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Serial

Serial is a new podcast from the creators of This American Life, hosted by Sarah Koenig. Serial unfolds one story - a true story - over the course of a whole season. The show follows the plot and characters wherever they lead, through many surprising twists and turns. Sarah won't know what happens at the end of the story until she gets there, not long before you get there with her. Each week she'll bring you the latest chapter, so it's important to listen in, starting with Episode 1. New episodes are released on Thursday mornings. Serial, like This American Life, is a production of WBEZ Chicago.

Episodes

Podcast: Serial: The Retrievals - Ep. 1: The Patients (full season)

Patients at a fertility clinic experience excruciating, unexpected pain. For months the reason for that pain remains hidden. Then they get a letter from the clinic. [more inside]
posted by bq on Dec 23, 2023 at 10:26 PM - 2 comments

Podcast: Serial: Nice White Parents - Full Season

Nice White Parents is baaaaasically Serial Season Four, coproduced by the New York Times. It follows the model of Season Three, focusing on a single institution enmeshed in a larger system, instead of an individual case. In this case, the past, present and future of a single Brooklyn school's history of failed integration attempts. [more inside]
posted by kaibutsu on Aug 22, 2020 at 12:45 PM - 5 comments

Podcast: Serial: S03 Episode 09: Some Time When Everything Has Changed

The state of Ohio decides where Joshua belongs. [more inside]
posted by progosk on Nov 16, 2018 at 7:58 AM - 5 comments

Podcast: Serial: S03 Episode 08: A Madman’s Vacation

A teenager decides to cooperate.
posted by eotvos on Nov 9, 2018 at 9:28 AM - 1 comment

Podcast: Serial: S03 Episode 07: The Snowball Effect

"If you listen closely to the trash-talking, you start to get the message." Follow up on the cases of Jesse Nickerson, who feels he's continually harassed by police after winning a lawsuit against them, and Erimius Spencer, beaten by a cop subsequently fired for excessive force. [more inside]
posted by dnash on Oct 26, 2018 at 6:29 PM - 7 comments

Podcast: Serial: S03 Episode 06: You in the Red Shirt

Life after you put a cop in jail. [more inside]
posted by progosk on Oct 18, 2018 at 10:28 AM - 5 comments

Podcast: Serial: S03 Episode 05: Pleas Baby Pleas

Don't tell the judges, but the prosecutors have the most power in the building. [more inside]
posted by progosk on Oct 15, 2018 at 3:56 PM - 6 comments

Podcast: Serial: S03 Episode 04: A Bird in Jail Is Worth Two on the Street

This episode deals with two separate murders of young children in Cleveland. It’s not an easy listen. [more inside]
posted by Kattullus on Oct 4, 2018 at 7:43 AM - 4 comments

Podcast: Serial: S03 Episode 03: Misdemeanor, Meet Mr. Lawsuit

The smell of raw marijuana + acting nervous + hands in pockets = ? [more inside]
posted by dnash on Sep 28, 2018 at 7:58 AM - 4 comments

Podcast: Serial: S03 Episode 02: You’ve Got Some Gauls

When a judge believes he knows you better than you know yourself. [more inside]
posted by progosk on Sep 21, 2018 at 3:32 AM - 7 comments

Podcast: Serial: S03 Episode 01: A Bar Fight Walks into the Justice Center

A young woman at a bar is slapped on the butt. So why's she the one in jail? [more inside]
posted by Etrigan on Sep 20, 2018 at 6:00 AM - 7 comments

Podcast: Serial: S02 Episode 11: Present for Duty

What's Bowe's fault, and what isn't? [more inside]
posted by dnash on Mar 31, 2016 at 9:23 AM - 14 comments

Podcast: Serial: S02 Episode 10: Thorny Politics

Are you hearing what I'm hearing?
posted by JimBennett on Mar 17, 2016 at 6:35 AM - 11 comments

Podcast: Serial: S02 Episode 09: Trade Secrets

You don't make peace with your friends. [more inside]
posted by radioamy on Mar 3, 2016 at 9:10 PM - 24 comments

Podcast: Serial: S02 Episode 08: Hindsight, Part 2

Woulda, coulda, shoulda...
posted by jenfullmoon on Feb 19, 2016 at 8:50 AM - 16 comments

Podcast: Serial: S02 Episode 07: Hindsight, Part 1

It makes sense if you're Bowe Bergdahl.
posted by jenfullmoon on Feb 18, 2016 at 10:45 AM - 10 comments

Podcast: Serial: S01 Update: Day 03, Adnan Syed’s Hearing

This week, Sarah Koenig ducks back into the Adnan Syed case for a few days. There's a hearing in Baltimore—a court proceeding that's been nearly sixteen years in the making. Syed's attorney will introduce new evidence, and present a case for why his conviction should be overturned. Sarah and producer Dana Chivvis will discuss what happens, day by day. [more inside]
posted by jenfullmoon on Feb 8, 2016 at 10:37 AM - 10 comments

Podcast: Serial: S01 Update: Day 02, Adnan Syed’s Hearing

Sarah and Dana discuss Day 2 of Adnan's post-conviction hearing. We learn about how the prosecutor cross-examined Asia McClain, and how the cell phone data might not hold up.
posted by radioamy on Feb 5, 2016 at 9:40 AM - 5 comments

Podcast: Serial: S02 Episode 06: 5 O'Clock Shadow

Why did Bowe Bergdahl walk off?
posted by jenfullmoon on Feb 4, 2016 at 9:44 AM - 9 comments

Podcast: Serial: S01 Update: Day 01, Adnan Syed’s Hearing

Serial is going back to the Adnan Syed case for a few short daily episodes about a new hearing focusing on whether his trial lawyer was negligent. In this first episode, Asia McClain takes the stand.
posted by Kattullus on Feb 4, 2016 at 5:26 AM - 10 comments

Podcast: Serial: S02 Episode 05: Meanwhile, in Tampa

CIA, FBI, YouTube, the Portland PD? There was no handbook for getting Bergdahl back. [more inside]
posted by Etrigan on Jan 21, 2016 at 9:12 AM - 10 comments

Podcast: Serial: S02 Episode 04: The Captors

What's happening on the other side of the door? [more inside]
posted by jenfullmoon on Jan 7, 2016 at 4:07 PM - 18 comments

Podcast: Serial: S02 Episode 03: Escaping

Bergdahl's first year in captivity starts with an escape and ends with an escape. In between, he learns necessary, twisted lessons of survival.
posted by Etrigan on Dec 24, 2015 at 11:01 AM - 9 comments

Podcast: Serial: S02 Episode 02: The Golden Chicken

On the move with Bergdahl, the Taliban slip past the U.S. Army's massive effort to find him. During those days and weeks, each side is asking, what is Bergdahl worth to us?
posted by Etrigan on Dec 17, 2015 at 2:57 AM - 18 comments

Podcast: Serial: Episode 01: DUSTWUN

In the middle of the night, Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl grabs a notebook, snacks, water, some cash. Then he quietly slips off a remote U.S. Army outpost in eastern Afghanistan and into the dark, open desert. About 20 minutes later, it occurs to him: he's in over his head.
posted by Etrigan on Dec 10, 2015 at 3:42 AM - 56 comments

Podcast: Serial: Episode 12: What We Know

On January 13, 1999, Adnan Syed was a hurt and vengeful ex-boyfriend who carried out a premeditated murder. Or he was a bewildered bystander, framed for a crime he could never have committed. After 15 months of reporting, we take out everything we've got - interviews and documents and police reports - we shake it all out, and we see what sticks.
posted by He Is Only The Imposter on Dec 18, 2014 at 4:59 AM - 507 comments

Podcast: Serial: Episode 11: Rumors

Almost everyone describes the 17-year-old Adnan the same way: good kid, helpful at the mosque, respectful to his elders. But a couple of months ago, Sarah started getting phone calls from people who knew Adnan back then, and told her stories of a different kind of boy. [more inside]
posted by Cash4Lead on Dec 11, 2014 at 7:39 AM - 68 comments

Podcast: Serial: Episode 10: The Best Defense is a Good Defense

Adnan's trial lawyer was M. Cristina Gutierrez, a renowned defense attorney in Maryland – tough and savvy and smart. Other lawyers said she was exactly the kind of person you'd want defending you on a first-degree murder charge. But Adnan was convicted, and a year later, Gutierrez was disbarred. What happened?
posted by Cash4Lead on Dec 4, 2014 at 7:13 AM - 58 comments

Podcast: Serial: Episode 09: To Be Suspected

New information is coming in about what maybe didn't happen on January 13, 1999.  And while Adnan's memory of that day is foggy at best, he does remember what happened next: being questioned, being arrested and, a little more than a year later, being sentenced to life in prison.
posted by mathowie on Dec 3, 2014 at 1:49 PM - 25 comments