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GrandpaPants posted:Serial is also ending its season in like 5 weeks, and it's not like this thread was incredibly fast before it came along. Serial should be in its own thread. It's a different show, and over a million people are listening. Some of them are coming to this forum to discuss it, seeing nothing, and not suspecting that the discussion would be taking place in the TAL thread.
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Nov 11, 2014 23:52
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Maybe one of the people who feel very strongly that Serial should have its own thread should start one. Then there will be one.
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Nov 11, 2014 23:59
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Euthyphro posted:Serial should be in its own thread. It's a different show, and over a million people are listening. Some of them are coming to this forum to discuss it, seeing nothing, and not suspecting that the discussion would be taking place in the TAL thread. Eh, we're not exactly overwhelmed with discussion about it here. (What, one or two posts a day about it?) Even if people can't find it. Make thread if it bothers.
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Nov 12, 2014 00:21
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Have they mentioned what happens once this case is done? Is it like a season of a show and then we have to wait?
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Nov 12, 2014 02:15
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tnimark posted:Maybe one of the people who feel very strongly that Serial should have its own thread should start one. Then there will be one. Taa daaaa: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3680872
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Nov 12, 2014 17:54
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AstroWhale posted:A new TAL episode and everbody talks about Serial. The story of the bus driver was on a previous episode of Useless Information NOW ABOUT DEM UFOS, ITS IN THE LIBARY....
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Nov 13, 2014 17:56
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The latest episode was pretty good, except for the last segment. As a rule I skip TAL segments about the producers' family members because they're not nearly as interesting as the producers think they are. (The one exception I can think of is the one where the producer's grandfather was a psychiatrist who helped get homosexuality out of the DSM.) Otherwise, I enjoyed the investigative pieces. If you want some more depressing background on the US Border Patrol's overreach, read Border Patrol Nation by Todd Miller.
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Nov 25, 2014 03:02
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Johnny Longtorso posted:The latest episode was pretty good, except for the last segment. As a rule I skip TAL segments about the producers' family members because they're not nearly as interesting as the producers think they are. (The one exception I can think of is the one where the producer's grandfather was a psychiatrist who helped get homosexuality out of the DSM.) Otherwise, I enjoyed the investigative pieces. If you want some more depressing background on the US Border Patrol's overreach, read Border Patrol Nation by Todd Miller. I was falling to sleep to TAL last night, and even still, was so bored by that last segment I woke up and changed to a different podcast.
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Nov 25, 2014 21:02
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Johnny Longtorso posted:As a rule I skip TAL segments about the producers' family members because they're not nearly as interesting as the producers think they are. The segment about Ira's dog is one of the best of the entire show 
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Nov 25, 2014 23:35
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I gave up about a minute or two into that last segment too. The other stuff really outrages me though. The border patrol bullshit I'd heard of before, but the ATF stories drove me the most crazy. That we spent tax dollars on programs that apparently not making meaningful arrests and are arguably increasing crime... wow. Actually just the fact that they weren't keeping or were unwilling to give statistics on the costs and extent of the program is bad enough.
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Nov 25, 2014 23:45
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Jesus, the Magnetic Fields guy really sucked all the authenticity out of that last story. I kept getting really into it when all of a sudden that loving cutesy glockenspiel and viola would chime in and I'd cringe for the next minute. Failed experiment, at best.
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Dec 8, 2014 16:19
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It's a pretty good story if you skip the lovely songs that guy did. He's seriously awful and I have no idea what they were thinking.
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Dec 8, 2014 19:56
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It was heartwrenching. I didn't mind the songs that much either.
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Dec 8, 2014 19:59
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gigawhite posted:It's a pretty good story if you skip the lovely songs that guy did. He's seriously awful and I have no idea what they were thinking. Yeah, I skipped all the songs, but the story itself almost had me in tears. D:
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Dec 8, 2014 20:58
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I didn't think the singer/song was overly terrible on their own but it actually took me out of story each time he came on. I just wanted to hear the subject talk. The song seemed entirely unnecessary.
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Dec 8, 2014 21:02
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I feel validated in knowing that you guys also find the songs awful. It was embarrassing. Especially since I actually like the Magnetic Fields. I don't know who's call it was to clear this crap, but their judgment is impaired.
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Dec 8, 2014 21:10
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I didn't mind the songs, but I can see how they could be really off-putting. Especially since it sounded like Merritt tossed them all off in about 15 minutes. I'm pretty sure he's done music for TAL a few times before, so he's probably friends with Ira or something.
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Dec 9, 2014 02:59
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I skipped to the end once they explained the concept - I'm at best not a fan of Magnetic Fields, and the whole project sounded insufferable. Anybody mind giving a spoilered summary?
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Dec 9, 2014 03:02
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The Modern Leper posted:I skipped to the end once they explained the concept - I'm at best not a fan of Magnetic Fields, and the whole project sounded insufferable. Anybody mind giving a spoilered summary? Man blindly follows his fundamentalist Mormon splinter group, instructed to not tell his wife what he was doing. His refusal to talk to his wife led to a rift in their relationship that grew until it culminated in divorce and his wife leaving him and the kids. Man has enough, leaves the group with his kids to start a new life. Man realizes he's spent his whole life in a bubble and has no life skills, can't support his children and has them stay with some people he's met in school. Man is unable to adapt to new life and realizes he has to let his kids live their life with their new families. Man thinks back wistfully to time w/ religious community, he knows he had to leave yet acknowledges it was the best time of his life.
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Dec 9, 2014 03:52
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Wow. Now I'm glad I skipped it cause I don't need to be crying at my desk. 
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Dec 9, 2014 05:05
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I thought the episode was incredible overall. Agree the songs were totally unnecessary but that story was powerful enough on its own merits to be worth listening to all the way through. I cried. And Ira's takedown of My Way was loving hilarious.
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Dec 9, 2014 06:35
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My god that last segment was unbelievable. I'm probably going to be in a crappy mood all evening after listening to it.
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Dec 10, 2014 21:06
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Why didn't the mom take the kids when they first split? Because she was busy drinking and partying? That's pretty sad too and was just glossed over.
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Dec 11, 2014 05:21
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LFO posted:Why didn't the mom take the kids when they first split? Because she was busy drinking and partying? That's pretty sad too and was just glossed over. Depends on how much of a support network she had outside the cult, I'd imagine. I forget how deep in she was (if it was mentioned at all), but it's possible she was (like her ex-husband turned out to be) so overwhelmed with personal survival outside the cult, that fighting for the kids was beyond her ability.
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Dec 11, 2014 06:56
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Not a fan of the editing in the latest episode (Batman). It sounded too much like Radiolab. Glad to know it was another new NPR show rather than a new direction TAL is taking.
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Jan 12, 2015 23:58
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Secx posted:Not a fan of the editing in the latest episode (Batman). It sounded too much like Radiolab. I really enjoyed the story, but I completely agree with you on the editing. I have no idea who ever thought that was a good idea.
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Jan 13, 2015 17:14
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It seems a bit preachy, but I found it effective. Hell of an ep, though, and the ending twist was a mix of moralizing and surprising.
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Jan 13, 2015 22:21
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It was pretty good. The shouting from the rooftops bit made me cringe, though. "Hey, we should really do that, Jad would smile upon us from the heavens for our wacky spontaneity." But hell, I learned some stuff. You know how as a kid you sometimes ask each other, or yourself, "Which sense would you live without?" And it usually comes down to vision or hearing. I knew some deaf folks, and to be honest, I didn't really care much for the bits of the deaf community that I was exposed to, it just kinda rubbed me the wrong way. They seemed very superior and insular, and sort of culturally frustrated (though of course I am an outsider, and they have to deal with as individuals, and as a group, with a society that treats them a certain way. I was a kid). Choosing to be deaf rather than blind was more about which thing you would lose less with. Most of all, I wouldn't want to miss out on music, audio. I listened to a lot of old 40's and 50's radio shows as a kid, and felt like a lot of A/V media can be experienced pretty well, and uniquely, without the V. But being blind seemed like a greater disability. Why? Can't go anywhere. Mobility would have been too much to sacrifice, and would have too dramatically narrowed my range of experience. For the first time, I'm encountering an alternative way of looking at that. That's good radio.
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Jan 14, 2015 04:50
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I'm a few episodes behind on TAL, does WakeUpNow sound as insane to the rest of you as it did to me? The episode defines the legal language of what a pyramid scheme is, but I'm pretty sure that fits the bill as well.
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Jan 14, 2015 15:24
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C-Euro posted:I'm a few episodes behind on TAL, does WakeUpNow sound as insane to the rest of you as it did to me? The episode defines the legal language of what a pyramid scheme is, but I'm pretty sure that fits the bill as well. Yup, definitely sounded crazy. I loved the editing job they did, putting the WUN exec back to back with conference recordings. I was disappointed when they switched topics, that was a really well done segment.
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Jan 14, 2015 16:54
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C-Euro posted:I'm a few episodes behind on TAL, does WakeUpNow sound as insane to the rest of you as it did to me? The episode defines the legal language of what a pyramid scheme is, but I'm pretty sure that fits the bill as well. Yeah it's clearly a pyramid scheme. I have a co-worker into "multi-level marketing" and just avoid him when he subtly tries to sell me things. Dude has a well paying job. Don't know why he's trying to sell instant coffee on the side and putting a huge decal on his SUV. Awkward as gently caress.
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Jan 14, 2015 19:09
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Yes, they're all (includes Herbalife, Amway, etc.) basically pyramid schemes, but they skate by legally. As the program stated, the worst part is that they basically get you to alienate yourself from your social structure in hopes of earning a few hundred bucks a month. It doesn't even make economic sense. If you really thought that you had a great product wouldn't you try to sell it with as few people as possible in order that you might be able to be as competitive on price as possible and as profitable as possible? edit: There was an interesting Planet Money podcast about the hedge fund manager who is basically trying make Herbalife go bankrupt and profit off it. BeastOfExmoor fucked around with this message at 21:34 on Jan 14, 2015 |
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Jan 14, 2015 21:31
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I've lived in China since '08, and MLM is perhaps bigger here than it is in the USA, due to some of the social characteristics of Chinese society. They even put warnings about pyramid schemes up on the walls in university classrooms. The government has tried to crack down but you can't effectively ban a business model. The interesting thing about Wake Up Now is how it's geared specifically towards people of color. A lot of the rhetoric reminds me of these NY/NJ recovery types I met in South Florida, who all worked in peripherally shady industries like telemarketing. I mean, I'm surprised by this but companies like Cutco are much, much worse.
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Jan 15, 2015 05:55
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I had a guy selling cutco knives door to door ask me if I sold weed once. Is that a selling tactic they teach at a seminar or something?
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Jan 15, 2015 08:15
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I was propositioned (non-sexually) by people in my church and by some random guy in a Carl's Jr. about vague, thrilling business opportunities related to "multi-level marketing" (something about selling future energy shares) and "cellular marketing" (vitamins, it turned out)--the latter of which had a diagram of a pyramid scheme turned on its side and mirrored to differentiate it--and I was really pleased to see the step by step that the TAL producers took with that episode. It's exactly how you investigate a cult (and this is a commercial cult), by being inquisitive and innocent and questioning, questioning, questioning. You don't unravel it by going head on and charging that it's a cult or a pyramid scheme, because part of the programming is to train its neophytes how to resist those definitions. It was a good episode. Also, Kirby vacuum cleaners, had a friend get roped partially into that.
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Jan 15, 2015 08:31
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I have a friend at work who swears by Kirby vacuum cleaners (but never tried to push one on me), I didn't know they were associated with this business model. Also now that I think about, I'm pretty sure my fiancee was in a vitamins- & supplements-oriented MLM group the summer we first started hooking up, though I think she was aware of it too because she bailed as soon as she made enough money to buy a beater car to use for our remaining three years of college. She even had some of their supplements lying around as late as last year, and yes they were mostly crap. The episode had an interesting point about a secondary benefit to these things though- because the guy they interviewed worked from home on all of this stuff, he was able to better raise his kids. My fiancee wants to start her own company someday and a couple people have asked me if I'd be a stay-at-home dad if it goes well. I have a chemistry graduate degree and there aren't many careers where I can work from home with one of those, but if the option comes up and lets me work from home so I can have more time to raise my kids, then it's a tempting proposition. Though, I did laugh when after the segment they said "a few weeks after taping, he left WakeUpNow and is much happier in his new job" 
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Jan 15, 2015 13:03
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There's always a social benefit to being a cult member, though. People wouldn't buy into these things if they didn't feel like it was improving their lives somehow. Be it closeness with family, a sense of brotherhood and belonging, the feeling of financial self-sufficiency, or of others' respect. It's cheaper than paying people. If this guy spent all his time doing Wake Up Now, what exactly was he doing in that time? Watching YouTube videos? Posting about Wake Up Now on social media? Trying to get other people to join? Because if you look at what they "sell" - it's an energy drink, some web services. Maybe they do web referrals, and that's the big source of income? Their "deal stream" just sells a bunch of random crap at minor discounts - kids' ties, crockpots, baby bottles, PS3 controllers, blenders, Windows tablets. Then they have "apps" like WUN Speak which has lots of promotional material that doesn't say which languages are offered, and if you look at everything else they "sell" it just sort of evaporates. So it's an organization that thrives on paying people to get other people to sign up? I mean, Amway ostensibly forces their members to buy products, or encourages them to buy in amounts they cannot possibly sell. Wake Up Now doesn't appear to sell anything of value. edit: real text from their real website Wake Up Now posted:Volume for Team Payouts bad day fucked around with this message at 14:23 on Jan 15, 2015 |
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Jan 15, 2015 14:19
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If you guys like these sorts of cult investigation stories, I recommend you check out Oh No Ross and Carrie. Two buddies integrate themselves into fringe groups like the Raelians, Mormons, and OTO (think Alistair Crowley) as well as bullshit claims like penis enlargement pills and ghost hunting. They're pretty casual in their discussion but you can tell they have an investigative background. Plus I just really like those guys, just wanna hang out with them
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Jan 15, 2015 19:41
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C-Euro posted:The episode had an interesting point about a secondary benefit to these things though- because the guy they interviewed worked from home on all of this stuff, he was able to better raise his kids. This is looking back through the fog of a faulty memory, but I recall that his wife said that he wasn't making any money with it yet. At best, WakeUpNow was a hobby for this guy. Which ain't bad, but it's no better than anything else that occupies time and makes no money.
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Jan 15, 2015 19:48
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New episode about online harassment. Also, I never noticed vocal fry before. But now  .
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Jan 28, 2015 18:44
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