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Guest
For those who don't know, 'Serial' is a podcast created/produced/hosted by journalist/radio personality Sarah Koenig, who also produces This American Life. Anyway, 'Serial' was a breakout success a couple years ago when their first season focused on the mysterious death of a Baltimore teen and some of the odd circumstances surrounding her death, her boyfriend who was found guilty of the crime, and the testimony of his best friend who said he helped bury the body. 'Serial' takes a real life story and digs into it over the course of a season - which is about 12 episodes long. The storytelling is mesmerizing - with Sarah commenting, sharing her insights and interviews with various folks involved with the case at hand, which often includes a ton of testimony you are not likely to hear anywhere else. It's what good journalism *should* look and sound like.
Season 2 of 'Serial' deep dives into the Bowe Bergdahl case, which to be honest, I did not think much about when it was national news. Bowe has been mostly quiet since being released and awaiting his legal proceedings, but he had been talking to filmmaker Mark Boal (Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty) about his experience. Mark shared these conversations with Sarah, who also spoke with several of Bowe's platoonmates and leadership, as well as actual Taliban commanders who were responsible for Bowe. What follows is an absolutely fascinating tale that varies depending on perspective, and even now it's hard to know who is telling the truth. Here's the Season Two synopsis:
In May 2014, a U.S. Special Operations team in a Black Hawk helicopter landed in the hills of Afghanistan. Waiting for them were more than a dozen Taliban fighters and a tall American, who looked pale and out of sorts: Bowe Bergdahl. Bergdahl, a U.S. soldier, had been a prisoner of the Taliban for nearly five years, and now he was going home.
President Obama announced Bergdahl’s return in the Rose Garden, with the soldier's parents at his side. Bergdahl's hometown of Hailey, Idaho, planned a big celebration to welcome him back. But then, within days—within hours of his rescue, in fact—public reaction to his return flipped. People started saying Bergdahl shouldn’t be celebrated. Some of the soldiers from his unit called him a deserter, a traitor. They said he had deliberately walked off their small outpost in eastern Afghanistan and into hostile territory.
Hailey canceled its celebration. The army launched an investigation. Finally, in March, the military charged Bergdahl with two crimes, one of which carries the possibility of a life sentence. Through all of this, Bergdahl has been quiet. He hasn’t spoken to the press or done any interviews on TV. He’s been like a ghost at the center of a raucous fight.
Now, in Season Two, we get to hear what he has to say.
For this season, Sarah Koenig teams up with filmmaker Mark Boal and Page 1 to find out why one idiosyncratic guy decided to walk away, into Afghanistan, and how the consequences of that decision have spun out wider and wider. It’s a story that has played out in unexpected ways from the start. And it’s a story that’s still going on.
I'm only on Episode 3 and am hooked - you can download the podcasts for free on iTunes or listen on the website here: https://serialpodcast.org/.
If anyone has listened, what do you think? I personally do not buy Bergdahl's account of events and believe he is being dishonest with his reasons for deserting. Having said that, the story is relentless and gut-punching at times.
Oh, and this is exactly the kind of format to dissect the entire Jerry Sandusky scandal - from the failings of state agencies, mysterious BOT relationships and activities, the leaking of the GJP, the lack of any Second Mile investigation, Mike McQueary's befuddling and changing testimony, Gricar's disappearance, etc. Someone should send Sarah an email and see if she has any interest - could be 'Serial' Season 3.
Season 2 of 'Serial' deep dives into the Bowe Bergdahl case, which to be honest, I did not think much about when it was national news. Bowe has been mostly quiet since being released and awaiting his legal proceedings, but he had been talking to filmmaker Mark Boal (Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty) about his experience. Mark shared these conversations with Sarah, who also spoke with several of Bowe's platoonmates and leadership, as well as actual Taliban commanders who were responsible for Bowe. What follows is an absolutely fascinating tale that varies depending on perspective, and even now it's hard to know who is telling the truth. Here's the Season Two synopsis:
In May 2014, a U.S. Special Operations team in a Black Hawk helicopter landed in the hills of Afghanistan. Waiting for them were more than a dozen Taliban fighters and a tall American, who looked pale and out of sorts: Bowe Bergdahl. Bergdahl, a U.S. soldier, had been a prisoner of the Taliban for nearly five years, and now he was going home.
President Obama announced Bergdahl’s return in the Rose Garden, with the soldier's parents at his side. Bergdahl's hometown of Hailey, Idaho, planned a big celebration to welcome him back. But then, within days—within hours of his rescue, in fact—public reaction to his return flipped. People started saying Bergdahl shouldn’t be celebrated. Some of the soldiers from his unit called him a deserter, a traitor. They said he had deliberately walked off their small outpost in eastern Afghanistan and into hostile territory.
Hailey canceled its celebration. The army launched an investigation. Finally, in March, the military charged Bergdahl with two crimes, one of which carries the possibility of a life sentence. Through all of this, Bergdahl has been quiet. He hasn’t spoken to the press or done any interviews on TV. He’s been like a ghost at the center of a raucous fight.
Now, in Season Two, we get to hear what he has to say.
For this season, Sarah Koenig teams up with filmmaker Mark Boal and Page 1 to find out why one idiosyncratic guy decided to walk away, into Afghanistan, and how the consequences of that decision have spun out wider and wider. It’s a story that has played out in unexpected ways from the start. And it’s a story that’s still going on.
I'm only on Episode 3 and am hooked - you can download the podcasts for free on iTunes or listen on the website here: https://serialpodcast.org/.
If anyone has listened, what do you think? I personally do not buy Bergdahl's account of events and believe he is being dishonest with his reasons for deserting. Having said that, the story is relentless and gut-punching at times.
Oh, and this is exactly the kind of format to dissect the entire Jerry Sandusky scandal - from the failings of state agencies, mysterious BOT relationships and activities, the leaking of the GJP, the lack of any Second Mile investigation, Mike McQueary's befuddling and changing testimony, Gricar's disappearance, etc. Someone should send Sarah an email and see if she has any interest - could be 'Serial' Season 3.
