[The Dark Comedy of Investigative Journalism: Cold Cases and Prairie Life]-[Bit@#es Be Hitchin']

Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend · B2 · 2025-06-26

📋 Summary

The Intersection of True Crime and Dark Humor

In this episode of Conan O'Brien Needs a Fan, Conan and his team engage in a candid, often irreverent conversation with Tricia, an investigative crime reporter based in Montevideo, Minnesota. The dialogue oscillates between the somber reality of cold cases and the hosts' penchant for dark comedy, creating a unique juxtaposition that explores the human fascination with mystery and murder.

The Prairie and the Cold Case Beat

Tricia, who moved to the Minnesota prairie for her husband’s medical career, describes her work as an investigative reporter covering cold cases from the 1970s. She identifies this era as a "decade of mayhem," noting that the lack of modern forensic tools, specifically DNA technology, allowed many perpetrators to evade justice. Tricia explains that during the 70s, victims—often young women—were frequently dismissed as "runaways" or hitchhikers, a tragic oversight that allowed serial offenders to operate with relative impunity. Conan, typically quick with a joke, struggles to maintain a serious tone, leading to a comedic clash when he quips, "bitches be hitchhiking," a moment that highlights the hosts' struggle to balance their professional curiosity with their comedic personas.

Accessing the Mind of a Suspect

A significant portion of the interview focuses on Tricia's direct interaction with a primary suspect in a 1974 cold case. Tricia details her experience meeting the suspect in a secure facility for "dangerous sexual offenders." Unlike the dramatic depictions in cinema where suspects sit behind glass and communicate via telephones, Tricia’s reality was more mundane, though equally chilling. She shares the grim details of the suspect’s history, including his abduction of three women who luckily survived to tell their stories. When asked about her strategy for interviewing such individuals, Tricia emphasizes the importance of building rapport, a sentiment that leads to a hilarious, albeit morbid, brainstorming session between Conan and Sona regarding how they might conduct their own "interviews" with serial killers.

The "Golden Age" of Unsolved Mysteries

Conan reflects on the era of the 1970s, citing the infamous John List case as a quintessential example of the period's eerie nature. The conversation touches upon the phenomenon of "scuba sleuths" uncovering long-lost vehicles in lakes, which has recently provided closure for families who previously believed their loved ones were victims of foul play. Tricia and the hosts agree that the lack of technology in the 70s created a "golden age of murder," where the absence of surveillance and digital footprints made disappearance a common outcome for victims of both accidents and crimes.

Conclusion: Finding Light in the Dark

Despite the dark subject matter, Tricia expresses that her work is fueled by a necessity to find answers for families living in "agony." She notes that she often uses humor as a defense mechanism, sharing, "I feel like people have to have some sort of a dark sense of humor," which resonates with the hosts. The episode concludes with Conan offering professional, albeit absurd, advice on interview tactics, suggesting that he and his team might one day try to "liken what I do to what they do" to establish common ground. Ultimately, the conversation serves as a testament to the resilience of those who dedicate their lives to solving the past's most haunting mysteries, even when the process requires navigating the darkest corners of the human experience.

🎯Key Sentences

I probably shouldn't put that out there.

I'll give you first crack.

Ugh, bitches be hitchhiking.

That's why I stumbled a lot.

I'm not wrong.

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📝Key Phrases

fill someone in

come down

roll off the tongue

crack a case

begrudgingly

Expand All

📖 Transcript

Conan O'Brien needs a fan.

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Okay, let's get started.

Hi, Tricia.

Welcome to Conan O'Brien Needs a Fan.

So at that point um, we knew i'd been working with belinda's family and we knew that he had been named the main suspect and so we had obtained his police files from he had three women who escaped from him, oh god, and yeah, i mean like really bad stuff, like he abducted them at gunpoint, knife point and had a kill bag and and all three of these women lived to tell what happened to them.

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