Blog 5 -Bridget

 The Stranger than Fiction Moth playlist was really fun. Each one told a different story but all of them were very funny. The medium of the podcast, only able to hear the story teller's voice was interesting because I feel like hearing their intonations and different pauses helps for the jokes to land better and I think it brings the story to life when you are able to hear the voice of the writer instead of just reading their words. The stories were definitely stranger than fiction, especially the story "Real Men Don't Rob Banks". I felt like the speaker talked to the audience often, telling them to "pay attention" while telling the story. This is something that wouldn't come off in the same way in any other medium. I felt like hearing the voice telling you to pay attention made you feel like you're a part of the story and made it more personal. My favorite story was definitely "Love at Third Sight". I thought that the speaker used a lot of pauses to put emphasis on parts of his story. This made a lot of his jokes land and made me laugh a lot. Overall, I really liked this playlist and thought that the medium worked well to make the stories more personal and funnier. The podcast I am bringing is an episode of "Crime Junkie", focusing on Kacie Woody's story. While this podcast can be really heartbreaking and heavy, I think they do the stories justice and tell them in a great way. The one host tells the story to the audience as well as her co-host. I think this method works well because the co-host will often ask questions that you might be wondering too. They play a sort of ominous music in the background and occasionally use other sound effects, like footsteps on grass or a door opening. They often will also play 911 calls or real taped interrogations. I chose this specific episode because it focuses on a story involving internet chat rooms. In this episode they do a bit of role play, putting on different voices and reading the messages, along with keyboard typing and sounds of the messages being sent. I thought that these sound effects added to the reality of the story, making it sink in a little bit more. I think the sound effects and added calls help the story to be more real and taken more seriously than other crime podcasts that sometimes try to make light of the stories. Crime Junkie - Kacie Woody