Welcome to Night Vale 

“Welcome to Night Vale” is oddly intriguing. Written by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor and narrated by Cecil Baldwin, “Night Vale” is a fictional town filled with aliens and government conspiracies that are brought to life. This podcast is filled with random “news stories” that are hard to follow yet engrossing. At one point, you think you’re about to hear the weather forecast, but instead a random song comes on that has nothing to do with the weather. It is filled with sarcasm spoken by a very serious, soothing voice. Each podcast lasts about 30 minutes. I would recommend this podcast to anyone who has a random sarcastic sense of humor and a little extra time on his or her hands.

By: Katelyne Featherstone

Listen to Pilot episode of “Welcome to Night Vale” here. 

Serial 

“Serial” is a podcast created by Sarah Koenig. In the podcast Sarah and her team investigate the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee, a high school student at Woodlawn High School in Baltimore, Maryland. Hae was found to be strangled to death and buried in a park close to her home.

She was said to have been killed by her ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed. Adnan was considered by many to be the golden child of the community, a very religious Muslim that seemed to always follow the rules and respect his parents. Close friends of Adnan knew that this was not true. He spent many of his nights smoking weed, having sex, drinking and breaking the law.

Adnan claims to be innocent of the murder, but a close friend of his, Jay, tells a completely different story. He told the police during interrogation that he and Adnan were in the mall buying a birthday present for a friend of theirs while planning the details of the murder. Jay said that after driving around town, switching cars multiple times, and shoving Hae’s body into the trunk of her own car, they finally dug a small hole together and buried her body in the park.

Adnan completely denies this story. He claims that he did go with Jay to the mall to buy their friend a birthday present, but was dropped off at school on time to make it to track practice and go home on time. He also said that after he got home, he went to visit his father at the church.

Throughout the first 12 episodes of “Serial” you explore the Hae Min Lee’s murder in depth with Koenig and her crew.
This podcast accurately portrays the process of the legal system and what happens in the court room. I recommend listening to “Serial” to better understand our legal system and the thought process of a serial killer. It is an interesting 53 minutes, but it will be 53 minutes well spent.

By: Hailey Port

Listen to the Pilot episode of “Serial” here.