Production and operations managed by Emily Condon. This episode of “Serial” was produced by Sarah Koenig, Julie Snyder and Dana Chivvis, with editorial advisory by Ira Glass and editing help from Nancy Updike. This is a study guide for NPRs podcast Serial, Season 1, by Sarah Koenig.
The New York Times Company acquired Serial Productions in 2020. “Serial” has been downloaded 1 billion times and won the Peabody and the Nobel Prize. When it launched in 2014, “Serial” became a global sensation that has been credited with launching the modern era of audio journalism.
The high-school scene, the shifting statements to the police, the prejudices, the sketchy alibis, the scant forensic evidence - all of it leads back to the most basic questions: How can you know a person’s character? How can you tell what they’re capable of? In Season One of “Serial,” she looks for answers.
She discovered that the trial covered up a far more complicated story than the jury - or the public - ever got to hear. Sarah Koenig sorted through thousands of documents, listened to trial testimony and police interrogations, and talked to everyone she could find who remembered what happened between Adnan Syed and Hae Min Lee. Some people believe he’s telling the truth. But Adnan has always maintained he had nothing to do with Hae’s death. Investigator and journalist, Sarah Koenig, hosted the podcast and she presents her story in a form of reporter, in which she shares the story of a murder that occurred in Baltimore, Maryland. The case against him was largely based on the story of one witness, Adnan’s friend Jay, who testified that he helped Adnan bury Hae’s body. The Serial is a suspenseful audio storytelling podcast that explores different and dramatic scenarios for each of their episodes. He was convicted, and sentenced to life in prison. And two weeks after that, her former boyfriend and classmate, 17-year-old Adnan Syed, was arrested for the crime. A month later, her body was found in a city park. Her 17-year-old ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed, was charged with murder, and within a year, he was sentenced to life in prison. A high-school senior named Hae Min Lee disappeared one day after school in 1999, in Baltimore County, Maryland. Instead of a 20 or 40 minute podcast, each of episode is an hour long, and there.
Before we talk about the case, the way Serial is presented is actually really interesting. After listening to the first episode, I’m eager for more. A month later, her body was found in a city park. When looking at a case as large as Adnan Syed’s, you couldn’t convince me to watch a podcast. A high-school senior named Hae Min Lee disappeared one day after school in 1999, in Baltimore County, Maryland.