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Serial to return for third season, Sarah Koenig announces

Sandy Honig Emmanuel Dzotsi and Sarah KoenigSandy Honig
Ohio native and journalist Emmanuel Dzotsi followed criminal cases alongside Sarah Koenig

True crime podcast Serial will return for a third season later this month, creator Sarah Koenig has announced.

The first two episodes of the new series will debut on 20 September, with subsequent episodes to be released every Thursday.

Serial became one of the most successful podcasts in history after its first season in 2015.

That series followed the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee and Adnan Syed, the ex-boyfriend jailed for her death.

The new season will focus on the inner workings of in the criminal courts in Cleveland, Ohio.

But instead of focusing on a single story, the new season will follow several storylines over multiple episodes.

"I don't think we can understand how the criminal justice system works by interrogating one extraordinary case," said Koenig.

She also explained that they chose Cleveland because the show was given exclusive access to record everywhere, from the judges' chambers to the prosecutor's office.

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The series, a spin-off of NPR's This American Life, became a cultural phenomenon after its debut, picked up a Peabody award and, according to Apple, was the fastest podcast to reach 5 million downloads in iTunes history.

It has since notched up more than 250 million downloads, with many radio critics crediting Serial with giving a huge boost to the podcast industry.

Its success even drew attention from Hollywood, as The Lego Movie creators Christopher Miller and Phil Lord optioned rights to the podcast and will be developing a TV series connected to the podcast.

While the new episodes won't be released for a few more weeks, that didn't stop fans of the podcast expressing their excitement:

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However, some are a little sceptical and questioned whether it will be as good as the first season:

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