Undisclosed Podcast Review
There was excitement when the Undisclosed Podcast was announced last week. It promised “new evidence” and “new analysis” of the murder case that came to prominence with the hugely popular Serial podcast.
Sadly it’s disappointing. In fact (full disclosure) I didn’t get all the way through the opening episode. Undisclosed showcases everything that can go wrong with podcasting and reminds us of why Serial was so good.
The first thing you’ll notice is the poor technical standards. I had to turn the volume right up to hear what was being said, they’re using low-quality microphones and, I suspect, one of the contributors was appearing via Skype.
To be fair straight away they do admit they’re not professional podcasters. Sometimes the indie-DIY feel can give a podcast charm but when the content is as detailed as Undisclosed it’s a drawback.
Undisclosed comes from the Adnan Syed Legal Trust. One of Serial’s key attributes was sitting on an unbiased knife-edge. You never knew whether their next revelation would make you want to free Adnan or keep him in his cell. As worthy as the legal trust may be they’re hardly going to drop some previously unheard evidence that casts doubt on Adnan’s innocence for our listening entertainment.
Three attorneys present the podcast and you can tell. They plough through the evidence (mostly court transcripts) in a dry manner. There is none of the variety of voices which Serial used to great effect to create vivid pictures and characters.
There’s no evidence of the cleverly plotted storylines that made Serial so compulsive either. Instead they dive into the day of the murder throwing up names that will be familiar to Serial fans like Debbie and Asia. Unlike Sarah Koenig they never pause to reset the context. I was so busy trying to remember who all the people were I was missing what was being said about them.
Without a producer to guide the story and a journalist to turn the facts into a narrative Undisclosed struggles to hold attention.
My fear is that many of those who discovered podcasts through Serial will listen to this and head back to Netflix until Serial season 2 comes at the end of the year. That would be a shame.
