'S-Town': the truly addictive true-crime podcast everyone's listening to

AT A GLANCE

What? S-town is a piece of investigative journalism set in Woodstock, a small town in Alabama.

Who? Brian Reed, one of the makers behind popular podcasts Serial and The American Life, sets out to investigate a murder but what he finds in Woodstock is a story of empathy, mysteries, mazes, buried gold, depression, legacy and clocks.

Why listen? It's much more than a true crime story - it's a touching and delicate podcast that unfolds like a novel. One of the joys is getting to know the central figure John B McLemore.

Where to find it? You can listen to all seven episodes on stownpodcast.org

FULL REVIEW

It's called S-Town as in Shit-Town, Alabama. And no, Trump is not behind naming it. It's the most listened-to podcast - about 40 million downloads. People are binge-listening to the true tale of John B McLemore - a red-haired, bearded, tattooed, eccentric, mad-genius horologist (clock fixer), who is as unfathomable as the maze he built on his 50ha estate in the town of Woodstock. A place he calls Shit-Town.

It begins with him writing an e-mail to Brian Reed asking him to investigate the town for two different events. One of the events involves a police officer who has been accused of sexual abuse. The second is the murder of one of the residents by a son of the prominent local family.

As John B says, "I've about just had enough of Shit-Town and the things that go on. We are one of the child-molester capitals of the state. We have just an incredible amount of police corruption; we have the poorest of education. We have 95 churches in this damn county. We have two high schools... And we got Jebus. Cos Jebus is coming... I'm in an area that just hasn't advanced."

Reed does go to Woodstock to investigate. As he starts to talk to the townsfolk he finds a place that fascinates, reeks of racism, that's filled with mysteries, alleged crooked cops, and down-to-earth folks who like to chew the fat.

He meets characters who seem to have walked straight off the set of Mississippi Burning. There's Tyler, a 20-something man who John B has taken in as his son. He works for John B, helping out with the maze. Tyler also runs a tattoo parlour with Bubba. They, and other white men, "a collection of misfits", hang out in a hidden clubhouse at the back of the shop. It's a place that makes Reed feel uncomfortable, where he fears he will be in serious trouble if he says one wrong word.

LISTEN | A preview of S-Town

But John B remains the centre of the tale, and at the end of Chapter 2 it's clear there is no murder. There is death, though.

John B kills himself, leaving no will. This sets Reed in a different direction, "a whole other story unfurled in front of me piece by piece". Reed wants to learn about John B, about his depression.

There's also the mystery of the gold that John B said was buried on his land. John B's cousins come to claim. Tyler feels that John B would have wanted him to have the estate. It gets messy. There are many stories. There are many sides. It's up to the listener to decide.

At the end you get to know the intimacies of John B's life. Many critics have said that there is an ethical question about whether we should know so much about a man who is dead, who has not given permission for his life to be on display.

But Reed keeps it sensitive. It's a tender and life-affirming story.