--- --- Jul 23, 2025 # S-Town A voyeuristic look at a singular man by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/) ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent  **_True Crime_** _Serial'_s follow-up series debuted in 2017 to understandably sky-high expectations, and it more than delivered. [_S-Town_](https://open.spotify.com/episode/5wpLryBEOWyxaMPUUSAQqQ?si=4a086ab532ff4d02), as a piece of audio production, is even better than _Serial_ (also on this list), though it also kicked up a great deal of controversy. Initially pitched as a murder mystery, _S-Town_ quickly pivots to a more intimate story about the life—and death—of a singular but troubled man named John B. McLemore. McLemore lives in a tiny town, which he dubs "Sh-t Town," hence the title of the show. Host Brian Reed develops an obsession with McLemore only to find out [partway through reporting his podcast](https://time.com/4721146/s-town-podcast-brian-reed-john-mclemore/) that the man has passed away. It turns out McLemore harbored many secrets. _S-Town_ flirted with the boundaries of privacy when it exposed intimate aspects of the subject’s life. At once noble and voyeuristic, it's an addictive piece of podcasting, an excellent piece of journalism, and a show that will still jump-start debates on the ethics of such reporting. 'S-Town': 100 Best Podcasts ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-best-podcasts/7303116/s-town/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-best-podcasts/7303116/s-town/"},"headline":"S-Town","datePublished":"2025-07-23T11:14:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:52:12.076Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-best-podcasts/7303116/s-town/","keywords":["podcasts","list","Podcast","Special Project"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1472b5cb3b336a87/6998c87366d4e39760cbcabd/Best-Podcasts-2025-S-Town-064.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"creator":"Eliana Dockterman","articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1472b5cb3b336a87/6998c87366d4e39760cbcabd/Best-Podcasts-2025-S-Town-064.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"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/collections/100-best-podcasts/7303116/s-town/","name":"S-Town"}}]}] ```