Anyone Here Listen to the Shittown podcast?

[Some Schmo]

***POTENTIAL SPOILERS***

We finished it, and damn, what a story. After it was over, I commented that John B's life was a Shakespearean tragedy, and that the candle that burns twice as bright, burns half as long. Man, I'd have loved to have met him.

What got me was the stuff on fire-gilding and mercury inhalation. It sounds like a reasonable explanation for the difference between what the host observed and what the people of the town said about how John used to be . If that was what happened to make him decline emotionally, it seems it was a quest for a kind of perfection that led to his death, both in his work and his worldview.

I'm already feeling like I need to listen through it again. What a story.

[Res Ipsa]

I listened through it at least twice, maybe three times. It was interesting to see the choices the writer and editors made in how they told the story.

[Cultellus]

50 Cent

[Some Schmo]

I listened through it at least twice, maybe three times. It was interesting to see the choices the writer and editors made in how they told the story.

It really was well produced. They took a non-fiction story and turned it into a compelling novel.

[Doctor Steuss]

Just wanted to note (as I was curious and went digging), that according to the company profile, the owners of K3 (stylized as K to the third power) are J Kendall Burt, Kyle Burt, and Keefe Burt.

[Some Schmo]

Just wanted to note (as I was curious and went digging), that according to the company profile, the owners of K3 (stylized as K to the third power) are J Kendall Burt, Kyle Burt, and Keefe Burt.

Yep, that's mentioned in the podcast.

[Gadianton]

I finished it last night. It goes without saying that John B. is a fascinating character.

I can see why Cultellus is so into it now.

S-Town is a town of "regular people" -- people who are broken and suffer due to poor life choices, including John, despite his dizzying mental powers (at least, to the degree John and company are fair representatives of the town). John's self-loathing, a trait his crew all share, holds him back from either leaving the town he says he hates or accepting that he loves it, and becoming a force for good to make it better. Without spoiling too much for those who haven't listened, the story begins with a mystery that needs to be solved. John, an unhinged BSer -- the chief BSer of a community of BSers, reaches out to Mr. Reed, a big-city reporter, for help.

Reed no doubt is a very bright individual, but John would give Einstein a run for his money. Yet here is John, outraged by the mystery -- a mystery his own running mouth probably contributed to -- helpless to make progress. The mystery turns out not to be extremely complex. It's just that when you have a culture where people say whatever they want, make stuff up, and everyone plays their self-deprecating small-town part, "well I ain't no genius, but if you ask me, that done no good XYZ is guilty, Mrs. B done heard him admit to it right in front of the Little Caesar's pizza hut!" what's left is a hopeless morass of relativism. The stories just circulate and get bigger and the truth harder to get to. Imagine a message board with 20 participants like Cultellus competing with each other to say nonsense things about vaccines or whatnot. How does such a community get unstuck?

They pick up the phone and call a liberal.

Mr. Reed strikes me as a progressive's progressive. He comes down to the small town and plays the part of the adult in the room. He's fair and measured, he listens, tries not to judge, doesn't "tell them what to do" or preach; he doesn't force the liberal gospel down their throats. Yet, while he has a great deal of empathy, he does insist on getting to the facts. And after a little poking and prodding, the mystery crumbles.

metaphorically, if s-town were a community of anti-vaxxers, the solution to getting them vaccinated is the liberal savior taking them by the hand and guiding them to realize their fears are a creation of their own folly.

That's not to say that in life as whole Reed is faultless, as the series really takes invasive reporting to the next level. But, it does show there are certain advantages to thinking a problem through like an adult.

[Cultellus]

50 Cent

[canpakes]

I finished it last night. It goes without saying that John B. is a fascinating character.

I can see why Cultellus is so into it now.

S-Town is a town of "regular people" -- people who are broken and suffer due to poor life choices, including John, despite his dizzying mental powers (at least, to the degree John and company are fair representatives of the town). John's self-loathing, a trait his crew all share, holds him back from either leaving the town he says he hates or accepting that he loves it, and becoming a force for good to make it better. Without spoiling too much for those who haven't listened, the story begins with a mystery that needs to be solved. John, an unhinged BSer -- the chief BSer of a community of BSers, reaches out to Mr. Reed, a big-city reporter, for help.

Reed no doubt is a very bright individual, but John would give Einstein a run for his money. Yet here is John, outraged by the mystery -- a mystery his own running mouth probably contributed to -- helpless to make progress. The mystery turns out not to be extremely complex. It's just that when you have a culture where people say whatever they want, make stuff up, and everyone plays their self-deprecating small-town part, "well I ain't no genius, but if you ask me, that done no good XYZ is guilty, Mrs. B done heard him admit to it right in front of the Little Caesar's pizza hut!" what's left is a hopeless morass of relativism. The stories just circulate and get bigger and the truth harder to get to. Imagine a message board with 20 participants like Cultellus competing with each other to say nonsense things about vaccines or whatnot. How does such a community get unstuck?

They pick up the phone and call a liberal.

Mr. Reed strikes me as a progressive's progressive. He comes down to the small town and plays the part of the adult in the room. He's fair and measured, he listens, tries not to judge, doesn't "tell them what to do" or preach; he doesn't force the liberal gospel down their throats. Yet, while he has a great deal of empathy, he does insist on getting to the facts. And after a little poking and prodding, the mystery crumbles.

metaphorically, if s-town were a community of anti-vaxxers, the solution to getting them vaccinated is the liberal savior taking them by the hand and guiding them to realize their fears are a creation of their own folly.

That's not to say that in life as whole Reed is faultless, as the series really takes invasive reporting to the next level. But, it does show there are certain advantages to thinking a problem through like an adult.

Gadianton, this post made me pity you. You are pitiful. The world is not this bad, and the people are not this bad. The world is not divided up by good progressive liberals and bad others - but you are.

But, is the story recap accurate?

[ceeboo]

An absolutely fascinating podcast! Extremely well done! Extraordinary! Thought provoking!

There were so many layers of deeply complex and fascinating things to think about: Boundaries within relationships - Father figures- Mentors - Death - Survivors left behind - Money - Depression - Mental health - Suicide - Religion - Atheism - Brilliant minds - Jealousy - Greed - Selflessness- Selfishness - Aging parents - Loneliness - Being alone - Sexual orientations - Generosity - Human emotions - Climate change - Church - Alcohol - Wills - Final wishes - Legacy - Legal ramifications - Land - Next of kin - Desperation - Perspectives - Bigotry - Secrets - Skepticism - Government - Rumors - etc -etc.


Nothing short of fantastic! A must listen, in my opinion.