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When Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato log onto Zoom, they’re not just promoting another true crime doc, but unpacking a murder that happened a few blocks from where Kyle Meredith was sitting in Louisville. The World of Wonder duo, whose résumé runs from Party Monster to The Eyes of Tammy Faye, join the Kyle Meredith With podcast to discuss their latest HBO Max documentary, Murder in Glitterball City, a story that begins with a body in the basement of a Victorian mansion and spirals into dueling accusations, two separate trials, and a community left rattled. Listen above or wherever you get your podcasts.
Shot in Old Louisville, where ghost tours are practically civic heritage, the film refracts a single crime through a dozen perspectives — queer history, crystal meth’s wreckage, drag culture, and neighborhood lore. Bailey says what hooked them wasn’t just the crime itself, but how it radiated outward. “True crime can just be about one particular incident in isolation,” he explains, “but what interests us is the way it sort of radiates out… It was almost like watching a ghost story happen in real life. Every kind of murder isn’t just an isolated tragedy… it involves the entire community.”
As queer filmmakers, they also felt a responsibility to tell the story in full, even when it got uncomfortable. “It’s a graphic story,” Bailey admits, “and the actual truth hinges around really intimate, quite explicit detail.” But flattening it for mass consumption wasn’t an option. “Queer people are like everybody — we’re all really complicated people,” Barbato adds, pushing back against the easy narratives about drugs, promiscuity, and moral panic. “It’s not a monolith… you do need all the stories.”
That complexity extends to the film’s most unsettling question: who actually delivered the fatal blows? The two accused lovers were tried separately, resulting in two different verdicts — one free, one imprisoned. “Everyone who worked on this film had opinions,” Barbato says, laughing about the endless debates behind the scenes. “We tried not to allow it to impact the way we put this film together.” Still, there’s one thing they agree on: “There’s no question in our mind that there should be two people in prison.”
Listen to Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato talk about Murder in Glitterball City, and more in the new episode above or by watching the video below. Keep up on all the latest episodes by following Kyle Meredith With… on your favorite podcast platform; plus, check out all the series on the Consequence Podcast Network.
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