Beth:
I listened to the podcast on Heyoon and it was actually very interesting. The style of it really helped keep my attention because it started off in a story format. The main speaker, Alex Goldman, is telling the story of going to Heyoon, a pavilion in the middle of a random field in Michigan, as a teenager. While he tells this story, it switches on and off to a narrator along with sound recordings of a group of people going to Heyoon. Goldman later goes on to speak to the actual owners and creators of Heyoon which was really interesting. What were the rest of your podcasts like?
Stefano:
The Every Little Thing’s podcast where they discussed Winnie the Pooh’s age was very interesting and fun to learn about. The overall atmosphere was light-hearted and had a child-like sense of curiosity throughout the age discovery. What about you guys?
Breanna:
The podcast I listened to was You’re Wrong About: Kitty Genovese and “Bystander Apathy where they discuss the murder of Kitty Genovese in 1964. The style of the podcast was set up like a book or a magazine article telling the story of Genovese and her life that led up to her death and what happened after her death too. The two hosts’ names were called Sarah Marshall and Michael Hobbes and they went back n’ forth talking about Genovese. While Marshall tells the story more, Hobbes reacts to the insane things that took place in how she was murdered and how 38 bystanders almost did not do anything about it. What was your podcast like Ruby?
Ruby: Serial produced the podcast I listened to about the murder of Hae Min Lee in 1999. “The Alibi” follows Sarah Koenig, a woman who took interest in the murder case as she believes the alleged murderer is innocent. Adnan Syed, who is currently in prison for the murder, claims to be innocent so Koenig goes through the process of figuring out a normal day 16 years later to prove this alleged innocence. Through a series of interviews dated back in 1999, when the case occurred, Koenig acts as a narrator while incorporating these discussions in place of her storytelling. Her style is informative while keeping a constant entertaining progression towards the truth. Her pathos is clearly shown throughout as she became emotionally involved in what was intentionally a truth-finding process. Beth for your podcast, how did they use their research?
Beth: The research used comes straight from Peter Hayden, the owner. Because this was such a mysterious and unknown place, there was no real research the producers could have done themselves. The organization of first telling the details of Heyoon and what the place was like and then going on to the interviews made the podcast easier to follow along. Stefano, how would you explain your research for the podcast you listened to?
Stefano: The research began with a professional age guesser to see what human characteristics helped him guess an age. From there, the discussion shifts to a wildlife ecologist who knows about bears and their characteristics. Lastly, a pediatrician was introduced, who wrote an academic essay about Winnie the Pooh, specifically about the book The House at Pooh Corner. Herein lies the answer to the driving question of this episode. Each piece of evidence made the audience more engaged to find out more and the level of professionalism on the main topic increased over time. Overall, I really enjoyed listening to this podcast and even found myself wondering what other random things do people not really know the answer to. Breanna, how did your podcast use their research?
Breanna: The research used to help Marshall explain the story comes from news articles and New York Times stories taken from before and after the murder took place. She also uses historical research, data, and articles to explain the “gay culture” from the time too because Genovese was also a lesbian. There was a lot to account for in her murder more because of all the things that got invented or started due to her murder. Better street lights were put into place, bystanders learned the true cost of not helping or asking for help, and telephone number 911 was started four years later. What I liked about how the podcast sums her story up as it is said that this woman had this happened to her and how even sadder that people’s lazy or “1960’s brains” reacted to her murder because this would never happen in today’s world. But her murder got coined as the “Genovese effect” meaning the only reason this would not happen in today’s world is that this awful event occurred. Ruby, did Koenig use her own research?
Ruby: The research was conducted by Koenig herself, as she used court recordings and self-conducted interviews. She dispersed the information in the order of the case, giving researched details as the story went on. This led the story along, eventually going past the horrific event, court appearances and family interviews to a modern search for the truth using the same type of research.
Beth Mackey 