Serial

In 1999, Maryland high school student Hae Min Lee was found strangled to death. Her ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed, was convicted in her murder and sent to spend the rest of his life in prison. But did he kill her? Was the police investigation thorough enough? Did the defense ask the right questions? This is the story being told in the debut season of Serial, a new documentary-style podcast that tells a new chapter each week in an investigation based on true events. Produced by the folks who bring us This American Life, its host, Sarah Koenig, walks us through the crime, the characters, the events leading up to and following Lee's murder. She reviews the evidence and the court documents, and interviews witnesses. And in each episode, she highlights one aspect of her investigation, from Syed's alibi to the location of the murder to the relationship between Syed and Lee. One thing that strikes me is the fact that Koenig, a soothing narrator, allows her characters to retain their own voices as well—when she's on the phone with Syed in prison, for example, we hear that call. Will it be revealed that it wasn't Syed who murdered Lee? Or will Koenig find that the jury was right 15 years ago? I, for one, will be tuning in to find out.