"Adnan is out"
the true crime that's worth your time
Serial released a new episode this morning. You’re probably unsurprised by this: as you of course know, Judge Melissa M. Phinn of Baltimore City Circuit Court vacated Adnan Syed’s conviction for the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee Monday, and Syed — the subject of the podcast’s game-changing first season — was released on home detention while prosecutors determine if they’re going to seek a new trial.
“This isn’t a podcast for me. It’s real life,” Yung Lee told the courtroom. He’s Hae Min Lee’s brother, and he and his family didn’t participate in Serial. “Whenever I think it’s over, it’s ended, it always comes back.”
Lee’s remarks underscore how intertwined the case is with the podcast, and vice versa. There’s host Sarah Koenig on the courtroom steps. Here’s an EW listicle of “5 key findings from Undisclosed that Serial missed.” Here’s one of many tweets arguing about which podcast deserves credit for his release.
I won’t quite say that there’s a Serial backlash, as that implies wider pushback on the podcast than the industry level/Syed team criticisms leveled at the show. But it’s clear that parts of the series haven’t aged as well as its creators might like — or maybe not, as when you go to the podcast’s website, you’re greeted with a message that reads “Serial is a podcast designed to be listened to in order. If you're just landing here please go back and start with Episode 1.”
I don’t have a specific question prompt for y’all today, as we just felt the urge to unpack [waves hands] the threads of discourse around the case. Don’t feel obligated to stick specifically with Serial chat, though if you’ve listened, we’d love to hear your thoughts. But this is a also a good place to talk about the whole ball of wax, so let’s get to it. — EB
