Producing an interesting and worthwhile podcast is difficult to do. This is especially true for podcasts that have many episodes in a series. From episodes one through nine of Serial, the producer has done a wonderful job of maintaining my interest throughout the podcast. Sarah Koenig and her team achieve this by making the podcast conversational through appropriate pauses in her narration, bringing on other experts to provide new perspectives to Adnan\u2019s case, and continuously stressing the fact that it is almost impossible to determine whether Adnan was actually responsible for Hae Min Lee\u2019s murder. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In episodes seven through nine the author makes great use of empty space to create an easy-to-listen podcast. In many parts throughout the podcast, I noticed that the narrator would take long pauses between her speech. These pauses primarily took place after a big fact was revealed or when Koenig transitioned from one main idea to another. In episode eight, there is an eight second moment without dialogue after Koenig has described Jay\u2019s behavior in court. In these eight seconds the listener is brought back to reality and is able to explore the meaning of Jay\u2019s behavior in court before a different topic is introduced. Looking at this from a different perspective, if Koenig had rapidly moved on to the next topic the listener would have been overburdened with information. Therefore, moments without dialogue help the reader absorb and process new information presented to them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
An element that brought new energy to the podcast was Koenig\u2019s collaboration with guest speakers. In episode eight, Sarah teams up with director of the University of Virginia School of Law\u2019s Innocence Project, Dierdre Enright. This guest appearance is significant because Enright is a professional specialized in criminal cases. Her expertise in this area brings a different perspective to old facts from previous episodes. For example, Enright says, while talking to Sarah, that she is concerned about racial profiling taking a role in Adnan’s case, since Adnan is a Muslim from Pakistan. This development influences listeners to believe that Adnan is indeed innocent and that it was malpractice in judicial procedures that got him jail time. Therefore, Enright\u2019s participation in this episode is helpful because she provides new insights into the case and gives Koenig new leads to follow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Furthermore, by having other professionals on the podcast Koenig shares the workload and is able to explain the more technical aspects of the case. In episode nine, Koenig\u2019s team hires a detective, named Jim Trainum, to get a detective\u2019s perspective on the investigation of Hae Min Lees murder and Jay as a witness. By the end of the episode, Trainum tells Koenig that, in his opinion, Adnan\u2019s criminal case is a pretty sound case and that despite some inconsistencies it doesn\u2019t seem like the detectives jumped to conclusions or missed any key evidence. This insight is meaningful to both the listener and Koenig because it gives evidence why Adnan could be guilty from an unbiased third party. Therefore, Trainum gives a new spin to what seemed to be a shaky case and increases the validity of conclusions made during the trial itself. Despite other people taking a part in the podcast, this podcast retains its identity by having Koenig drive the conversation with her guests instead of these individuals taking over the podcast completely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Uncertainty of the truth is the major source of suspense that drives the plot of all the episodes in this podcast forward. Koenig uses this to pull in listeners and hold their interest by spinning certain evidence to show that Adnan might be innocent and then using aspects of that same evidence to show that he could be guilty. This is seen in episode 8, when Koenig tries to give a description of Jay, the key witness, based on information she gathers from his friend. Koenig notes some people said that Jay was scary and intimidating while others said that he was goofy and friendly. This dichotomy leaves the reader dumbfounded and unsure of what to make of Jay and the validity of his testimony in Adnan’s case. Therefore, the listener waits eagerly for more evidence to clear things up. The next piece of evidence, however, almost always turns out to be equally as confusing. For example, towards the end of episode nine Koenig makes the point that Adnan can no longer confess to murdering Hae after all the pain he caused his family and friends. This line of reasoning makes sense up until the point when Adnan says, that if he was guilty and actually confessed it would be easier on his family than them thinking he was in jail unjustly. After listening to all this evidence, the listener has some validation for Adnan being guilty and some for him not being guilty. This pattern is present in each episode and drives listeners to tune in week after week to resolve the mystery and suspense. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the podcast Serial nears its end the producer masterfully builds up the suspense and continues to surprise listeners by providing new perspectives of the case through guest speakers. I am interest to find out how this season of Serial will conclude and whether or not Koenig will decompress all of the points she has built up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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