The SMH and The Age launch new true crime podcast

The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age have launched a new 10-part true crime podcast focusing on an Asian crime syndicate.

The announcement:

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD AND THE AGE LAUNCH NEW CRIME PODCAST

The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age have launched a new podcast, “The Last Voyage of the Pong Su”.

The 10-episode series details the true story of a diplomatic crisis involving the North Korean government and a plot linked to an Asian crime syndicate to import the biggest-ever shipment of heroin into Victoria in 2003, and The Wire-style federal police operation that brought it undone.

Presented by The Age investigative journalist, Richard Baker, “The Last Voyage of the Pong Su” comes from the team behind the award-winning “Wrong Skin” and “Phoebe’s Fall” podcasts.

“We have really tried to push the limits of how a podcast can sound with this one,” said Baker.

“The Pong Su story is like an action movie but we have told it through the lenses of the little fish caught up in it. And to have access to bugged conversations, to hear a criminal conspiracy unfold in real time, is exciting.”

“Phoebe’s Fall” won the gold medal at the New York Radio Festival in 2017, the Radio Current Affairs category of the 2016 Quill Awards, and was the inaugural winner in the documentary and storytelling category of Australia’s national podcast awards, The Castaways, in 2016.

“Wrong Skin” won Podcast of the Year at the 2019 Australian Podcast Awards, as well as winning the Investigative Journalism and True Crime category. “Wrong Skin” was also the Gold Radio winner in the Personal Lives category at the New York International Festivals Radio Awards.

James Chessell, Executive Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, said: “Richard isn’t interested in following the pack with his podcasts. Telling great yarns is at the heart of what he does, but he also wants to challenge our audience, to take them somewhere unexpected.

“In ‘The Last Voyage of the Pong Su’, Richard and our award-winning podcast team live up to the high standards set in ‘Phoebe’s Fall’ and ‘Wrong Skin’. We’re immensely proud of our storytelling through the podcast medium.”

“The Last Voyage of the Pong Su” can be download on iTunes, Google Podcasts and Spotify.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald/The Age media release