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“Serial” Podcast Reflection

“Serial” is a podcast about the investigation of a murder that occurred on January 13 ,1999 about a high school boy, Adnan Syed, who was convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend. The case started to become increasingly popular over the last few years after Sarah Koenig revisited the case with some new ideas and created a podcast to represent her ideas. Interest in this incident exploded after the creation of her podcast sparked new life into the case. Overall, I found the podcast to be very well done. It was informative, insightful, and entertaining at the same time. She not only used facts but also included well thought out ideas that were logical and accurate. One particular thing I enjoyed about the podcast was when she included other witnesses’ voices. This allowed me to get a break from hearing the same voice constantly, and also gave me new perspectives. Concentrating on only one point of view is dangerous and irrational. It’s crucial to get multiple angles on a situation in order to come up with rational solutions.

Koenig began the podcast by testing the memory skills of several teens. She began by asking them to recall specific occurrences from days in the past. Most of the teens could not remember such specific details such has the food they ate or what they did at a certain time. The point of conducting this ‘experiment’ in the start is to prove that the information provided by the witnesses may not always be accurate. Since this event occurred more than 18 years ago, and the witnesses were teens back then, the study gives a good understanding of how the information that the witnesses provide may not be accurate. The point that she tried to prove confused me. I don’t take note of such specific insignificant details that have occurred in the past to me, and I assume most people do not either. Remembering specific details can be nearly impossible for me unless something significant had happened to me that day. This is why the point she tries to convey isn’t a very strong one. I believe that the details the witnesses provided were accurate (other than Jay, who changed parts of his story many times) since a murder is a significant event. A main point that Koenig conveys during the episode is that the way Syed speaks, by having long pauses and saying that he understands how suspicious it may sound from her end, seems suspicious to her. In an interview, Syed said, "I could never just talk about my case with Ms. Koenig. I had to always analyze and evaluate every response I gave her, because I felt she had a general disposition to believe I was never telling the truth" (Fletcher, “Here's what Serial's Adnan Syed thinks of Sarah Koenig”). It is extremely difficult for him to provide his point of view on the case since he is automatically assumed to be providing biased information.

I personally dislike podcasts because I find it hard to concentrate on audio. Another reason I dislike podcasts is because it’s very easy to miss a crucial information. The only benefit of podcasts, I find, is that they can be used for people that have trouble reading. Reading information is far more beneficial to me than listening to information since I can always go back to a part that I missed. Reading information forces me to read through each line. In order to not miss crucial information, I wrote down notes when something important happened. I personally prefer to gather information from sources that provide auditory and visual presentations such as TV and online videos.
Works Cited:
Fletcher, Harry. "Here's what Serial's Adnan Syed thinks of Sarah Koenig." Digital Spy. N.p., 09 Aug. 2016. Web. 21 Mar. 2017.

Koenig, Sarah, prod. "The Alibi." Episode #1. Serial. WBEZ Chicago, n.d. Web. 3 Oct. 2014. <http://serialpodcast.org>.

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