Serial Podcast

After I first heard that a new podcast was being developed that would chronicle a murder, I was intrigued. I'm the type of person who has always been hooked on true crime stories, starting from my childhood (and admittedly, current) obsession with Nancy Drew stories and continuing through the countless Dateline Mystery episodes I've consumed. There is something so enticing about a non-fiction story because it often turns out that truth is stranger than fiction in a lot of ways. For regular listeners of NPR and also listeners of a very successful podcast called This American Life, the Serial podcast has another appeal: it is hosted by Sarah Koenig, a journalist who has been featured on This American Life multiple times and has the calm voice and narration style commonly found on NPR. The concept of the podcast might seem unappealing at first because people unfamiliar with podcasts might not be able to picture how a murder story can be told through just audio (I had my doubts as well). The first episode begins with Koenig explaining how she came to create this podcast in the first place. She was contacted by the close friend of a man who has been in prison for 15 years for killing his high school girlfriend. This friend, and many others, believe strongly that Adnan (the alleged killer) is innocent and had a botched case that landed him in prison for something he didn't do. So Koenig herself is intrigued and decides to spend the past year going back over the details of the trial and talking to those involved in the story to see what she can find. And what she does find, through her own extensive research and conversations with dozens of people (including many with Adnan himself in prison), is that glaring inconsistencies with evidence and testimonies may actually point to Adnan being completely innocent. She presents her findings during one new episode every week and brings the listener through the journey for answers along with her. Everything she presents is extremely clear and easy to follow, eliminating the need to have a visual component to the audio. I actually personally prefer that the show is audio only because I almost feel like if I saw what all these suspects and witnesses looked like I might make unfair assumptions about each of them based on their appearance. This is what I think the addicting quality of this show hinges on, that the listener can decide for themselves whether they think Adnan is guilty and lying or telling the truth and innocent as they hear the facts of his case, Koenig herself is open about her doubts of both his innocence and his guilt. Even though she is presenting facts and events that happened in 1999 to the listeners she does it in a way that makes you feel like you are a detective alongside her trying to piece together a mystery. Occasionally I'll get lost in the story and forget that these are all real people who really lost a dear friend (two dear friends if you count Adnan) years ago. I am thoroughly addicted to this podcast and cannot wait for the next episode to come out this week. I would seriously recommend it to anyone looking to get wrapped up in a story and promise you wouldn't be disappointed.

http://serialpodcast.org/