--- description: The addictive podcast Serial is eying the story of Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, a soldier abducted by the Taliban, for the show's next season. title: 'Serial' Podcast Eyes Bowe Bergdahl's Story for New Season image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa8111bfac15844b/6988652aa988caeefb6b47e9/bergdahl.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [podcasts](/tag/podcasts/) ## podcasts Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Next _Serial_ Podcast May Explore the Story of Taliban Captive Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl by [Lisa Spear](/author/lisa-spear/) ## Lisa Spear Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 24, 2015 7:30 AM CUT  A billboard calling for the release of U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl near Spokane, Washington, on Feb. 25, 2014 A billboard calling for the release of U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl near Spokane, Washington, on Feb. 25, 2014Jeff Green—Reuters by [Lisa Spear](/author/lisa-spear/) ## Lisa Spear Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 24, 2015 7:30 AM CUT The producers of the hit podcast _Serial_ are eying the story of Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, a U.S. Army soldier who spent nearly five years in captivity with the Taliban, for the show’s upcoming season. The show’s producers were [spotted in Texas at a court hearing](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/09/23/serial-bowe-bergdahl "undefined") for Bergdahl, who after fleeing his Afghanistan base in the middle of the night now faces up to life in prison for endangering the thousands of troops who scoured the desert looking for him, _Entertainment Weekly_ reports. The 29-year-old also faces charges of desertion, which could come with a five-year sentence. Bergdahl [was freed](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/19/us/bowe-bergdahl-should-not-be-imprisoned-army-investigator-says.html "undefined") more than a year ago after U.S. President Barack Obama approved swapping him for five Guantánamo Bay detainees. He says he endured harsh conditions as well as physical violence during captivity. While the _Serial_ team hasn’t publicly released their subject for the upcoming season, a rep from the show told _Entertainment Weekly_ that over the last few months they’ve been researching several story ideas. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4047714/sgt-bowe-bergdahl-serial-talibanpodcast-afghanistan/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4047714/sgt-bowe-bergdahl-serial-talibanpodcast-afghanistan/"},"headline":"The Next Serial Podcast May Explore the Story of Taliban Captive Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl","datePublished":"2015-09-24T07:30:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T11:12:55.830Z","description":"The Idaho native faces up to life in prison for endangering thousands of troops","url":"https://time.com/4047714/sgt-bowe-bergdahl-serial-talibanpodcast-afghanistan/","keywords":["podcasts","Army","Afghanistan","Obama","Taliban","court","Podcast","Guantanamo","Serial"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa8111bfac15844b/6988652aa988caeefb6b47e9/bergdahl.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lisa Spear","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/lisa-spear/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa8111bfac15844b/6988652aa988caeefb6b47e9/bergdahl.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A billboard calling for the release of U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl near Spokane Washington","caption":"A billboard calling for the release of U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl near Spokane Washington","creditText":"Jeff Green—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/podcasts/","name":"podcasts"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4047714/sgt-bowe-bergdahl-serial-talibanpodcast-afghanistan/","name":"The Next Serial Podcast May Explore the Story of Taliban Captive Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Bowe Bergdahl Appears In Court For Hearing","description":"Bergdahl was charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. If convicted of misbehavior, Bergdahl could face life in prison.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/H8VMgR4p/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-09-17T16:19:29.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/H8VMgR4p.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4047714/sgt-bowe-bergdahl-serial-talibanpodcast-afghanistan/","duration":"PT1M16S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4047714/sgt-bowe-bergdahl-serial-talibanpodcast-afghanistan/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```