Serial-ously worth a listen.

Listen. Do it. Do it now.

Last week I sent you off into the weekend with something wonderful to watch, this week I'm going to tell you about something that's seriously worth a listen. As I've mentioned, Dr. H and I love podcasts. We listen to several different programs (though mostly The Moth and This American Life) all the time, especially at night before bed. Lately however we've been straight up addicted to a new podcast called Serial (and when I saw this post I deeply regretting not preaching to the blogosphere sooner and being solidly able to claim "first"!)

Adnan.

Serial, from the creators of This American Life, follows one true story over the course of a whole 10 episode season. This season the host, Sarah Koenig, is exploring the January 1999 disappearance (and subsequent murder trial) of a girl named Hae Min Lee, a senior at Woodlawn High School in Baltimore County, Maryland. Hae's 17-year-old ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed, was arrested for the crime, convicted and sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison. The case against him was largely based on the story of one witness, Adnan’s friend Jay, who testified that he helped Adnan bury Hae's body. But Adnan has always maintained he had nothing to do with Hae’s death. Some people believe he’s telling the truth. Many others don’t.

Episodes.

Serial is truly and absolutely gripping and I'm not the only one who thinks so... since it launched on Oct 3rd, each episode of Serial has been downloaded or streamed at least 1.2 million times. I seem to talk about Serial with someone new almost daily and Dr. H and I frequently chat about the case, forming our own opinions about Adnan's guilt and the trustworthiness of Jay. We can't get enough.

This weekend, stream online, download on itunes or use the podcast app on your iPhone to listen to Serial. It's free and interesting and awesome (and it doesn't get much better than that!)

Grown Up Bedtime Stories

My bedtime friends Grandfather Time, Talking Mickey Mouse and Teddy Ruxpin

Did you have a toy that read you stories as a kid? I had not one, but three "read to me" creatures over the course of my childhood, because nothing says nighty night like a cassette tape controlled animatronic mouse or a grandfatherly-voiced clock (I freakin LOVED these things). Likely in part because I wasn't permitted to have a television in my bedroom, but mostly because I'm a true geek at heart, I loved dozing off to the sound of a story being read to me... nothing to look at, just close your eyes and listen. Well good news story loving grownups, I have found the perfect adult bedtime story source - Podcasts!

No doubt late to the Podcast party, I recently started listening to "This American Life" and "Fresh Air" on NPR, "The Moth" and Learn out Loud's U.S. Presidents Podcast (I wasn't kidding about the geek thing!) Snuggled into bed, Dr. H and I listen to interesting factoids about Theodore Roosevelt or incredibly researched stories on everything from crazy coincidences to Israeli troops in the West Bank ("This American Life" is far and away our mutual favorite). And you know what's even more amazing!? All the Podcasts I subscribe to are FREE!! So even though my iPhone doesn't wear an adorable outfit or sing me a song before signing off each night (M-I-C...K-E-YYYY) Podcasts exist on every topic under the sun, making them the perfect place to find your very own adult bedtime story.