When a friend recommended the This American Life podcast Serial, I got so hooked I ended up binge-listening to the entire first series in a single weekend. The same team has now created a new 7-part podcast, S-Town – and it sounds like it may be just as compelling …
As before, the entire series is available in one hit.
S-Town is a new podcast from Serial and This American Life, hosted by Brian Reed, about a man named John who despises his Alabama town and decides to do something about it. He asks Brian to investigate the son of a wealthy family who’s allegedly been bragging that he got away with murder. But when someone else ends up dead, the search for the truth leads to a nasty feud, a hunt for hidden treasure, and an unearthing of the mysteries of one man’s life.
CNET’s review (which contains spoilers further in) says it’s a different animal to Serial but a great story.
S-Town is a free download from iTunes.
“S-town” is not Serial and will disappoint those looking for that same true-crime, near-real-time storytelling experience. But it’s still one of the highest-quality stories told via the podcast medium to date: the small Alabama town, the eccentric but brilliant protagonist and other highly colorful characters are engaging and real and their story is filled with enough surprising twists and turns to keep you listening.
