Serial (podcast)
Season 1 investigated the 1999 killing of Hae Min Lee (Hangul: 이해민), an 18-year-old student at Woodlawn High School in Baltimore County."[5] New York Magazine reported that Phil Lord and Chris Miller, directors of The Lego Movie and the film 21 Jump Street, would be producing a television program about the podcast that will take a "behind-the-scenes approach that details how Koenig went from virtual anonymity to creating one of 2014's biggest cultural phenomenons".[16] In September 2015, The New York Times reported the second season would focus on Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, an American Army soldier who was held for five years by the Taliban, and then charged with desertion.[23] For season 2, Koenig teamed up with Mark Boal, the Academy Award–winning screenwriter of The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty, and his production company, Page 1."[24] On December 14, 2015, General Robert B. Abrams, head of United States Army Forces Command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina ordered that Bergdahl face a court-martial on charges of desertion.[25] Sarah Koenig announced on January 12, 2016, that the podcast schedule would be changed to every other week to allow for deeper reporting, and to add more information than initially planned.[27] On November 3, 2017, military judge Col. Jeffery R. Nance rendered a verdict dishonorably discharging Bergdahl from the Army, reducing his rank to private and requiring forfeit of some of his pay for ten months and no prison time.[33] The season has been described as "a history of Guantánamo told by people who lived through key moments in its evolution, who know things the rest of us don’t about what it’s like to be caught inside an improvised justice system.[47] Serial's launch was sponsored by Mailchimp, a frequent podcast advertiser, and salaried staff positions were initially funded by WBEZ.[52] Techcrunch reported that the deal was valued at $25 million and noted that Sarah Koenig and Julie Snyder would become Times employees as a result of the sale.[5] Introducing a PBS NewsHour segment about Serial, Judy Woodruff noted that it is "an unexpected phenomenon", and Hari Sreenivasan mentioned it has "five million downloads on iTunes, far more than any other podcast in history".[57] Calling the characters "rich and intriguing", The Daily Californian noted similarities to the film The Thin Blue Line (1988), and described the podcast as "gripping" and the story as "thrilling", while applauding the series for giving "listeners a unique opportunity to humanize the players"."[36] The Baltimore Sun commented on the inherently riveting subject matter and noted that the top-notch reporting and podcast format yield "a novel twist on the investigative long-form piece".[68][69] Critics said the "live investigation" format invited listeners to do their own sleuthing, which quickly led to exposure online of the full names and even addresses of people who were questioned by the police.[75] A rejoinder in The Atlantic pointed out, "Serial is a reflection on a murder case and the criminal-justice system reported over 'just' a year, which is to say, it is researched with more effort and depth than 99 percent of journalism produced on any beat in America...[77] Dr. Jeffrey P. Jones, Director of the Peabody Awards, commented the podcast showed "how new avenues and approaches to storytelling can have a major impact on how we understand truth, reality, and events".They received limited attention from critics, although Slate's review notably described them as "ragged, chaotic entries [which] can't help but hit us as shadows of what was.[83][84] Vastly different from the popular murder-mystery story that Season 1 investigated, Season 2's focus on the story behind the U.S. soldier Bowe Bergdahl, who disappeared from his post in Afghanistan in 2009 before being captured by the Taliban and subsequently released in 2014, was contentious due in part to the controversial views of the soldier's departure from his post and also because of the high-profile court martial proceeding for his alleged desertion.[85][86][87][88] The Guardian summarized the season by saying Koenig and her team managed to add to the conversation: "Not only did they let Bergdahl speak for himself, via a series of interviews with the film-maker Mark Boal, but they also asked and answered a question that no one – including the military or the US government – had seemingly bothered to investigate.
Sarah KoenigInvestigative journalismSerialized audio narrativeThe Case Against Adnan Syedpodcastover multiple episodesThis American LifeThe New York Timeskilling of Hae Min LeeWoodlawn High SchoolBaltimore CountyBowe BergdahlTalibandesertionJustice Center ComplexClevelandGuantanamo Bay detention campiTunesPeabody AwardDickensNew York MagazinePhil Lord and Chris MillerThe Lego Movie21 Jump StreetScott PelleyKoreanBaltimoreLeakin Parkfirst-degree murdervacatedSilver Spring, Md.Rabia ChaudryM. Cristina GutierrezRonald Lee MooreMark BoalAcademy AwardThe Hurt LockerZero Dark ThirtyRobert B. AbramsUnited States Army Forces CommandFort Bragg, North CarolinaPandora RadiodischargingEdward R. Murrow AwardVanity FairEmmanuel DzotsiGreater ClevelandCuyahoga CountyCourt of Common PleasDowntown ClevelandBest BuyInnocence ProjectUniversity of Virginia School of LawDUSTWUNDavid RohdeHaqqaniCENTCOMFederally Administered Tribal AreasJohn CampbellJason AmerineState DepartmentCoast GuardAtlas ShruggedSchizotypal personality disorderRichard HolbrookeIra GlassMother JonesNetflixHouse of CardsNicholas ThorburnBandcampMailchimpiTunes storeDavid CarrThe GuardianPBS NewsHourJudy WoodruffHari SreenivasanThe Daily CalifornianThe Thin Blue LineThe Baltimore SunHarvard's Nieman Journalism LabPopMattersneed for closureJon RonsonThe VergeNicholas QuahVultureAmbiesPeabody AwardsAlfred I. duPont–Columbia University AwardShorty AwardsWebby AwardsiHeartRadio Podcast AwardsNCCD AwardsUndisclosed: The State vs. Adnan SyedS-TownNice White ParentsThe Improvement AssociationThe Coldest Case in LaramieParodiesThe New YorkerThe Colbert ReportSaturday Night LiveKris Kringle343 IndustriesMaster ChiefKeegan-Michael KeyFunny or DieMichaela WatkinsUnder the Gun TheaterimprovisedChicago TribuneBoJack HorsemanWonderyAmerican VandalmockumentaryScreamTrial & ErrorThe OnionA Very Fatal MurderOnly Murders in the BuildingTina FeyList of American crime podcastsWayback MachineThe Independent