recipe in each episode. Based solely on that the rating would be a 5. But there are sooooo many commercials. In a 30-minute episode, there is at least 8-10 minutes of commercials, much more than similar or longer podcasts. At the beginning, at least twice during the episode, and again at the end. Really disrupts the flow of the podcast and overall enjoyability.

I’m unsure why but I find the telling of old time murders more palatable than more recent ones. It’s getting 3 stars because of the inundation of ads. The bombardment of them is why I don’t listen to this podcast regularly. No balance whatsoever and no premium option that allows you to pay a nominal fee to opt out. The content to ad ratio is way off and needs to be fixed.

I am a recent convert to the Criminalia podcast and heard about it from “Stuff You Missed in History Class” podcast - I think both are interesting and entertaining. However, I turned off this episode after the glowing commercial for Trump that never said who the sponsor actually was. I can’t be associated in any way with something that supports someone who is a bully, a misogynist, and a criminal.

Yet another mind-numbingly stupid podcast, littering the space with your garbage content should be a criminal offense.

I’m finishing season 2 and I heard something about Richard Lawrence and Charles Guiteau in the season wrap up, but the episode is nowhere to be found? I could only find a transcript online. Obviously this doesn’t detract from anything, but I’m wondering what else might be missing. Also so many ads. Hopefully that will get better. We’ll see.

With the exception of the theme song, I love this podcast! Maria and Holly are delightful, intelligent hosts sharing interesting stories and history. I look forward to the next episode each week.

It’s hard to keep with a story that has 2 minutes of dialogue followed by 4 minutes of ads.

I am loving the actual history fused with crime. I do agree the adverts are a lot but ya gotta get paid and fund this lovely podcast. I just found you, so I do hope y’all are still around when I get through the episodes. I must listen in order…

This season is pretty gross. I’m unsubscribing because between the ads being a substantial part of the show, the gimmicky pairing of cocktails & mocktails with gory crimes, and the glorification of the criminals themselves, I feel dirty listening. Never thought I’d feel that way about a podcast from a cohost of the venerable Stuff You Missed in History Class. Give that a listen instead!

I confess that I have been binging this Amazing and Intriguing podcast…Holly, I’m loving these beverage ideas * Maria, if you like a lady with a diary 🫣 a coded diary🫣you MusT check out Anne Lister (and there’s even a show “Gentleman Jack”)😉

Holly and Maria are a delight, and I love this show! I am, however, highly amused that the current season is about snake oil salesmen, and a number of the ads are about supplements and other alternative therapies—I.e. modern snake oil at its finest 😂 Keep up the amazing work, Maria and Holly!

Please offer subscription option without the ads.

Same sentiment as most others! Love the content & hosts but the ads are TOO MUCH. Each episode I’m skipping approximately 5 minutes of ads 😳

But yes, way too many ad breaks

I like the presentation and the topic but there are too many commercials

I enjoy the podcast and the cocktails but there are way too many ads! It’s more than half the podcast. Hard to get through an episode when it’s mostly ads.

Feminist man hating crap

Loved the first season. Liking the witches & alchemy season. PLEASE offer a cocktail recipe book! I’d buy several & give to my friends. 🍸 Only complaint is TOO MANY ads! It’s a shorter podcast anyway. The amount of advertising detracts from the listening experience. Ugh.

I used to absolutely love this podcast but y’all have literally gone insane with all the commercials. Like 50% of the show is commercials. I can’t keep listening it’s ridiculous.

Show is entertaining but has more ads then any other podcast I listen to, by a LOT… I’ve decided to start listening to something else at this point. I listened to the first three seasons, but the ads are just too crazy. It’s a shame.

I have been following you since the first season and have been enjoying the episodes and I do wish for a book of recipes. While this story was great and full of twists and turns. But there was one thing that drove me nuts. em-MAY-us! That’s all.

Love the stories and the cocktails but I’m done. For a show that averages less than 30 min., the amount of ads—esp. throughout the story and not just at beginning and end—I can’t listen anymore.

So sick of the numerous ads. Makes me not want to listen

The content was really interesting, but I couldn’t make it through an entire episode. Way too many ads! Who wants to listen to 4+ ad breaks with 3+ annoying ads in a row?? It was so frustrating I gave up. Also, the audio cut out in several places of the episode and was not balanced at all. Very disappointing. If you love true crime, skip this. There are better true crime podcasts out there with fewer ads and better audio. Go try Psychopedia.

Extreme bias and not historically accurate. More ads than content.

Love the podcast! Sad we are done with female poisoners, but exciting for a new season. I listen while driving so therefore can’t write down the recipes! Help a friend out and tell me where you post them so I can go grab all the delicious treats!

The podcast itself is good, but there are so many ads. Each ad break lasts 4 mins, and there are soooooo many of them. The ads themselves are maddeningly repetitive. If you choose to binge keep your hand near the skip 30 button and be prepared to mash it.

Sure, the skip button. But I can only listen to this podcast when my hands are free just so I can skip the same dang ads constantly. That Katie’s Crib ad makes me want to rip my ears off. Just do a chunk of ads before and after the main content, then another chunk after the cocktail part or something. Please. The show itself is fantastic, but whoever’s editing your ads in is sabotaging you.

Holly’s voice is like teeth scraping on a chalkboard

Especially the Mocktails!

I’ve been a long time time of Criminalia and of Holly Frey in general. I’ll follow her anywhere haha. What made me want to leave a review was a recent episode “Lonely Hearts”. I’m a Fraud Investigator who works on cases for various types of scams but the Romance Scam is by far to most prevalent and heartbreaking. Holly and Maria did a wonderful job describing how the scam works and shedding light on the havoc these scammers can wreak. I love seeing/hearing something so important to warn other about in the most surprising of places and done so well! Aside from that, this is a great podcast and I’ll always recommend it!

I love the content of this podcast - hosts are engaging and the cocktail portion of the show is fun too! But the ads have made the show almost unlistenable. I don’t mind having to fast forward through ads but this one is just a silly amount of ads. 4ish minutes of the same ads over and over again is too much.

Love the podcast but the ads are out of control. They are long and repetitive.

I have been listening to this show for a while. Yeah the ad breaks are annoying but the show is great. This last episode had an ad for some kind of hero gun. I don't care if it's non lethal, I'm out until this sponsor is gone.

Yikes. It's literally 3 minutes of ads, 7 minutes of content, 3 minutes of ads, 7 minutes of content. 3 minutes of ads… Super sad because the show is great but I can’t listen to another ad break with the same ads over and over and over again.

The Mo Rocca’s interview was 2/3 ads. The hosts are great,I enjoy listening to them they’re funny and knowledgeable. I really enjoy listening to their stories however there are so many ads it feels like a 50-50 split. I have the ads for the show memorized because it’s the same Laverne Cox commercial constantly.I also turn the show off when they get to the groggery part because I just don’t care about that part but I understand that some people enjoy mixology.

I really love the content and the podcasters. I usually find when binging that I start getting tired of one or the other. But the amount of ads is ridiculous. It’s about 4 minutes in before we get to the actual show and then a minute or 2 later more ads. I’m not opposed to a subscription if it means no more ads.

I would enjoy this show except for the ridiculous amount of ads. Like 4 ad breaks in a 30 minute show - many just repeats of the same ads we heard before. It really takes the listener out of the show. I can’t listen anymore.

I have been sticking with this podcast for many seasons. I really enjoy it and want to rate it highly but as others have said there are far too many ads. The ads are also very repetitive - the same ads for the same podcasts over and over - sometimes the same ad twice in one episode. The ads are also so long. I am not excited to start this next season because I'm so so tired of the same ads

I just found this podcast and am already 15 episodes in. I HATE people who complain about ads, but OMG. I even subscribed to I ❤️ Radio, just to be told a paid subscription doesn’t offer ad-free episode. I want to keep listening, but I don’t have the access to skip commercials all day!! Please make a Patreon!!

Too many commercials for on avg 30 min of history. The podcast is good but it is mostly commercial.

The subjects of this podcast are all evil, which is why it’s so frustrating that the hosts try to shock us by putting emphasis on words like murder and terror. Let the story speak for itself and stop trying to relate your horror to us. Sacrificing objective storytelling for pulling salacious quotes and stories that “may or may not be true” makes listening to this podcast so frustrating despite interest in the subject matter.

LOVE the content but far too many commercials to get into the story. I often find myself getting frustrated and moving to the next podcast.

Stellar Podcasters! ♥️

Okay, there’s lots of ads… so skip through them. The content goes above and beyond my expectations for a great podcast. I absolutely love that they have a theme for each season. Personally, I like that they keep each episode around 30-40 minutes. The hosts Maria and Holly are awesome! They’re educated in the content they’re providing, their banter is hilarious, and I find their voices cathartic. At the end of each episode they come up with a drink that is related to that podcast. I’m absolutely not going to give this podcast a lower rating due to the ads. If I could give this higher than five stars, I would. I’m rating this on content alone. You gals are fantastic!! Keep up the great work!

I don’t want to listen to freaking Katie’s Crib or Laverne Cox or whatever . The ads are ruining a show with such great potential.

😘🍹🧉🍸

So excited to hear your episode on Joseph Warren! My surname is Warren and my great aunt traced our family tree back to Dr Joseph Warren. As a child I always heard the story that one of my relatives was the one who actually told Paul Revere the British were coming. Thank you for shedding some light on this remarkable man.

The hosts are a delight, the program is very entertaining. Both informative and fun. I have recommended it far and wide. Should be an hour podcast. I would give it a five, but for the frequent, annoying ads which hack out so much time from what is already a brief program. Please liberate this wonderful podcast before the ads drive away even the most dedicated listeners

The content is really intriguing but the ad breaks are entirely too frequent, especially for how short each episode is. It’s a shame, but it’s very off putting. I can’t stand listening to a show where every 5 minutes there is a 3 minute add break. It’s ridiculous.