Crimetown is a serial documentary podcast hosted by Marc Smerling and Zac Stuart-Pontier and produced by Gimlet Media which looks at how organized crime has shaped particular American cities. The first season started in 2016 and focused on the city of Providence, Rhode Island. Background and production Hosts Marc Smerling and Zac Stuart-Pontier first worked together on the film Catfish, and later collaborated on HBO's The Jinx. Publisher Gimlet Media's CEO Alex Blumberg met Stuart-Pontier when Blumberg interviewed him for a This American Life segment in 2000. Smerling and Stuart-Pontier initially tried to bring Blumberg on as producer of an audio follow-up to The Jinx, but Blumberg was more interested in a new project, rather than a companion piece. Production of season 1 began in summer 2015. Smerling and Stuart-Pontier took senior producer and host roles. Production staff also includes Drew Nelles, Austin Mitchell, Kaitlin Roberts, Mike Plunkett, and Laura Sim. It is edited by Blumberg and Caitlin Kenney. Smerling and Stuart-Pontier conducted extensive local research for the podcast, and received help from the Providence Journal, the Rhode Island Historical Society, and the Providence city archives. In particular, podcast personnel worked with the Journal and its staff at many stages of the process, from developing connections with sources to regular reviews of each episode as they were released. Nieman Labs Ken Doctor noted this unofficial partnership between podcasters and local journalism—which has struggled to adapt to the Internet—might be the beginning of "a new local media format". It was the Journals first step into podcasting other than its sports-related coverage. Although the paper's Managing Editor, Alan Rosenberg, is unsure how far it can go into the medium, former executive editor Dave Butler said "Promoting, using, and helping Crimetown was a natural for the Providence Journal. It gave us the opportunity to relive history thru a podcast—as in real voices. This part of the future—partnering with others on their specialty — is great for readers and offers revenue opportunities. [...] a great reminder of the kind of material we have in our archives but don't know what to do with it..." The creators and producers of Crimetown have explored the possibility of turning the series into a film or television show. The creators of Crimetown launched the podcast The RFK Tapes under Crimetown Presents on June 5, 2018, marking the 50th anniversary since the Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. Season 1