Serial

By This American Life

What's Serial about?

Serial is a podcast from the creators of This American Life, hosted by Sarah Koenig. Serial unfolds one story - a true story - over the course of a whole season. The show follows the plot and characters wherever they lead, through many surprising twists and turns. Sarah won't know what happens at the end of the story until she gets there, not long before you get there with her. Each week she'll bring you the latest chapter, so it's important to listen in, starting with Episode 1. New episodes are released on Thursday mornings.

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LAST EPISODE

S03 Episode 09: Some Time W...

11.15.2018

The state of Ohio decides where Joshua belongs.

Serial episodes:

11.15.2018 S03 Episode 09: Some Time When Everything Has Changed The state of Ohio decides where Joshua belongs.
11.08.2018 S03 Episode 08: A Madman’s Vacation A teenager decides to cooperate.
10.25.2018 S03 Episode 07: The Snowball Effect If you listen closely to the trash-talking, you start to get the message.
10.18.2018 S03 Episode 06: You in the Red Shirt Life after you put a cop in jail.
10.11.2018 S03 Episode 05: Pleas Baby Pleas Don’t tell the judges, but the prosecutors have the most power in the building.
10.04.2018 S03 Episode 04: A Bird in Jail Is Worth Two on the Street What happens when the right evidence points to the wrong man?
09.27.2018 S03 Episode 03: Misdemeanor, Meet Mr. Lawsuit The smell of raw marijuana + acting nervous + hands in pockets = ?
09.20.2018 S03 Episode 02: You’ve Got Some Gauls When a judge believes he knows you better than you know yourself.
09.20.2018 S03 Episode 01: A Bar Fight Walks into the Justice Center A young woman at a bar is slapped on the butt. So why’s she the one in jail?
09.05.2018 S03 Trailer Serial is heading back to court—this time, in Cleveland. Hear the trailer now.
03.28.2017 S-Town Is Live Sarah Koenig, Ira Glass, and Brian Reed talk about our new show, S-Town. All 7 chapters are available now.
03.14.2017 Preview of S-Town, Our New Show We have a new show! Here’s a sneak peek of S-Town, a new podcast from Serial and This American Life, hosted by Brian Reed. S-Town is the story of a man named John who despises his Alabama town and decides ...
03.31.2016 S02 Episode 11: Present for Duty The Season Two finale: What is Bowe’s fault, and what isn’t?
03.17.2016 S02 Episode 10: Thorny Politics Are you hearing what I’m hearing?
03.03.2016 S02 Episode 09: Trade Secrets You don’t make peace with your friends.
02.19.2016 S02 Episode 08: Hindsight, Part 2 Woulda, coulda, shoulda…
02.18.2016 S02 Episode 07: Hindsight, Part 1 It makes sense if you’re Bowe Bergdahl.
02.06.2016 S01 Update: Day 03, Adnan Syed’s Hearing February 2016: Sarah Koenig ducks back into the Adnan Syed case for a few days. There’s a hearing in Baltimore—a court proceeding that’s been nearly sixteen years in the making. Syed’s attorney will introduce new evidence, and present a case ...
02.05.2016 S01 Update: Day 02, Adnan Syed’s Hearing February 2016: Sarah Koenig ducks back into the Adnan Syed case for a few days. There’s a hearing in Baltimore—a court proceeding that’s been nearly sixteen years in the making. Syed’s attorney will introduce new evidence, and present a case ...
02.04.2016 S02 Episode 06: 5 O'Clock Shadow Why did Bowe Bergdahl walk off?
02.04.2016 S01 Update: Day 01, Adnan Syed’s Hearing February 2016: Sarah Koenig ducks back into the Adnan Syed case for a few days. There’s a hearing in Baltimore—a court proceeding that’s been nearly sixteen years in the making. Syed’s attorney will introduce new evidence, and present a case ...
01.21.2016 S02 Episode 05: Meanwhile, in Tampa CIA, FBI, YouTube, the Portland PD? There was no handbook for getting Bergdahl back.
01.14.2016 S02 Announcement: New Schedule A note from Sarah about our every-other-week schedule.
01.07.2016 S02 Episode 04: The Captors What's happening on the other side of the door?
12.24.2015 S02 Episode 03: Escaping Bergdahl’s first year in captivity starts with an escape and ends with an escape. In between, he learns necessary, twisted lessons of survival.
12.17.2015 S02 Episode 02: The Golden Chicken On the move with Bergdahl, the Taliban slip past the U.S. Army’s massive effort to find him. During those days and weeks, each side is asking, what is Bergdahl worth to us?
12.10.2015 S02 Episode 01: DUSTWUN In the middle of the night, Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl grabs a notebook, snacks, water, some cash. Then he quietly slips off a remote U.S. Army outpost in eastern Afghanistan and into the dark, open desert. About 20 minutes later, it ...
12.18.2014 S01 Episode 12: What We Know On January 13, 1999, Adnan Syed was a hurt and vengeful ex-boyfriend who carried out a premeditated murder. Or he was a bewildered bystander, framed for a crime he could never have committed. After 15 months of reporting, we take ...
12.11.2014 S01 Episode 11: Rumors Almost everyone describes the 17-year-old Adnan the same way: good kid, helpful at the mosque, respectful to his elders. But a couple of months ago, Sarah started getting phone calls from people who knew Adnan back then, and told her ...
12.04.2014 S01 Episode 10: The Best Defense is a Good Defense Adnan’s trial lawyer was M. Cristina Gutierrez, a renowned defense attorney in Maryland – tough and savvy and smart. Other lawyers said she was exactly the kind of person you’d want defending you on a first-degree murder charge. But Adnan ...
11.20.2014 S01 Episode 09: To Be Suspected New information is coming in about what maybe didn’t happen on January 13, 1999. And while Adnan’s memory of that day is foggy at best, he does remember what happened next: being questioned, being arrested and, a little more than ...
11.13.2014 S01 Episode 08: The Deal with Jay The state’s case against Adnan Syed hinged on Jay’s credibility; he was their star witness and also, because of his changing statements to police, their chief liability. Naturally, Adnan’s lawyer tried hard to make Jay look untrustworthy at trial. So, ...
11.06.2014 S01 Episode 07: The Opposite of the Prosecution Adnan told Sarah about a case in Virginia that had striking similarities to his own: one key witness, incriminating cell phone records, young people, drugs - and a defendant who has always maintained his innocence. Sarah called up one of ...
10.30.2014 S01 Episode 06: The Case Against Adnan Syed The physical evidence against Adnan Syed was scant - a few underwhelming fingerprints. So aside from cell records, what did the prosecutors bring to the jury, to shore up Jay's testimony? Sarah weighs all the other circumstantial evidence they had ...
10.23.2014 S01 Episode 05: Route Talk Adnan once issued a challenge to Sarah. He told her to test the state’s timeline of the murder by driving from Woodlawn High School to Best Buy in 21 minutes. It can’t be done, he said. So Sarah and Dana ...
10.16.2014 S01 Episode 04: Inconsistencies A few days after Hae’s body is found, the detectives get a lead that opens the case up for them. They find Jay at work late one night and bring him down to Homicide. At first, he insists he doesn’t ...
10.09.2014 S01 Episode 03: Leakin Park It’s February 9, 1999. Hae has been missing for three weeks. A man on his lunch break pulls off a road to pee, and stumbles on her body in a city forest. His odd recounting of the discovery makes Detectives ...
10.03.2014 S01 Episode 02: The Breakup Their relationship began like a storybook high-school romance: a prom date, love notes, sneaking off to be alone. But unlike other kids at school, they had to keep their dating secret, because their parents disapproved. Both of them, but especially ...
10.03.2014 S01 Episode 01: The Alibi It's Baltimore, 1999. Hae Min Lee, a popular high-school senior, disappears after school one day. Six weeks later detectives arrest her classmate and ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed, for her murder. He says he's innocent - though he can't exactly remember what ...

Serial

What's Serial about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Serial episodes:

S03 Episode 09: Some Time When Everything Has Changed

S03 Episode 08: A Madman’s Vacation

S03 Episode 07: The Snowball Effect

S03 Episode 06: You in the Red Shirt

S03 Episode 05: Pleas Baby Pleas

S03 Episode 04: A Bird in Jail Is Worth Two on the Street

S03 Episode 03: Misdemeanor, Meet Mr. Lawsuit

S03 Episode 02: You’ve Got Some Gauls

S03 Episode 01: A Bar Fight Walks into the Justice Center

S03 Trailer

S-Town Is Live

Preview of S-Town, Our New Show

S02 Episode 11: Present for Duty

S02 Episode 10: Thorny Politics

S02 Episode 09: Trade Secrets

S02 Episode 08: Hindsight, Part 2

S02 Episode 07: Hindsight, Part 1

S01 Update: Day 03, Adnan Syed’s Hearing

S01 Update: Day 02, Adnan Syed’s Hearing

S02 Episode 06: 5 O'Clock Shadow

S01 Update: Day 01, Adnan Syed’s Hearing

S02 Episode 05: Meanwhile, in Tampa

S02 Announcement: New Schedule

S02 Episode 04: The Captors

S02 Episode 03: Escaping

S02 Episode 02: The Golden Chicken

S02 Episode 01: DUSTWUN

S01 Episode 12: What We Know

S01 Episode 11: Rumors

S01 Episode 10: The Best Defense is a Good Defense

S01 Episode 09: To Be Suspected

S01 Episode 08: The Deal with Jay

S01 Episode 07: The Opposite of the Prosecution

S01 Episode 06: The Case Against Adnan Syed

S01 Episode 05: Route Talk

S01 Episode 04: Inconsistencies

S01 Episode 03: Leakin Park

S01 Episode 02: The Breakup

S01 Episode 01: The Alibi

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