Television broadcast has an older sister people tend to forget, the radio.
Radio also has different branches: commercial and public.
Commercial is likely what you listen to while driving in your car.
Public is the National Public Radio stuff you probably wrinkle your nose at while perusing the radio ?stations.
I was one of those people. Before college, I only vaguely knew of NPR’s existence. I had never even heard of “This American Life” or “Radiolab.” The name Ira Glass meant nothing to me.
Now, Ira Glass is my hero, and NPR pretty much owns me.
Not like “Morning Edition” NPR — I don’t do the hard stuff — but the podcasts I mentioned above. “This American Life,” “Radiolab,” “Snap Judgement” and “Pop Culture Happy Hour” are the sounds of my college career. They are my Taylor Swift while walking to class, my Bon Iver before I go to sleep.
Recently, I abandoned my regular podcasts to listen to a new one: “Serial.”
For those who don’t know, “Serial” is a product of “This American Life” and WBEZ Chicago, created by “This American Life” Producer and award-winning reporter Sarah Koenig.
Through “Serial,” Koenig delves into the case of Adnan Syed, a high school student convicted for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, in Baltimore in 1999.
Koenig came across the case when a woman sent her an email about Syed and asked her to look into it. Koenig spent the next year investigating Lee’s murder, looking into every aspect of the case, and talking to — or at least trying to talk to — all of the people somehow involved.
What she came up with was a 12-part series of podcasts focusing on different parts of the investigation. And it’s brilliant.
“Serial” doesn’t feel like a podcast while you’re listening to it. It’s a lot like listening to a crime drama, like a special “Law and Order” just for your ears.
People like to treat it that way. Slate has a series of podcasts about the podcasts, where it breaks down the information given in each episode. “Pop Culture Happy Hour” once did a podcast about the Slate podcasts about the podcast.
The appropriation of “Serial” doesn’t stop there. Kyle Scheele, a motivational speaker, created a parody of “Serial” called “Cereal,” in which he tells the story of a missing bowl of Fruity Pebbles.
There is a Buzzfeed quiz to find out which pronunciation of the MailChimp ad, which kicks off each episode of “Serial,” you are.
There are “Serial” addicts, who chew their nails and whine between episodes as if they’re waiting for their favorite TV show to return. It’s a behavior I’ve never seen in regard to a podcast.
“Serial” is a prime example of what great storytelling and quality journalism can create when combined.
“Serial” has opened the door for podcasts into mainstream media and has brought a new audience to public radio. It’s proving that public radio isn’t boring or for old people. It has something to offer to everyone as long as you’re willing to ?listen.
lnbanks@indiana.edu
