Two American podcast heavyweights are joining forces to create another true crime podcast.
This American Life host Ira Glass and Serial co-creators Sarah Koenig and Julie Snyder are teaming up for a new non-fiction podcast series this autumn called S-Town, it was announced on Thursday.
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According to Rolling Stone magazine, the story came to This American Life several years ago after a man contacted the show and asked them to investigate the son of a wealthy Alabama family who reportedly boasted about getting away with murder.
WhileThis American Life producer Brian Reed was researching the story, another person in the Alabama town was murdered, with rumours emerging about a "a nasty feud, a hunt for hidden treasure and the mysteries of one man's life."
![The <i>?Serial</i>? staff, from left: Dana Chivvis, Emily Condon, Sarah Koenig, Ira Glass and Julie Snyder](/web/20170202043028im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/1/2/a/t/z/m/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gu3s9y.png/1486007943155.jpg)
According to the news release, the series has been in the works since before Serial launched in 2014, becoming a worldwide phenomenon.
Reed will host the series while Glass, Snyder and Koenig are producing. All episodes of S-Town will be released simultaneously in March 2017.
"This story takes so many unexpected turns," Glass said in a statement. "Every episode is a new surprise. And the story has this feeling and mood that's different from anything else we've done. I don't think people have heard a show like this."
S-Town will be launched under the team's new production banner, Serial Productions, with two more series in the works.
![Serial creator Sarah Koenig.](/web/20170202043028im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/1/2/u/p/4/x/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gu3s9y.png/1486007943155.jpg)
"We're harnessing the incredible reporting and editing talent of This American Life and Serial and throwing it toward the creation of new shows," said Snyder.
"Brian and I began working on the S-Town story three years ago, before we'd even launched Serial, and immediately I knew it was special.
![Mystery ... Adnan Syed, whose story captured the imagination of millions of listeners.](/web/20170202043028im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/1/2/9/w/6/0/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gu3s9y.png/1486007943155.jpg)
"I remember thinking, 'If this thing with Serial works – telling one big story over several chapters – then I definitely want to try it with Brian's story next.'"
Serial, a spinoff of This American Life, became a worldwide hit when it launched an investigation in the conviction of Adnan Syed for the murder of his girlfriend, Hae Mine Lee, in Baltimore in 2000 when they were both in high school.
It was downloaded more than 250 million times, became the first podcast to win a Peabody Award and led to Syed being granted a retrial.
Serial's second season on US soldier Bowe Bergdahl, who was captured and held in captivity by the Taliban, was significantly less successful. A third season is yet to be announced, but Koenig has been spotted at a mass murder trial in Cleveland, causing speculation another series is in development.
Running since 1995, This American Life is one of the most successful podcasts in the world.