SERIAL

I, Shelly Ann Swope, am a podcast junkie. I love them. I grew up listening to Adventures in Odyssey (which admittedly isn’t exactly a podcast but is a radio drama) and then Megan got me hooked on This American Life and The Moth which led to Radio Lab and Risk and most recently, Serial.

Serial is the number 1 podcast in the United States. 1 story told over 12 weeks. 5 million downloads and streams on iTunes - the fastest downloaded podcast in the history of Apple’s iTunes store. Serial investigates the 1999 murder of Have Min Lee - a high school student in Baltimore Maryland - and the conviction of her ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed who is currently in prison serving a life sentence. Adnan Syed to this day firmly claims his innocence and though convicted, there is no physical evidence linking him to the murder, merely the claims of a “friend” and some relatively questionable cell-phone records that were used by the state to place Adnan at the scene of the crime.

WARNING. If you haven’t listened to Serial, are interested in listening to Serial, are half-way through and super interested and therefore don’t want to know how it all works out in the end YOU SHOULD STOP READING NOW.

I finished listening to Serial this morning. I am sad. I am sad it is over. I am sad that there wasn’t a true conclusion. I am sad that there is potentially an innocent man in prison for a crime he did not commit. I am sad that ALL THESE YEARS LATER he is potentially STILL paying for the lies a so-called friend may have told about him. I am sad that if the serial killer did indeed kill Hae that he was released by the state ACCIDENTALLY and should have never been free in the first place. All of this was so entirely avoidable. Mistakes were made. Lives were lost. Extreme prices were paid.

Serial season 1 is complete and I LOVED it. I spent approximately 12 hours of commute time listening to the mystery unfold and I would start at the beginning and listen to the entire thing again. OH HOW I HOPE THERE IS A SERIAL SEASON 2. The podcast junkie in me is screaming for more. And let’s be real, I live in Orange County - my commute isn’t going anywhere so I need a good podcast to pass the endless hours of traffic! Until Season 2, I’m back to This American Life and The Moth - the old faithfuls - but I shall wait with bated breath for the next mystery to unfold and hope it is just as good as it’s predecessor!