Long commutes, flights and waiting in lounges have just got more exciting with Serial — a podcast in which the host Sarah Koenig lets people listen to her method of meticulous investigative journalism as she revisits a real-life case of a murder that took place in Baltimore in 1999, involving high-school students under dubious circumstances.
Currently cruising at the top of the iTunes podcasts chart, the serialised audio narrative follows a new chapter of the murder investigation, week after week.
Available for free on iTunes and Sound Cloud, the spin-off of the radio programme This American Life has found a fervent fan following.
Parul Kapoor, a freelance writer, says, “I simply cannot get enough of this podcast. It’s really intense, and keeps you hooked. Somehow, I cannot do other things when I am listening to it. It requires your full attention.”
For Sriram Mohan, a web manager, it is the long-form format which works. He says, “Long-form narrative and podcast documentaries, in fact, make a lot of sense. I always find myself thinking like the producer, checking how they are keeping up the engagement.”
With its novel storytelling format, the show has become a rage among fans, spawning debate, conspiracy theories and even hashtags and memes on social media.
