Posts
A Couple
months ago I did 10
quick reviews for audio books I had been listening to on Audible. But I specifically left out something else
Audible offers, their original content. Audible
produces numerous books in their own studios and has moved into producing more
and more podcast-like content. To help
showcase more of this material they allow audible members to get 2 titles in
this category each month (mind you it is from a list of 6 showcased items, not
the whole shebang).
I see this
content as standing apart from the audible books as they frequently have
numerous cast members, sound effects, audio taken from news reports and other
sources. They are so different in
execution and production (most of the time) that I wouldn’t call them audio books…
more like audio productions. So I am
going to pull out a couple of these and say whether I liked them.
A Native
Alaskan man deeply troubled by alcohol and personal instability disappears into
the wilderness after fleeing an escalating violent confrontation outside of his
mother’s home. His behavior and his explanation
of where he was and what he was doing in the days that followed lead to questions
about Native Alaskan Folklore.
This is exactly the sort of content
I come to expect from Audible originals when it comes to the true crime
genre. A seemingly straight forward case
that happens in a unique location with a colorful assortment of real people,
with the additional twist of explaining/exploring something I was previously
unaware of, in this case the Native Alaskan folklore of the Iñukuns. For lack of a better explanation, the Iñukuns
are the folktale of a lost tribe of small and strong people that still live in
the wild… and fuck with people. It is
spooky.
If I have one complaint it is that
I would have liked to learn more about the Native Folklore. I am a mythology nerd and I will admit that
Native American myths are blindspot for me.
And sadly this material is obscure enough that I couldn't really find too
much else related to the Iñukuns
after finishing. Maybe that is a
strength to this? Leave them wanting
more?
I see a lot of reviewers on the
Audible site itself complaining about swearing... which is just so stupid. Like, this is a violent crimes investigation
taking place in a rural and blue-collar community... People say
"fuck". Grow up and get over
it.
I gave it a 5/5.
This series
takes in massive amounts of interviews and oral history to look at the evolving
social justice movements and economic realities of the Homefront during World
War II.
I will freely
admit that I am Reeeeaaalllll tired of learning about World War II. Along with Viet Nam it has been in the
popular consciousness during the entirety of my life and I just do not want to
know any more about the war itself. When
I saw this thing I mostly got it on the strength of, “I like Martin Sheen” and “well
it is less about the war and instead about the Homefront” and “it isn’t just a rosy
circle jerk for America” These factors
taken together switched my mood on the thing.
It is a
good original take on the subject matter.
It is cool to learn about how race, gender, and economics were shaped by
the war in much stranger ways than would have been expected. The idea that the government had to ask for
companies to build them a tank and being told, “Sure we can do that, but just
one thing, what is a tank?” That is
interesting.
My real
complaint is this: It is AGGRESSIVELY a series.
Each section starts with a recap and introduction and ends with preview
and credits. That is stupid. The whole thing should have been reedited to
make a comprehensive credits section at the end of the whole thing, no
previews, no recaps, just get into it. I
should not be skipping dozens of minutes to get past these redundancies. Major drag on the production.
If not for
the need of a reedit this would be a 5/5, as is, I gave it a 4/5
The story
of a woman whose children were stolen from her by their father and taken to who
knows where and why she didn’t look for them.
This is a
sad and miserable exploration of a tragic family manipulated by a guy who in
any just universe would have been murdered at a much younger age.
I did not
like this. It is just sad and
frustrating. I don’t feel like I learned
anything from going thru this and I would not recommend it.
I guess if
you like misery porn this would be for you.
This is a
2/5.
A man is in
prison for the murder(?) of the woman he was having an affair with. There is not a single piece of forensic
evidence that he committed the crime… There isn’t even a body of the
victim. She is just gone.
This is one
of those real-life cases where they do the thing of, “Here is the case against
him” portrayed as solid as possible, and then then in the second half they explain
why all of that is basically junk. And
since I am all about the, “Show me the fingerprints and the blood splatter” I
thought the first half was shockingly thin, so by the time they started laying
out why he was innocent I mostly was nodding and going, “Yeah”.
This is (to
me) very much the story of some guy getting a crime pinned on him, and how the
Scottish criminal justice system is deeply flawed. But then I look at other reviewers and they
seem to take the, “This is biased toward innocence” and I guess it is more up
in the air than I thought.
This is a
5/5 for me.
A look at
the scientist who championed Lunar Orbit Rendezvous, the dark horse method of
space craft construction and operation that allowed a smaller craft and crew to
visit the moon and return safely to earth before the end of the 1960’s.
I was
surprised how much I enjoyed this. It is
a good blend of history and science that I wouldn’t mind seeing in other similar
historical instances (maybe the Manhattan Project or the creation of the
Windows/Apple operating systems).
If you like
learning about the history of science, I cannot think of a reason why you would
dislike listening to this.
I put this
at 4/5.
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