The series was created by Nichelle Tramble Spellman for Apple TV+ and is based on Kathleen Barber's 2017 debut novel Are You Sleeping. Octavia Spencer plays the main role, as a podcaster who revisits the case that made her famous with the hope of finally getting to the truth. The series premiered on December 6, 2019 and the second season began in August 2021. In April 2023, the series was canceled after three seasons.
In season 1, Oakland journalist Poppy Parnell restarts the true crime podcast that made her famous. She reopens the 1999 murder case of Stanford professor Chuck Buhrman. In season 3, Poppy works with a high school principal to investigate the disappearances of several young black girls in Oakland whose cases lack mainstream media attention.