‘I don’t judge his decision to die’: the hit podcast about love, loss – and Britney Spears

When Chris Stedman's friend Alex took his own life, he left him a final puzzle to solve. Unread charts Stedman's journey down a rabbit hole of grief and realisation

When someone dies, there are always questions that will be left unanswered. But what happens when you lose someone and they leave you a trail to follow after they are gone?"

Chris Stedman is explaining the central conceit of his podcast Unread. The four-part series sees the writer and podcaster memorialise his friend Alex, who took his own life in late 2019, via narration, voice notes and testimonies from mutual friends. It also follows Stedman's quest to better understand his friend's life, digging into parts of his history that he didn't know existed. Bringing together an affecting story and a compelling mystery, Unread garnered critical acclaim from the likes of Vulture, and has been among the podcast highlights of the year since its release in July.