But in all honesty, the big business of podcasts HAS changed them already. I have a hard time listening to the home grown, kitchen-table-recorded podcasts of conversations between friends. I expect masterfully produced audio files, catchy theme songs and stories that can keep my attention for 45 minutes or under. So while I was going to write a rant about how I HATE that the medium is already changing, I’m going to not do that, and instead I’ll tell you about an incredibly produced, slick, well-written audio story by Dateline NBC called The Thing About Pam.
The Thing About Pam starts with the story of Russ Faria coming home on 2011 to find his wife Betsy dead, brutally murdered. What happens next is an insane series of events that sends Russ to jail, despite the fact that Betsy’s friend Pam had, just 4 days prior, become the beneficiary of Betsy’s life insurance money.
Shoddy police work, an incompetent prosecutor, an acquittal followed by another murder PLUS the unintentional involvement of one of the producers of Dateline NBC are just some of the amazing things that happen in this story told over 6 episodes.
Narrated by Keith Morrison whose voice you know from whenever you go home for the Holidays to visit your parents and Dateline NBC is on in the background, The Thing About Pam is a slickly produced, well-told story that makes me mad that I really like slickly-produced, well-told podcasts. (Dammit, I totally wanted this post to go in a different direction!)
Just trust me and listen to the podcast. I, for one, am glad this post isn’t any longer so I can listen to the last 20 minutes of the last episode.
