Like so many of us, Chloe Hooper spent 2025 obsessing over the triple murder trial of Erin Patterson.

It was different to the crimes she’s written about before, in her books The Arsonist and The Tall Man, which was about a death in custody.

For Chloe, it was the domesticity of the mushroom killings, the family dynamic, that drew her in.

But why did this story captivate the country at-large? And what does it say about us, particularly about women, that we are drawn to true crime?

These were some of the questions that drove Chloe, and her friends and colleagues, the writers Helen Garner and Sarah Krasnostein, as they began traveling to the town of Morwell to watch Erin Patterson’s trial.

What followed is The Mushroom Tapes: Conversations on a Triple Murder – a book that wrestles with ideas about power, money, marriage and murder.

Today, Chloe Hooper on what our collective fascination with Erin Patterson tells us about who we are as a country in 2025.

 

If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support.

 

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Guest: Writer and co-author of The Mushroom Tapes: Conversations on a Triple Murder Chloe Hooper

Photo: AAP Image/Anita Lester

Like so many of us, Chloe Hooper spent 2025 obsessing over the triple murder trial of Erin Patterson.
It was different to the crimes she&rsquo;s written about before, in her books The Arsonist and The Tall Man, which was about a death in custody.
For Chloe, it was the domesticity of the mushroom killings, the family dynamic, that drew her in.
But why did this story captivate the country at-large? And what does it say about us, particularly about women, that we are drawn to true crime?
These were some of the questions that drove Chloe, and her friends and colleagues, the writers Helen Garner and Sarah Krasnostein, as they began traveling to the town of Morwell to watch Erin Patterson&rsquo;s trial.
What followed is The Mushroom Tapes: Conversations on a Triple Murder &ndash; a book that wrestles with ideas about power, money, marriage and murder.
Today, Chloe Hooper on what our collective fascination with Erin Patterson tells us about who we are as a country in 2025.
&nbsp;
If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at <a href="http://7ampodcast.com.au/support">7ampodcast.com.au/support</a>.
&nbsp;
Socials: Stay in touch with us on <a href="http://www.instagram.com/7ampodcast">Instagram</a>
Guest: Writer and co-author of The Mushroom Tapes: Conversations on a Triple Murder Chloe Hooper
Photo:&nbsp;AAP Image/Anita Lester

An independent daily news show. We feature the country’s best reporters, covering the news as it affects Australia. This is news with narrative, every weekday.

An independent daily news show. We feature the country&rsquo;s best reporters, covering the news as it affects Australia. This is news with narrative, every weekday.

A daily news show from the publisher of The Monthly and The Saturday Paper.

A daily news show from the publisher of The Monthly and The Saturday Paper. Hear from the country’s best reporters, covering the news as it affects Australia. This is news with narrative, every weekday.

Why did Erin Patterson captivate the country?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/2fb3740d-3436-44af-8cc0-a91900716aa5/clips/fe817ed2-4206-4115-8866-b3ae00764813/transcript

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