The article celebrates pivotal moments in journalism, focusing on the launch of the "Serial" podcast by Sarah Koenig and Julie Snyder. Originally conceived as a deep dive into the murder of a teenage girl, the duo sought a format that conveyed the story's complexity. Despite low expectations of around 300,000 listeners, "Serial" quickly defied odds, reaching 5 million by its fifth episode. This success marked a turning point in podcasting, influencing storytelling methods and reshaping how narratives are presented in audio formats going forward.
Even then, "This American Life" was a wildly successful narrative journalism, public radio podcast. It averaged about 1 million listeners per episode - the only podcast of its kind to do so in that time period.
Koenig and Snyder opted to keep their expectations conservative. A fraction of "This American Life's" numbers - around 300,000 listeners per episode - seemed reasonable.
The show surpassed its hoped-for listener count, and in only a few weeks. By episode five, "Serial" had taken hold in a way not seen before by a podcast, reaching 5 million listeners.
I think everyone was like, what is going on? I think that was the moment we were like, something's happening that we had not anticipated.
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