The first podcast I am going to review is the most popular one, at least in terms of downloads anyway. Serial comes from This American Life and Chicago.. and follows presenter Sarah Keonig and her journey to investigate the circumstances of the death of teenager Hae Min Lee in 1999.
This episodic show focuses entirely around the potential murderers including Adnan Syed, the former ex boyfriend of the victim who has been imprisoned. The podcast usually starts with the ominous theme scored by Mark H Phillips and Nick Thorborn followed by a phone call to Syed in prison.
What follows is a good 30 minutes of fantastic journalism from Keonig, who is constantly asking questions of the circumstances involving the characters and always keeping the audience on their toes. It will introduce you to a character leaving you immediately questioning whether they are a killer or not.
Koenig paints a picture for the listener that makes a complicated story easy to follow. It is also incredibly stylized with its theme, score, narrative and the overall way in which it presents itself to its audience. Serial is essentially the podcast equivalent of David Fincher films such as Seven, Zodiac or Gone Girl as you follow the protagonists every step and always keeps you guessing. Of course, like any Fincher film it also doesn't end how you want or expect but it doesn't make it anything short of a masterpiece.
With Serial's consistent themes and established narrative techniques, it's easy to see why the podcast has been parodied to absolute death. From "This British life" to the millions of podcasts that take the word 'serial' very literally .
Serial is a genuine cause for excitement, especially if you are enthusiastic about Radio and Pod-casting. Those who argue that audio based media "does not go viral" have surely been promptly shut up, at least for the time being.
Please go and listen to Serial.
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