"Serial", a weekly podcast on NPR from the producers of "This American Life", is the latest sensation. The much-talked-about crime drama is a murder mystery and has become an obsession for a certain kind of audience.
But, this crime drama is slightly different than the other such crime serials. It is mostly a solo project. People hear it on their mobile devices so updating statuses on various social networking sites as per the developments on the show is out of the question, Forbes reports.
NPR is hoping that "Serial" will run for around 12 episodes, meaning it will most likely end around mid-December. It is already a success. More than a million people have streamed each episode, which shows that more than a million are following it. It has been downloaded an average 1.26 million times per episode. New episodes are available every Thursday at 6 a.m. ET.
"Serial" is about a real Baltimore murder investigation. Journalist Sarah Koenig has been assigned to reinvestigate the murder of a Baltimore high school student Hae Min Lee in 1999. Lee had been missing for a few weeks. Then one day, her body was found buried in a park. Her boyfriend, Adnan Syed, was the prime suspect. The trial was solely based on mobile phone records and the statement by a fellow classmate, Jay, who had said that he had helped Syed bury Lee's body. There was no forensic evidence, The Guardian reports.
Syed, was convicted for the murder in 1999 and has been in jail ever since. But, Koenig believes Syed is innocent.
However, time and again Koenig reminds the audience that she is neither a detective nor a lawyer, but just a questioner, The Denver Post reports. The audience can listen to her telephonic conversations with Syed, who is in Baltimore prison.
Recently, Koenig revealed to Vulture that "Serial" might ultimately result in a dead end.
"I do not know how this is all going to turn out. I just read a piece on Slate that insisted I have some tricks up my sleeve and am manipulating the audience in some way, and that really couldn't [be] farther from the truth... I'm not far ahead of you. Episode Five just aired, and I just did a first draft of Episode Six this afternoon, so I am pretty much creating this thing in real time now. Yes, I could say, there was a point where I thought I knew the truth. And then I found out that I didn't know as much as I thought I did, and I did more reporting, and now I don't know what I don't know again... I don't know that I'll ever be at peace with what we find or that there will be a definitive verdict."
