If you’ve ever looked at your high school students and thought, “How on earth do I get them to buy into and get invested in a text?”, I have one word for you. Podcasts. And if you want one that’ll hook them from the first word? May I present to you, Limetown. Teaching Limetown is one of my new favorite parts of the spring semester.
In the spring of 2025, I had a group of seniors who were struggling to engage. Senioritis was hitting them hard. So I leaned into what I like to do – I gave them a choice for their next unit. A podcast – and specifically Limetown – was the winner. So I spent about a week relistening to the podcast, hunting down transcripts, and creating guided notes and discussion questions for each of the six episodes in Season 1. That kinda spur of the moment unit was one of the favorites on my end-of-the-year survey.
Interested in recreating some of this engagement? Keep reading for ideas on teaching Limetown.
Limetown Summary
Limetown is a fictional investigative podcast that follows journalist Lia Haddock as she investigates the sudden disappearance of over 300 people from a neuroscience research facility in Tennessee.
No bodies.
No clear explanation.
No official story that makes sense.
The podcast unfolds like true crime — interviews, archival audio, expert commentary — but it slowly reveals something much more unsettling beneath the surface.
Why students love it:
- It feels real. (I didn’t tell my students that it wasn’t until towards the end – and only then because someone specifically asked).
- It builds suspense. Limetown is a masterclass in cliffhangers. Exhibit A: a senior who came up to me and said, “I hate to be that student, but can you tell me where I can listen to it because you got me hooked.” Score!
- It draws them in and allows them to “investigate” alongside Lia.
Why you’ll love it:
It’s ripe for analysis. Mood. Tone. Suspense. Pacing. Deep ethical questions. Basically – a English teacher’s analysis dream.
Ideas for Teaching Limetown
Mystery Unit
Doing a mystery unit, like Poe or Sherlock Holmes short stories, or some Agatha Christie? Limetown pairs fantastically as a modern extension of classic mysteries. Have students:
- track clues and red herrings
- analyze structure and pacing (especially suspense)
- evaluate unreliable narrators
- compare narrative techniques between print & audio (great for those “across genres” standards)
Podcast Unit
Want to focus on strengthening listening skills? A podcast unit is the perfect place to do this. We ask students to read closely all the time (it’s pretty much my go-to analysis activity), but how often do we ask them to listen closely? Those listening standards? Yeah, we’re supposed to be hitting those too.
When teaching Limetown as a stand-alone unit, you can really hone in on those listening standards and skills, such as:
- tone and mood
- how tone and mood are created (volume, pitch, background noise/music)
- bias and credibility
- audience manipulation
Basically – it’s media literacy disguised as an engrossing mystery.
Dystopian Unit
Dystopian literature is a huge hit in high school classrooms. Limetown hits on many of the same ethical questions and topics as these popular texts:
- scientific responsibility & moral boundaries
- power and control (”Harrison Bergeron”, 1984, The Hunger Games)
- technology and humanity (”The Veldt”)
Incorporate Limetown into your dystopian unit and then wrap up with a Socratic seminar on some of these large ethical questions and watch analysis and engagement soar.
Investigative Journalism Unit
At its heart, Limetown is a study in investigative journalism. If you’re leaning more into nonfiction, then this is a great place to include a podcast. Yes, *technically * Limetown is fiction – but the methods Lia uses mirror real investigative journalism. Pair with another podcast – this time a “real” one – and have students:
- evaluate sources
- analyze and compare interview techniques
- examine journalistic bias
- finish with a PBL to conduct their own mini investigations
Lessons
My biggest tip for teaching Limetown? Episode guides. Because let’s face it. No matter how interesting the podcast is, students’ attention spans just aren’t what they used to be. So here’s how I combat that:
- Episode guides: Each episode has a designated guide where students add additional information they learn about Limetown, do a quick character insight into the survivor being interviewed, and answer a few comprehension and analysis questions. Nothing too crazy – just enough to keep them focused.
- Discussion prompts: The shortest episode is around 25 minutes; the longest is a little over 40. That’s a long time for students to sit still and listen. Break up the episode with natural pauses (ideally when there’s a shift from past to present or a musical interlude with one of Lia’s sidenotes). Ask students to summarize what’s happening/what new information we have so far. Dig deeper with analysis questions like, “How is suspense being built in this episode?” or “Why would Lia do ______?”
- Transcripts: Provide the transcripts – either in your LMS or projected on the board (ideally both). This will not only help your ELLs or students with attention issues, but will also allow students to go back for textual evidence.
Wrap up Limetown with a Socratic Seminar
Finish up teaching Limetown with a Socratic Seminar. Here’s where all those discussions and episode guides come in handy. Give students a list of discussion prompts ahead of time and allow them time to prepare. Some topics could include:
- storytelling, journalism, and technology
- ethics, power, and consequences
- scientific progress vs. human rights
Why Students Love Limetown
There’s something powerful about turning off the lights, pressing play, and watching an entire class lean forward.
No phones.
No side conversations.
Just listening.
It feels different from a traditional novel unit — and sometimes that’s exactly what they need.
Interested in teaching Limetown? If you want a ready-to-go unit plan, check out this Podcast Unit for High School ELA: Limetown Season 1 Plans + Activities resource. You’ll lesson plans, episode guides, and an editable Socratic Seminar guide.
If you’re teaching mystery, dystopia, journalism, or just need something fresh that still aligns with standards, Limetown might be your next favorite unit.
Have you ever taught Limetown? Hit “Reply” and let me know.
