Serial Productions & The New York Times · True Crime

Serial

Our newest podcast, “The Last 12 Weeks” is out June 18th. Search for it wherever you get your podcasts. Serial Productions makes narrative podcasts that have transformed the medium. Sign up for our newsletter at nytimes.com/serialnewsletter to find out about new shows, get behind the scenes stories, and see photos and videos you can’t see on a podcast. To get full access to Serial Productions shows, and to other New York Times podcasts on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, subscribe at nytimes.com/podcasts. Have a story pitch, a tip, or feedback on our shows? Email us at [email protected] "Serial" began in 2014 as a spinoff of the public radio show "This American Life." In 2017, we formed Serial Productions when we launched the podcast “S-Town.” Since then, Serial Productions has produced every season of “Serial” along with shows like “Nice White Parents,” “The Trojan Horse Affair,” “The Coldest Case in Laramie,” “The Retrievals” and more. In 2020, we joined the New York Times Company. Our shows have reached many millions of listeners and have won nearly every major journalism award for audio, including the first-ever Peabody Award given to a podcast.

Episodes

David Wood, a death row inmate known as the "Desert Killer," faces execution in Texas while his defense attorney, Greg Warchuk, fights to prove his innocence. Warchuk contends that the original conviction relied on fabricated testimony from jailhouse informants and ignored potential exculpatory DNA evidence. The invest...

The Last 12 Weeks - Trailer

16 Jun 2026

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The Last 12 Weeks investigates the high-stakes legal battle to halt the execution of a notorious Texas death row inmate who maintains his innocence. Following a team of capital defense lawyers during a critical three-month window, the narrative tracks their efforts to uncover new evidence, confront alternate suspects, ...

The Idiot - Chapter 5

26 Mar 2026

28m

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The podcast explores the complex family dynamics surrounding Allen, who is in prison for hiring someone to kill his ex-wife, Priscilla. It delves into the perspectives of M. Gessen, Allen's cousin, Priscilla, and Allen's mother, Lena. The central conflict revolves around whether Allen will be reintegrated into the fami...

The Idiot - Chapter 4

26 Mar 2026

1h 2m

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The podcast delves into M. Gessen's attempt to understand her cousin Allen's motive for hiring someone to kill his ex-wife, Priscilla. Allen, now incarcerated, agrees to speak with Gessen, offering a convoluted narrative involving Russian assets and money laundering, which Gessen finds unconvincing. The conversation ev...

The Idiot - Chapter 3

26 Mar 2026

50m

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The podcast explores M. Gessen's experience attending the trial of her cousin, Allen, who is accused of hiring someone to kill his ex-wife, Priscilla. It delves into the complexities of family loyalty, justice, and personal biases. Gessen grapples with her own desire for vengeance against Allen, contrasting it with her...

The Idiot - Chapter 2

26 Mar 2026

49m

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The podcast explores the tumultuous relationship between Priscilla and Allen, focusing on a custody battle and Allen's extreme actions. Priscilla recounts meeting Allen in Zimbabwe and their subsequent romance, which quickly devolved into a cycle of separations and reconciliations complicated by Allen's close relations...

The Idiot - Chapter 1

26 Mar 2026

21m

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The podcast explores the complex family dynamics surrounding M. Gessen's cousin, Allen, who is portrayed as an unlikeable international huckster. The narrative begins with Allen's unexpected arrival in the U.S. with his five-year-old son, raising suspicions of kidnapping and prompting Gessen to act as a double agent, g...

The Idiot - Trailer

19 Mar 2026

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Serial Productions introduces a new five-episode series titled The Idiot, hosted by M. Gessen, a writer typically recognized for analyzing totalitarianism and human rights. This investigative narrative pivots to a deeply personal and shocking family saga involving Gessen’s cousin, Allen, who was implicated in a murder-...