A Murder in Rural Alabama? S-Town Podcast is on the Case

Gigi Douban | March 28, 2017

 ========= Old Image Removed =========Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2017/03/Brian_Reed_S-Town_-_02_-_credit_Andrea_Morales.jpg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:5:{s:5:"width";i:1920;s:6:"height";i:1280;s:4:"file";s:58:"2017/03/Brian_Reed_S-Town_-_02_-_credit_Andrea_Morales.jpg";s:5:"sizes";a:13:{s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:58:"Brian_Reed_S-Town_-_02_-_credit_Andrea_Morales-336x224.jpg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:224;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:5:"large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:58:"Brian_Reed_S-Town_-_02_-_credit_Andrea_Morales-771x514.jpg";s:5:"width";i:771;s:6:"height";i:514;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:58:"Brian_Reed_S-Town_-_02_-_credit_Andrea_Morales-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:12:"medium_large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:58:"Brian_Reed_S-Town_-_02_-_credit_Andrea_Morales-768x512.jpg";s:5:"width";i:768;s:6:"height";i:512;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"1536x1536";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:60:"Brian_Reed_S-Town_-_02_-_credit_Andrea_Morales-1536x1024.jpg";s:5:"width";i:1536;s:6:"height";i:1024;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:56:"Brian_Reed_S-Town_-_02_-_credit_Andrea_Morales-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:58:"Brian_Reed_S-Town_-_02_-_credit_Andrea_Morales-600x338.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:338;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:58:"Brian_Reed_S-Town_-_02_-_credit_Andrea_Morales-600x600.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:58:"Brian_Reed_S-Town_-_02_-_credit_Andrea_Morales-467x311.jpg";s:5:"width";i:467;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:58:"Brian_Reed_S-Town_-_02_-_credit_Andrea_Morales-398x265.jpg";s:5:"width";i:398;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:28:"ab-block-post-grid-landscape";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:58:"Brian_Reed_S-Town_-_02_-_credit_Andrea_Morales-600x400.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:400;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:25:"ab-block-post-grid-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:58:"Brian_Reed_S-Town_-_02_-_credit_Andrea_Morales-600x600.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:58:"Brian_Reed_S-Town_-_02_-_credit_Andrea_Morales-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:12:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";s:11:"orientation";s:1:"0";s:8:"keywords";a:0:{}}}
        )

    [_imagify_optimization_level] => Array
        (
            [0] => 1
        )

    [_imagify_data] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:2:{s:5:"stats";a:3:{s:13:"original_size";i:10670830;s:14:"optimized_size";i:291410;s:7:"percent";d:97.269999999999996;}s:5:"sizes";a:10:{s:4:"full";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:86:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2017/03/Brian_Reed_S-Town_-_02_-_credit_Andrea_Morales.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:10473490;s:14:"optimized_size";i:165971;s:7:"percent";d:98.420000000000002;}s:9:"thumbnail";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:94:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2017/03/Brian_Reed_S-Town_-_02_-_credit_Andrea_Morales-140x140.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:6507;s:14:"optimized_size";i:4775;s:7:"percent";d:26.620000000000001;}s:6:"medium";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:94:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2017/03/Brian_Reed_S-Town_-_02_-_credit_Andrea_Morales-336x224.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:16811;s:14:"optimized_size";i:11129;s:7:"percent";d:33.799999999999997;}s:5:"large";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:94:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2017/03/Brian_Reed_S-Town_-_02_-_credit_Andrea_Morales-771x514.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:62198;s:14:"optimized_size";i:37309;s:7:"percent";d:40.020000000000003;}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:94:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2017/03/Brian_Reed_S-Town_-_02_-_credit_Andrea_Morales-600x338.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:36259;s:14:"optimized_size";i:22055;s:7:"percent";d:39.170000000000002;}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:94:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2017/03/Brian_Reed_S-Town_-_02_-_credit_Andrea_Morales-300x300.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:19706;s:14:"optimized_size";i:13044;s:7:"percent";d:33.810000000000002;}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:94:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2017/03/Brian_Reed_S-Town_-_02_-_credit_Andrea_Morales-467x311.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:28131;s:14:"optimized_size";i:18418;s:7:"percent";d:34.530000000000001;}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:94:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2017/03/Brian_Reed_S-Town_-_02_-_credit_Andrea_Morales-398x265.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:22186;s:14:"optimized_size";i:14612;s:7:"percent";d:34.140000000000001;}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:94:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2017/03/Brian_Reed_S-Town_-_02_-_credit_Andrea_Morales-125x125.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:5542;s:14:"optimized_size";i:4097;s:7:"percent";d:26.07;}}}
        )

    [_imagify_status] => Array
        (
            [0] => success
        )

    [_media_credit] => Array
        (
            [0] => Andrea Morales
        )

    [_navis_media_credit_org] => Array
        (
            [0] => 
        )

    [_navis_media_can_distribute] => Array
        (
            [0] => 
        )

)
1655994876 
1490697949

The creators of This American Life and the popular murder-mystery podcast Serial released a third season today. This one’s called S-Town, and it’s set right here in Alabama. WBHM’s Gigi Douban got a preview of the first two episodes, and S-Town host Brian Reed tells her his reporting revealed some painful truths about life in rural Alabama.

You can download all the episodes of S-Town starting today at the S-Town website or on iTunes.

Want some bonus audio? Hear Reed talk about how he reported the story: the challenges of digging up public records in Alabama, how he got people to trust him, and being sensitive to the ways Southerners are portrayed on the national stage.