The third season of Serial, the popular investigative journalism podcast, focused on Cleveland's criminal justice system. It's nine compelling episodes surpassed 50 million downloads and was named the best podcast of 2018 by TIME despite its unconventionality. Featuring multiple story lines and offering no resolution, the series wove together both large and small cases to illustrate how daily injustices can amass into systemic problems.
Journalists Sarah Koenig and Emmanuel Dzotsi were clear that the problems in Cleveland's criminal justice system are not unique; cities across the country grapple with racial inequality, poverty, and economic injustice. But, as Serial shined its spotlight on Cleveland, what did we learn? And, given all the complexity, what can - and should - happen next in the quest for criminal justice reform?