Serial Podcast Thread

[nevets88]

Anyone listening? So I'm just about finished with the latest episode, episode 9. It's a riveting story, a detailed look into the investigative process, a curious social phenomenon, among other things. A second season is planned - I wonder if its popularity is more due to the content or the format? We'll see next year. How will it end? I don't think there will be any definitive answers, no miracle discovery, just murkiness.

---

http://serialpodcast.org/

Quote:

Serial is a podcast where we unfold one nonfiction story, week by week, over the course of a season. We'll stay with each story for as long as it takes to get to the bottom of it.

We'll release new episodes every Thursday morning. Listeners can subscribe for free to the Serial podcast on iTunes and other audio platforms, and can also listen here on this site. Serial, like This American Life, is a production of WBEZ Chicago, which also produces these podcasts.

More about Serial:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/24/business/media/serial-podcastings-first-breakout-hit-sets-stage-for-more.html?_r=0

Reddit:

http://www.reddit.com/r/serialpodcast

http://www.reddit.com/r/serialpodcast/comments/2mmldf/i_am_haes_brother_do_not_ama

---

[Golfingdad]

Yes ... I'm enthralled. Just learned about it over the weekend and I'm thru episode 5 to this point.

[jamo]

I originally heard about it on Twitter, then heard Sepinwall review it on his podcast. Decided to give it a listen, finished the whole thing in two or three days. I was so hooked I was making up excuses just to go driving (I find it easier to concentrate when I'm driving rather than sitting at my desk on my laptop or something). Really enjoying it.

[Golfingdad]

10 minutes left in the latest episode and I'll be all caught up.

While I think it's a safe bet we'll never know, my current opinions are that Adnan did it, but should never have been convicted.  The evidence is way too thin and circumstantial, however, nothing else really makes much sense.

[jamo]

10 minutes left in the latest episode and I'll be all caught up. While I think it's a safe bet we'll never know, my current opinions are that Adnan did it, but should never have been convicted.  The evidence is way too thin and circumstantial, however, nothing else really makes much sense.

Iiiiiiinteresting. I go back and forth about whether or not I think Adnan did it, but I still don't think there's any way he should have been convicted.

[Golfingdad]

Iiiiiiinteresting. I go back and forth about whether or not I think Adnan did it, but I still don't think there's any way he should have been convicted.

Running through Reddit discussions on the topic, here is a little exchange that kind of highlights how I have felt about Adnan all along but couldn't quite pinpoint (emphasis added by me):

[–]Pegaret 64 points 19 days ago

Great comment. The "who did do it" exclamation really stuck in my mind too. Something I've noticed is that when Jay is expressing things there is something clear & immediate to it, whereas I would describe Adnan's responses as sort of ...un-resonant? Empty? Plastic? Hesitant? Does anyone else know what I mean?

permalink

parent

[–]herbiclorineSteppin Out 55 points 19 days ago

Yes! I've thought about this as well. He REALLY weighs his responses. I feel like nothing is really spontaneous. (Disclaimer: today's episode could have influenced my thoughts about adnan) Of course we don't have an actual tape of 30 year old Jay so there's that as well.

Also, something that hasn't been able to leave my mind was a couple of episodes back, Sarah was kinda 'desperate' and talking to Adnan. She was asking or rather saying all these things and Adnan stayed quiet... Until he said something along the lines of 'were you gonna ask a question?'. I don't know why but it kinda stuck with me...

Now, granted, we are comparing current Adnan to 15 years ago Jay, but he hasn't yet struck me as "real."  He still seems to be holding back more than he's opening up .... every sentence seems way too calculated for my tastes.

[nevets88]

I think they're both lying. Duh. Of course. I'm guessing Jay had a lot more to do with it than the evidence presents even though he didn't kill Hae if Adnan did it. If Jay did it, I think Adnan was deeply complicit in some way. All conjecture.

When Adnan is on the phone with Koenig, there are some long pauses after some of Koenig's questions. I don't know if it's the connection, editing, or realtime.

The podcast paints a very rosy picture of Adnan's time in jail. Left alone basically. I find that hard to believe, but I guess it's possible. Only one writeup his whole time there and a minor one at thath.

[jamo]

Running through Reddit discussions on the topic, here is a little exchange that kind of highlights how I have felt about Adnan all along but couldn't quite pinpoint (emphasis added by me): Now, granted, we are comparing current Adnan to 15 years ago Jay, but he hasn't yet struck me as "real."  He still seems to be holding back more than he's opening up .... every sentence seems way too calculated for my tastes.

I agree to a point, but I also think that anyone in jail for 15 years for a crime he didn't commit (assuming, for this point, that he didn't do it) would be conditioned to not say anything in haste.

[Golfingdad]

I agree to a point, but I also think that anyone in jail for 15 years for a crime he didn't commit (assuming, for this point, that he didn't do it) would be conditioned to not say anything in haste.

Perhaps.  OTOH, if he didn't do it, then I see no reason to be cautious with his words because he can't "slip up" if he's being truthful.  On the other other hand, he DOES have to be cautious now because he knows he's very close to what might be (???) his last chance at freedom.  He has an appeal scheduled sometime in January.

Whenever people that they talk to don't remember something that would help, I get irritated ... and then I remember that I don't remember anything from 1999 either.

---

I was fascinated that the one juror had no idea that Jay didn't go to jail, and in fact assumed at the time that he was going to jail, hence her belief that he lacked a motive for lying, and perhaps hence her justification for believing him.

I find that odd because the time that I was a juror in a murder case it was made very clear to us (pretty sure by the defense attorney) that the "friends" who were ratting him out were getting deals.  It seems like at the very least it would behoove the defense to make it clear to the jury of that conflict of interest.  But then, it also seems like there were several things that Adnan's defense attorney didn't do that maybe she should have.

[jamo]

Perhaps.  OTOH, if he didn't do it, then I see no reason to be cautious with his words because he can't "slip up" if he's being truthful.  On the other other hand, he DOES have to be cautious now because he knows he's very close to what might be (???) his last chance at freedom.  He has an appeal scheduled sometime in January.

He can still slip up and say something that makes him look guilty, even if he isn't guilty. Someone who was already wrongly convicted of murder (again, assuming his innocence) would be particularly aware of this. (I, for instance, am very bad telling the truth in situations where people think I'm lying. I tend to laugh/smile and oversell the truth, and people think I'm trying to hold back a lie. You don't always have to be telling a lie to make people think you are.) [quote name="Golfingdad" url="/t/78360/serial-podcast-thread/0_30#post_1081356"]I was fascinated that the one juror had no idea that Jay didn't go to jail, and in fact assumed at the time that he was going to jail, hence her belief that he lacked a motive for lying, and perhaps hence her justification for believing him.[/quote] The fact that the defense council didn't probe into Jay's own situation would be another of her many mistakes.

[Golfingdad]

He can still slip up and say something that makes him look guilty, even if he isn't guilty. Someone who was already wrongly convicted of murder (again, assuming his innocence) would be particularly aware of this.

You seem to know an awful lot about this.  What are you hiding?!?!?!

(I, for instance, am very bad telling the truth in situations where people think I'm lying. I tend to laugh/smile and oversell the truth, and people think I'm trying to hold back a lie. You don't always have to be telling a lie to make people think you are.)

LOL ... Oh, I know this feeling too.  I can't help but laugh, which is exactly what they'd probably expect of a guy "caught" in a lie.

[jamo]

You seem to know an awful lot about this.  What are you hiding?!?!?!

In case you were wondering, I don't remember January 13th, 1999 either.

[nevets88]

Transcript for latest episode:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1J86pkWfNOUQUEld0k88H8Jpe5-IG7rssPp3epZhRLpc/edit#

Man, what happened to Adnan's lawyer?

[Golfingdad]

Transcript for latest episode:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1J86pkWfNOUQUEld0k88H8Jpe5-IG7rssPp3epZhRLpc/edit#

Man, what happened to Adnan's lawyer?

No way am I opening that page!  My commute is only about 25 minutes long so I'm just about halfway through the episode and won't get to the other half until this evening.

My biggest takeaway so far:

I was intrigued by the idea in the last episode (or maybe the one before that) where Adnan says he has zero motive for lying at this point.  He basically said that if he had done it, it would be so much easier on his friends and family to handle the situation if they knew that, because they could at least rest easy knowing that he was where he belonged.  That made sense to me.

After the first few minutes of this episode, however, I realize that the opposite of that is true.  He has every reason to keep up the charade (assuming that he's guilty obviously) for the sake of his parents, or at least for his mom.

[nevets88]

SNL does Serial! [video]http://youtu.be/l9XpS6mIZfI[/video]

[nevets88]

Maryland stands by its case against ‘Serial’ subject Adnan Syed

Quote:

That same month, Syed filed an application with the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, hoping to overturn the Circuit Court’s denial of post-conviction relief.

As part of the “post-conviction process,” the state’s appeals court asked the state of Maryland to comment on Syed’s request. The state responded Wednesday and “respectfully request[ed] that the Court deny the application.”

The state’s response isn’t surprising, but the success of “Serial” has created a whirlwind press campaign, all while Syed remains in prison. What should we know about Syed’s appeal ahead of a decision?

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/maryland-stands-case-serials-adnan-syed/

[nevets88]

Hearing recommendations for Limetown for those who liked Serial:

http://www.limetownstories.com/

 

[nevets88]

Serial season 2 is here!

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/photos/2015/12/serial-season-2-bowe-bergdahl