in the media
Academics love talking about their research. Seriously. We live for it. Personally, I consider my research to be advocacy and activism. If you are a media producer, journalist, podcaster, author, or anybody else that wants to talk about my research, please reach out! Here are a few other conversations I’ve had with media outlets:
CNN, May 10, 2025: The summer of trials and true crime coverage is here – and it’s not even Memorial Day yet
Interviewed for an article about true crime productions and real trial coverage for the summer of 2025. https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/10/us/criminal-trials-cases-public-interest
680 CJOB Winnepeg "The Jim Toth Show", October 2024
Interviewed during the afternoon show about my research on true crime concerning the Menendez brothers’ season of Monster on Netflix: https://globalnews.ca/national/program/the-jim-toth-show
CKNW News Talk 980 Vancouver, October 2024
Interviewed during the morning show about my research on true crime ethics surrounding the Menendez brothers’ case: https://open.spotify.com/episode/68jOGo2Cq5ZBEP4ib1Mo6x
Rolling Stone, October 2024: THE MENENDEZ BROTHERS ARE STARS. COULD THE ATTENTION GET THEM PARDONED?
Interviewed for an article about the Menendez brothers’ case and recent true crime drama on Netflix. https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/menendez-brothers-netflix-documentary-monsters-true-crime-1235127782/
Nebraska Quarterly, Fall 2024: True Crime Impact
An article featuring my true crime podcast research ran in the Alumni magazine. https://issuu.com/nebraskaalumni/docs/nq.06.24.01.fall_2024_web_edition
Huffington Post, September 2024: A New Podcast Is Examining Why We’re Obsessed With True Crime Podcasts
Article discussing my research and the launch of a podcast featuring my research in episode 2. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/true-crime-podcast-research_n_66ce0ddde4b0778aee602e5c
True Crime Podcast Podcast, September 2024: Episode 2
Two graduate students created a podcast about true crime podcasts. I was interviewed for a feature on my research in episode two: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-true-crime-podcast-podcast-216172665/episode/episode-2-the-car-key-trick-216323203/
RTE, Raidió Teilifís Éireann, Ireland's National Public Service Media: February 2024
Interviewed for “Can true crime help victims of crime?” https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2024/0202/1429847-true-crime-victims-perpetrators-runaway-joe-serial-gabrielle-petito-polly-klaas/
Nebraska Quarterly: Summer 2023
Interviewed for the featured cover story on “academically rigorous and emotionally challenging courses” regarding JOMC 222: https://www.huskeralum.org/s/1620/magazine/interior.aspx?sid=1620&gid=1&pgid=3086
Scripps News, November 17, 2022: Why do we engage with true crime?
Interviewed for a piece titled “Why Do We Engage With True Crime.” Watch video here.
Quill Magazine, May 4, 2022: The Pod Squad, by Carlett Spike
Excerpt: “One of the major reasons why true crime might feel like it’s having a moment now is because its popularity is more measurable through links, clicks, downloads and streams, said Kelli Boling, an assistant professor at the University of Nebraska who studies audience reception to true crime podcasts. The intersection of the true crime genre and podcasts has also been part of that boom. The first season of the “Serial” podcast (2014), which focuses on the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee and the case against her ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed who was charged with the murder, marks this turning point, Boling argues.” Read entire article here
ACLU At Liberty Podcast, November 18, 2021: My True Crime Obsession, by Paige Fernandez
Excerpt: “That’s why I’m so thrilled to have Kelli Boling joining us today. Kelli is an Assistant Professor of Advertising and Public Relations in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. After 12 years as a marketing and advertising executive in North and South Carolina, Boling received her Ph.D. at the University of South Carolina in Mass Communication. Her research focuses on the audience reception of media, specifically media depiction and reception by traditionally marginalized audiences based on race and gender.” Listen to the episode here.
Washington Post, November 15, 2021: The Kyle Rittenhouse verdict is being dissected on TikTok, by Rachel Lerman
Excerpt: “It’s no surprise that Rittenhouse’s trial has taken off on social media, said Kelli Boling, an assistant professor at University of Nebraska-Lincoln, who has researched true-crime audiences. She’s found people are fascinated by true crime for myriad reasons, including trying to better protect themselves from potential violence and a desire to see justice served. The interest is not a novel concept by any means, she said. “We couldn’t quantify it in 1920; that doesn’t mean society wasn’t obsessed with it,” she said.” Read Article.
CBC Radio, Day 6 Podcast, September 24, 2021: Gabby Petito
In this interview with the Day 6 Podcast, I discussed true crime podcasts in relation to the Gabby Petito case. Listen here.
AP Newswire, September 21, 2021: ‘People are drawn to it’: how the Gabby Petito case fascinated internet sleuths
Excerpt:
“There’s a lot of different complicated reasons that people are drawn to it, and it’s not all sinister or malicious or creepy,” said Kelli Boling, a professor of advertising and public relations at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln who has studied audience reception to true-crime podcasts.
She said those fascinated by such cases are sometimes domestic-violence survivors who find that such material can help them deal with their own experiences.
“Some people are really drawn to it from a place of healing, or from a place of wanting to find justice for the young lady,” Boling said.” Read Article.
Time Magazine, April 24, 2020: 'Real People Keep Getting Re-traumatized.' The Human Cost of Binge-Watching True Crime Series, by Melissa Chan
Excerpt: “True crime is everywhere,” says Kelli Boling, a researcher at the University of South Carolina, who studies true-crime audiences. Boling echoes other scholars of the genre who attribute its surge in recent years to the critical and popular success of Serial and to the docuseries Making a Murderer on Netflix and The Jinx on HBO, which both aired in 2015. “When you watch the nightly newscast, you’re watching true crime,” she says. “What makes the genre special is that it turns those facts into a narrative, a really strong story.” Read Article