Last year, the true crime podcast Serial was an unexpected smash hit. The show centered on the 1999 murder of a Baltimore high school student, and her classmate and ex-boyfriend who was convicted of the crime. The program’s popularity brought a surprising amount of attention to Baltimore, with eager fans mapping the distance between Woodlawn High School and Best Buy, or debating the dangerousness of Leakin Park.
Now the popular podcast seems to be inching closer to its long-awaited second season–and if the rumors are true, it doesn’t involve Baltimore this time.
According to persistent rumors, season two of Serial will examine the story of Bowe Bergdahl, the Army sergeant who left his post for mysterious reasons in 2009 and was then captured by the Taliban. Five years later, Bergdahl was released as part of a prisoner exchange– but the circumstances of his disappearance from the base have long been the subject of controversy. Was he captured after a trip to the latrine? Was he trying to desert? Did he get drunk and wander off base? All these theories have been floated, and Bergdahl is currently facing trial for desertion; we’ll see if Serial does a better job providing definitive answers this time around.
It may still be a while before we actually get to hear the program, however. The Serial team hasn’t formally announced season two yet, though several of Bergdahl’s fellow soldiers have been interviewed by Sarah Koenig. “We’d very much appreciate if fellow journalists would give us some room and not feel the need to attempt to dig into and try to figure out what you think we might be doing, especially since we’re actively reporting stories, and having a bunch of wild speculation out there makes our job reporting harder,” Serial’s production manager Emily Condon told Maxim in response to the rumors. “Doesn’t feel very menschy. In any case, here’s what I can tell you: The Serialstaff is currently working on several things simultaneously: Season 2, Season 3, and some other podcast projects. For now we’re not talking publicly about anything that we’re working on.”
Meanwhile, the original Serial case continues to progress through the court system.
