What Is Serial?
I will admit that I am an avid, even devoted, fan of Serial, the new podcast produced by the folks of another of my favorite podcasts, This American Life. But while I’ve listened to it raptly for the last eleven weeks and eagerly await the conclusion to be dropped tomorrow, in the last week or so I’ve also become a bit ambivalent…about both the podcast itself and my devotion to it.
A little background may help. Serial is a new podcast that this fall has told – really, is still telling as the conclusion is tomorrow – one story over twelve weeks. One true story, actually. It is the podcast/radio version of a Ken Burns documentary series, except rather than tell it through visuals and voice-overs, it’s done through recorded interviews and the masterful narration and guidance of Sarah Koenig, the show’s host and co-executive producer.
The story Serial debuted with – and the fundraising efforts this fall have been successful enough to ensure that there will be another season – revolves around the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee, a senior at Woodlawn High School in Baltimore, and the conviction of her former boyfriend, Adnan Syed. And over the last eleven weeks, we’ve been drawn into a re-examination of the case via interviews, reviews of evidence, the opinions of various experts, and Sarah Koenigs thoughtful, reflective narration of her investigation and her own ambivalence about where all this is going.
And that’s an important piece of the Serial phenomenon – and it’s been at or near the top of iTunes’ podcast charts since pretty much its debut: none of us knows how it will end. Not the hearer, certainly, but also not the host and producer, Sarah, and not the major participant, Adnan, who calls Sarah from the jail where he is serving a life-sentence. If you haven’t heard the podcast yet, you can imagine the suspense. It is a crime drama, documentary, and human interest story all in one. Adnan Syed is a thoughtful, likable person and it’s really hard not to root for him. (Sarah Koenig admits the same all the time.)
On all these fronts, this is fantastic podcasting/radio. But lately I’ve become more ambivalent. My misgivings, or at least questions, began in earnest after listening to this last week’s episode on some of the rumors that Sarah had been hearing about Adnan that might call into question the picture she has created for herself and us. But as it turns out, none of the rumors were particularly compelling or shed any real light on the case, so the episode become more of a venue for Sarah to share her own ambivalence and confusion about where this all might lead as well as to hear some of Adnan’s confusion and upset as well. He didn’t after all, request Sarah undertake this work; friends of his did. And while he’s been a willing participant in the interviews, everything he says is edited and mixed in order to tell the story the way the producers want. And, indeed, a tremendous amount of care goes into the telling of this story, just like lots of care goes into telling the “true stories” shared on “reality” television.
While I don’t want to suggest ever falls to the level of reality tv, we should also be clear that a) this is reality radio and b) there’s lots that we don’t her and the editors take great care in not just telling us the “facts” but in telling us a story and creating for us a particular experience. One they hope will encourage us to keep listening.
As I listened, I kept wondering to myself whether this was journalism or not. Sarah and the other principals in the podcast are, in fact, journalists. But most journalists know the ending of a documentary story like this before they share it. So is this journalism? Or is it narration, another example of the rebirth in interest in long-form narrative – in this case non-fiction rather than fiction – that we’ve become accustomed to on the cable channels. (Preachers and church leaders, by the way, should be paying attention to this renewed interest in great unfolding drama).
Or is it simply well-crafted voyeurism? Adnan has had his life and character utterly exposed and evaluated by the five million-plus listeners to the podcast, myself included. We’ve cheered for him, suspected him, wondered about him, hoped for him, perhaps even convicted him in our minds all over again. To what end. This isn’t a documentary about a “project innocence” case. There is little chance, it now appears, that anything will change regarding Adnan and his conviction. Except that we’ll all know a whole lot more about him and his case.
Most recently, I’ve also wondered about that intrusion this represents into the lives of all the family and friends of Hae Min Lee, the high school senior who was murdered fifteen years ago. Even if they chose not to participate or even to listen, what has this been like for them?
And so I’m not sure what to make of the podcast, how to classify it, think about it, or evaluate it ethically. And yet despite all these reservations, I’ll quite likely be listing to the final episode tomorrow with millions of others. So I’ll ask again, what is Serial? And what does its hold on so many of us say about the evolving world of journalism and narrative and the blending of the two? And, what, finally, does our fascination with not just this form but this particular story also say about ourselves? I’d be eager to hear your experiences and thoughts.
The question I find myself asking involves the Golden Rule: If someone I loved were the victim, how would I feel about millions viewing my loss as entertainment?
As much as I’ve loved Homicide: Life on the Streets, The Wire, and The Sopranos, they are all fiction.
But then, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil was both fascinating as a novel and yet about a real killing.
You sound a bit like Sarah with your uncertainty about how you feel 😉
I admit too, that last weeks episode was hard for me too. I think in the excitement, mystery, and wonder of it all… I had forgotten Adnan’s personhood. His story had become a form of entertainment for me.
I am so puzzled by people calling this “entertainment.” Whatever it is–and you bring up good questions about whether it’s journalism–I don’t find it to be entertainment. It is entertainING, but I don’t put it in the genre of entertainment. How can we? I feel challenged, puzzled, enlightened, confused. She’s going for something deeper than entertainment.
For me the show is a rumination on the criminal justice system. Can’t remember what episode it was that she interviewed the guy who was talking about “bad evidence,” and how a big part of an investigation is to build a case, not to uncover the truth. You don’t always pursue leads that don’t support your case. I found that extraordinary, and actually couldn’t believe she got someone in the criminal justice system to admit that.
I also think it’s invited interesting philosophical questions. Adnan maintains his innocence even though it was in his best interest to plead guilty and negotiate a lesser sentence. His dogged persistence in maintaining the “truth” means he will never be released. I happen to think he did not kill Hae, so it feels like a real catch 22.