Big news for 'Serial' fans: New season may tackle controversial Bowe Bergdahl case
Hold onto your seats, 'Serial' fans. Maxim is reporting that one of the two upcoming seasons of 'Serial' will revolve around Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the U.S. soldier who disappeared from his post in Afghanistan under mysterious circumstance and held captive by Taliban-aligned Haqqani network for five years before being released in a prisoner swap last summer.
The details behind Bergdahl's original disappearance are still hazy, even after all this time. Bergdhal says he was captured while on duty and fell behind during patrol. However, others claim he abandoned his post, deserting his unit. The Army announced in March that Bergdahl had been charged with one count of desertion and one count of misbehaving before the enemy, which could potentially carry a life sentence if found guilty.
Bergdahl has claimed that his reasoning for leaving his post was to bring attention to what he believed were troubling conditions in his unit. However, others believe the real reason isn't so honorable. Critics believe that he intentionally deserted his unit after becoming disillusioned about the war and the treatment of other soldiers.
War, mystery disappearance, capture, torture and terrorism?
%shareLinks-quote="All the mystery surrounding Bergdahl's case is apparently perfect for Sarah Koenig and her 'Serial' team working on the newest season of the podcast." type="spreadWord"%
A source told the magazine that Koenig and at least one 'Serial' producer were in attendance at Bergdahl's preliminary hearing in Texas last week. The hearing was to decide whether the sergeant should be court-martialed.
Maxim reportedly spoke to two former members of Bergdahl's who claimed they were interviewed by Koenig for the upcoming season, but seemed doubtful that the Peabody Award-winning podcast would do Bergdahl's story justice.
One of the anonymous soldiers told Maxim that, "What happened in 2009 is both troubling and politically incorrect...my concern is that the truth is being diluted by those looking to gain from Bowe's story."
However, this could just be conjecture. None of this has been confirmed by anyone from 'Serial.' When reached for comment, a production manager for the podcast bluntly told Maxim:
We'd very much appreciate if fellow journalists would give us some room and not feel the need to attempt to dig into and try to figure out what you think we might be doing, especially since we're actively reporting stories, and having a bunch of wild speculation out there makes our job reporting harder. Doesn't feel very menschy. In any case, here's what I can tell you: The Serialstaff is currently working on several things simultaneously: Season 2, Season 3, and some other podcast projects. For now we're not talking publicly about anything that we're working on.
'Serial' is an investigative journalism-based podcast, narrated by Koenig, which captured millions of listeners in its first season last year. The season revolved around Adnan Syed, who was found guilty in the extremely shady 1999 murder of Michigan teenager Hae Min Lee. The popularity of the podcast even led to an appeal in Syed's case earlier this year.
Don't keep us waiting too long, 'Serial.' We miss you too much already.
Check out more photos of controversial Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl and his story in the gallery below:
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