Rumors have been swirling this week about the much-anticipated second season of Serial, the internet phenomenon that taught the world about the intricacies of Best Buy parking lots and chimps who deliver your mail. Producer and host Sarah Koenig was apparently spotted at a military hearing for ex-prisoner of war Bowe Bergdahl last week, leading several outlets to report that Bergdahl’s case, which has lead to the Army Sergeant being charged with desertion, would be the subject of one of the show’s two planned seasons.
But Koenig and her staff are apparently unhappy with the way their stunningly popular product has become a story in and of itself, remaining tight-lipped about the upcoming programs and limiting themselves to asking their fellow journalists to back the hell off and let them do their jobs. According to Maxim, one of several publications that reported on the Bergdahl story, requests for information from the Serial team were met with a tight-lipped request for professional courtesy from production manager Emily Condon:
“We’d very much appreciate if fellow journalists would give us some room and not feel the need to attempt to dig into and try to figure out what you think we might be doing, especially since we’re actively reporting stories, and having a bunch of wild speculation out there makes our job reporting harder. Doesn’t feel very menschy. In any case, here’s what I can tell you: The Serial staff is currently working on several things simultaneously: Season 2, Season 3, and some other podcast projects. For now we’re not talking publicly about anything that we’re working on.”
Koenig expressed similar desires during a presentation last night at Brooklyn’s Academy of Music, telling audiences, “I really miss the days when nobody gave a crap what I was doing… It’d be nice to just be like a troll in my basement again.” Koenig and her co-producer Julie Snyder also expressed a devout hope that the show’s second season—which will air some time this fall—would drive at least some of their surprisingly fervent fan base away, with Snyder saying, “We’re really not planning on having the same response that we had in Season 1, and frankly, we’re really okay with that.”