‘Serial’ Goes Biweekly to Ensure More Thorough Reporting


Serial , the podcast that helped reignite podcasts as a thing, has decided to forego its weekly broadcast schedule and move to a looser biweekly format, in order to give producers more time for increased reporting. This announcement reflects the all-around more serious nature of Season 2 of the podcast, which focuses on the case of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. Since the podcast’s second season premiere, Bergdahl, who is charged with military desertion, began the pretrial process for his court-martial hearing, which is scheduled for August of this year.

Given the developing, sensitive nature of the Bergdahl story, it’s a smart move on the part of Sarah Koenig and the show’s producers. The reporting and impartiality of Season 1 came under fire, even by Koenig herself, and that was about an unknown case that was presumed to be solved. The Bergdahl case is ongoing, and so has many moving parts. It has also, since the beginning, been the subject of national debate.

Koenig’s decision (and willingness) to move to a biweekly broadcast schedule is an indicator of two things: first, that the storytellers actually want to take the time to do this the right way; and second, that more and more people are willing to talk to them. So, while it might be a bummer for Serial fanatics to have to wait two weeks for each new episode, it’s a safe bet that most episodes will be meatier and better-produced.

Season 2 of Serial has, so far, aired four episodes. Currently, there’s no target number of episodes.