Skip to main content

S-Town Podcast

S-Town is a “true-crime” (Salusinszky, 2017) podcast produced by “Serial and This American Life, hosted by Brian Reed” (S.Town, n.d.) and it is a “rapidly expanding set of mini stories” (Romano, 2017) all about murder, mental health and the collapse of a society in Alabama.

Image result for s townAt the start, Brian “starts by talking about antique clock repair” (McGrane, 2017) and then hooks the audience by saying he “asked me to help him solve a murder” (Serial Productions, n.d.). This appeals to the audience of “loyal, affluent and educated” (Podcast insights, 2017) podcast listeners; making them continue to listen because they want to find out what has happened and if they solve the murder. Listeners were intrigued by the mystery because it focuses on subjects that are “difficult, brutal, and inevitably controversial” (Romano, 2017) and that is why it “scored over 45 million downloads in its first month, making it one of the most downloaded podcasts of all time” (McGrane, 2017).

The producers used “creativity and experimentation” (McGrane, 2017) when creating the podcast because podcasting is still a new medium “there aren’t a lot of rules for how things should be done” (McGrane, 2017). S.Town is a “new form of storytelling” (McGrane, 2017) due to the nature of the podcast being completely dependent on what happens in real life and the story could’ve changed dramatically and it did when “a friend of John phones [Brian] to let him know: John is dead from a suicide” (Romano, 2017). This benefits the narrative because “choosing the right story, with sufficient ambition or twist” (Thirkell, 2014) makes the storytelling more intriguing.

S.Town starts as a true crime podcast but “morphs into a character study of the man behind the false lead” (Salusinszky, 2017). True crime podcasts have a popularity “when they’re covering stories that are still in need of answers” (Simpson, 2017) because its easy to become obsessed with them trying to find out what has happened so “you quickly lose yourself in them, and the temptation is to binge-listen” (Salusinszky, 2017).

References

Salusinszky, I. (2017). Why true-crime podcasts make me uneasy. Retrieved 1 November 2017, from http://www.smh.com.au/comment/why-truecrime-podcasts-make-me-uneasy-20171027-gz9hrq.html 

S.Town. (n.d.). ABOUT THE SHOW. Retrieved 1 November, 2017, from https://stownpodcast.org/about 

Podcast Insights. (2017). 2017 Podcast Stats & Facts (New Research From August 2017). Retrieved 1 November 2017, from https://www.podcastinsights.com/podcast-statistics/ 

Romano, A. (2017). S-Town is a stunning podcast. It probably shouldn't have been made. Retrieved 1 November 2017, from https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/3/30/15084224/s-town-review-controversial-podcast-privacy 

McGrane, C. (2017). ‘S-Town’ creator: Podcasting is so new, the rules are still being written. Retrieved 1 November 2017, https://www.geekwire.com/2017/s-town-creator-podcasting-new-rules-still-written/ 

Serial Productions (Producer). (n.d.). S.Town. [Podcast]. Retrieved from https://stownpodcast.org/chapter/1 

 Thirkell, R. (2014). Conflict - the insiders' guide to storytelling in factual/reality tv and film : the insiders' guide to storytelling in factual/reality tv & film. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.salford.idm.oclc.org 

Simpson, S. (2017). The unlikely role of true crime podcasts in criminal justice reform. Retrieved 1 November 2017, from https://qz.com/1101889/the-unlikely-role-of-true-crime-podcasts-in-criminal-justice-reform/

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Desert Island Discs

This week I am focussing on copyright and clearance, more specifically how copyrighted material is cleared and what has been used in the chosen programme. I listened to the episode featuring Jack Whitehall which was broadcast on 9th February 2018. Desert Island Discs is presented by Kirsty Young who "invites her quests to share the soundtrack of their lives" (BBC, n.d.) and broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Desert Island Discs fits BBC Radio 4's remit because the "mixed speech service" (BBC, 2016) is used to "inform, educate and entertain" (BBC, 2016) its audience. The Copyright,  Designs and Pattern Act 1988 is the law on copyright currently in the UK (UKCS, n.d.). It gives the creator of original content control over how their content is used. It is described as when an "individual or organisation creates a work, and applies to a work if it is regarded as original" (UKCS, n.d.) then copyright arises. For Desert Island Discs, the music used w...
Read more

Heavy Toll

Heavy Toll is a radio documentary produced by Tabatha Konstantine for the Charles Parker Award and won the gold prize. This short documentary piece was played on "BBC Radio 4 Extra on Sunday 10 June" (Cpatrust.org.uk, n.d.) and it follows a "very grim narrative" (Cpatrust.org.uk, n.d.) about two railway workers experiences with "deaths on the railway" (Cpatrust.org.uk, n.d.). The tone of the piece was very somber mainly due to its grim narrative but it was "a truly powerful story, beautifully and sensitively handled" (Cpatrust.org.uk, n.d.) which is appropriate for BBC Radio 4 Extra because they should commission programmes aimed for "listeners seeking intelligent programmes" (BBC, n.d.). Heavy Toll brings a simplistic style to the documentary due to keeping it purely of the interviewees. Also, by having mostly silence during the speech sections makes the programme feel chilling and suitable for the piece as it "really prove...
Read more

Video Game High School

Video Game High School (VGHS) is an “original series released on the YouTube channel RocketJump” (Think with Google, 2015) that was crowdfunded on Kickstarter and is “an action/comedy series about surviving high school, fitting in, and landing that perfect head shot” (Wong, n.d.). VGHS was a success on Kickstarter because it has a certain niche target audience of over the age of eleven due to its comedic and action elements, also the style of language used is appropriate for younger audiences. Especially with the use of acronyms used in the programme such as FPS and AFK. The nature of the web series is all about “students [studying] video games” (Tach, 2013), this is the dream of young gamers and this fantasy series is something they can live their dream through. Also, the characters in the series, such as Brian, are relatable because he is going through the “core components of real-life high school” (Tach, 2013) like the intended audience are. https://www.plaidhatgames.com/ga...
Read more