Sooo good! This wasn't even a myth I'd heard of before this podcast

A rare thing in a dud show from the excellent Radiotopia. As a regular podcast listener i thought the show was wobbly from episode one but decided to go with it. Ultimately, i feel that it explored very little and took a long time to do so. I accept that not everything is for everyone but i think this didn’t land as a quality documentary.

I totally get the idea, and how much work and resources were put into the making of this show. That, I appreciate! But since the author asks us listeners, did we find it shocking, heartbreaking and transformative? To me it was sad to hear about the subjects’s difficult lives, but the podcast wasn’t shocking or transformative. I think it was quite pointless, sorry!

The primary issue with Season 13 lies in its execution. The stories, despite their potential for depth and connection, ended up feeling surprisingly flat. The characters, whose lives and challenges could have resonated on a deeply human level, failed to engage. There was a distinct lack of the emotional connection that transforms individual stories into universal truths, leaving listeners with no compelling reason to care more for the podcast’s subjects than the collective experiencing similar hardships. This detachment can be attributed to the season’s experimental approach to narrative control. While it aimed to empower interviewees, it inadvertently led to a sanitization of their stories. The subjects, understandably wishing to present themselves in a certain light, often omitted the raw, unvarnished elements that make stories resonate. The result was a series of narratives lacking the depth and conflict necessary to captivate and engage. Moreover, the podcast’s exploration of the tension between the podcaster’s vision and the subjects’ editorial control—arguably the season’s most intriguing aspect—was underdeveloped. Listeners could sense the journalist’s growing frustration as the season progressed, but this conflict was never fully explored or resolved. The absence of “magical moments” or significant takeaways left the season feeling unresolved and, ultimately, unsatisfying.

Can't wait to see how this all turns out. I got HOOKED

I'm really happy that Radiotopia has created this space for shorter series that don't necessarily warrant an on-going series but which totally deserve to exist. Great stuff so far.

This podcast is getting off to a cracking start with Damon Krukowski's brilliant series on listening to music in the digital age. It's a fascinating, well produced programme. I hope whatever follows is as good!