[3] In 2012, horologist John B. McLemore[4] emailed the staff of the show This American Life asking them to investigate an alleged murder in his hometown of Woodstock, Alabama, a place he claimed to despise.

After a year of exchanging emails and several months of conversation with McLemore, producer Brian Reed traveled to Woodstock to investigate.

[5] He investigated the crime and eventually found that no such murder took place, though he struck up a friendship with McLemore, a "depressed but colorful" character.

Though the podcast was promoted under the name S-Town, Reed reveals in the first episode that this is a euphemism for "Shit-Town", McLemore's derogatory term for Woodstock.

[18] In an April 2017 interview, Tyler Goodson said he sometimes regrets "ever speaking into that microphone because I was probably upset, or wasn't thinking clearly" since he faced trial for criminal actions the podcast describes.

[20] On December 3, 2023, police shot and killed Goodson at his home after a three-hour confrontation in which he allegedly brandished his weapon at them.

[25] Jessica Goudeau of The Atlantic questioned the series' ethics, asking, "is it okay to confess another person's pain for the sake of a good story?

"[26] Goudeau also wondered how Flannery O'Connor, Robert Lowell, or Elizabeth Bishop would have reacted to the podcast and the exploration of poor, white, rural America.