Last month, Adnan Syed's family revealed that much like the rest of the country, they've been listening to the wildly popular podcast Serial. "I wake up as soon as they put it on," Adnan's brother Yusuf told CBS This Morning at the time. But, in a revealing new interview with The Guardian, Yusuf and his mother go into further detail about how the murder of Hae Min Lee and Adnan's subsequent conviction tore apart their family. They also talk about the ongoing effect that Serial has had on their lives. Here are the biggest takeaways.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
They are big fans of host Sarah Koenig. "Sarah is so thorough and clean,” Yusuf said. “She’s doing a better job investigating than the police did. It makes me so frustrated and furious that there was so little evidence. Really? That’s all you had? To take away my brother’s life? That’s all you had?””
Adnan's father became depressed after his son's conviction and doesn't listen to the podcast. "We don’t want him to know it exists. He knows it exists but — it’s a very fragile state.” said Yusuf. “We can’t even discuss the topic,” Adnan's mother added. “Sometimes we see him going through the photo album and he starts crying.”
Adnan has no idea how big Serial has become. Instead, he wants it to be over. "He thinks we might get upset by it," Yusuf said. "But he doesn’t realise the effect it’s having on the outside.”
The Syed family fell apart after Adnan's conviction. Eldest brother Tanveer left for Philadelphia, and cut all communication with his family. "Imagine having a family one day, and the next day you wake up and it’s completely broken,” Yusuf said. “It’s all gone.” However, the podcast inspired Tanveer to reconnect with his family. "When he heard my brother’s voice, it brought back all the memories,"Yusuf added. "He’s visited us three or four times already.” (The Guardian)