1. A podcast; a mystery

2. OUR GUIDE: Sarah Koenig

3. Quick Wikipedia Check:
American journalist
Graduated from University of Chicago
Worked in Russia as a reporter for ABC news and The New York Times
Covered state house politics for the Baltimore Sun
Host and executive producer of Serial
Quick Wikipedia Check:

4. NOTE ON BIAS
Bias = prejudice in favour of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair
Roberston Davies said, “[t]he eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.” We are all see and process and understand the world around us based on our personal biases.

5. SETTING THE SCENE
“For the last year, I've spent every working day trying to figure out where a high school kid was for an hour after school one day in or if you want to get technical about it, … where a high school kid was for 21 minutes after school one day in 1999.”
“I just want to point out something I'd never really thought about before I started working on this story. And that is, it's really hard to account for your time.”

6. A CRIME IS COMMITTED

7. THE VICTIM Hae Min Lee 18 years old, born in 1980
Student at Woodlawn High School in Baltimore, Maryland.
She was an honor roll student who belonged to the ecology club, French club and SADD, Students Against Destructive Decisions. She played varsity field hockey as well as varsity lacrosse. Lee also managed the boys’ wrestling team.  

8. THE ACCUSED Adnan Syed 18 years old, born in 1980
Student of Woodlawn High School in Baltimore, Maryland
Adnan was a well-rounded student; popular, strong academically and athletic – he was on the football team.

9. Six weeks after Hae Min Lee first went missing, Hae's ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed, was arrested for her murder. He's been in prison ever since.

10. QUEST FOR “JUSTICE” FOR ADNAN
Chaudry is Syed’s best friend’s sister and a lawyer
She alleges that Syed is innocent
Chaudry believes that Syed’s lawyer threw the case. Therefore, Syed did not receive a fair trial

11. “The case was like a Shakespearean mashup-- young lovers from different worlds thwarting their families, secret assignations, jealousy, suspicion, and honor besmirched, the villain not a Moor exactly, but a Muslim all the same, and a final act of murderous revenge. And the main stage? A regular old high school across the street from a 7-Eleven.”

12. THE CASE AGAINST ADNAN
Adnan and Hae were dating but Adnan wasn’t supposed to be dating due to Adnan’s religious beliefs (or at least his family’s religious beliefs)
Their secret relationship (a) was motive when Hae dumped Adnan because he had risked it all for her, and (b) proved Adnan was a liar
No DNA, no physical evidence

13. THE CASE AGAINST ADNAN
The main evidence at Adnan’s trial was the testimony of Jay Wilds
Jay was a friend of Adnan’s
Jay’s story kept changing but main parts were supported by cell phone records

14. “Somebody is lying here. Either it's Jay or it's Adnan
“Somebody is lying here. Either it's Jay or it's Adnan. But someone is lying.”