True Crime, History, and the Stories We Tell: Panel Discussion and Lost LA Screening

ADMISSION: 
Admission is free. RSVP beginning Friday, August 1, at 10 a.m. 

DESCRIPTION: 
Sensational stories of murder and scandal have captivated audiences from the era of AM radio and pulp magazines to today’s podcasts and documentaries. But what is true crime’s lasting appeal? A series of events will explore how has the genre evolved and what it reveals—or obscures—about history. 

Join three of the most acclaimed voices in true crime for a wide-ranging conversation on the past, present, and future of the genre. Author and former prosecutor Marcia Clark (Trial by Ambush), author and New Yorker staff writer Susan Orlean (The Library Book, The Orchid Thief), and author and podcast host Kate Winkler Dawson (The Sinners All Bow, Wicked Words) will explore the genre’s enduring appeal, its ethical boundaries, and its evolving role as a cultural lens on justice, media, and history. Moderated by Edgar Award–winning author and Lost LA host Nathan Masters (Crooked) of the USC Libraries, the conversation will include a critical look at historical bias in crime narratives and consider how today’s true crime storytellers can reckon with the past while crafting more responsible, reflective narratives. 

The panel will be preceded by an advance screening of “True Crime,” a new episode of Lost LA, before it airs on PBS SoCal. Uncovering the roots of Southern California’s obsession with true crime, the episode features interviews with authors Marcia Clark, author Michael Connelly, USC historian William Deverell, and author and podcast host Kate Winkler Dawson, as well as rare archival materials from the USC Libraries’ collections, including the recently acquired papers of True Detective magazine correspondent Edward S. Sullivan.

The series will continue in October with an immersive theatrical staging of The Manor, a drama based on the infamous 1929 murder entwined with the creation of USC’s Doheny Memorial Library. 

Related Event: 
An Exclusive Staging of The Manor: An Immersive True Crime Performance 
Saturday, October 4, 2025, at 1 and 5 p.m. 
Doheny Memorial Library 
For more info, click HERE. 

Presented by USC Visions and Voices. Organized by Patty Johnson (USC Libraries), Nathan Masters (USC Libraries), Anne-Marie Maxwell (USC Libraries), and Micaela Rodgers (USC Libraries).