Mississippi Goddam and What Happened, Brittney Murphy?

In 2008, high school football star Billey Joe Johnson was pulled over for speeding in Lucedale, Mississippi. Moments later, the officer radioed that the Black teen had killed himself with a shotgun. “Mississippi Goddam: The Ballad of Billey Joe” is an eight-part series of PRX's "Reveal" podcast. Host Al Letson pokes at the conclusion the teen’s death was an accident.

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "MISSISSIPPI GODDAM" GO TO MINUTE 27.

The sudden death in 2009 of a rising star shocked Hollywood. The HBO Max two-part series “What Happened, Brittney Murphy?” recalls the actor’s Hollywood climb and subsequent fatal backslide during her marriage to a gold-digging Svengali.

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "WHAT HAPPENED, BRITTNEY MURPHY?" GO TO MINUTE 61.

In Crime of the Week: Don't be cruel.