In the Dark

Okay, raise your hand if Serial was your first podcast.

✋ It was mine.

After finishing season 1 of Serial, I felt what probably a lot of people felt: I want more. So I started looking around the web for "podcasts like Serial". I gave a few a shot, but let's be honest: none of them were what I was looking for.

That was until I found In the Dark, a podcast by APM reports. Let's be clear: it isn't a copy of Serial, that would be rather boring, I realise now. But it is a mesmerizing story, two actually; it got me hooked after the first episode.

Two stories? There are two seasons, each of them telling a different story. These are real stories by the way, and I must admit that both stories are actually more interesting than Serial's.

Of course Serial has its own charm: few podcasts can tip its style of story telling and editing. You could say In the Dark is a little less… polished. But the great content makes up for that.

Oh and there's one more thing… this podcast actually resulted in a major breakthrough in an investigation, something Serial failed to do.

# Two seasons

I don't want to spoil anything, but I do want to give you a feel of what both seasons are about. If you want to go in blind, I suggest you simply stop reading, and go listen now. But don't worry: I won't tell anything you won't know after listening the first ten minutes of each season.

So, season 1: the case of Jacob Wetterling, one where an 11 year old boy disappeared 30 years ago. A case which wasn't solved for 27 of those years. This seasons looks into an insanely long investigation, and what went wrong.

Then there's season 2 about Curtis Flowers, a man who has been tried six times for the same crime. He himself maintained his innocence for 21 years. This season tries to figure out the truth, all the while when Curtis is on death row.

I was skeptical when I started listening to this podcast. At first I thought it was just a ripoff of Serial. And while there are elements clearly inspired by it, In the Dark is a podcast worth being called original, and worth the listen.