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'S-Town' and 10 other podcasts you should know

March 29, 2017

Podcast nerds probably didn't sleep all night after all seven episodes of the new podcast "S-Town" were released. Here's a look at the series, and 10 other amazing shows with Germany-related stories to discover.

https://p.dw.com/p/2aFEm
Antique clock
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Seeger

Following the Netflix strategy, all seven chapters of the series "S-Town" were released at once on Tuesday, allowing fans to binge-listen as much as they desired that same day.


It was produced by the team of the long-established show "This American Life" and the megahit podcast "Serial," making it a promising new release.

Sarah Koenig, the host of the groundbreaking long-form audio true-crime series "Serial," said of "S-Town": "It's weird, it's beautiful, it has a plot that goes in fascinating directions that I never saw coming."

Reporting for the roughly seven-hour show started out as the main character, a talkative guy called John B. McLemore, emailed host Brian Reed to investigate an alleged murder in his Woodstock, Alabama "S***t town."

However, the show is not necessarily a crime investigation in the style "Serial" fans might have expected. The different interests of the main character, including antique clocks, sun dials, an intricate maze in his backyard and a load of mysteries, offer unexpected narrative twists, reflecting the labyrinth John spent years working on.  

John is that conspiracy-loving extremely intelligent eccentric who doesn't fit in his Southern community, but nevertheless opens the doors to it, allowing the listener to encounter several characters deeply assuming their white-trash identity. In some situations, the New York reporter avoids revealing all details about his Jewish identity, for example.

Amidst the current polarization in the country, with Trump supporters claiming the media is disconnected from their reality, the show dives deep into the Heartland's culture.

Are you a podcast fan? Click through the gallery above to discover 10 English-language podcasts with a fascinating Germany-related story.

 

Portrait of a young woman with red hair and glasses
Elizabeth Grenier Editor and reporter for DW Culture