Last year, the country was abuzz with something new: the news. This phenomenon wasn’t your “News Snacking” where you just read a headline on your way out the door, it was hours upon hours of content that had people binge listening—all thanks to one podcast featuring Adnan Syed. The news was reintroduced by Serial, a podcast conducted by NPR’s Sarah Koenig that utilized long-form, deep-diving journalism. The podcast was interesting, it was successful, and it changed the way people look at news.
Who is Adnan Syed? Syed was a very kind, smart, religious, and athletic boy, the “model child” that all parents dream of. Seems like a nice enough guy. He was in high school just outside of Baltimore in 1999. We all do stupid things in high school: cut class, sneak out of the house, but there is one thing we usually don’t do—kill someone. Syed was accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee just after they broke up. This changed his life forever. Syed’s first trial was deemed a mistrial and the second one took six weeks. In the second, the jury found him guilty, and Syed was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years.
Sarah Koenig was introduced to Syed’s story by an advocate of his in 2013, and just weeks after, she began writing for the first episode of Serial. The first season was broken into 12 episodes, each one from 30 to 60 minutes long and focusing on a different section of the investigation. It begins with the general overview, then goes to phone records, eyewitness accounts, alibis, suspects; the whole nine yards.
The way Koenig goes about presenting the evidence is possibly the most enticing aspect of the show. She shares one side’s opinion and convinces you that there is no way Syed possibly could have killed Lee, yet in the next episode brings a new piece into the mix, convincing you exactly the opposite of what you had thought before.
As a listener, I started believing that it had to be wrong and he couldn’t have committed such a crime, yet my beliefs wavered throughout the progress of the podcast. Koenig admits to the same kind of vacillation. She was able to remain neutral throughout the show, only revealing her true feelings in the last episode. Such a presentation makes the listener grow attached to the story and seek closure to the case. It had my entire family glued to the radio listening to see what would happen next.
Serial was so successful worldwide that the “new” evidence it brought up was brought to the judicial system’s attention and new evidence is being admitted to Syed’s case. Not only that, the show has been reinstalled for a new season, going over the case of Bowe Bergdahl, the army private who was famously held by the Taliban for five years before being recovered in a prisoner exchange.
Now l know what you’re thinking. “Who the heck has time to listen to a boring podcast for an entire hour? They should just do homework or play Xbox or something productive like that.” The response I have is that you are right. It is not a short listen, but it is a GOOD listen. You have no idea how good it is until you listen to it—much like a book you haven’t read, or food you haven’t eaten. Time flies by as you listen, making rides to school, exercising, and anything else that might be annoying or tedious a breeze. Try it out; you won’t be disappointed.