Criminal Appeal
P O D C A S T
Premiering November 4, 2025
Every case has a story. Not every story tells the truth.
Criminal Appeal peels back the layers of America’s most compelling crimes to reveal what really drives human behavior, judgment, and our concept of justice. From infamous cases to overlooked trials, Dr. Casey Jordan brings her unmatched expertise to every episode, exposing the patterns, the motives, and the psychology that the headlines miss.
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Crime doesn’t know what time it is…
Criminal Appeal is not your average true crime podcast; it’s a masterclass in real-world justice. Each episode pulls listeners into the heart of a case, where crime meets law and psychology, and theory meets the raw reality of human behavior.
…and justice doesn’t care.
Hosted by Dr. Casey Jordan, a criminologist and attorney with more than three decades of on-air experience at CNN and HLN, the difference between Criminal Appeal and other true-crime podcasts is that Dr.Jordan features cases that she knows firsthand because she worked them in real-time.
She is joined by co-host Dr. Colleen Butler-Sweet, a sociology professor at Sacred Heart University. Together, they cut through sensationalism to deliver depth, accuracy, and empathy.
The show confronts tough questions about the justice system, media influence, and the gray areas of morality that surround every accused offender and determine every verdict. It’s smart, bold, and unflinchingly honest true-crime discussion with intellect and heart.
Meet Your Host
Dr. Casey Jordan
When it comes to understanding the criminal mind and dissecting justice in real time, no one does it like Dr. Casey Jordan.
A powerhouse in the field of criminology, Dr. Jordan has spent more than two decades as one of America’s most trusted voices in true crime. She’s served as the in-house criminologist and legal analyst for CNN and HLN, appearing in more than 3,000 national newscasts, documentaries, and investigative reports. Between 2012 and 2017, she hosted 45 episodes of Investigation Discovery’s hit series Wives with Knives, where her signature mix of intellect, empathy, and fearless curiosity captivated millions.
As a professor, criminologist, attorney, and media commentator, Dr. Jordan brings an unmatched depth of experience to Criminal Appeal. Each episode reflects her unique ability to merge psychology, law, and storytelling, taking listeners behind the headlines and into the heart of America’s most complex cases.
Her mission is clear: to replace speculation with substance and deliver the truth that lies beneath the surface of every crime.
“Nobody dissects a crime like Dr. Casey Jordan.”
Meet Her Co-Host
Dr. Colleen Butler-Sweet
Joining Dr. Jordan is Dr. Colleen Butler-Sweet, whose powerful sociological insight adds depth and humanity to every conversation. As a professor of sociology at Sacred Heart University, Dr. Butler-Sweet explores how society, identity, and inequality shape our understanding of crime and justice.
Her voice balances the podcast with critical questions that go beyond the courtroom, addressing race, gender, media, and the broader social influences and institutions that contribute to our perceptions of justice.
Together, Drs. Jordan and Butler-Sweet form a dynamic on-air partnership that challenges assumptions, provokes thought, and gives listeners a deeper understanding of both the human condition and the systems that built it.
Criminal Appeal isn’t just a podcast about crime; it’s an intelligent conversation between experts about cases they know: Colleen through in-depth research, and Casey through the perspective of the criminologist and attorney who was there.
Why Listen?
What makes Criminal Appeal different is simple: the expertise is real.
Host Dr. Casey Jordan isn’t just another armchair detective; she’s a criminologist, licensed attorney, and victim advocate who has spent her career inside the justice system itself. Casey works on real criminal cases, defends the accused, selects juries, interviews offenders, and profiles criminals and their crimes.
She has analyzed dozens of live trials on CNN, HLN, and CourtTV. Her work has given her access to criminal case files, courtroom strategies, subject interviews, and previously unreleased evidence that she now shares with her audience.
On Criminal Appeal, she finally brings that insider perspective to the mic —revealing the truth behind the cases she’s studied, covered, and personally worked.
“When I talk about a case, it’s not conjecture, it’s experience.” — Dr. Casey Jordan
Each episode delivers not just a retelling, but a forensic-level breakdown of why crimes happen, how investigations unfold, and what justice really looks like behind closed doors.
Joining her is Dr. Colleen Butler-Sweet, a sociologist and ethnographic researcher whose expertise adds depth, cultural analysis, and critical perspective on how crime and media shape one another. Together, they blend real-world experience with academic insight, creating a show that’s as credible as it is captivating.
Criminal Appeal isn’t gossip, it’s next-level true crime with insider access. If you’re tired of speculation without substance, this is the podcast you’ve been waiting for.
Media
Dr. Casey Jordan Media
“Jordan is energetic and clearly passionate about her work. Able to cite statistics from memory, she also emphasizes the people behind the stats, the victims and their families. Somehow, she remains positive.
“When darkness falls, two words save me: perspective and prevention,” she says. “Real crime causes unspeakable devastation, which is why I talk to as many crime victims as I do offender-inmates.”
Speaking to victims gives her perspective and fuels her to work harder at prevention. “It drives me to pull up my bootstraps and keep studying those disturbing criminals, so that we can learn enough from them to try, at least try, to identify and foresee the perfect storm of causal factors that can lead to crime,” she says."”