The Serial podcast is about a murder. Young Adnan Syed was accused and convicted of his girlfriend Hae Min Lee’s murder in 1999. An anonymous phone call tipped police off about Adnan and made him the main suspect. Lee was found buried in a shallow grave in Leakin Park. Her cause of death? Manual Strangulation.
Adnan was convicted of first degree murder.
Recently I listened to the Serial podcast. Now, I’ve only listened to episode one, but I really liked it. I like crime stories and enjoy watching crime documentaries so I was immediately interested. This is a topic of which we brushed over in my grade ten English class and I liked it then too. I find Adnan’s story very fascinating and in this episode it is only the beginning.
This piece of investigative journalism is presented through a podcast which I both like and dislike. I like it because you can listen to it and many eye-witnesses are interviewed. Through this format you can hear the tone that the witnesses and the investigator use which helps develop the story better than in written form. I dislike this format because you can’t see anyone or anything. I would prefer to be able to see the investigator, witnesses, and scenes being described.
This has become a very popular podcast.
Serial supports Adnan Syed by interviewing his close friends and giving supporting evidence that he may have been wrongly convicted. How would this make Hae Min Lee’s family feel? That is a very good question. This podcast goes against their opinion of their daughters death and takes away from their justice. That fact alone I’m sure angers them. They also did not know that Hae Min was dating Adnan. This, in my opinion, would affect the way they viewed the case and Adnan to begin with. Lee’s family probably does not like the podcast or it’s popularity. In their situation who would?
I like to listen to this type of text instead of read because it helps me to better understand and pay attention to the story. Listening to a text helps by setting the tone through voice instead of words. This makes it easier to interpret the meaning and mood. A draw back of this format would be it is easy to get distracted by things around you when you are not reading and moving your eyes along the page. This works for some but not for others.
At the beginning of this episode Koeing introduces an idea. It is hard for people,
especially busy teens to remember specific points of their day and week. I agree with this point because I find it hard to remember what I did on a specific date and time.I think throughout the rest of the podcast that point will be in the back of my mind. I think that some of the evidence will be foggy because of that point.
To read more about this case: follow this link and this link to listen to the podcast click here.
My ENG4U Blog 
Hi Ali. I feel the same way about Serial, I really liked it too!
I agree with you that Hae Min Lee’s family wouldn’t like the podcast show because perhaps they don’t want to be reminded of the tragedy. I would have to disagree on one of the drawbacks of podcasts you mention, however. You said that you don’t like podcasts because it doesn’t allow you to see the characters or the scenes but I think it actually makes the story more interesting because the audience can use their imagination and picture the scenes in their heads. Do you think that Serial would have gained more popularity if it was on the TV, rather than podcasts?
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I think it would have gained more popularity that way because it allows the story to be more accessible. This podcast was something I didn’t know about for years and I’d love to listen to the whole thing but I always forget. I think that more people watch crime stories on television than look for them on the internet like this and that if it was on television it would be much more popular. Also, I like your point you made about disagreeing with my drawback! I could see why people prefer it that way.
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Hey, I enjoyed reading your podcast and had the same opinions on the podcast format. I am not sure if I agree with your point about how Hae Min’s family might not like the podcast. I would wonder if Hae Min’s family would also think that Adnan was not the murderer and in that case, they would want to know who the real murderer of their family member was, if not Adnan. You said you disliked podcasts since there is nothing to see and you said a podcast is better than written form. Would you like a magazine article with pictures better than a podcast on this case?
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I think I would because I would be able to see some of the scenes and people who are involved. Which format would you prefer?
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I too felt the same way about listening to the podcast vs reading it. And I actually agree with your point about not being able to see the characters as I made the same point in my blog post! Do you think that being able to see the speakers would affect how you viewed this podcast? Also do you think that after hearing this podcast people think twice about Adnans case?
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I think it would affect how I viewed the podcast as it would be easier to interpret how sincere they are by their facial expressions. I think that people would as even in just the first episode, many strong points were brought up to show that it may not have been Adnan.
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Hey Ali.
While writing my own post I also wondered how Lee’s family would react to this new popularity. Since Serial has produced a cult following, a lot of fans think that there should be a retrial and that Adnan isn’t guilty. Do you personally think Adnan is guilty? Also, given the commercial popularity of Serial I wonder if the Syed or Lee family has made any financial profit. Would it be morally right for either side to be making profit off such a case?
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I’m on the fence about Adnan after just this episode. Going off his character reference by his family friend it didn’t sound as though he was but Jay’s testimony seems air tight. I don’t think that either family should make a profit as this is something that Adnan’s friends and possibly family requested.
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