'This American Life' enjoys a 'Serial' connection to Minnesota

With an assist from a Minnesota native, a new podcast from the creators of "This American Life" is a hit.

Former St. Paul resident Emily Condon is the production manager of "Serial," which re-examines the 1999 murder case of a Baltimore teen. The month-old podcast has already topped the iTunes charts and garnered listeners from across the globe, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported. Each episode, posted Thursday mornings, has been downloaded more than 800,000 times.

"The thing we had been telling ourselves all the way up to the launch was if we hit 300,000 listeners (per episode), we're going to be the happiest people in the world," Condon said. "That was our hopeful number we were working toward. We surpassed that almost immediately."

The episodes attempt to address a seemingly endless stream of questions surrounding the murder of Hae Min Lee with further evidence, clues and doubt. One of the biggest mysteries is whether her ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed, who was convicted of the crime, is actually responsible.

"The story itself is really interesting and obviously one reason we were drawn to it — we saw it could work in this format," said Condon, who at one point ran the Oak Street Cinema near the University of Minnesota's Minneapolis campus. "People love murder mysteries — and just trying to find the answer to it, which we may or may not do ... That's one of the real experiments of the whole project is we're making this as we go."

Host and executive producer Sarah Koenig invites listeners to join her as she tries to piece together the complicated puzzle.

"I like that it's a true story and it happened in the past," said listener Krystel Calubayan of the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce. "I like all the moving pieces of it — all the evidence, what one person says and what another person says. I really like how Sarah describes everything. It keeps you on your toes. It's captivating in that way."

The podcast has stimulated conversations across social media platforms, such as Reddit, Twitter and YouTube.

The seventh episode was released this week. Condon said there should be about 12 to 14 episodes total, which will hopefully be followed by a second season.

How to listen

Weekly podcasts are available online for download at serialpodcast.org or search for "Serial" on iTunes. Episodes are also posted on YouTube, including the first chapter below.

http://youtu.be/SwOBPdwHgm8