5 episodes
The Kids of Rutherford County Serial
-
- True Crime
-
-
4.2 • 2.5K Ratings
-
From Serial Productions and The New York Times in partnership with ProPublica and Nashville Public Radio, “The Kids of Rutherford County” is reported and hosted by Meribah Knight, a Peabody-award winning reporter based in the South.
For over a decade, one Tennessee county arrested and illegally jailed hundreds, maybe thousands, of children. A four-part narrative series reveals how this came to be, the adults responsible for it, and the two lawyers, former juvenile delinquents themselves, who try to do something about it.
-
Episode 1: The Egregious Video
A police officer in Rutherford County, Tenn., sees a video of little kids fighting, and decides to investigate. This leads to the arrest of 11 kids for watching the fight. The arrests do not go smoothly.
From Serial Productions and The New York Times in partnership with ProPublica and Nashville Public Radio, “The Kids of Rutherford County” is reported and hosted by Meribah Knight, a Peabody-award winning reporter based in the South. -
Episode 2: What the Hell Are You People Doing?
A young lawyer named Wes Clark can’t get the Rutherford County juvenile court to let his clients out of detention — even when the law says they shouldn’t have been held in the first place. He’s frustrated and demoralized, until he makes a friend.
From Serial Productions and The New York Times in partnership with ProPublica and Nashville Public Radio, “The Kids of Rutherford County” is reported and hosted by Meribah Knight, a Peabody-award winning reporter based in the South. -
Episode 3: Would You Like to Sue the Government?
Wes Clark reads a telling line in a police report about how Rutherford County’s juvenile justice system really works. He and his law partner Mark Downton realize they have a massive class action on their hands.
From Serial Productions and The New York Times in partnership with ProPublica and Nashville Public Radio, “The Kids of Rutherford County” is reported and hosted by Meribah Knight, a Peabody-award winning reporter based in the South. -
Episode 4: Dedicated Public Servants
The lawyers settle with the county, which agrees to pay the kids who were wrongfully arrested and illegally jailed; the hard part is actually getting the kids paid.
From Serial Productions and The New York Times in partnership with ProPublica and Nashville Public Radio, “The Kids of Rutherford County” is reported and hosted by Meribah Knight, a Peabody-award winning reporter based in the South. -
Trailer
For over a decade, one Tennessee county arrested and illegally jailed hundreds, maybe thousands, of children. A four-part narrative series reveals how this came to be, the adults responsible for it, and the two lawyers, former juvenile delinquents themselves, who try to do something about it.
From Serial Productions and The New York Times in partnership with ProPublica and Nashville Public Radio, “The Kids of Rutherford County” is reported and hosted by Meribah Knight, a Peabody-award winning reporter based in the South. Get it everywhere you get your podcasts on Thursday, October 26th.
Customer Reviews
Loved the topic, hard to listen to narrator
The topic is compelling and interesting. However, the way the narrator draws out her last word is extremely distracting. She speaks ‘normally’ in other areas, so hopefully she can correct this. It would be an amazing podcast.
Sounds Like an SNL Skit
I saw all the reviews on how exasperatingly awful the vocal fry is but I assumed they had to be somewhat inflated for effect. I was wrong. It truly is difficult to listen to. The narrator sounds like a character in an SNL skit of a podcast parody. I am amazed nobody involved with the production of this podcast recognized this issue.
Good Topic, Not so good host
The vocal fry and the inflection at the end of each sentence is maddening. By ep 3 I resorted to read the transcript for each episode so I could find out what happened with this topic.