Two years since Serial's audio debut
On Friday 3rd October 2014, the podcast that became a worldwide cultural
phenomenon made its debut. Serial, described by critics as an audio
game-changer, gripped the world with its exploration of Adnan Syed’s 1990
conviction for the murder of his former girlfriend, Hay Min Lee. The podcast
was downloaded over 20 million times in 2014 alone and went on to win a Peabody
Award in 2015. Two years on from Serial, the editors at Audible.co.uk have
selected the best Serial spin-offs and investigatory true-crime, for those who
still can’t let go…
1. Adnan's Story: The Case That Inspired the Podcast
Phenomenon Serial
Author: Rabia Chaudry
Narrated by: Rabia Chaudry
'The first letter I received after being arrested in 1999
was from Rabia. Since that time until now, she has believed in my innocence and
been committed to my exoneration.... There is no one better to help tell my
story, and no one that I trust more to tell it, than Rabia.' (Adnan Syed)
Rabia Chaudry, a family friend, always believed him and has
never given up the hope that he might someday be released. By 2013, however,
after almost all appeals had been exhausted, things looked bleak. That was when
Rabia contacted Sarah Koenig, a producer at This American Life, in the hopes of
finding a journalist who would bring greater attention to Adnan's story and
might shed new light on the case.
Woven with personal reflections from Adnan himself, and the
story of his family, community, and public advocate Chaudry, the audiobook
offers new insight into the story that captivated the attention of millions as
his legal and investigatory team seek to find out the truth of what really
happened on that day in 1999.
2. In The Dark
Created by APM Reports
Free on the iTunes store
A podcast about a 27-year child abduction investigation that
changed the nation.
Child abductions are rare crimes. And they're typically
solved. For 27 years, the investigation into the
abduction of Jacob Wetterling
in rural Minnesota yielded no answers. In the most comprehensive reporting on
this case, APM Reports and reporter Madeleine Baran reveal how law
enforcement mishandled one of the most notorious child abductions in the
country and how those failures fueled national anxiety about stranger danger,
changed how adults parent their kids and led to the nation's sex-offender
registries.
3. Forensics: The Anatomy of Crime
Author: Val McDermid
Narrated by: Sarah Barron
The dead talk. To the right listener, they tell us all about
themselves: how they lived, how they died--and who killed them.
Val McDermid uncovers the secrets of forensic medicine with
groundbreaking research and her own experience. Along the way you'll wonder at
how maggots collected from a corpse can help determine time of death and how a
DNA trace a millionth the size of a grain of salt can be used to convict a
killer.
4. Undisclosed
Written and narrated by: Rabia Chaudry, Susan Simpson
and Colin Miller
The Undisclosed podcast investigates wrongful convictions,
and the U.S. criminal justice system, by
taking a closer look at the
perpetration of a crime, its investigation, the trial, and ultimate verdict...
and finding new evidence that never made it to court.
Series One explores the State of Maryland's case against
Adnan Syed. The podcast revisits the case from the beginning, looking at all
available evidence - not only what was presented in Serial, but new evidence
that we uncovered in the team’s investigation. The podcast is written by three
attorneys and as such it delves deeply into the legal side of the case, aiming
to get to the truth of what happened on January 13, 1999.
5. The Innocent Man
Author: John Grisham
Narrated by: Craig Wasson
In the major league draft of 1971, the first player chosen from the State of
Oklahoma was Ron Williamson. When he signed with the Oakland A's, he said
goodbye to his hometown of Ada and left to pursue his dreams of big league
glory.
Six years later he was back, his dreams broken by a bad
arm and bad habits-drinking, drugs, and women. He began to show signs of mental
illness. Unable to keep a job, he moved in with his mother.
In 1982, a 21-year-old cocktail waitress in Ada named Debra
Sue Carter was raped and murdered, and for five years the police could not
solve the crime. For reasons that were never clear, they suspected Ron
Williamson and his friend Dennis Fritz. The two were finally arrested in 1987
and charged with capital murder.
With no physical evidence, the prosecution's case was built
on junk science and the testimony of jailhouse snitches and convicts. Dennis
Fritz was found guilty and given a life sentence. Ron Williamson was sent to
death row.
If you believe that in America you are innocent until proven
guilty, this book will shock you. If you believe in the death penalty, this
book will disturb you. If you believe the criminal justice system is fair, this
book will infuriate you.
6. Imperfect Justice: Prosecuting Casey Anthony
Author: Jeff Ashton
Narrated by: Jeff Ashton
It was the trial that stunned America. On July 5, 2011,
nearly three years after her initial arrest, Casey Anthony walked away, virtually scot-free, from one of the
most sensational murder trials of all time. She'd been accused of killing her
daughter, Caylee, but the trial only left behind more questions: Was she
actually innocent? What really happened to Caylee? Was this what justice really
looked like?
In Imperfect Justice, prosecutor Jeff Ashton, one of the
principal players in the case's drama, sheds light on those questions and much
more, telling the behind-the-scenes story of the investigation, the trial, and
the now-infamous verdict. Providing an inside account of the case, Ashton, a
career prosecutor for the state of Florida, goes where the press and pundits
have only speculated, detailing what really happened during the investigation,
showing how the prosecution built their case, and explaining how a woman so
shrouded in suspicion was proclaimed innocent. Ashton examines what the
prosecution got right, what they got wrong, and why he remains completely
convinced of Casey Anthony's guilt.
7. Criminal
Co-created by: Phoebe Judge, Lauren Spohrer, Eric Mennel
Criminal is a podcast about crime. Not so much the "if
it bleeds, it leads," kind of crime. Something a little more complex.
Stories of people who've done wrong, been wronged, and/or gotten caught
somewhere in the middle. Hosted by Phoebe Judge, this podcast is just as
addictive as Serial, and one that’s sure to get you hooked.
Mytho
