Serial podcast: New episode focusing on Adnan Syed's defense is up now

Record-breaking podcast is reaching the end of its first season

After a two-week wait due to a Thanksgiving break, Serial fans get a new fix this morning with Episode 10 "The Best Defense Is A Good Defense".

The longest episode yet with a 54-minute run time, it focuses on the shoddy defense Adnan had during his trial from the subsequently disbarred Cristina Gutierrez.

The synopsis reads:

"Adnan’s trial lawyer was M. Cristina Gutierrez, a renowned defense attorney in Maryland – tough and savvy and smart. Other lawyers said she was exactly the kind of person you’d want defending you on a first-degree murder charge. But Adnan was convicted, and a year later, Gutierrez was disbarred. What happened?"

There are just two episodes left after this one, though Sarah Koenig and the other producers have confirmed that there will be another season which they are currently searching for a story for.

Quite separately from the podcast's success (1.5 listeners and growing), Adnan's case re-opens this week with the final stages of his appeal, as he continues to protest his innocence over the killing of ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee in Baltimore in 1999.

"I truly think the appellate courts make their decisions based on the merits of the case, and not the popularity of a podcast." Emily Condon, Serial's production manager, commented.

"None of this, in any way, has anything to do with our reporting on this story. The post-conviction petition pre-dated this story, and Serial has nothing to do with his appeal."