Serial

This week I’ve been listening to the Serial Podcast.

Around Christmas I arranged to go and watch a comedy podcast recording with my mates, Andy and James. We met in a pub beforehand and like the seasonal pudding doused ourselves in alcohol. On leaving the pub I found the world wasn’t how I had left it. The furniture was askew but I didn’t have the co-ordination to rearrange it. I couldn’t see straight. Let alone think straight. Therefore, my memory of that evening is limited. The only thing I remember is the comedian Carl Donnelly saying how great a podcast Serial was.

The next morning I downloaded it and last week I began listening. Serial isn’t like any podcast I have heard before. It is - excuse the sales pitch- a box set you can listen to in the car. The show is divided into twelve episodes, ranging from half an hour to an hour in length, telling the true story of the death of Hae Min Lee, a senior at Woodlawn High School in Baltimore County, Maryland. 

Hae Min Lee

Disappearing on January 13^th 1999, her body was recovered three weeks later in a park. Following an investigation, her ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed was arrested and charged with murder via strangulation. Although no physical evidence was found tying Adnan to the crime scene, Adnan’s friend Jay testified against him, admitting he helped Adnan move and bury the body. Case closed.

Adnan Syed

Fifteen years later, Sarah Koenig, a journalist for the Baltimore Sun, receives a phone call from a friend of Adnan’s asking her to review the case. You see Jay might not have been as reliable a witness as he seemed. Further Adnan’s lawyer might have missed details – deliberately? – that could have kept him out of jail. So over the course of the twelve episodes, Koenig reviews every aspect of the case. Her handling of evidence is masterful: we hear taped recordings from the interrogation room, the examinations in court, interviews with friends and family, along with Koenig’s own narrative and suppositions. 

Detractors could argue that the podcast is no better than a Jack the Ripper murder tour, turning something harrowing into entertainment, but that would be unfair. Koenig’s reporting won’t appeal to those who have a tabloid fascination for murder; instead it will appeal to sticklers interested in the investigative process.

Sarah Koenig

Perhaps the most enlightening element of the show is Koenig’s interviews with Adnan. Incarcerated in prison, Adnan speaks passionately about his innocence, but wisely about the mistakes he made in his life. It is these interactions that make the programme so compelling. It is clear Adnan’s charm disarms Koenig, making her question her own objectivity: can she view the case dispassionately if she likes Adnan?

I listened to the shows on my way to work over the last week. Yesterday I finished the last one. The closest thing I can liken it to is Homicide, a book by The Wire creator and former journalist David Simon. That book walked readers through murders from discovering the body to closing the cell door. This podcast goes a bit further and asks: what happens if the door slammed on the wrong guy? 

It’s a question I’m still asking.

You can download the podcast here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/serial/id917918570?mt=2