I heard of podcasts years ago but didn't really get what they were, except for radio hosts saying that you could catch their show again on their podcast. Radio on-demand, or something.But I know some intelligent people with worldy interests who are really into podcasts, and not so much into top 40 music or pop culture (I forgive them), so it got me curious.

Now that I have a job which involves a lot of driving, I wanted to listen to something in the car other than the same ten songs on every radio station and the same news bites. So I downloaded a podcast app (Podcast Mania, if you're interested) and let it recommend a bunch of podcasts to start me off.

I'd heard a lot of buzz about Serial, but nothing much about it, so I decided this would be my introduction to the world of podcasts.

And boy, it's been a good one.

Serial is an investigation into a true crime case from the 90s in which a teenage boy, Adnan Syed, has been sentenced to jail for murdering his ex-girlfriend.

He's now 34, and still in prision right now.
But there are people who don't think he ACTUALLY did it, so the Serial host and her team are investigating.

I gotta tell you, it's fascinating, hearing real police interviews and court testimonies from the case, current conversations with friends and witnesses fifteen years later, re-enactment and discussion of events and how time lines just don't seem to match up, and conversations with Adnan himself from prison.

The narrator is trying to keep things balanced, she does fluctuate between thinking that Adnan DID murder Hae when she comes across evidence that seems rather damning, but ultimately, her gut instinct seems to be that he didn't do it.

It seems that someone else may have murdered Hae, they are still out there, and no one is looking for them. And Adnan has been in prison for 15 years for their crime.

Ultimately, I don't know how satisfying an ending the series can have - it's real life after all - and just because she THINKS he didn't do it doesn't mean he's going to be able to walk free in real life, no matter how much her listeners may want it.

But I'll definitely be tuning into to see what happens.