Serial

Podcast · 2014 · Sarah Koenig, Julie Snyder

Serial is an award-winning investigative journalism podcast covering one true-crime or justice-system story per season across four seasons: a 1999 teen murder case (S1), a soldier's Taliban captivity and desertion charge (S2), Cleveland courtroom cases (S3), and the history of Guantanamo Bay detention (S4). Each season deals with real violence, legal trauma, and systemic injustice discussed in frank, documentary detail; the show carries trigger warnings on its most graphic episodes.

Self-harm & suicideHarm to childrenMedical traumaGraphic violence & goreAbuse & manipulation

Episodes to know about

Graphic violence & goreS1, recurring across episodes (especially Ep. 1 and Ep. 3 'Leakin Park')Strong

Graphic verbal descriptions of a teenage girl's strangulation and the discovery of her buried body are discussed in detail; the show carries a trigger warning on relevant episodes.

Graphic violence & goreS1, Ep. 6 'The Case Against Adnan Syed'Moderate

The host reconstructs how the murder could have occurred, describing the alleged sequence of events in a parking lot.

Harm to childrenS1, recurring across episodesModerate

The victim is a high-school senior; the accused is also a teenager; their youth is central to the storytelling throughout the season.

7 more moments are in the full report. See all of them, checked against your own settings, in Little Later.