Ashley Flowers, 33, the producer of more than a dozen true crime podcasts, was rushing between her home and her workplace in Indianapolis late last month, preparing for the birth of two new infants. Her first child, a girl named Josie, was born on January 28. It’ll be released this week, and it’ll be a new podcast she’ll be presenting called “The Deck.”
“The Deck,” which is similar to her famous programme “Crime Junkie,” dives into genuine instances of murders and missing persons. Ms. Flowers and her team have sought out cases represented in playing cards that law enforcement agencies print with photographs of victims and then distribute in prisons in the hopes of uncovering new leads for the new show, rather than drawing on crime stories in the news and suggestions from listeners. Ms. Flowers and her team have sought out cases represented in playing cards that law enforcement agencies print with photographs of victims and then distribute in prisons in the hopes of uncovering new leads.
The fact that Ms. Flowers is aware of the need of providing her listeners with the impression that their neighbourhoods are represented in her presentations is evident. It was for this reason that she challenged Emily Mieure, the main reporter for the show “The Deck,” to locate a deck from every state in the nation.
When Ms. Flowers and her childhood best friend, Brit Prawat, decided to create “Crime Junkie” in 2017, the real crime genre was already saturated with a lot of competition. The presenters, on the other hand, do away with the chitchat that has been a feature of other famous podcasts in its genre, such as “My Favorite Murder.” According to an Apple representative, “Crime Junkie” is often the most popular podcast across all genres.
She grew up reading Nancy Drew books and watching “Matlock,” but she had no intention of dedicating her life to solving mysteries or having a career in the media when she was younger. While in college, she worked her way through and started looking for a job after graduation by Googling organisations that have dog-friendly office environments.
Her fascination with the series prompted her to collaborate with Ms. Prawat on a podcast on the kind of individual who “becomes enamoured with a case” to the point of obsession. She decided that the first episode would be about a local Indiana lady who had gone missing, and she formed the Audiochuck LLC to produce the show for her (named for her beloved mutt, Chuck).
After a year, the programme had developed a devoted and expanding following. Because of this, she quit her day job and started working on expanding the product line of her company. Its portfolio now includes shows such as “Anatomy of Murder” (which she created), “CounterClock” (which she created), “Park Predators,” and “O.C. Swingers,” which Apple declared to be one of the most popular new shows on its platform in 2021.
Last November, the music producer Ryan Lewis reached out to Ms. Flowers to express his admiration for the show’s theme tune. I was extremely interested true crime at the beginning of my career with Covid, just like everyone else,” he said in a phone interview. After much deliberation, he decided to record music for “The Deck,” which features the sound of him shuffling cards on a leather piano bench.
Ms. Flowers’ brother and sister, as well as her husband, who is in charge of the firm’s financial affairs, work for Audiochuck in Indianapolis, where the company has avoided the expensive operational expenses that have forced many podcasting companies to seek outside funding.
SiriusXM’s chief content officer, Scott Greenstein, struck a cooperation agreement with podcast network Audiochuck last October, giving the satellite radio firm the sole right to oversee the network’s advertising sales. Ashley has certainly found her way into the mainstream from Indianapolis, according to Mr. Greenstein in an interview.
According to Ben Cave, the president of Apple Podcasts, Ms. Flowers has “created one of the most successful podcast companies of all time, fully on her own,” and she has done it “absolutely independently.”
Her company is thriving right now. Ms. Flowers and Mr. Mills have said that they are interested in working in television and movies, and Mr. Greenstein has stated that he would want her to assist SiriusXM in developing a true crime channel. In addition, Bantam will publish Ms. Flowers’ debut novel, a thriller titled “All Good People Here,” which will be released in August.
Ms. Flowers thinks that “The Deck” will assist in bringing closure to the families of the victims. True crime cases such as the “coldest of cold cases,” which are symbolised by the playing cards in her new programme, were the ones that inspired her to pursue a career in true crime in the first place.
