Serial’s runaway success launched podcasts into the mainstream

This article is part of The Poynter 50, a series reflecting on 50 moments and people that shaped journalism over the past half-century — and continue to influence its future. 

Public radio veterans Sarah Koenig and Julie Snyder were mulling over an idea: a single, layered story about the 1999 Baltimore murder of a teenage girl and whether her convicted killer — and ex-boyfriend — was actually guilty. But how to tell it?

The two journalists knew the story warranted more than an hourlong segment on “This American Life,” where they had both worked. Koenig wanted to find the best way to tell it that would present its complexity and nuance.