Adnan Syed: Innocent or Guilty?

Adnan Syed

Serial by Sarah Koenig is a podcast that gained popularity throughout the world about the murder of 18 year old Hae Min Lee in the city of Baltimore and who did it. The suspect Adnan Syed was then imprisoned for life after he was charged for first degree murder, but, the question now is did he really commit the murder? Or was he framed and falsely accused? Well, after listening to some of the podcast, I came to my own conclusion that Adnan is innocent and that someone else did it. This is because of three reasons.

First, there were way too many inconsistencies when it came to what Jay Wilds said during interviews and to detectives. For instance, when talking about where Adnan killed Hae, Jay mentioned four different places during each of his interviews which are best buy, the library, Patapsco Skate Park, and even went on to say that he had no clue where he killed her. That is not the only time he was inconsistent when speaking though. In two different interviews, Jay was talking about the people who dug the grave. In the first, he said it was just Adnan but on the next, he said that he was a part of it too. I think that there is a high chance that Jay is lying about Adnan as he is way too inconsistent with his answers. Therefore, I think that because of this, Adnan can be innocent and that maybe Jay is the real murderer.

Another reason is because of a person who is an important part to these series of events, Asia Mclain. According to Asia, she had a conversation with Adnan for 15-20 minutes until around 2:40. The problem with this is that Hae was supposed to be dead at 2:36. So how is it possible that Adnan murdered Hae if he was having a conversation at the exact same time? I think that Asia should be trusted as she has nothing to gain from trying to help Adnan get out of jail and that this could mean that he is completely innocent.

Asia's Letter to Adnan

Lastly, Adnan was considered a good kid by those around him. According to Sarah, "He plays the good Muslim son at home and at the mosque". This means that he wasn't problematic to the point of murder as he was a nice person in general. Also, someone like this doesn't seem like they would have the motives of murdering someone that they were close to.

Hae Min Lee and Adnan Syed

In conclusion, I believe that Adnan is being accused of murder and is innocent. This is because there is so much proof about his innocence that can't be ignored such as the inconsistencies and the people around him at that time.

Sources:
https://serialpodcast.org/season-one
https://viewfromll2.com/2014/11/26/serial-why-jays-testimony-is-not-credible-evidence-of-adnans-guilt/

Did Led Zeppelin's "The Lemon Song" Rip Off Howlin' Wolf's "The Killing Floor"?

Led Zeppelin - The Lemon Song

Howlin' Wolf - Killing Floor

In 1964, artist Howlin’ Wolf wrote the song Killing Floor. A few years later in 1969, Led Zeppelin wrote The Lemon Song. Due to many similarities in the two songs, ARC music sued Zeppelin for plagiarizing lyrics from Killing Floor. In this blog post, we will be determining if Led Zeppelin really copied Howlin’ Wolf or if his song was his own idea.

When I first listened to The Lemon Song and Killing Floor, I instantly noticed that some of the verses were nearly identical to each other. For instance, in the first verse of The Lemon Song the lyrics are, “I should have quit you, long time ago I should have quit you, long time ago I wouldn’t be here, my children Down on this killin’ floor.” which compared to Killing Floor, is very similar as the lyrics are, "I should have quit you, long time ago I should have quit you, long time ago I wouldn’t be here, my children Down on this killin’ floor". This means that Zeppelin clearly copied lyrics from Wolf and only slightly changed them. Not only that, but if you listen to both of the songs, the way they sing some of the verses is so alike that it seems suspicious.

On the other hand, people can make the argument that the song is original and that it isn't a rip off of Killing Floor. The beat is extremely different and the lyrics may have only been inspired by Killing Floor. Also, the genre's for both songs are different as The Lemon Song is a rock song and Killing Floor is a blues song making it somewhat original.

In my opinion, I think that Zeppelin's song is a rip off of Wolf's song because there are way too many similarities between the two, and even if the lyrics are only inspired, Wolf still deserves to be credited as it was his ideas. As I mentioned in the beginning, ARC music sued Zeppelin for plagiarizing and I think that it was well deserved because Wolf received no credit whatsoever for the lyrics that were copied. In addition, I think artist's writing songs should always check to see if they are plagiarizing from someone else to make sure that the lyrics or beat are original and not copied. If they are planning to use another artist's song for a cover, they also must provide credit to the original artist to avoid getting into legal problems. This not only applies to music but movies, TV shows, and creativity in general.

Citations:
Smith, Benjamin. “The Case Against Led Zeppelin: Is Hard Rock's Greatest Band Guilty Of Musical Plagiarism?” VH1 News, VH1 News, 21 Oct. 2014, www.vh1.com/news/53929/the-case-against-led-zeppelin/.

Review and Thoughts on Serial Podcast

The podcast Serial is based off the murder of Hae Min Lee in January of 1999. The popular podcast tells the horrifying story of Min Lee’s death and the arrest of her ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed, which resulted in a prison sentence that he is still serving to this day. Although he was arrested for murder, there was never actual evidence that proved Syed to be the murderer. 

Despite the fact that I’m not the biggest fan of podcasts, I thought Serial was still an enjoyable listen. I found the story interesting, thrilling, and filled with suspense. I also liked how she not only included her own opinion, but also the opinions of various people who knew Syed. This is a great addition because it makes the podcast less biased than if it was only the narrator sharing her opinions.

The idea of presenting this podcast in an investigative journalism format is very interesting and unexpected as this format is usually seen on TV. It really wants the viewers to use their own imagination and visualize the things that are happening to make the experience a lot better than seeing it on a screen.

While listening to Serial, I began to wonder about how the victims family felt as it must've been a tragic moment for them. I think that they must feel sad every time the podcast is mentioned because they probably don't want to remember the past events. Compared to reading, I think I prefer podcasts a lot more. This is because I find it much more efficient as I can multitask while listening whereas if I'm reading, I have to focus solely on reading.

In the beginning of the podcast, Koenig mentions the challenges of memory. I strongly relate to this as almost everyday, I'm unable to remember all of the events unless they're important. This raises problems for the rest of the podcast as Syed or anybody else could lie about what happened at the events leading up to the murder.