One of the most recent pieces of media that I have had the pleasure of being able to consume was the first season of the Serial podcast that was produced by This American Life and hosted by the journalist Sarah Koening. If you have not heard about this podcast yet the basic concept of the podcast is that Koening is originally charged in investigating the murder case of Adnan Syed, who was accused and convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee. Sarah was tasked with investigating this case by Rabia Chaudry, who is the older sister of one of Syed's best friends.
This podcast quickly swept me away with the fascinating and oftentimes heartbreaking story of Adnan Syed and his story surrounding the murder of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee. The murder took place during January of 1999 in Baltimore, Maryland and was immediately placed in the forefront of the citizens minds. The case was actually solved by the detectives investigating it quickly after it was originally opened thanks to a tip given by a witness that Sarah discusses within her podcast.
This podcast was an incredibly addicting crime story that I completely plowed through in under 24 hours which is crazy considering the average length of these episodes is around 40-45 minutes for a 12 episode season. Koening did an incredible job of finding a way to make the story of Adnan and his journey throughout this entire process of being in prison and attempting to prove his innocence for this crime in which he was accused.
Sarah does a fine job of separating out the different processes and topics that she goes through in the research and telling of the story for Adnan Syed. However one of the few complaints that I have heard about her storytelling and that I find valid is that Sarah has been shown to be a more favorable towards Adnan especially in her storytelling and on the viewpoint that she gives the listener during this podcast. Although it's not entirely her responsibility to remain unbiased in her telling of Adnan's case it does slightly distort the opinions that a listener can have while listening to her podcast.
Overall, The Serial podcast is a great way to spend some free time that you have during this busy school semester. It is an interesting story that is easily addictive to any listener of her podcast. Sarah is actually in the middle of season 2 of her podcast which focuses on the story of David Rohde. You can check out season one of the Serial podcast here and the first episode is linked below.
