"Serial" - interesting true crime podcast from This American Life team

Just started this morbidly fascinating series over the weekend and am getting caught up in it (although I don't know if it'll be able offer any kind of resolution). Anyone here listening?

http://serialpodcast.org/

http://www.newyorker.com/culture/sarah-larson/serial-podcast-weve-waiting

I am completely hooked - we had a long car ride this weekend and listened to the first 3 episodes back to back. I can't wait for episode 4 and I have been holding myself back from googling.

Oh, I'll get hooked on that for sure. Can't wait! Thanks.

I'm loving it!

Loving it as well.

Episode 4 ("Inconsistencies") is up!

There's a pretty active sub-Reddit worth checking out:

http://www.reddit.com/r/serialpodcast

Rabia Chaudry (the woman who brought the case to TAL in the first place) is an active participant there and is blogging the series:

http://www.reddit.com/r/serialpodcast/comments/2j6741/blogging_the_show_and_the_case/

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/splitthemoon/

Things are getting really interesting. New witnesses have popped up since the podcast began, leading to rewrites and edits for upcoming episodes. The story is still unfolding. Meanwhile, the sub-Reddit has seen posts from friends of Adnan's as well as people who figured out Jay's identity through Facebook (those links were since removed). The main website has been updated with maps of the cell towers and the call logs.

Here's a new video interview with Rabia about the series:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OukREflhb-0

Key point: "Legal things are happening behind the scenes...may have tremendous impact on where story goes."

Given the general vibe of the series so far, I'm very curious about how this week's episode will turn things around. Its title: The Case Against Adnan Syed.

Listened to Episode 1 and am intrigued. Glad to hear it builds further. Good stuff.

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/sarah-koenig-on-serial-20141024?page=3

Ooh, @eliz :

What's it like working on a show where, at any second, you could stumble upon something that could shift the entire story?

That just happened to me this week, a couple of days ago, and I'm still catching my breath and not sleeping. It's incredibly nerve-racking, and, again, this is why I say I have to be so careful all the way through. You may stumble across some piece of information where you're just left going, "Oh my god. Okay. Okay. We're fine." You have no idea how seat-of-our-pants this is right now. So, it's stressful, but the good part is I can be very responsive to new information.

Yup.

I wish the cops would be more involved. I'm trying to figure out why they would believe Jay over Adnan.

Five episodes so far, right? I listened to them all in the past few days. What day are they released? Do we know how many are planned? Totally hooked!

They're released every Thursday morning (I can usually grab them before my commute). 12 episodes were planned but Sarah K has said that may do a few more since the story is evolving.

Cool--thanks!

Here's an interactive timeline of the story so far:

http://www.ibtimes.com/pulse/serial-recap-adnan-syed-jay-hae-min-lee-whole-case-so-far-explained-one-interactive-1715790

As for episode 6, still processing but it really threw things off for Adnan. Why didn't he try to reach Hae? His long pause was really uncomfortable. Then the weird neighbor kid story (although I wrote that off). And the phone call at Cathy's place - was there a third person?

This is really interesting. I put it on Stitcher and listened to four episodes in a row.

Any interest in having a meetup? My wife and I can provide cookies and conversation starters.

Cheers,
Andrew

I finally started listening and am hooked as well! I'm currently on Episode 5. I commute with my 5-year-old so I haven't been able to listen on the way to work consistently. Sometimes if he's been engrossed in something I've been listening clandestinely, with the sound turned down and pointing to the driver's side speakers

It's wrong, but I can't stop laughing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stYkaBFpDyc&list=PLWVT5pP_l9qRjvfpD5LaA5AMC3y4CNgbf&index=1

It's Thursday! Episode 7 is up! project37, that's very funny and they have two other spoofs up now as well. To pass the time between now and last Thursday, I listened to Slate's Serial Spoiler podcast; listened to SK's interview on "The Gist," finally found out what reddit is and read the subreddit... so now I'm hooked like these guys:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpH1Q7--w0E

The spoofs are better than the show!

(Adnan is a murdering scum)

Yesterday's episode was the first where I was annoyed by Sarah Koenig. I also felt guilty at the entertainment aspect of the show while someone's life hangs in the balance.

I thought it was a really interesting episode. Will that Innocence Project be actually taking on the case now, or are they just pointing her in the right direction? I was not clear.

I liked it, too. It didn't move the story by much but it effectively addressed something that's been bothering me all along, which is, what if Adnan is an incredibly skilled, manipulative sociopath?

What I really liked about it was that someone actually stated "it doesn't seem like a strong enough case to prosecute." This is what I have not been able to understand about the whole situation. The ENTIRE case relies on the testimony of this one guy, who is not even really a witness. It's supported by his friend Jen, but her testimony seems like total hearsay, right? She's just reporting what Jay told her which could all be total BS.

I sat on a jury the summer for an attempted murder trial. The entire case rested on the word of the victim who was a pothead drug dealer and not the most reliable witness. We found him not guilty in under 10 minutes. Nobody on the jury could believe that the prosecution had brought this case to trial.

Wow, sounds so similar!!

Also, does anyone else feel like Adnan's attorney was really not good at her job? Seems like you could easily make a strong case for reasonable doubt here.

She definitely wasn't good and was in trouble with the bar.

I am really relieved that the Innocence proect is involved. My comments about SK relate to the way she sort of whines to the law professor. I found it grating. Also she teased that bit about Hai's new boyfriend at the top and then didn't revisit it.

I'm listening out of loyalty, but not really riveted. I listen while I walk the dog, and my mind wanders, and I miss a lot. I'll probably stick with it.

eliz said:

Yesterday's episode was the first where I was annoyed by Sarah Koenig. I also felt guilty at the entertainment aspect of the show while someone's life hangs in the balance.

Slate has a podcast about the podcast (yes, really) and it's unlistenable because it's all about the entertainment aspect. Pretty obnoxious. Rabia's latest blog post about episode 7 talks about the Innocence Project's involvement with this case and is a must-read:

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/splitthemoon/2014/11/serial-episode-7-in-which-i-exhale/

And an interesting writeup from the Guardian about the sub-Reddit and the risks to the case:

http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/nov/07/serial-listeners-detectives-troubling-results