‘Serial’ podcast season 2 to focus on Bowe Bergdahl case, report says

The second season of “Serial,” the award-winning “This American Life” podcast, will focus on the case of Bowe Bergdahl, deadline.com reports, and begin airing later this year.

Season one of the podcast won a Peabody journalism award for its investigation of a lesser-known story, the Baltimore murder of teenager Hae Min Lee in 1999.

The mystery of Bergdahl, however, has been much reported about. The Army sergeant left his outpost in Afghanistan on June 29, 2009, and was captured by members of the Haqqani network, a group affiliated with the Taliban, and taken to Pakistan. Last year, he was returned to the United States in a swap that saw the release of five high-ranking Taliban detainees. Bergdahl has been charged with desertion.

Season one’s host, Sarah Koenig, had announced in the spring that season 2 would premiere this fall, with a third season slated for spring 2016.

Koenig’s involvement in the second season isn’t clear, though in an interview with Maxim, soliders said they were interviewed by her about Bowe.

Deadline also reports that a movie, backed by Annapurna Pictures, will follow the completion of the “Serial” segments, with Kathryn Bigelow (“Zero Dark Thirty”) slated to direct.