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UltraRed posted:Especially bad is when you don't realize it's fiction until an animal starts talking. Oh my god what is it with TAL's obsession with talking animal fiction? It's not just David Sedaris either.
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Dec 29, 2013 03:31
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The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Rapidly Going Deaf > This American Life - I didn't realize it was fiction until an animal talked
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Dec 29, 2013 07:09
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hope and vaseline posted:Oh my god what is it with TAL's obsession with talking animal fiction? It's not just David Sedaris either. I actually enjoy it when David Sedaris does it, though. My personal favorite moments in TAL are when they do stories like "House on Loon Lake" and the episode where Sarah Vowelland her sister visit the Trail fo Tears, where it's a true story with no real twists or turns but manages to remain really interesting. The fake stories I can only enjoy when Sedaris does them, and that one in "Cruelty of Children".
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Dec 29, 2013 21:01
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Finally. Another fictional story bro. I love the Sedaris stories and ya'll haters can go and stick a talking goose up your collective asses 
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Dec 29, 2013 21:38
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C-Euro posted:I have to admit I was bummed that that the latest TAL episode featured two fictional stories, which are the usually the worst things that TAL does (in my mind) Totally agree. And it's maddening how they often don't announce that it's fiction. The recent episode on "housing is destiny" was an eye-opener. Fighting integration battles in the 70s and 80s?
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Dec 29, 2013 22:58
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AtomicRust posted:I actually enjoy it when David Sedaris does it, though. My personal favorite moments in TAL are when they do stories like "House on Loon Lake" and the episode where Sarah Vowelland her sister visit the Trail fo Tears, where it's a true story with no real twists or turns but manages to remain really interesting. The fake stories I can only enjoy when Sedaris does them, and that one in "Cruelty of Children". That "man in the well" story is terrible on so many levels. The music, the narrator's cadence, the fact that it's such a blatantly fake story with the reveal only at the end, the poor writing, the false emotional tone, the repetition, the lack of a realistic/relatable moral, etc. I have no idea what anyone is supposed to take from that story, but it's still better than all the "This is why I'm so great and why I am the best person in the world" half-truth stories from The Moth that have appeared on TAL. got dat wmd fucked around with this message at 23:54 on Dec 29, 2013 |
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Dec 29, 2013 23:50
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I have to agree that Man in the Well is terrible. It's just so.. nothing and boring and ridiculous.. I didn't like it. Anthropomorphising animals. A staple of comedy since Mr Ed. got dat wmd posted:I have no idea what anyone is supposed to take from that story, but it's still better than all the "This is why I'm so great and why I am the best person in the world" half-truth stories from The Moth that have appeared on TAL. Ha! Yes, when it's just 15 mins of the terrible life you've had and how much you've just decided to overcome it all.. it gets weary. That recent hour show, in the middle of three was a slow sounding guy that told a story about being stars, rockets and moons in early school. That was one of the best I've ever heard and it is one of those chunks of content that keep you subscribed to a podcast. Tony Montana fucked around with this message at 23:59 on Dec 29, 2013 |
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Dec 29, 2013 23:54
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got dat wmd posted:That "man in the well" story is terrible on so many levels. The music, the narrator's cadence, the fact that it's such a blatantly fake story with the reveal only at the end, the poor writing, the false emotional tone, the repetition, the lack of a realistic/relatable moral, etc. What I enjoyed was that it was read like and sounded like the stories I remember hearing from the old native american men in my town as a kid. I guess more of a nostalgic enjoyment than "Hey, that was interesting!" Yeah, Moth stuff is generally too much of a stretch or a bore. What I think are great are when they do stuff like NUMMI and Toxie. Investigative and interesting!
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Dec 30, 2013 00:56
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the man in the well is a great story. its so damned surreal. i love it.
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Dec 30, 2013 06:18
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I don't really mind the fiction, especially when it's, say, adapted from a Wiretap episode or something, because then it's generally pretty well done. Fiction's always been part of TAL's DNA, and a lot of the more memorable segments have been either fiction or fictionalized to the point where it's not up to a journalistic standard of truth. To be honest the more investigative stuff is what rankles me. TAL is never going to be a serious journalistic program because it's a show that's seen much more success with David Sedaris or David Rakoff than with serious journalism. I'm never that chuffed when they decide to play serious journalist, especially considering how often they turn to the neoliberal consensus-fetishists at Planet Money when they have to talk about the economy.
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Dec 30, 2013 10:20
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AtomicRust posted:I remember hearing from the old native american men in my town as a kid. There's a show that should be done. I feel most of the journalist stuff they do is better suited to the visual medium. The few episodes of the TV show that dealt with investigative aspects (like that... chicken farm, I think) were much more interesting to see play out with the tone and direction that TAL takes, vs the other pieces (like the adaptation of the bull story) that really weren't any better than the pure audio. I actually want to know the story behind The Man in the Well, because it seems like fluff written based on the title of that episode alone. I honestly don't know if I'm missing something from it beyond "these kids are afraid and let someone die because of it," but they don't act like realistic children at all. got dat wmd fucked around with this message at 15:31 on Dec 30, 2013 |
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Dec 30, 2013 15:29
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I loved this week's episode. I hear that hold music all of the time since we use Cisco phones at my work. The two brothers at the start of the episode were hilarious, I was laughing so hard when they argued over whether he could have pepperoni BEFORE starting his vegetarian bet.
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Jan 21, 2014 20:18
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That kid is going to grow up to be one obnoxious vegan.
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Jan 22, 2014 04:13
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That "on hold" music is some real minimalist stuff. Almost has a future garage sound to it. The story about the orthodox women not being able to get remarried without their ex husband's permission got me incensed. Almost emphasized with that one rabbi's mafia tactics.
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Jan 22, 2014 05:28
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Johnny Longtorso posted:That kid is going to grow up to be one obnoxious vegan. gently caress. Less than a minute in and I'm having difficulty with this. Ira: she's in a really hard situation, she doesn't want to crush either child! Ira, they're loving children. It really shits me when adults and parents with clearly not enough going on in their lives treat children, their concerns and thoughts, as adults. Children think dumb poo poo, because they have no life experience and nothing to shape their thoughts. They need to be crushed now and then, or you get the special snowflake gen-ys that mummy and daddy always listened so carefully to everything they said and don't understand now why perhaps they're not as important as they were brought up to think they are. Little fucko cries when you eat meat? Ok then cry, you need to learn you don't control other people with your tantrums, emotions or even your opinions. If the Mum wasn't such a pathetic creature she would see her little darling's poorly thought out and articulated opinions as the childish poo poo they are, but she'll defend him to the hilt because this is MY BABY. It's bad loving parenting. Fiction stories are nothing compared to this poo poo to me, times like this I nearly abandon This American Life. edit: ok the meat eating kid sneaking turkey sandwiches with Dad and doing a turkey dance when they ate them has put a smile back on my face edit2: ok now a story about a meticulous IBMer, where I'm trying to currently get a job. Ah, TAM, how can I stay mad at you.. edit3: oh my god. Dick owns so hard. I put in Call Manager systems for years, got a Cisco cert in it. I couldn't believe it when it played, that one?! Haha, TAM really is America for me.. such contrast. Tony Montana fucked around with this message at 12:59 on Jan 22, 2014 |
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Jan 22, 2014 12:32
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AtomicRust posted:
Wait, what? When I was listening to this I had the exact opposite impression. I thought she would be struggling against her upbringing and her desire to live her how she chooses. Instead they spin the entire thing as her husbands' fault? They obviously had a bad marriage and a contentious divorce. Marry someone else and get on with your life. A preacher man says you need a piece of paper from a guy who wants nothing to do with you? Get a new preacher man? Your friends will shun you if you do? Then who's at fault here, your ex or your lovely friends who'll ditch you because you decided to get on with your life instead of your lovely ex?
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Jan 22, 2014 23:40
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UltraRed posted:Wait, what? When I was listening to this I had the exact opposite impression. I thought she would be struggling against her upbringing and her desire to live her how she chooses. Instead they spin the entire thing as her husbands' fault? They obviously had a bad marriage and a contentious divorce. Marry someone else and get on with your life. A preacher man says you need a piece of paper from a guy who wants nothing to do with you? Get a new preacher man? Your friends will shun you if you do? Then who's at fault here, your ex or your lovely friends who'll ditch you because you decided to get on with your life instead of your lovely ex? I think you're underestimating how important this sort of thing is in her religious community and that if she were to get married without resolving it she'd have to abandon that community completely. If her religion (and her social ties to the people/family within her religion) is important to her then this isn't a trivial thing. Also her husband is being a huge dick for no reason. He knows that this fucks her over and is intentionally leaving her in limbo so he can try to extort things from her. It's absolutely his fault.
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Jan 23, 2014 00:03
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UltraRed posted:Your friends will shun you if you do? Yes, welcome to cultural traditions. She can leave her culture behind or she can be turned into an outsider for breaking a fairly large concept in it. Her husband is aware of this and it absolutely is his fault, in that culture, for being a poo poo about things.
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Jan 23, 2014 09:36
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Heh, theists, amirite guys? ____/  Going back a couple of weeks to the interview with the homocidal ex-military guy, that was one of the weirdest things I've ever listened to. Someone being so up front about the fact that he wants to kill just to know what it's like, and stating he still hopes/plans to do so if he is ever in a situation he thinks he can get away with it in. Really unsettling.
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Jan 23, 2014 11:39
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Sexy Randal posted:I think you're underestimating how important this sort of thing is in her religious community and that if she were to get married without resolving it she'd have to abandon that community completely. If her religion (and her social ties to the people/family within her religion) is important to her then this isn't a trivial thing. Tatum Girlparts posted:Yes, welcome to cultural traditions. She can leave her culture behind or she can be turned into an outsider for breaking a fairly large concept in it. Her husband is aware of this and it absolutely is his fault, in that culture, for being a poo poo about things. If this was a discussion about an Amish woman marrying a non-Amish man, this would have been two posts long.
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Jan 23, 2014 20:55
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UltraRed posted:Is it a large concept? If you're bound to an ex husband who everyone knows is a jerk, will people shun you? Well, it is a large concept treating a woman as property after all! Better not break it! *hint* They should reject it and get on with their lives. Jesus christ I'm not saying it's a good thing, I'm saying this woman has spent a major part of her life in this culture and now because her husband is a piece of poo poo she's left with a choice of accept a terrible situation or abandon her culture. Her husband knows this and that's why he's doing this, because he's a bad person, which is why in those communities rabbis will sometimes go all Godfather on guys like him. You're not, like, some great enlightening sage to go this is a hosed up thing, that doesn't change that leaving one's culture is a pretty big deal, even if it's a lovely culture.
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Jan 23, 2014 21:27
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Tatum Girlparts posted:You're not, like, some great enlightening sage to go this is a hosed up thing, that doesn't change that leaving one's culture is a pretty big deal, even if it's a lovely culture. The entire context of the story is that this is the fault of a crazy ex-husband and not a backwards ideology. Like I said before, if this were a Mormon problem or an Amish problem, the segment would be presented as "look at this goofy culture!".
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Jan 23, 2014 22:18
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What are you talking about? No it wouldn't. Telling people to just "reject" the parts of their religious and cultural traditions that they don't like is really stupid, hope this helps.
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Jan 23, 2014 22:21
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UltraRed posted:The entire context of the story is that this is the fault of a crazy ex-husband and not a backwards ideology. Like I said before, if this were a Mormon problem or an Amish problem, the segment would be presented as "look at this goofy culture!". And if it was about unicorn farts it'd be presented as a joke or something, there we've both made pointless assumptions based on nothing but what we're pulling out of our asses. The point is, in this hosed up cultural tradition, the husband is at fault here for being a piece of poo poo, like, he's part of this culture too, he knows how it works, he's not some innocent victim of NPR's misandry or whatever.
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Jan 23, 2014 23:55
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I haven't listened to the latest TAM and you've got me all curious ... Is The Moth fair fodder for the thread? It's certainly a fellow traveller of TAM. There's something about The Moth that irritates me. Maybe it's the way the stories are so studiously crafted to fit a certain form: SELF DEPRECATING JOKE / PATHOS / IMPORTANT LIFE LESSON. Not that I'm denying that strength can emerge in adversity, but when so many of their stories are all "it was a tragedy but that's okay, I had this insight", it becomes an uninformative cliche. TAM has it's own favoured forms and cliches, but they don't appear in every story. On the other hand, two of their recent stories were from celebrities, who apparently hadn't been coached and seemed to be on just because they were celebrities. Thomas Dolby, that was a really dull anecdote. Rachel Dratch, your dating life is not very interesting.
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Jan 24, 2014 19:41
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outlier posted:There's something about The Moth that irritates me. Maybe it's the way the stories are so studiously crafted to fit a certain form: SELF DEPRECATING JOKE / PATHOS / IMPORTANT LIFE LESSON. Not that I'm denying that strength can emerge in adversity, but when so many of their stories are all "it was a tragedy but that's okay, I had this insight", it becomes an uninformative cliche. The Moth's philosophical stance is one of the reasons I can't listen to it. Sometimes bad poo poo happens for no reason and, most of the time, the speaker's pissant little hardship is not a mountain that needed to be conquered. Don't get me wrong, there is value in people's stories, but not in the way they're presented on The Moth and TAL.
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Jan 24, 2014 20:44
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Yea the very loose definition, yet slavish devotion to, the concept of 'learning from tragedy' was what turned me off. Like, sometimes you get a legit horrible situation that someone came out a better person from, but most of them are just petty problems that turned out to be ok and they're treated with the exact same reverence and respect.
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Jan 24, 2014 21:22
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and now and then you get a completely amazing story that is funny, succinct and insightful all at once and that's why I persist. I've got the hour show on at the moment and it's loving terrible, the first story about the Grandma is an old one I've heard before and the rest is really trash. I have heard some great stuff on the Moth though. I can't stand it when it's just a sounding board for some person's problems and we're all supposed to cheer and clap at this person overcoming their plight. I also have to say I find it hilarious the amount of times you'll hear a totally average or lovely story and it will be followed up with 'blah blah is a writer and tells her story on stage like twice a week. She has a website and..' it just goes on like this, and you're thinking that was rubbish and this is your thing?
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Jan 24, 2014 21:30
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There was that one story on the Moth from Eric Lander. He's a scientist who worked on the Human Genome Project and was asked to consult with some lawyers on DNA "fingerprinting", way before that poo poo was on CSI. It's a nice counterpoint to the garbage they usually have. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwRqe-1pVNI
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Jan 24, 2014 21:43
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The Tom Bodett story on the Moth was really really loving good.
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Jan 24, 2014 22:00
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The Moth gave us Life After Blues Clues and that's all that matters to me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwmtkFPYXsg
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Jan 24, 2014 22:19
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Those are some great examples of why the Moth stays on my player. Many, many times thought I've switched off in the middle of a story.
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Jan 24, 2014 22:55
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The Moth is kind of like TAL, except without any kind of quality control. Sometimes the stories are entertaining, but those are mostly the ones from actual professional writers/comedians/whatever, not the people who claim to be writers because they live in Brooklyn and have a blog. TAL has some duff ideas (like that godawful episode about the woman and her WASPy mother's conversation rules) but they don't put out every scrap of (metaphorical) tape that they record.
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Jan 25, 2014 03:14
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I think that the episodes that you guys hate are the ones that have that distinct element of quaintness that keeps the olds who actually donate to NPR and the like comin back
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Jan 25, 2014 18:27
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Johnny Longtorso posted:That kid is going to grow up to be one obnoxious vegan. I'm thinking more just "obnoxious" in general. Maybe this means I'll be a lovely parent but no way am I letting my elementary-school kid dictate how my entire family and anyone they come into contact with lives their lives, unless that kid has some sort of physical or mental condition that necessitates such a change (like the story about the autistic kid a few weeks back). Maybe these parents aren't trying to let him control their diet but they sound like they're OK with him being the boss, which is going to bite them in the rear end when he grows up. C-Euro fucked around with this message at 21:37 on Jan 26, 2014 |
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Jan 26, 2014 19:24
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To address your complaints about animal fables, this week's David Sedaris story will instead feature CRUSHING SADNESS.
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Feb 3, 2014 02:51
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It was odd to hear a Sedaris story that was more sad than whimsical.. Now there's something TAL does well, sad stories. I always end up feeling heartbroken after 'em.
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Feb 4, 2014 16:20
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AtomicRust posted:It was odd to hear a Sedaris story that was more sad than whimsical.. Backpacking off the Moth talk, really the only one I remember hearing and really liking is Mike Destefano's story, and it is also incredibly sad. He tells a shorter version of it on his WTF interview as well, I think. It will make you die.
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Feb 4, 2014 20:04
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AtomicRust posted:It was odd to hear a Sedaris story that was more sad than whimsical.. Our Friend David made me bawl like a goddamn baby. Fuckin' death.
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Feb 4, 2014 21:19
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| # ? May 12, 2024 21:37 |
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If you want a second TAL fix this week, check out today's Google Doodle.
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Feb 14, 2014 21:08
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