The Last 12 Weeks - Ep. 4
Serial

The Last 12 Weeks - Ep. 4

B2Upper-intermediateJune 18, 202630 min

To justify sentencing David Wood to death, prosecutors argued that he was a convicted rapist turned serial killer. And yet, Wood has insisted all along that isn’t true. We head to death row to hear him tell us why. But not before a victim of his earlier crimes has her say about the kind of person she believes he is. To find out about new shows from Serial Productions, and get a look behind the scenes, sign up for our newsletter at nytimes.com/serialnewsletter. Have a story pitch, a tip, or feedback on our sho...

Play episode

Opens the player: the full transcript, every word clickable, with translation and flashcards.

Try it: tap any word

Real sentences from the start of this episode. Every word is marked with its level.

Sentence 1 of 12 · 0:00

.

sense. His lawyers aren't arguing about whether he should die for his crimes, but about whether

Hear this sentence

Tap a word to see its meaning in your language.

Do you know these words?

8 harder words from this episode. Tap one to see what it means, then mark it.

  • B21:23
  • B25:19
  • C18:20
  • B214:59
  • B216:42
  • C123:58
  • B226:06
  • B228:54

Mark a few words and we'll tell you how this episode fits your level.

Is this episode right for you?

B2

B2 · Upper-intermediate

Comfortable if you already follow TV news

A1 36%A2 41%B1 16%B2 7%C1 1%
  • 92% of the words are B1 or easier.
  • 184 words a minute: natural, fairly fast speech.
  • 160 harder words (B2 and up) in the whole episode.

Transcript

The opening of the episode. The whole transcript is in the player.

0:00

Most prisoners on death row are not pursuing innocence claims. David Wood is rare in that sense. His lawyers aren't arguing about whether he should die for his crimes, but about whether he committed them at all. An argument that big, that fundamental, tends to lock people into their corners. He's either a serial killer or an innocent man. It makes it tougher

0:25

to honestly assess some of the more basic questions I have about David Wood. What kind of person is he? And more to the point, what exactly is he capable of? The last time anyone seriously took up those questions was 33 years ago at his capital murder trial during what's called the penalty phase. After a jury found David Wood guilty,

0:47

they had to come back to court to decide his punishment. In Texas, juries have to consider whether or not the defendant poses a future threat to society. In this phase of the trial, the jury isn't just judging the crime anymore. They're judging the person.

That was the opening. The rest of the episode (29 min) is in the player: every word clickable, with translation, saved words and flashcards.

Continue in the player

Automatically generated from the audio. May contain errors. Audio belongs to its publisher and is played from their feed. Rights holders can request removal — copyright & takedown policy