The Idiot - Chapter 4

About this episode

M. interviews Allen for 35 hours to understand his motivations behind hiring someone to kill his ex.

Allen finally agrees to talk … and talk and talk, for 35 hours of interviews. M. wants to understand Allen on his own terms, to try and figure out how this scion of bohemian intellectuals ended up hiring someone to kill his ex. It’s hard for M. to believe everything Allen says, but over the course of their conversations, M. comes to feel for their cousin. And they think they understand what drove him to go so far.

People in this episode

Host: M.

Guest: Allen

Topics covered

• interviews
• family dynamics
• murder
• bohemian culture
• psychology
• true crime

Keywords

• interview
• murder
• Allen
• family
• bohemian
• true crime
• psychology

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Idiot

More episodes of Serial

• The Idiot - Chapter 5 · March 26, 2026 · 29 min
• The Idiot - Chapter 3 · March 26, 2026 · 50 min
• The Idiot - Chapter 2 · March 26, 2026 · 50 min
• The Idiot - Chapter 1 · March 26, 2026 · 22 min
• The Idiot - Trailer · March 19, 2026 · 2 min
• The Preventionist - Ep. 3 · October 30, 2025 · 58 min