Reply All: #47 Quit Already!

December 3, 2015 2:32 PM

Everybody has that one Facebook friend who just won't stop posting their political opinions. This week, we talk to one of those Facebook friends, someone whose opinions got her into an enormous mess.

Episode page with transcript
Original Radio Ambulante story

posted by radioamy (5 comments total)

This story is a thousand times more interesting than the episode blurb. To be clear, this is far better than the opposite ordering, but still a surprising choice. Perhaps, "social media enabled popular uprising goes better than anyone could have expected" would have given away the punchline? None the less, it's a great show and worth hearing.

Next on Reply All: how one man's death in 1945 caused the fashion industry to abandon the toothbrush mustache.
posted by eotvos at 9:58 PM on December 3, 2015 [1 favorite]

I commented in the recent 99pi post about noticing "a trend in podcasts where what the title/initial set up is twists to something completely different. Sometimes the connection is a bit weak, the journey feels forced. " This episode left the same impression. I really liked the story, it's the way they got into it was weird. Is this the podcast version of Buzzfeed headlines where "you won't believe what happens next!" ?
posted by jazon at 7:58 AM on December 4, 2015

This and the Rainbow Pug episode were both stories that had their connections to the internet overplayed from the degree to which they actually factor into each story. I like that Reply All is diversifying in the stories it tells, but I wish they were less aggressive in (at least initially) framing them in relation to the internet, because it's downplaying the stories' most interesting aspects.
posted by lunch at 12:01 PM on December 4, 2015 [2 favorites]

How is the web connection overplayed here? This was an example of successful Facebook and hashtag activism.
posted by maxsparber at 5:31 AM on December 5, 2015 [5 favorites]

I enjoyed hearing the podcast cover a serious news event. I like the lighter kooky stuff too, like microdosing or the various Yes Yes No segments. But this story in Guatemala is enormous and underreported in English media. I agree with lunch's comment that the Internet connection is a little thin, but I'm OK with that.
posted by Nelson at 8:47 AM on December 10, 2015