The Authority: Exploring the Worlds of His Dark Materials

I do really love the books though

I read the book series as a teenager in the mid two thousands and frankly had forgotten most of it, except for the major plot points. I really enjoyed the HBO series, even though it had some failings. Listening to Laura and Dan discuss this series with so much love and attention to details was really fun! It brought back memories from the time I read the books. They also do a very interesting deep dive segment which definitely piqued my interest and is tempting me to buy the book series so that I can revisit them. I think fans of both the show and the books will enjoy this pod and love the intellect and passion behind Laura’s and Dan’s discussions.

I generally enjoy this podcast except for two glaring exceptions. One, His Dark Materials is a middle reader book series. This means its target audience is, like, 9–12 years old. But Dan Kois, presumed grownup, thinks nothing of liberally sprinkling his commentary with f-bombs and s-sparklers like he’s a flower girl at a metaphor-mixing wedding. I know children aren’t likely listening to this, but it’s still kinda gross. To compound the offense, Kois is just bad at cursing. Some people can cuss and it sounds like poetry. Kois sounds like a little kid looks, wearing his dad’s overcoat and hat. Two, the hosts pretend to have daemons. Groan; cringe. The bits are infrequent, poorly written, and poorly performed (I can’t tell if the daemon voices are the hosts’ voices or not; you should be able to tell). Just stop. Please. Other than that, good work. Carry on.

I want to like this podcast, and lots of things about it are good- however, what makes me skip huge sections is the constant negativity. We get it, you like the books better - so why are you doing a long form podcast about a TV adaptation? Most fan casts of anything, showcase that the hosts are first and foremost, fans of the material, but are also able to discuss it critically, warts and all. Literally the second episode was an hour long complaint about everything wrong with the TV show. You don’t have to effusively praise everything, but when it gets to the point that I can’t fathom why you’re bothering to do this show because it sounds like you’re “hate watching” it for the most part, maybe it’s time to take a different tone.