Nuanced discussion so far. Lots of negative reviews seem to be knee-jerk reactions to any discussion of race that doesn’t immediately coddle white folks. Taking a moment to step back and consider what this podcast is saying would do many people some good. It’s ok to be influenced by societal conditions (which typically do endorse racist, classist, etc. views) as we all are, but it is not ok to then violently and angrily react when confronted with this reality. Doing the work is hard. Be better.

The narrative that you spun about Bowe Bergdahl is false and there is plenty of evidence to support the fact that he is a TRAITOR, not a victim.

I think the story telling is great. So far the good whale season and the season about crime in Cleveland have been my favorite. Whoever narrates season 12 has the most annoying valley girl voice I have ever heard. Do you really need to rasp and drag out the end of the last word of each sentence? I was so interested as a TN resident but I can’t listen because of her voice sorry.

Holy vocal fry!!!!

A beautiful, but sad, story. I find myself sobbing over the loss of a beautiful creature that was endangered only by human greed and hubris.

Exquisite storytelling, thank you 🙏

The pay wall is a joke.

The Good Whale is an excellent production, with beautiful surprises along the way, but the story itself broke my heart. Beware sensitive souls…

What the freak

Just finished Season 4. Sara misses the mark on the CIA. Their actions likely prevented more attacks, which matters more than KSM’s motives or any government apology.

Remove the pay wall😵‍💫 I was able to find a way to listen to season one. Such a bummer that you’re making people pay for a series that was free.

Wow Serial, now we have to pay to listen. Good bye

I just got back into listening to podcast and was excited to see serial had more seasons. But I refuse to pay just for 1 podcast series. You can’t even listen to the previous seasons that were once free.

Remove! The! Pay! Wall!

This show used to be my favorite. I was so engaged in every episode. Since Serial sold out to NYT you have to subscribe to NYT to listen. I get that it takes money to produce high quality shows but I would rather support the show directly than have to support NYT. I won’t subscribe. So disappointed in Serial.

Enjoyed the earlier shows, but not being held hostage …to much good free content out there.

Nope!

Disappointed that you can’t listen to a single full season without paying. I don’t leave reviews often…but I’m leaving this one. That was lame.

Not a chance

A paywall for this?? Used to be one of my favorite podcasts. In this day and age and climate give people something to look forward to.

Ridiculous podcast that does nothing more than spread disinformation based on opinions rather than facts! It’s disgusting!

Not paying for NATIONAL Public Radio.

I was an avid listener of Serial productions, I listen

really, guys?

And a whole lotta vocal fry. The Rutherford county season is so important, and I hate to mention any personal issues I have with a person’s voice. But here I am, doing just that. I’m having to push through to listen and learn.

You helped set a proven murderer free. No one else could have done it. Adnan is guilty and a murderer is walking free. And we haven’t even seen the true test of him living safely and non violently in society until he goes through another breakup.

Confusing move because I feel like Serial was created in the spirit of spreading important information to the masses and NYT chooses to restrict access. Feels icky.

Serial, with a paywall? Seriously guys? Undo this please!

The content in season 11 is shocking and important. But the speaker was SO pretentious and asked the most asinine questions in the face of these women’s stories. She goes “hah” as the women and then crafts her voice to sound profound and concerned, but she sounds as fake as Meghan Markle in her Netflix show. Serial suffers from its inconsistency in the varied narrators that report. Season 11 just oozes the pomposity that people love to hate about liberal culture. PLEASE STOP

A podcast built off lies and misinformation. Digging into your emotions and taking advantage of true injustices to push an agenda and claim innocence of true and proven criminals. Absolutely shameful and disgraceful

Adnan Did It

I found this to be a tremendous listen. I was very familiar with the story but still learned quite a lot. The author and narrator were pleasant to listen to. Episodes were crafted efficiently and effectively. I would recommend this story to anyone. It forces you to ask yourself questions without beating them over your head. Well done!

Was a huge fan of season 1. The next several were hit or miss, so moved on to other genres. Came back around and was disappointed to find it all behind a paywall, including the OG season which I was going to relisten to while traveling. Paying for an 11 year old pod season? Hard pass.

I enjoyed serial, but with this latest season going behind a paywall is not for me. There are so many good podcasts I can listen to for free. Subscriptions for everything these days are ridiculous. I’ve cancelled a ton of subscriptions recently because they are out of control and I won’t be adding this one.

The narrator’s voice in season 12 is unbearable. The vocal fry and pulling of the last word at the end of every sentence, I couldn’t get through episode 2.

Season one was the first podcast I had ever listened to. I was shocked to see that recent episodes are for paid subscribers only. No way not for me. Bye Serial

… that they’ll make you pay for it. Honestly disgusted by putting these stories behind a paywall that has anything to do with something other than the Serial brand. Not interested in The NY Times as an organization at all. Hopefully this isn’t a pairing that lasts long.

Shame on you for removing all of your previously free content behind a paywall. The absolute greed of companies trying to nickel and dime people into 1,000 subscriptions.

I loved this podcast and enjoyed all their seasons! I even got others to start listening. It's too bad they are asking for payment now. There are other great free podcasts out there so bye !

I’ve been following this podcast for years and I ready enjoyed it. I had to unsubscribe today due to the pay wall. Sad.

Heads up. You can only become a subscriber if you first download the NYT app which collects and tracks more data than most apps, including financial info per their privacy statement. I’m willing to pay for a subscription but not hand over my data in perpetuity.

Great writing but NYT paywall 🙄

Will not pay, so done with this. Shame too, it was good, but giving you access to half the season is lame. Either all or nothing. Too many shows are chasing the money train. Adds are fine but subscriptions are ridiculous.

Loved the podcast, skipped the musical. It’s not you, Serial, it’s me.

Bummer to finally get to episode 6 and there’s suddenly a paywall!

Once again, the serial crew does an awesome job telling the story. And I really did like the fifth episode. I thought the music was sad and sweet just like Keiko‘s life.

Great work as always. Don’t go changing

It’s super disappointing that this podcast isn’t accessible anymore. I enjoyed it, but am out.

Another excellent Serial season but what the heck with the musical episode?! Please don’t do that again.

the Good Whale is the least engaging season of Serial, including its offshoots, since season 2 (Bo Bergdahl). Nothing about it is told compellingly or engages me even lightly. Disappointed