I was wrong, please forgive me
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Someone bring me a spoon for this big ol’ plate of humble pie — I’m here to eat my words.
Last week I recommended the podcast Once Upon A Time… At Bennington College, having only listened to five episodes. There are 14 episodes out, and now that I’ve listened to nine of them, I have to rescind my recommendation.
I wasn’t necessarily a fan of any of the central characters going into the podcast — specifically, Bret Easton Ellis, Donna Tartt, and Jonathan Lethem — but I am a fan of juicy stories set at quirky liberal arts colleges.
What I thought was going to be a fun, gossipy podcast with juicy stories about a liberal arts college that fostered some of the most celebrated authors of a generation turned out to be a story that is both bloated and thin, with some strange takes on gender and sexuality, and some wild editorializing.
The first few episodes, focused on Ellis, were snappy and engrossing — likely in part because Ellis actually participated in the podcast, as opposed to Tartt, who refused. So of course Ellis’ background story would be more colourful and interesting, because there was material to work with.
But the amount of conjecture that host Lili Anolik brings to Tartt’s story feels borderline fictitious to me. She talks about the friendship between Tartt and Lethem, which eventually sours, and posits that their friendship, their connection, had romantic elements to it — that they had ill-timed crushes on each other. This is the kind of cheeky theory that you tell your book-nerd friends over a bottle of wine. In my opinion, this is a bonkers thing to say about people who are both still alive in a podcast that’s meant to be rigorously reported, and theoretically fact-checked. Whether this was actually fact-checked, I’m not so sure.
Donna Tartt’s literary agents requested that Apple Podcasts take down the podcast back in October, and her lawyer requested they not use “any of Tartt’s published works without permission, or any of her private school records.” The podcast does use Tartt’s published works. They excerpt her audiobook of The Secret History, which Tartt narrates herself. Every time it’s used, Anolik pipes in to say something along the lines of, “I want you to hear how Donna is reading this.” By arguing that Donna’s read of her story adds context, that it contains literary value, they’re basically covering their asses and making the argument that it falls under fair use. If Anolik can posit wild theories, I will too: I think this serves as a bit of a middle finger to Tartt for not playing nice. Don’t want to be in our podcast? Too bad, you’re in it whether you like it or not.
In an interview with the LA Times, Anolik says that she takes the caution letters sent to her by Tartt’s lawyers “as a compliment.”
From a production standpoint, there are a number of instances where interview tape is reused in a later episode. If this is done intentionally, I would expect to hear a call back: “You heard X say this before, now here it is with more context.” I think they actually just lost track and used the tape twice.
Also, some of the interviews were conducted in loud rooms, or were not the best sound quality because they were recorded for Anolik’s original Esquire piece on Bennington. While not ideal, it is not the worst thing in the world. What drives me crazy is that any time less-than-ideal audio is used, she stops to apologize for the quality, or to excuse her “braying laugh.” I understand making the comment once off the top of the podcast — some of these interviews were conducted in less than ideal circumstances. People will understand! But by making a comment every single time, she calls attention to it and that’s what takes me out of the story, not the audio itself.
Based on the advertisements I’ve been hearing for their other original podcasts, it sounds like Cadence 13, the company behind OUATABC, has a lot of money to do whatever they want with, including what they call a “movie-length podcast” starring Kiernan Shipka. I look forward to tearing it to shreds!
In the meantime, I’m listening to the Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat soundtrack.
A brief programming note: next week will be our last newsletter of 2021 before we all go into hibernation for the rest of the year. After that, we’ll be back in January!
JAR Audio is hiring an executive producer to produce podcasts for a financial services brand, and the salary is listed at $100K.
CANADALAND is hiring an associate producer for their flagship Monday show, and another associate producer for COMMONS. These are both part-time, three-month contracts. Apply by January 4.
CBC is hiring a host for Manitoba Late Night on a one-year contract. Apply by EOD December 13.
CBC Radio is hiring a permanent, full-time associate producer for As It Happens, and you have until EOD December 15 to apply.
Know someone who’d be a good executive producer of radio/audio news at CBC? Maybe it’s you! Apply by EOD December 19.
Calling all enterprise reporters/producers! CBC Toronto is hiring a senior producer, enterprise unit. Apply by EOD December 21.
Katie has been listening to Dear Seekers, a conversation series that explores the intersection of creative endeavours and spiritual growth. Here’s what she has to say about it:
Host Sasha Xiao has thoughtfully-crafted and empathetic interviews with Canadian women creatives. The episodes are intimate, warm, and friendly, drawing you into Sasha's world, and the world of the women who surround her. It reminds me of why I started listening to Cavern of Secrets: I love peering inside of the brains of other people who've chosen to work in creative arts. (It's a bonus when those people are women.) Sasha goes beyond the standard linear interview: she chops up the interview with break-ins to explain things to the audience or move the narrative along and jump forward in her guest's timeline.
We shared all our desks on the Vocal Fry Instagram this week! Can you guess which desk belongs to each producer?
Have you done your holiday shopping yet? Me neither! If you have podcaster friends on your holiday gift list, we wrote a guide with some books about podcasting, including a forthcoming book title from Vocal Fry’s very own Jay Cockburn, which you can pre-order now! My personal favourite from this list is Out on a Wire by Jessica Abel — it’s a great read, and I consult it all the time.
We want to hear from you! What are you looking for in your podcast news? Let us know on Twitter, Instagram, or by email at info@vocalfrystudios.com.
Thanks to Emily Latimer for editing and designing this newsletter. We’ll see you again on December 17.
Until then, here’s an update from Cleo, a dog that's up for adoption that Katie can't stop thinking about.
Yours in friends and fries,
Michal
