This is a special podcast among the podcast that I have listened to. The construction of the podcast is unique because there isn’t a host telling stories in the third voice, but weaves the stories with interviews, phone calls, and realistic field recordings (possibly) to build the scenes and plots as what a novel or a film would do.
In terms of the sound effect, the ambient sound constructed the entire acoustic environment, which makes every scene so realistic that I was totally immersed in it. The transitions are naturally following the ongoing progress of the plot. For example, I was impressed that at 7:45, following the interviewer’s question “Do you want to tell me what happened?” comes to a “sheew” voice with “doo-doo” phone call sound, which brought me to a flashback. After the phone call, the audio turned back to the conversation of explaining what had happened. This is a really effective moment that I captured in the podcast. I realized that the audio storytelling doesn’t have to be a third-voice host telling the audience so and so; it can be a combination of several scenes as what literary works could do.
Meanwhile, the characteristic as an audio podcast also stands out that some signal music is essential in structuring the podcast. Both at the beginning and the end there’s a contingent solemn and stirring piano sound, and it notifies the audience where the beginning and the end lies.
This is an amazing podcast, and refreshes my understanding of audio storytelling!