My Response to the First Episode of “Serial”
Listening to the first episode of "Serial" was an interesting
experience for me. The podcast's approach to research-based
reporting captured my interest, and I was immediately drawn into
the detailed storytelling of Adnan Syed and the question of his
guilt or innocence. Here are my reflections on the episode:
The sponsors mentioned at the beginning of the podcast are NYT
Audio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon. They are promoting
podcast hosting and distribution services. Given these sponsors,
we can predict that the podcast aims to be widely accessible and
appealing to a broad audience. The episode opens with a
recording of someone announcing, “So, it felt very like
college-like... Without it being… Obviously the next day wasn’t
classes, it was Gitmo… ”. The music underlying this audio is
present tense, and interesting. The result creates a mood of
curiosity and expectation. The music deals with the listener and
gives an atmosphere of mystery.
Sarah Koenig, the narrator, speaks in a very informal style. For
example, she says,
"I wanted to create a persona, an issue that was not human." Her
tone is natural and engaging, which pulls the listener in and
makes the story more compelling. Sarah Koenig provides different
voices throughout the podcast. These are the voices of those who
experienced significant events in Guantánamo's evolution. Koenig
builds his story by introducing a few points of view, granting a
more full picture of the events. It also adds originality and
believability to the storytelling.
In this episode, Sarah Koenig does not reveal any particular
bias for or against Adnan Syed. She approaches the topic with an
open mind and the ability to consider multiple perspectives. Her
neutrality allows listeners to form their own opinions. Based on
this episode on my own, it is tough to definitively rule on
Adnan Syed's guilt or innocence. The episode focuses more on
introducing the context and setting the stage for further
exploration. More information and evidence are needed to make a
conclusive judgment.
Podcasts like this one are very much like a book or especially an
audiobook, where there is nothing to see or look at for the
content. This can make it difficult to connect with the content
compared to movies, television shows, or documentaries Also, it
is harder to understand what the people were saying because they
weren’t reading off a script, and it is casually and difficult
to follow at times.
