'Serial' podcast

So I know this isn't a book or a movie but I just finished the podcast Serial and I have to write about it! It is a spinoff of the radio program This American Life. Serial explores a nonfiction story for about an hour each week. I say "nonfiction story" because that is how it is described on Wikipedia but I think it is reasonable to say it will focus on crime stories.

In the first season we meet now 34-year-old Adnan Syed who is currently serving a life sentence for kidnapping and first-degree murder of his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee (some articles add false imprisonment and robbery) which occurred back in 1999. It ran in 2014, October to December, and I don't think Sarah Koenig expected all the attention it has gotten. I mean, check out these 6 sensational theories concocted by fans which, I think, are an indication (especially #6) of just how much people liked it and are therefore thinking about (or really over thinking) it.

For Sarah and the Serial team this started in 2013 when she got an email from Rabia Chaudry, the older sister of Adnan's best friend, Saad. They believe Adnan is innocent. The Serial team took a year and investigated the case as an impartial third party. Sarah says she did not have an ending in mind; the intent is to go where the story leads, regardless of where they end up. In other words, they are not out to prove Adnan's innocence.

So even though we weren't promised (and I think, *spoiler alert,* didn't get) a satisfactory conclusion, I thought the podcast was still really good: Sarah is a really good narrator and the case is pretty interesting. If you haven't listened to it yet and the subject interests you, I recommend you check it out. But remember you aren't listening to an episode of Law & Order where the people aren't real and the bad guy gets what's coming.

Now I want to shift to the controversy that has arose from all of this. Like any story, there are people in the case that did not appreciate the broadcast of their part in it. Jay Wilds, the star witness for the prosecution, does not appear in the podcast by his own choice (he only shows up in recordings made by the police and the court). A lot of fans seem to take that to mean he had more to hide (rather than wanting to put the whole thing behind him) and Rabia is at the helm of that armada.

Rabia is fierce in her conviction that Adnan is innocent. After the success of Serial, just this week Rabia started her own podcast, Undisclosed, which seeks to prove Adnan's innocence. I listened to the first episode and it did not hold my interest: the audio quality is poor and it is completely, and not surprisingly, biased in Adnan's favor. And it seems pointless since the Court of Special Appeals in Maryland is considering allowing Adnan a new trial due to ineffective counsel (sorry Ms. Gutierrez!). If they get the appeal, wouldn't it be better for the prosecution not to know what they will argue?

But let's get back to Jay: I don't think his choice to not speak with Sarah is a tell of anything. He did not want to relive this horrible thing that happened and he is trying to move on with his life and his family. I believe him when he says he would have been cooperative had Hae's family requested he speak out (which they did not). However, I do think he is stupid for deciding to speak to another reporter and to then take shots at the Serial team. He complains that Sarah vilified him even though he says he never listened to the podcast and blames her for Serial fans showing up in his life. If I were Jay, I would blame Rabia.

Jay isn't the only target. His interviewer, Natasha Vargas-Cooper, did a three-parter with Jay and a two-parter with Kevin Urick, who prosecuted Adnan. At the bottom of this article, you can see her responses to the tweets critical of her work. And on Reddit, there is more criticism: people did not like the way she interviewed and they especially did not like the accusation that Serial was unprofessional handling this story.

Personally, I didn't see a lot of that in her interview with Jay. However, the interview with Kevin Urick is a horse of a different color: "Sarah Koenig revisited the case in the hopes of finding a miscarriage of justice. The result was Serial, the 12-part podcast." I am not suggesting NVC isn't entitled to her opinion, but that presents like it actually is the advertised purpose of Serial (which it is not). I can see why loyal fans lashed out at her. And that could have contributed to her leaving the Intercept.

After listening to Serial, I didn't think there wasn't enough evidence to exonerate Adnan. But, I do think there is enough to get him a second chance because of ineffective counsel. I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens when it goes before the Maryland Court of Special Appeals in June 2015.