Conversations with a Killer: The Charles Manson Tapes

Drawing on previously unreleased prison recordings, firsthand accounts, and archival footage, this three-part docuseries, CONVERSATIONS WITH A KILLER: THE CHARLES MANSON TAPES airs on Netflix on August 12th and is a RadicalMedia production in association with Third Eye Motion Picture Company and Naked (A Fremantle label).  

The series traces Charles Manson's rise as a cult leader, the 1969 murders that followed, and the media spectacle of his trial. The series features interviews with former Manson Family members and law enforcement alongside recorded phone calls with Manson himself.  

Quote from Director & EP, Joe Berlinger: “As we bring Conversations with a Killer to a close, I wanted our final season to focus on the figure who, more than anyone else, ushered in the modern era of America’s fascination with true crime. While Charles Manson isn’t a traditional serial killer like Bundy, Gacy, Dahmer, or the Son of Sam, his crimes fundamentally changed the way the media covered violence and the way the public consumed it. Rather than adding to the mythology surrounding Manson, our goal was to examine the systems of manipulation and control he created, while centering the voices of those who lived through it and continue to grapple with its aftermath. Their firsthand accounts—along with remarkable archival material, including never-before-heard prison phone recordings of Manson himself—offer a fresh perspective on one of the defining criminal cases of the twentieth century. It felt like the right story with which to conclude one of Netflix’s longest-running true crime documentary series.” 

Directed by Joe Berlinger and Executive Produced by Joe Berlinger, Rachael Profiloski, Jen Isaacson, Jon Kamen, and Tom O'Brien, the series includes firsthand accounts and archival material to follow Charles Manson’s rise as a cult leader.