Tag Archives: NPR

‘Serial’ podcast returns and its new case will have global consequences

Entertainment, News, , ,

Serial is back. This morning at precisely 6am, host Sarah Koenig and her crack team at NPR’s This American Life debuted the first chapter in the second season of her wildly popular podcast. While season 1 was all about a captivating murder case, season 2 will investigate a new, compelling story surrounding U.S. soldier Bowe Bergdahl. Apparently Bergdahl left his small outpost in eastern Afghanistan and ventured into hostile territory to later be taken hostage by the Taliban; he would be the terrorist organization’s prisoner for almost five years. In May 2014, a deal was struck and the Taliban handed Bergdahl back to the United States. But things were not all peachy for the rescued solider upon his return; a celebration hosted by his hometown of Hailey, Idaho was promptly cancelled when Bergdahl’s fellow soldiers started labeling him a deserter and traitor to his country. In this season of Serial, Koenig–with the assistance of filmmaker Mark Boal (Zero Dark Thirty, The Hurt Locker)–will explore the mystery behind Bergdahl’s decision to leave his post and the global ramifications that followed. “It’s a story that has played out in unexpected ways from the start. And it’s a story that’s still going on,” reads a post featured on the Serial site.

“Unlike our story in Season One, this one extends far out into the world,”  Koenig blogs. “It reaches into swaths of the military, the peace talks to end the war, attempts to rescue other hostages, our Guantanamo policy. What Bergdahl did made me wrestle with things I’d thought I more or less understood, but really didn’t: what it means to be loyal, to be resilient, to be used, to be punished.”

And now, without further ado, I present “DUSTWUN,” the 44-minute premiere of Serial‘s second season. You can stream it free at Serial‘s site and on Pandora, or alternatively you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes. In addition to complementary posts, the Serial team will be providing interactive 3D maps, graphics, and videos to help explain the story as it unfolds. Look out for new installments on a weekly basis.

Excuse me while I fall back into the trance that is Sarah Koenig’s investigative prowess. I’ve missed you, MailChimp. See you all on the other side.

‘Serial’ podcast transitions to television with new investigative case in the works

News, Television, , , ,

Serial, NPR’s This American Life offshoot podcast that took the nation by storm last October, is coming to television. Host Sarah Koenig and her producing partner Julie Snyder are behind the TV adaptation, and they’re teaming up with Phil Lord and Chris Miller (The Last Man on Earth, The LEGO Movie) to make it happen. According to Deadline, they’re “develop[ing] a cable series that would follow the making of the podcast as it follows a case.” The case at hand, mind you, is not the Adnan Syed investigation featured in the podcast’s first season; the TV show will tackle a new, still undisclosed case.

It was previously reported that Koenig and Snyder have been hard at work on seasons 2 and 3 of the Serial podcast. Last week, I attended a Serial-themed event hosted by the producing partners and they confirmed that they’re still concurrently working on the new seasons, due out this fall and in Spring 2016, respectively. They also referenced a mystery third project in the works, and perhaps the Serial TV series is what they were teasing.

Lord and Miller and Fox21 Television Studios have optioned the rights to the podcast and are currently shopping it around to cable networks. Due to Serial‘s immense popularity, it won’t take long for nets to bite.

“Chris and Phil take an unexpected approach to telling stories and that is so appealing to us at Serial,” Snyder said. “Developing a show with them is exciting because we feel like we speak the same language, only they’re smarter than us.”

“From the very first week of Serial’s release last fall, everyone at Fox 21TVS was obsessed with the podcast,” Fox21 head Bert Salke commented. “One year later, thanks to the incredible passion of Chris and Phil, who flew to New York and shared their vision with Sarah, Julie, Alissa [Shipp, This American Life producer] and Ira [Glass, This American Life host/producer] for what the series could be, we’re moving forward on this exciting project. What you have here is a ‘once every ten years creative storytelling phenom’ with a ‘once in ten years take’ with a ‘once in twenty-five years creative team.’ We are confident we’ll attract a spectacular writer and look forward to pitching it to outlets very soon.”

A self-proclaimed ardent fan of Serial the podcast, this news makes perfect sense to me. Serial, to me, was more than a podcast; it truly felt like I was listening to a TV show and imagining it come to life in my mind. Sort of like an audiobook, I guess. Taking that inventiveness and broadcasting it on a more mainstream platform opens up the addicting world of Serial to a larger audience. Details are scarce, but it sounds like the show will have a camera crew follow Koenig & co. as they perform their investigative duties and try to get to the bottom of an intriguing, unsolved case. This is me spitballing here, but maybe the series will follow the making of Serial’s third season, serving as a visual companion to the podcast. Whatever form it takes, the exciting possibilities are making my head spin. Serial is officially taking over, and there’s no better news than that.

[Via Deadline]

Listen to Death Cab For Cutie’s ‘Codes and Keys’ in its entirety today

Image cache, Music, News, , , , , ,

Ben Gibbard and his Death Cab have teamed up with NPR to stream their seventh studio album in its entirety for free online. If you enjoyed the first two singles off the record “You Are a Tourist” and “Home is a Fire” head over to NPR’s music portal to taste all of what Codes and Keys has to offer. It releases later this month on May 31; it’s already up for preorder at iTunes.