PODCAST REVIEW: “Serial” Season 1

Thanks to a podcast, the case of Adnan Syed resurfaced in the news almost 23 years after it began.

In 1999, Syed was arrested and found guilty of murdering his former girlfriend, but new evidence from a podcast’s 2014 episodes Syed’s journey to appealing the court’s original ruling, according to The New York Times, and the murder conviction was eventually overturned in October of 2022.

In 2022, a Los Angeles Times article titled, “Adnan Syed, subject of ‘Serial’ podcast, is freed after conviction overturned” caught my attention. Not only was I in desperate need of something to do—I was quarantined with Covid at the time—but I doubted a podcast could really change anyone’s mind, let alone persuade a court to reconsider a murder conviction, so I binge listened to the whole series, which makes up all of Season 1.

Mind you, each episode ranges from 27 minutes to 54 minutes, so I made good time in quarantine, captivated by Serial host Sarah Koenig’s masterful storytelling.

Usually, I listen to lighthearted lifestyle podcasts, but these Season 1 “Serial” episodes were nothing like that, especially because it presented results of investigative reporting and intensive digging.

At this time, The New York Times had already purchased the company that produces the podcast, so I knew the stories and evidence it presented to me would be reliable and trustworthy. Each piece of comprehensive evidence was carefully explained and documented, but as I listened, the structure and presentation was so fluid that the sheer depth and quantity of Koenig’s research didn’t feel like a torrent of information. The more episodes I heard, the more I appreciated the audio breaks from tasteful music that accompanied the story, Koenig’s steady yet suspenseful voice and the fluid structure of each episode.

By the end of Season 1, I could see how this podcast presented evidence with an objective and fair standpoint, which could easily convince any appeals court, let alone a podcast audience, to reconsider.