The show is once again narrated by Sarah Hoenig, slowly taking up a story that has been dismissed by others as already having been answered. Last year Sarah and her team took apart a murder, and I am happy to say that this season is on a completely different theme. The show this time tells the tale of Bowe Bergdahl, an American soldier who left his post in 2009 and was captured by the Taliban and held for five years. I had never heard of him but this does not matter, given that his story is fully retold on the podcast and no previous knowledge is needed.
Some may be put off by the lack of murder, given that the top listened and watched programs at the moment are, on the whole, feeding into the nation’s love of murder and mystery – for example Making a Murderer. However, this podcast pulls no punches as the story is dammed interesting: you want to understand Bowe, you want to know what the army were doing, what they were thinking, and why he did it in the first place.
Image: Colleen AF Venable