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‘Serial,’ Podcasting’s First Breakout Hit, Sets Stage for More

nytimes.com

11–20 of 88 posts

Re: ‘Serial,’ Podcasting’s First Breakout Hit, Sets Stage for More

#11

I gave them $20. I'm curious how much money in donations Serial can get.

I'm thinking of donating because of how interesting I find it, but for me it will all depend on whether the final resolution is definitive or not. If there's no closure it's going to be the most frustrating experience since Lost for me.

Re: ‘Serial,’ Podcasting’s First Breakout Hit, Sets Stage for More

#13

I know this will get me downvoted but I can't understand the fascination with Serial. Overall I found it quite a boring listen. Too many side paths that amount to not much at all, feel like it could have done with a harsh edit. But it's production qualities are high quality and so anything that leads people to create more content at a similar level the better !

Having only read TFA, I'm still unsure as to what the `hook' for this show is.

Re: ‘Serial,’ Podcasting’s First Breakout Hit, Sets Stage for More

#15
I actively try to avoid 20/20 and Dateline crime mysteries. There are so many of these and they are so engaging, and often without any resolution beyond a "he said, she said". The only conclusion I can draw from them is that crime is often incredibly random and irrational, and everyone has credibility problems, real victims sometimes lie to exaggerate and the justice system is deeply flawed.

But I feel that it's disaster porn; gripping us by appealing to the worst of us.

I was excited for Serial until I realized what it is. I feel for the wrongly convicted, if that's indeed what happened, but I'm not watching/listening to be an activist against injustice. No, I'm just distracting myself without learning anything by absorbing scintillating details and pondering irrelevant mysteries.

Re: ‘Serial,’ Podcasting’s First Breakout Hit, Sets Stage for More

#16

I actively try to avoid 20/20 and Dateline crime mysteries. There are so many of these and they are so engaging, and often without any resolution beyond a "he said, she said". The only conclusion I can draw from them is that crime is often incredibly random and irrational, and everyone has credibility problems, real victims sometimes lie to exaggerate and the justice system is deeply flawed. But I feel that it's disa…

To be fair, Serial hasn't really taken a side on the matter, at least not yet. It's really been more about figuring out as much as possible, and doing it in an engaging way. Serial feels very much "about the story" to me.

As for just distracting yourself without learning anything, I feel you there, but at the same time most of us do it in numerous other ways such as reading fiction, or watching movies, so I don't feel for you too much.

Re: ‘Serial,’ Podcasting’s First Breakout Hit, Sets Stage for More

#17
I think Patreon would work really well for this. I know they can support both monthly an work-released based donation types (with per-month maximums), and being able to pledge a certain amount per episode would make this easy and me very happy that my money was going towards actually producing content.

Re: ‘Serial,’ Podcasting’s First Breakout Hit, Sets Stage for More

#18

I actively try to avoid 20/20 and Dateline crime mysteries. There are so many of these and they are so engaging, and often without any resolution beyond a "he said, she said". The only conclusion I can draw from them is that crime is often incredibly random and irrational, and everyone has credibility problems, real victims sometimes lie to exaggerate and the justice system is deeply flawed. But I feel that it's disa…

Learning is not only about absorbing discrete facts. Serial has taught me that there is often no objective truth that is discoverable in the real world.

Re: ‘Serial,’ Podcasting’s First Breakout Hit, Sets Stage for More

#19
post #7

A quick plug: for those who enjoy Serial, there's an incredible amount of high-quality discussion about it on the serialpodcast subreddit [1]. The very high level of engagement the show has with some listeners is surprising. I don't think it's typical, but many posters talk about dedicating hours to reading case documents, re-listening to episodes, doing independent research, etc. [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/serialp…

As a counter argument I'd say don't waste your time. It is this close -> || to becoming a boston bomber situation with people making wild accusations and speculating to their hearts content about all manner of peoples private lives and those are the posts that get voted up.

Re: ‘Serial,’ Podcasting’s First Breakout Hit, Sets Stage for More

#20
post #8

Serial has been an immensely satisfying listening experience. I now look forward to Thursday mornings for it to come out.

+1 It's a good format. The honesty and genuine voice from This American Life - and the episodes don't give you much resolution at the end. Just feels real.
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