In my previous blog entry, we\ndiscussed the tale of Bowe Bergdahl, the American Soldier that, in an apparent\ndeath wish, left his post and wandered into Taliban controlled Afghanistan.\nWhile we do know now that his goal was to create a DUSTWUN (if you do not know\nwhat a DUSTWUN is, I highly encourage you to go back to my last entry as it\nwill help you fully understand and enjoy this sequel post) to bring attention\nto the bad leadership within his unit and that he was recovered around five\nyears later through a deal struck between the United States and the Taliban.\nHowever, we have yet to learn about his exact capture, the Taliban\u2019s strategy\nin hiding him from United States Searches, and the colossal effort the United\nStates army put into place to find and reclaim Bergdahl. The exact details of\nthis story are, again, masterfully played out through the interwoven narrative\nfeatures of interviews, music, and varying perspectives of The Golden Chicken,\nthe second episode of the season 2 Serial Podcast. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our narrator, Sarah Koenig, left us\nlisteners on a well-delivered cliffhanger at the end of episode one, playing\nthe first few lines of her phone call with a Taliban member. After a short\nadvertisement from Rocket Mortgage and an introduction made up of various audio\nclips, Koenig picks up her phone-in interview with Mujahid Rahman, not the real\nname of a Taliban fighter who was part of the group who found, captured, and\nkept Bergdahl hidden from American forces. The goal was to eventually get\nBergdahl to Pakistan where he would become a \u201cGolden Chicken,\u201d or very valuable\nto the Taliban as United States forces had no power within Pakistan. Rahman\nalso describes the hospitality they treated Bergdahl even performing a\ntraditional Afghan dance known as an Attan as he was labeled, by the higher-ups\nas a guest. The perspective is then switched to that of Bergdahl\u2019s where he\nbriefly describes a desperate escape attempt, he made on the first day of his\ncapture. Conclusively, interviews with various American soldiers and commanders\nwrap up the back half of this episode aiding Koenig is describing the immense\neffort given by the Army to search for Bergdahl, the dangers and miseries and\nhatred toward Bergdahl that came with it, \u201cIt got to the point where sleep, I\nmean, sort of became a distant reality. Just 24 hours a day, seven days a week.\nNo sleep, no nothing. You just ran out of juice. All the guys are just\nmiserable, and it’s just like hell on earth.\u201d In an interview with Command\nSergeant Major Kenneth Wolfe, he states that serious conversations were whether\nor not to shoot Bergdahl once he was found because of the misery he caused\nthem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being produced by the same company\nand having the same narrator, lead to many similarities in narrative features\nbetween episode 1 and 2, as to be expected. Two of these common themes included\nthe use of interviews from various perspectives and introduction clips and\nclosing credits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The various interviews as a\nnarrative feature built a compelling storyline as it presented a back and forth\nbattle and view on the accounts of what happened. Around 7 different people\nwere interviewed for this podcast giving accounts from the Taliban, Bergdahl,\nand the American side. This gives a listener an exact idea of the strategies of\nall parties involved and allows and the insight stung together provides for a\ncompelling listen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This being the second episode, the\nintroduction clip and closing credits can now be confirmed as common themes of\nthe podcast. The narrative feature of closing credits gives quick recognition\nto those involved in the making of the podcast which is the sole reason for any\nof the other narrative features mentioned making it an important one for the\nlisteners. The feature of the introduction clip allows for a very brief idea of\nwhat is going on, playing audio files from various news, speeches, and even one\nfrom Bergdahl himself. It reminds us of the impact that Bergdahl\u2019s story had\nnot only on our time in Afghanistan but also the huge impact it had on our\nculture through media continuing on today. It compels us because it reminds us\nof just how important and how many lives have been affected by the one decision\nmade by Bergdahl on June 30th, 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In conclusion, while this second episode gave us deeper insight into Bowe Bergdahl, it also allowed us to see common themes of narrative features within this series including interviews from various perspectives and introduction clips and closing credits. These features keep the listener engaged and compelled to hear more of the infamous story of Bergdahl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Word Count 786<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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