If you’ve listened to “Serial,” you probably know I’ve done my fair share of criminal justice reporting. I’ve spent countless hours sitting in courtrooms and following around lawyers. I’ve interviewed judges in chambers and inmates in prison. But never have I gotten close to anything like the stunning, front-row seat that awaited me when I listened to our new show, “The Last 12 Weeks.” You can listen to the trailer here. “The Last 12 Weeks” is about the scrambling, final stretch of defense work just before a client’s execution date in Texas. (And the client doesn’t exactly inspire sympathy.) You might be tempted to think, “Sounds like a bummer. I’ll sit this one out.” But I’m here to tell you, “The Last 12 Weeks” is not a bummer in any way. It’s serious, sure. But this bunch — the reporters and lawyers both — can’t help it: They’re funny. They rescue every joke from the greedy jaws of earnestness. There’s a text-writing debate worthy of high school. A byzantine negotiation with a TV news anchor. A look inside one lawyer’s Holiday Inn minifridge that reveals an “apocalyptic amount of blueberries.” Maurice Chammah hosts the show. He works for The Marshall Project, a nonprofit newsroom devoted to criminal justice and immigration reporting. (Maurice is known there as “the death penalty guy.”) And Serial Productions’ own Alvin Melathe reports, too. Because of the remarkable access that Maurice and Alvin managed to secure, you can feel the ticking clock of the defense lawyers’ mission to save their client’s life. You’re in the car when they track down long-lost sources, and in the room when they speak to those sources for the first time. You hear the lawyers argue over the best use of their fleeting time. You hear them make questionable decisions. You hear them get emotional. Some of the steps the lawyers take seem a little nuts, frankly. But by the end, you understand why so much of their 11th-hour strategizing isn’t just typical; it’s baked into our justice system. All five episodes of “The Last 12 Weeks” will be out June 18, wherever you get your podcasts.
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