'Serial' Podcast: A Captivating Look at Crime, Storytelling & Journalism

I spend my days looking forward to Thursday mornings now.

Since HBO's groundbreaking series "True Detective" wrapped up earlier this year, I've been looking to fill my "True D" void, fully knowing the show won't return until summer 2015. The cold bleakness of "The Leftovers" didn't quite do the trick (though I enjoyed that show for different reasons) and Fox's new "Gracepoint," a grizzly crime drama mini-series that's a shot-by-shot remake of the U.K.'s "Broadchurch," isn't pushing my buttons the way I thought it would.

Instead of turning to a TV show, I came across a new podcast that debuted in the first week of October called "Serial." And, like the rest of the Internet, I'm beyond hooked.

"Serial" is a spinoff of "This American Life" and is hosted and produced by Sarah Koenig. According to the podcast's website "Serial" "will follow one story - a true story - over the course of a whole season. We'll follow the plot and characters wherever they take us and we won't know what happens at the end of the story until we get there, not long before you get there with us. Each week we'll bring you the latest chapter, so it's important to listen in order, starting with Episode 1."

In it's first season, Koenig reels in listeners by revealing the details of the murder of Hae Min Lee, a high school senior in Baltimore County, Maryland, who was murdered on Jan. 13, 1999. Her ex-boyfriend and classmate, the charming and handsome Adnan Syed, was arrested six weeks later and eventually found guilty of Lee's murder. Though he still maintains his innocence, Syed has spent the last 15-years in prison. On paper, this may not sound like a riveting crime, but your mind will be scrambled and re-scrambled after hearing evidence and the testimony from the key players in the case.

Koenig tries to get to the bottom of what really happened to Lee, taking us on an adventure and through all the twists and turns she encounters on her search for justice.

Whether or not Syed killed his ex-girlfriend isn't totally the point of "Serial," though. Well, it is to some extent - the set up of the story is sure to grab you by your instinctive gut, especially if (true) crime is in your wheelhouse. But what's more fascinating is the way the story is told and its personal look into journalism.

"Serial," which has been critically praised and lauded by podcast listeners, is broken up into about 13 episodes, leaving fans craving for more information and resolution each week. The Guardian called it "new genre of audio storytelling" but Koenig downplays it, telling NPR the pod is "about the basics: love and death and just and truth," adding to the Guardian "Serial" is "not an original idea. Maybe in podcast form it is, and trying to do it as a documentary story is really, really hard. But trying to do it as a serial, this is as old as Dickens."

She's right - Charles Dickens' "Old Curiosity Shop" was a serial novel that was published weekly and was in such high demand, rabid New York fans swarmed a boat that was carrying the story's last installment. But this is Dickens in 2014; the perfect time where "Serial" doesn't just survive, but thrive. And it's clearly doing so, topping the iTunes podcast charts with the release of each episode.

Koenig also opens herself up in a way most journalists, myself included, would be terrified to do. She holds your hand and opens her head and let's you see her thought process, never worrying if what she's thinking is right or wrong or if she's going to look dumb (she never does). She admits she's not a crime journalist and that Syed's case kind of fell in her lap and she's since become obsessed (like the rest of us!) with figuring out what happened. "Serial" is Koenig's passion project and it comes through with each detail she reveals over the episodes. Koenig's narrative is so fresh and exciting, some suggest "Serial" may be the start of New Journalism and that it's a game changer in terms of podcasting.

As for an ending: no one really knows - not even Koenig. When asked how the first season of "Serial" will turn out, she's been flip-floppy. She initially said she was 80 percent sure how it ends, then went down to 64 percent but back up to 70 percent. This pretty much reflects some listeners' views too, well, at least mine, when it comes to a resolution. Still, there is some hope we'll get something that closes this flat circle.

"It's a huge risk, but also, I want people to trust that I know what I'm doing and can bring this home," she told Vulture. "I've been a radio reporter for ten years, and if I learned anything from my time at 'This American Life,' it's how to craft a narrative so that even if the ending is ambiguous, it is somehow satisfying."

Like Koenig admits, "Serial," at its core, is a basic but intriguing story; it's successful because it is able to transcend. But the podcast's backbone and spirit rile up something in its listeners. The show is special; something that only comes along every so often. Programs like "True Detective" and "Twin Peaks" are milestones in media and "Serial" is right up there with the best of them but pushes things even further because it's an interactive delight, thanks to the Internet: Do a simple Google search and have fun getting lost down a rabbit hole of thinkpieces, conspiracy theories, articles, forums and Reddit threads.

Koenig promises a second season of "Serial," but it could be totally different.

"We didn't conceive of it as a crime show; it's a mishap of the name," she told Vulture. "It's not about serial murders or killers! I'll be the host, but I don't know if it will be something I fully report or do with a partner, or if I will present someone else to tell their story."

Season One of "Serial" may be lightening in a bottle (the same can be said about the first season of "True Detective" and even season one of "Twin Peaks") but Koenig's got enough experience and expertise in storytelling to draw us in all over again. It doesn't matter if there's an ending to the story because the journey is just as exhilarating.

You can download "Serial" via iTunes. Or, listen to the podcast over at the official website of "Serial." Or, listen to some of the shows in this very story!