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Serial Podcast (spoilers starting at post #14) (2 Viewers)

The “Serial” story continues in a new podcast from Adnan Syed’s supporters


Serial became an internet phenomenon almost as soon as it aired beginning in October 2014. A spinoff of This American Life, the podcast, hosted by Sarah Koenig, investigated the 1999 murder of 18-year-old Baltimore high school student Hae Min Lee. The main subject of the podcast, and the man convicted for Lee’s murder, was Adnan Syed, her ex-boyfriend.


The podcast ended on an equivocal tone, and fans of the true-crime story have clamored for more. Now they’re getting their wish. Or at least some of them are—the ones who believe in Syed’s innocence.


Rabia Chaudry, a lawyer and advocate for Syed, is launching a follow-up podcast to Serial called Undisclosed, which aims to provide greater detail about the case, “from an investigative perspective instead of a narrative one.”


That’s a strange statement, not only because Koenig’s Serial podcast, despite it telling a story, was quite investigative, but also because Chaudry clearly has her own narrative to tell—that Syed is innocent. She will be joined by Susan Simpson and Colin Miller, both lawyers who have blogged about the case.


To her credit, Chaudry has been upfront about her bias toward Syed, who in February won permission from a Maryland appellate court to appeal his case. Chaudry frequently posts information about the case toher blog, which in turn has inspired hotly contested topics on the Serialsubreddit.


The Adnan Syed Legal Trust, which is funding Syed’s defense and is sponsoring the new podcast, has raised more than $93,000 in crowdfunding.


Critics of Chaudry accuse her of misusing those funds, and for exploiting the case for her own gain. Chaudry herself is a friend of the Syed family, and was briefly interviewed by Koenig on theSerial podcast.


While this new podcast will be far from unbiased, it still could uncover facts about Lee’s murder that were not discussed in Serial.


The new podcast premieres on April 13.

http://qz.com/379239/the-serial-story-continues-in-a-new-podcast-from-adnan-syeds-supporters/


 
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I couldn't get past how Undisclosed insists Adnan accounts for his day consistently from the beginning. On Serial he's like, "I don't know, man, it was just another day. I would have usually gone to the library, screwed around on campus, then went to track." He barely talks or cares about Asia apparently seeing him that day, and it only shows up in his statements after she writes him a letter about it. His plan seems to be "whatever" and Rabia makes such a huge deal that he's been absolutely consistent in remembering key details about his whereabouts after school. Track practice started at 4 and maybe the coach saw him there, but he's not sure. No one else is sure he was there, and even if he was, no one is sure when he got there.

There's a ton of time that completely unaccounted for. A good 2.5 hours could easily be missing here, even if he was in the library for a bit and made a late appearance at track. Of course the prosecution's timeline is more narrow, but in reality he could have killed her over a much broader period of time.

The big thing to me is: who the hell is preoccupied with whether his drug dealer acquaintance got a gift for his girlfirend's birthday, to the extent that he loans this guy he "barely knows" his car and cell phone for the day? This is Casey Anthony level logic.

 
Big news -

Adnan Syed, the enigmatic subject of the wildly popular "Serial" podcast, got big news this week.

The Maryland Court Of Special Appeals on Monday handed down a major ruling in Syed's favor that effectively grants him a new evidentiary hearing and opens the door for testimony by a key witness favorable to Syed's case.

Syed's high school friend Asia McClain was never called to testify at his original 1999 trial, in which he was convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee. Syed's current counsel contends that not having McClain testify was a costly mistake by his original attorney, who has since died. McClain wrote an affidavit in 2000 establishing an alibi for Syed and filed another affidavit earlier this year claiming that former Assistant State's Attorney Kevin Urick suppressed her testimony at Syed's 2010 appeal and discouraged her from participating in the trial.

"We are very pleased with the Court of Special Appeals' ruling and we think it's the fair thing to do and it's in the interest of justice that this case be remanded to hear the testimony of Asia McClain," Syed's attorney, C. Justin Brown, told The Huffington Post Monday. "From the beginning we've wanted Asia McClain's testimony to be part of the record and now it looks likely that it'll happen."

The court wrote that its ruling was "in the interest of justice," and will give the Circuit Court for Baltimore City the opportunity to hear McClain's testimony.

According to Brown, the best outcome for Syed will be if McClain's expected testimony provides sufficient information for the the Maryland Court of Special Appeals to grant a new hearing in his case.

Syed, who maintains his innocence, became a household name after a podcast about his case debuted last fall and surpassed a milestone of 5 million downloads. "Serial" is a spinoff of the radio show and podcast "This American Life."

 
So I wasn't listening to Undisclosed for the reasons given by a few of you upthread, and I'm not sure of the dates when the posts were made and which episodes had been released. But I heard that the third episode, which went over Jay's day, had a lot of really questionable items pop up so I went back and listened. First, I definitely agree that the first couple episodes were way too pro-Adnan. Everything that fell in the area of potentially questionable was just decided as being true or false by the podcasters based on which way it made Adnan look.

But in hearing the third episode, wow. So to recap a bit on a few of the items:

- We know Jay's story changed a bunch, and he's already admitted to lying. But they were trying to answer why was he lying. Jay's original story revolved around an interaction with Adnan taking place at a McDonalds (I think it had to do with a call from the police). But in later versions, the interaction took place at Kathy's house in a different part of town and that's what we heard in Serial, and the McDonalds interaction was never discussed in other meetings with the police or in the trial. What these guys were saying is that the police originally had incorrect information on the cell tower that the call came from. That tower covered the McDonald's, but didn't cover Kathy's house. They later received the correct cell tower information, which covered Kathy's house, and not the McDonalds, and from then on Jay's story was that the interaction took place at Kathy's house.

- They played a few different clips of the police interviewing Jay, and they'd ask him a question and he would stumble over an answer. There would be really long pauses, and he'd say something like "bear with me...", another long pause, and you could hear a pretty loud "tap tap" on the desk, some papers moving around, and then he would find his words and have the next part of the story and keep on moving.

- At one point, Jay was saying something like "I was in the car following Adnan in the car in front of me..." and the cop interrupts with "There's not two cars, you're in the same car!" and Jay would say "Sorry, you're right...so we were driving in the car..." and then would just continue his story.

It really is worth a listen as there are a lot of shady items in there. There were also a few unrecorded interviews between the cops and Jay that never made it anywhere, and all took place before he went on tape. FWIW, I don't think any of this means that Adnan is innocent...there's still too much connecting Adnan and Jay unless we're talking a much more massive conspiracy, but it seems pretty clear that the cops steered the investigation and helped Jay with the story.

 
RUSF18 said:
It really is worth a listen as there are a lot of shady items in there. There were also a few unrecorded interviews between the cops and Jay that never made it anywhere, and all took place before he went on tape. FWIW, I don't think any of this means that Adnan is innocent...there's still too much connecting Adnan and Jay unless we're talking a much more massive conspiracy, but it seems pretty clear that the cops steered the investigation and helped Jay with the story.
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A few things here.

Undisclosed started out very rough. It was nearly unlistenable. It has improved in audio quality, pacing, and content. I do think it's worth a listen. Its sole purpose is to get Adnan released, but they do dig up some interesting things, namely questioning everyone's memory of that day.

A big part of their strategy is to impeach Jay. I don't know why they think this is so important since Jay is perhaps the least credible witness ever as was already established at trial, but they hammer him over and over. The "bombshell" of episode three was that Jay was coached during his official statement. Well, no ####. This is standard practice. We already know Jay's story had shifted and changed countless times. That the cops were trying to pin down one version of that for the record is hardly surprising. This obsession with them tapping to guide his statement was strange and hardly worth the hype they gave it.

It's fair to say at this point the State's case and timeline has been obliterated. There is no chance the murder happened as they said it did, and the heavy reliance on Jay's testimony and cell records are basically a joke. However, Adnan's request for a new trial is based on ineffective counsel and the fact that a potential alabi witness was never contacted. Maybe this will work, maybe it won't, but Gutierrez seemed to put up a good fight on Adnan's behalf, so it's difficult to suggest she threw the thing intentionally, as Rabia oddly suggests.

There is a big difference between Adnan beating this thing and being innocent. I think he should have been found not guilty based on the lack of physical evidence (some of which wasn't even analyzed) and the unreliability of Jay's testimony, but he's pretty far from being innocent. My guess is that he and Jay both acted together here. Rabia seems to want people to believe that Adnan wasn't involved at all. That's a virtually impossible leap to make. Much like Jim Garrison in JFK, she implicates everyone: Don, Mr. S, Jay, Jenn, a now dead serial killer... anyone but Adnan. The evidence selection bias is embarrassing to listen to. She never digs into anything Adnan was doing that afternoon even though no one corroborates his story and he himself says he doesn't know exactly what he was up to that day. I think you have to throw out virtually any testimony from witnesses as no one seems to accurately recall what happened on that day. Certainly we would have to apply that to Asia as well, and she's supposed to be the star witness that puts Adnan in the library after school.

As Serial notes at the end, if Adnan didn't do it, he's the unluckiest guy on the planet. What a massive coincidence that he loaned his car and phone to a guy he "barely knew" who ended up implicating him for murder of his now dead ex-girlfriend. And what a further coincidence that he asked her for a ride and she ended up dead in her own car. And his only defense was he was probably at track practice, but he doesn't really know. But be sure to ask some guys at the mosque. They'll tell you he didn't do it.

 
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They mentioned in (I believe) the addendum to that episode that a further grounds for an appeal would be a particular piece of legal code which would mean that if a defendant's testimony on the stand differed so strongly from original statements to law enforcement that the actual testimony could be ruled inadmissable on appeal, which is why I thought they were pushing that angle so hard. Obviously I could have misunderstood some things though.

Either way, like I said, just found it interesting to hear even if I don't believe he's innocent.

Edit: And I agree with you that the tapping wasn't the biggest reveal. To me, it was the difference between McDonald's and Kathy's house. Jay's story being based on incorrect information that only the police had at that point goes way beyond "coaching", as you put it, to me. But again, no experience to know where that line is defined.

 
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Just binge listened to this. very interesting. Kind of feel bad for Jay. And get the impression Adnan is some sort of psycho. he probably shouldnt have been convicted though as the evidence was shakey.

 
this could be really good.

Those eager to hear "Serial" dig into another little known true-crime story should start adjusting their expectations. Maxim reports that one of the upcoming seasons — either two or three — will focus on the widely covered case of Bowe Bergdahl, the Army sergeant who was held captive by the Taliban for five years after leaving his base in Afghanistan, and freed last year in exchange for five Taliban detainees from Guantánamo Bay.
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FUBAR said:
this could be really good.

Those eager to hear "Serial" dig into another little known true-crime story should start adjusting their expectations. Maxim reports that one of the upcoming seasons — either two or three — will focus on the widely covered case of Bowe Bergdahl, the Army sergeant who was held captive by the Taliban for five years after leaving his base in Afghanistan, and freed last year in exchange for five Taliban detainees from Guantánamo Bay.
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I remember having a thread on this one at the time, and it seems like that would be an interesting case to examine. Guy went from guest on the White House lawn to possibly being court-martialed in a pretty short period of time.

 
FUBAR said:
this could be really good.

Those eager to hear "Serial" dig into another little known true-crime story should start adjusting their expectations. Maxim reports that one of the upcoming seasons either two or three will focus on the widely covered case of Bowe Bergdahl, the Army sergeant who was held captive by the Taliban for five years after leaving his base in Afghanistan, and freed last year in exchange for five Taliban detainees from Guantánamo Bay.
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Is Sarah Koenig going to fall in love with him, too?

 
krista4 said:
FUBAR said:
this could be really good.

Those eager to hear "Serial" dig into another little known true-crime story should start adjusting their expectations. Maxim reports that one of the upcoming seasons either two or three will focus on the widely covered case of Bowe Bergdahl, the Army sergeant who was held captive by the Taliban for five years after leaving his base in Afghanistan, and freed last year in exchange for five Taliban detainees from Guantánamo Bay.
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Is Sarah Koenig going to fall in love with him, too?
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we can only hope :wub:

 
Can't imagine the gov't is thrilled with Sarah conversing with the cliffhanger.

 
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Wow. State department bound to be losing their #### over where she goes in the last thirty seconds.
 
Subject matter just doesn't seem nearly as interesting. Initially, not a big fan of taking on such a huge story.

I'll keep listening of course, but episode one was just ok for me.

 
shader said:
Subject matter just doesn't seem nearly as interesting. Initially, not a big fan of taking on such a huge story.

I'll keep listening of course, but episode one was just ok for me.
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not a fan of her taking this on while the case is pending.

 
There's another true crime podcast shooting up the charts called Crime.

It's a different story every episode (30+ so far)... interesting little cases that have twists or something interesting to them.

Episodes are 13-20 min a piece or so

Just as engrossing as Serial

 
cockroach said:
There's another true crime podcast shooting up the charts called Crime.

It's a different story every episode (30+ so far)... interesting little cases that have twists or something interesting to them.

Episodes are 13-20 min a piece or so

Just as engrossing as Serial
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Thanks for the tip, but after a search it appears to be titled Criminal. Looking forward to the listens, thanks again!

 
Ooopps, yea it's Criminal.... really good stuff. Tons of stories of people who are in jail but shouldn't be, and stories where people aren't in jail but should. And who's stealing all the Venus fly traps?

 
I know I'm late to this party, but I just finished this series. I think Adnan killed Hae.

The guy just has a convenient excuse for every detail. To me, that is just impossible. And as others have pointed out, the most damning detail to me was that he never tried to call her after she went missing.

If a cop calls me asking if I have seen anyone I know, the first thing I am going to do is call that person.

 
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Mr. Pickles said:
Serial Season 2. Blah.
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Sooo different on sooo many different levels from S1. But yea, not nearly as compelling. I want to wait and reserve judgement until it's all played out... but now that it's bi-weekly and still really unfolding IRL.... it's kind of just delaying what they might come up with cool for S3.

Someone mentioned the Sword and Scale podcast in the MaM thread... prob of interest to Serial S1 fans.

 
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!!!!!!!

New Serial podcast this morning, an update for the hearings going on now for Adnan. There will be daily updates on the case.

Totally got goosegumps when you hear, "This is a global tel-link prepaid call from Adnan Syed"

 
MattFancy said:
!!!!!!!

New Serial podcast this morning, an update for the hearings going on now for Adnan. There will be daily updates on the case.

Totally got goosegumps when you hear, "This is a global tel-link prepaid call from Adnan Syed"
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agree about the "global tellink prepaid call" part but the rest of this episode was really not compelling at all.. actually boring

 
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the best way I can describe this new one on Adnan is that unlike the first 10 episodes, this is less investigative reporting and more reaction from Sarah Koening and Dana Chivvis.. kind of like listening to a bunch of CNN guys discuss the debate 10 minutes after it is done..

 
Righetti said:
MattFancy said:
!!!!!!!

New Serial podcast this morning, an update for the hearings going on now for Adnan. There will be daily updates on the case.

Totally got goosegumps when you hear, "This is a global tel-link prepaid call from Adnan Syed"
Click to expand...
agree about the "global tellink prepaid call" part but the rest of this episode was really not compelling at all.. actually boring
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Yeah wasn't much there. Hoping she'll have more info as the hearing goes on.

 
MattFancy said:
!!!!!!!

New Serial podcast this morning, an update for the hearings going on now for Adnan. There will be daily updates on the case.

Totally got goosegumps when you hear, "This is a global tel-link prepaid call from Adnan Syed"
Click to expand...
Sounds like Season 2 is bombing so they need to go back to the well...

Don't blame them.

 
Righetti said:
Three episodes in and Dana is rooting so hard for Adnan it is disgusting.
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I actually deleted the podcast from my player this morning so I no longer get this fed to me every week.

It was never a balanced look, but her school girl crush is quite obnoxious to listen to over and over again. I wonder how much of it is her believing he's innocent and how much of it is the huge book deal that'll come her way with an overturned conviction.

 
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