I first started listening to podcasts, mostly French
language and then Spanish, a year or two ago, but then my daughter got me hooked
on one called Serial, which was all about a case that was tried in the late
nineties, in Maryland in the US, involving Adnan Syed, a Muslim teenager who
was tried and convicted for the murder of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee. He is currently still in jail but his trial
seems to have been clearly flawed.
Lawyer Rabia Chaudry contacted journalist Sarah Koenig, who began to put
the facts out there in cyberspace through her podcast Serial. It became huge, with hundreds of thousands of listeners. The result is several other podcasts on the
same case like Undisclosed and Truth and Justice.
Then I became fascinated by the plight of Steven Avery,
whose case was featured in the documentary Making a Murderer – riveting stuff -
the story of a man who was wrongfully convicted and exonerated on DNA evidence
after he had served nearly twenty years in jail. When he tried to sue the
State, a woman was found murdered and he was immediately arrested, tried and
convicted a second time. Serial and
other podcasts like Undisclosed talk about the details of the case and the many
flaws in the criminal justice system.
You have experts – lawyers, prosecutors, expert witnesses, and profilers
weighing in on the relative merits of the case, and his guilt or
innocence. Steven Avery and his nephew Brendan
Dassey are currently serving time and I just heard the other day that Brendan
is being released in 90 days (apparently the State can still appeal though).
Truth and Justice,
is run by Bob Ruff, an ex fire chief, who is quite a character and gets all
fired up about the corruption in various counties in the US, where people have
been wrongly convicted. Definitely worth
a listen, and he discusses a number of cases, giving his own theories and
inviting listeners to weigh in.
There are others like Real
Crime Profile where profilers discuss their take on famous cases.
I don’t want anybody to think I’m obsessed by crime – I
actually rarely read crime novels, but there is something very seductive about
hearing these cases and the various theories the experts have come up with - finding
out what happened and speculating about someone’s guilt or innocence.
A podcast which is aimed primarily at small business owners
and entrepreneurs that I find really interesting and sometimes inspiring is Creative Warriors - it features
entrepreneurs and well-known motivational speakers – people who have made their
mark in whatever field and who are teaching others how to do the same - they’re
interviewed and asked how they got their big break and what advice they would
give to people starting out.
There is even a podcast for whatever mood you’re in. This
one is called Podcast Playlist (brings you the best podcasts from around the
world.
I also listen to Chel
Hamilton, who does free mini meditation podcasts – on various themes to do
with relaxation. She has a lovely voice and is easy to listen to.
One of my favourites though is This American Life, by Ira Glass, by a public broadcasting station
in Chicago – there are fascinating stories about ordinary people on a range of
topics – how we feel about death and dying was a recent one. There was a really interesting take on this
in a Chinese-American family and their reaction to their grandmother’s cancer
diagnosis and how to deal with it, completely different to how we do it in the
West. They’re usually really interesting
thought-provoking topics and they make me think – and relieve the boredom of my
daily walk – so I’m learning something and exercising at the same time, which
has got to be a plus, don’t you think? So if you have an iPod you can download
all these for free on iTunes!
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