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Season 2 of Serial now available to make your commute more nail-biting

One of the hottest podcast series of 2014 is back for a second season. This time, Sarah Koenig will be exploring the case of American former prisoner of war Bowe Bergdahl.

Anthony Domanico
CNET freelancer Anthony Domanico is passionate about all kinds of gadgets and apps. When not making words for the Internet, he can be found watching Star Wars or "Doctor Who" for like the zillionth time. His other car is a Tardis.
Anthony Domanico
2 min read
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The first episode of Season 2 of the popular, award-winning "Serial" podcast is now available.

Screenshot by Anthony Domanico/CNET

It feels like far too long since we've heard from Sarah Koenig, the journalist and producer behind the Peabody-winning Serial podcast that examined the 1999 murder of Baltimore teen Hae Min Lee, and the guilt or otherwise of her convicted ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed.

The wait is over, as the first episode of season 2, which is titled "Dustwun," became available for downloading or streaming on Thursday. And yes, the "MailKimp" ad is back.

This season, Koenig and her team will explore the case of US Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, who was captured by Taliban fighters in 2009 and released in 2014. While folks were initially excited that Bergdahl was set to return home, allegations quickly arose that he deliberately deserted his post in Afghanistan before being captured by the Taliban.

Bergdahl was charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy earlier this year, and faces stiff penalties up to life in prison, CNET sister site CBS News reports.

To date, Bergdahl hasn't spoken to the press or given any interviews, but in season 2 of Serial, Koenig and her team will find out what he has to say about his actions and explore why he decided to walk away and the consequences of that decision.

The first season of Serial became nothing short of a cultural obsession, spawning endless theorizing on Reddit threads and elsewhere online, and inspiring multiple parodies.

You can listen, download or subscribe to the first episode of season 2 on Serial's website, or through iTunes or on Pandora. The Serial site itself has been up and down in light of heavy traffic over the past several hours, but seems to be working fine as of this writing.