8 episodes

S-Town is a podcast hosted by Brian Reed from Serial Productions, a New York Times company. The story follows a man named John who despises his Alabama town and decides to do something about it. He asks Brian to investigate the son of a wealthy family who's allegedly been bragging that he got away with murder. But when someone else ends up dead, the search for the truth leads to a nasty feud, a hunt for hidden treasure, and an unearthing of the mysteries of one man's life.

S-Town Serial

- Society & Culture
- 4.6 • 44.1K Ratings

- FEB 4, 2022
The Trojan Horse Affair - Trailer

The Trojan Horse Affair - Trailer

A mysterious letter detailing a supposed Islamist plot to take over schools shocked Britain in 2014. But who wrote it? From Serial Productions and The New York Times, “The Trojan Horse Affair,” an investigation that became bigger than we ever imagined. All eight parts are available now, wherever you get your podcasts.
- 4 min
- MAR 28, 2017
Chapter I

Chapter I

“If you keep your mouth shut, you’ll be surprised what you can learn.”
- 51 min
- MAR 28, 2017
Chapter II

Chapter II

“Has anybody called you?”
- 46 min
- MAR 28, 2017
Chapter III

Chapter III

“Tedious and brief.”
- 52 min
- MAR 28, 2017
Chapter IV

Chapter IV

“If anybody could find it, it would be me.”
- 1 hr 1 min
- MAR 28, 2017
Chapter V

Chapter V

“Nobody’ll ever change my mind about it.”
- 1 hr

4.6 out of 5

44.1K Ratings

Excellent job by the host: deceit, disgust, hate, hopelessness, sad & funny-go figure

Brian is a great journalist. I appreciate his authenticity and ability to remain neutral in situations that should easily cause “normal” people to completely lose it!!! I do NOT waste a second of my life listening to anything with the n word however I managed to get above my disgust and hear the hatred and vitriol that some folks wear like a badge of honor. I find it satirical that John B.‘s intention was to expose S-Town and the flip was that he himself is the main subject exposed.

Feels forced and exploitative because the journalist had no actual story

The production and pacing was great and the story interesting enough despite just being about the life of a man. However, there are consent issues and the overstepping into a dead person’s personal life, which made me feel icky because ultimately nothing was gained by creating this podcast.
The journalist also regularly sounds like he runs out of breath or is suppressing a burp or something mid sentence and I could not ignore that once I noticed it.