Makers of Serial and This American Life launch new podcast

The team behind Serial and This American Life are launching a new podcast called S-Town.

It will be hosted by long-time This American Life producer Brian Reed and produced by Julie Snyder, who co-created Serial with Sarah Koenig.

The new podcast follows the success of Serial, which topped the iTunes chart and was commissioned as a TV series.

S-Town has been created over three years, with all the episodes coming out on 28 March.

Journalist Sarah Koenig (L) recorded most of the first series in her basement

The show is about a man called John who hates the town he lives in in Alabama and decides to do something about it.

It leads to him asking Brian Reed to investigate the son of a wealthy family who has allegedly been bragging that he got away with murder.

It's then that, as the producers describe it, "the story Brian thought he was reporting shifts underneath him".

He goes on to discover "a nasty feud, a hunt for hidden treasure and wades into the mysteries of John's town and one man's life".

Serial, which was told in weekly episodes, investigated the murder of a teenager in US city of Baltimore and whether her ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed, was wrongfully convicted of the crime.

Its popularity led to the makers asking fans to help crowdfund the second series.

Critics said the series turned a tragedy into entertainment and some accused producers of using "racist" stereotypes in the podcast.

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