I chose to listen to Slate’s The Gist podcast, in which journalist Mike Pesca examines current cultural and political happenings in the US. I had not listened to this particular podcast before, but enjoy several of Slate’s other podcasts and thought I might discover something new.
The particular episode I listened to was entitled “The Great Tightening, Explained.” Originally released on September 15, this episode examined the tightening of polls between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Pesca interviewed FiveThirtyEight senior political writer and analyst Harry Enten for this segment, who argued that though the polls may be tightening, an average of poll results reveals that Clinton still has a substantial lead over Trump. In a second segment, Pesca interviewed NPR reporter Scott Detrow about Trump’s recent visit to a church in Flint Michigan, which was highly controversial (Trump has made claims about the level of support he received while there that are not substantiated by Detrow’s recordings).
Overall, I cannot say I enjoyed this podcast. The opening of the podcast was a brief solo segment in which Pesca discussed economic recovery in the US, arguing that those who do not see it or insist it has been “unequal” are wrong. I recognize that podcasts are not “news” and discussion of personal opinion is common, but I found the manner in which Pesca handled the subject to be abrasive–shouting “you are wrong” into the microphone does not make me want to hear more. Secondly, and this is a theme I have noticed in many podcasts, the summary I read online that initially interested me in the podcast was not an accurate representation of what was covered in the episode. Yes, there was discussion of poll tightening and this segment was the longest, but it took them a solid 7 minutes to get there, and had I not been doing this for an assignment I feel confident I would have lost interest by that point. The numerous ads throughout (though I’m sure necessary to continue the podcast’s production) were also highly distracting from what was being discussed.
On a more positive note, I can say honestly that sound quality was good, there was appropriate use of music and voiceovers. Part of the discussion on poll tightening included explanations of interpreting polls, which I think was a good subject to include for listeners who may not have a solid foundation in statistics. I think many people would enjoy this podcast–I just didn’t happen to be one of them (maybe I need to give it at least one more try with another episode)
0:00-0.35: introduction, thanking sponsors
0:36-5:37: Mike Pesca on the economic recovery, including news clips at 1:04-1:16
5:38-5:52: music
5:52-7:05: music underneath ad for HBO
7:06-19:33: interview with Harry Enten on poll tightening and poll interpretation
19:34-21:23: music/ads
21:24-27:00: interview with Scott Detrow on Trump visit to Flint
27:00-28:00: thanks for listening, join us next time
28:00-28:38: join us for other podcasts