Last Thursday morning I had a flight at 7:03, which meant I had exactly three minutes to download the newest episode of Serial before setting my phone to airplane mode.
I know the episodes are released on Thursdays at exactly 7:00 a.m. (EST) because Elena is equally, if not more, obsessed with the podcast. And Elena has a sleep averse newborn. So let’s just say she does a lot of late night/early morning app refreshing to see when the new episode is up.
If by chance you have not heard of this addictive podcast, or if you have heard of it but have not yet dipped into it, you are a lucky dog. Run, don’t walk, to your nearest podcast app and subscribe to Serial. As of this week there are 9 episodes out. So your Thanksgiving traveling will be glorious.
So why is it so darn good? The subject matter for starters. It’s a murder mystery after all. A bit of a “who done it,” where week-by-week they uncover bits of the case, ultimately trying to learn if the person convicted of the crime is in fact guilty. Then there are the complicated characters. I spend each week wavering about who I believe and don’t believe, who I trust and don’t trust, who I’m rooting for and who I’m not.
But the thing that really stands out to me as the reason this is such good storytelling is that the storytellers are anticipating my questions. They are leading me with bread crumbs in a way that makes me feel like I’m with them, I’m figuring it out too, I’m questioning my assumptions week to week just as they must have been when they first learned each set of facts. They are not telling me how to feel, they’re not delivering the story on a silver platter by flattening the characters and simplifying the issues. They are treating me (the audience) as an equal partner. And by doing this they have established this ultimate trust between storyteller and audience that is so important in creating compelling stories.
This is easier said than done. As documentary storytellers we tend to want to do the work for our audience. We want to be sure they get the message we’re trying to communicate. But tying characters, conflicts, and morals up in a perfect package often strips a story of its authenticity and leaves an audience wondering (on some level) whether they trust the storyteller. Your audience is smart. And they’re used to seeing stories that are a little one-sided. At some point in your story they are most likely thinking, “yeah, but what about..?” Particularly if you are presenting a story that has sides. A “good guy” and a “bad guy.” As a storyteller, if you ignore those, “but what about…” moments at best your audience will start to mentally check out, and at worst you will lose their trust completely.
Serial is full of “but what about…?” moments. And not only do they address them, they anticipate them. That doubt and questioning they know you as an audience are feeling is reflected in their own experience. So instead of those moments acting as a wedge between me (the audience) and the storyteller, they act as the bridge that gets me even more invested in the story they’re telling. And it totally, completely, 100 percent works. They’ve got me. I’m hooked.