The Rotten Mango podcast is hosted by Stephanie Soo and her partner in crime, her fiance, whose identity is kept anonymous. In this true crime podcast, the duo talk about some of the darkest crimes by lesser known criminals from all around that they believe the world should know about. They don’t hold back on the details and like to explore the psychology of the criminals. The gruesome stories may be dark, but the hosts make sure to add a pinch of comedy/ sweetness to them. Rotten, but still a little sweet!

This podcast has become very popular with listeners everywhere because of Stephanie’s incredible storytelling skills and her ability to research the cases in detail and present the information in a compelling way. 

Rotten Mango Podcast

The Creators Behind the Rotten Mango Podcast 

Stephanie Soo is an Asian-American who was born in South Korea, but moved to the U.S at a young age. She became famous because of her YouTube channel where she posts mukbang videos. She also has another channel in which she uploads vlogs with her friends. She also gained fame across other social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. Stephanie also owns a clothing brand under her own name. 

Not much is known about her co-host, who is actually her fiance. His face is always obscured by stickers to maintain his privacy.

Themes and Topics Covered in Rotten Mango

Rotten Mango is a podcast about mysteries, true crime, and the criminals behind them. Stephanie Soo takes some of the most tragic cases and takes us on a virtual tour through what happened. The cases she chooses are not always well known and feature minority victims a lot. 

Let us look at three episodes to understand the content of the podcast better.

Episode 245: The Ongoing Case of Stephen McCullagh 

Is it possible to be in two places at once? When you are Stephen McCullagh, the answer is apparently yes. This is the case of a YouTuber, Stephen McCullagh, who faked a livestream to allegedly create an alibi for the murder he committed. 

In 2022, Stephen, a YouTuber, live-streamed himself playing Grand Theft Auto. At the same time, miles away, his pregnant girlfriend, Natalie McNally, was stabbed to death and Stephen was caught on one of the CCTV cameras. 

How did he commit the crime when he was live on YouTube? Listen to this episode to find out all the details!

Episode 242: The Dismemberment Case of Hong Kong Model Abby Choi 

Abby Choi was a Hong Kong model, socialite, and internet celebrity. She was reported missing on February 21 when she did not go to pick up her daughter from school. Three days later, the investigation led police officers to a suburban house in Tai Po. The house looked just like the others that surrounded it – except for the black curtains covering all the windows and doors. 

Neighbors were curious as to what was going on inside. Imagine their shock when they saw the police leaving the house with two steel containers filled with chopped up body parts. Some of them were said to be found inside a pot of cooked soup. 

Seven suspects were arrested in Abby Choi’s killing and dismemberment, including her ex husband and his family. If you want to hear all the grisly details, tune in to this episode!

Episode 237: Case of John Darwin 

John Darwin and his wife were normal people. He worked as a prison officer and rented out bedsits along with his wife. They had two sons. One day, he went canoeing and disappeared. People searched for him for several days before finally giving up. 

But the story does not end there. John re-appeared SIX years later with a huge secret. He claimed that he had amnesia. But what actually happened is much more shocking. 

After finding themselves in massive debt, John and his wife hatched a plot to fake his death and claim all his insurance money. John had gone to Panama, but after a while, he began having issues with his visa. So he returned, claiming to be confused about the past six years. All while his sons had mourned him. 

The Rotten Mango podcast has several such shocking stories for you to binge on. 

Reach of the Rotten Mango Podcast 

The Rotten Mango podcast has 145k subscribers on YouTube. The host, Stephanie Soo, has two YouTube accounts. She has 2.98M and 1.28M subscribers on both her channels and 620.2k followers on Twitter. Even though her co-host is anonymous, he has 173k followers on Instagram. 

On YouTube, where view statistics are readily available, it appears that the average episode receives anywhere between 138k to 842k views, with the most popular one having 1M views. 

As of January 2023, Rotten Mango was ranked #49 on Apple Podcasts under the true crime category in the USA. 

Based on this analysis, we estimated that the Rotten Mango podcast receives 200k – 300k listens each time an episode goes out across Apple, Google, YouTube, and Spotify podcast networks. 

The Format of the Rotten Mango Podcast 

Rotten Mango has over 200 episodes with each one being roughly an hour long. Each podcast episode begins with an advertisement. After that, Stephanie gives us a very mysterious blurb of the case she will be talking about, leaving us wanting more. Once the listeners are hooked, she begins talking about the case in chronological order, leaving no details unsaid. She covers all the bases: the what, why, who, and how. 

Rotten Mango does not feature any guests. The episodes consist of her narrating the stories with her fiance chiming in every now and then. 

Reception and Impact 

With 4.9 stars on Apple Podcasts, Rotten Mango remains one of the highest rated podcasts on the internet. It received a lot of interest because she tends to cover cases that are unique and not very well known. She includes several incidents about minority people. These stories are rotten, just like the podcast name suggests, but they are bizarre – and shocking – enough to garner a lot of interest. Another reason the podcast gained popularity is because of her YouTube celebrity status. 

Stephanie tends to research the details of each case thoroughly, leaving no stone unturned. She hooks the listeners right in the beginning of the episodes, leaving them clambering to know what actually happened and how it happened. The way she narrates the stories is also excellent. 

She is sensitive to the cases and victims she is talking about and always pulls you into the stories she is telling. The fact that she gives her own insights and adds a pinch of humor is just the cherry on top of the cake. Be warned, though. The gory details can get pretty.. detailed. 

Want to give Rotten Mango a listen? You can check it out on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon Music, or Google Podcasts.