S-Town (New investigative podcast from Serial/This American Life)

[hedgehog90]

John despises his Alabama town and decides to do something about it. he asks a reporter to investigate the son of a wealthy family who's allegedly been bragging that he got away with murder. But then someone else ends up dead, sparking a nasty feud, a hunt for hidden treasure, and an unearthing of the mysteries of one man's life.

All 7 episodes are available right now for free, 6:22:39 in length.
I've just listened to the first 2 and it's absolutely enthralling. I'd love to say more but I'm afraid of spoiling anything.
I'm about to start the third right now, only taking a breather to start this thread.

https://stownpodcast.org/

I suspect this will become a bit of a sensation similar to Serial/Making a Murderer, so get on it quick if you don't want to feel left out!

[imitationleather]

Wish this had visuals as well, like a proper telly documentary. I'm never going to get around to listening to all that audio.

[hedgehog90]

Ugh.
Just listened to episode 3

Spoiler alert

and now I feel like crying.

[close]

This is sublime radio, but fucking hell...

[non capisco]

Cheers for the heads up, this sounds right up my street!

Hopefully this will be a better listen than the last podcast I was recommended, 'Missing Richard Simmons', about some nosey podcast bloke bothering a famous American keep-fit guy who from what I could make out just wanted to retire and stay in his massive house all day.

[Mobius]

Thanks for the recommendations I love this - about to get stuck in.

I'll miss Sarah Koenig's lovely voice.

Edit - this bloke's mental!

Another Edit - end of episode 2

Spoiler alert

aww i feel bad now :(

[close]

[thugler]

Just finished it. Thought it was fairly good, compelling and something different from serial/this American life. However

Spoiler alert

badly loses steam after episode 4 and the rest of it, other than one or two interesting tidbits never really goes anywhere else. Once the majority of the story was revealed and the mysterious parts were over my interest waned somewhat. Thought it was 1 or 2 episodes longer than it really needed to be

[close]

Definitely better than serial season 2 and a lot of the more boring this American life stuff

[dallasman]

Immediately hooked, and am looking forward to recommending it to others. Thanks for the tip!

[Jim_MacLaine]

Just finished this and it's fascinating stuff. If I ever meet an antiquarian horologist without

Spoiler alert

nipple rings

[close]

I will now be very disappointed.

[Steven]

You can condense this entire thing down to

Spoiler alert

a gay bloke is a bit lonely.

[close]

[DrGreggles]

I'm on episode 4.
This is SO MUCH BETTER than the shitfest that was Serial s02.

[amputeeporn]

Just finished this. A fascinating listen - John B's a complicated, interesting, infuriating guy - and his various overlapping contradictions make for essential listening. Some of the revelations about him really do feel literary, almost unbelievable.

Some great 'characters' around him, too.

Don't want to say too much more as I guess most people haven't listened yet, but indeed, a huge improvement on Serial 2, which I'm afraid I, like most people, gave up on.

[non capisco]

Just over halfway through and this is good but Brian Reed's narration voice is winding me right up with its croaky upward inflections. It sounds like he's constantly about to burst into tears.

[Crabwalk]

You can condense this entire thing down to

Spoiler alert

a gay bloke is a bit lonely.

[close]

I think the whole point is that it's easy to summarise any life similarly upon first glance. But most people are an incredible mess of contradictions, faculties and flaws. And that life is fucking hard. But worth it.

Oh, and don't fuck about with

Spoiler alert

mercury

[close]

.

[Steven]

I think the whole point is that it's easy to summarise any life similarly upon first glance. But most people are an incredible mess of contradictions, faculties and flaws. And that life is fucking hard. But worth it.

It was quite the irony that the particular family he was angry with ended up buying up his property and most likely destroying or selling off everything he worked on.

Oh, and don't fuck about with

Spoiler alert

mercury

[close]

.

Quite.

[Fishfinger]

I've just listened to the first 2 and it's absolutely enthralling. I'd love to say more but I'm afraid of spoiling anything.

Likewise, 2 'chapters' in, not at all what I was expecting and I'm finding it fascinating. I've skipped the other posts to avoid spoilers. Anyway, highly recommended.

[Steven]

And here are photos of John B and his hedge maze:

[Cuellar]

Haven't finished this yet, so forgive me for not reading the posts in case of spoilers, but I'm halfway through episode 3...

And this guy is recording John's funeral on his phone! What the hell? The man's a lunatic. Did they consent to that? This seems incredibly invasive, not to say ghoulish.

"Mary-Grace begins to weep..." - yeah, we can hear that. Fuck me.

I've had to stop listening.

[Johnny Textface]

Must be all above board legally. Surprised there isn't more discussion on here about this. What an astonishing piece of storytelling. Mind blown. His nipples don't look well of course.

[WestHill]

Yeah I loved this. John is such an instantly compelling person to listen to, with such a musicality to his voice. And the story unfolds in a really interesting, unpredictable way.

Spoiler alert

Can't help but feel a bit disappointed with how the treasure hunt petered out, but I guess that was the point - mercury and all.

[close]

[amnesiac]

It's come to something when the DM run a full spread on this. This was my first Serial and I finger blasted through it all in one go. I was left quite bereft at the end and had a strange feeling that someone I knew had died. I also agree with someone further up who thought the reporter's voice was annoying, one of those speaking voices that sounds like he's crying. You know who else sounds like that? Jay Z.

[amputeeporn]

one of those speaking voices that sounds like he's crying. You know who else sounds like that? Jay Z.

I love Jay Z but will never be able to un-hear this now.

Adored this podcast and wondered if

Spoiler alert

John had some inkling he was going this way? If he drew the reporter in so that there would be some document of his life? It seems he knew full-well there was no murder.

[close]

If so, fair play because it worked and made for fascinating listening. It really does unfold like a novel - this super intelligent redneck living in a hick town, who happens to be one of the best timepiece restorers on earth.

Also - the end revelations, particularly about his

Spoiler alert

body

[close]

I found to be incredibly sad and quite shocking. As with most sad and shocking personal revelations, once you look at the whole picture you realise it actually seems inevitable.

[Johnny Textface]

Hope someone's checked the centre of the maze for treasures!

[Utter Shit]

Late to the party on this but fuck me what an enthralling and heartbreaking show. Finished it this morning and haven't been able to stop thinking about it since. Poor John.

[Lost Oliver]

Fucking amazing. I'm only four episodes in and can't imagine where else it can go.

Absolutely distraught at the end of episode two. Actually cried. And what's worse had nobody to talk to about it. It still makes me feel shit inside thinking about it.

Can't wait to read this thread when I'm done.

If anyone is sitting on the fence with regards to downloading it, just do it. It's brilliant.

[Utter Shit]

Spoiler alert

I thought I was sad at the end of episode two. You have no idea how much sadder you will feel by the end.

[close]

[Mini]

I listen to a lot of comedy podcasts (and music, film, politics and so on) but this was my first experience with a podcast of this kind. It's fantastic storytelling and addictive listening. John's voice and rants are mesmerising,

Spoiler alert

and I was really glad we kept hearing from him after he died

[close]

. What a fascinating man and such a sad story.

I think on balance I prefer podcasts where no one dies though.

[DrGreggles]

I think on balance I prefer podcasts where no one dies though.

The amount of true crime podcasts I listen to suggests that I'm the opposite.

[BritishHobo]

Wait, hang FUCKING on. I listened to all seven episodes of this thinking it was fiction. I thought it was a scripted thing with made-up people in a made-up town. I thought it was a wistful mystery narrative wrapped up in a lot of literary writing, featuring a cool, idiosyncratic cast. I liked it at first, liked the character of John a lot, but I thought it really meandered, and for a fictional narrative, really went nowhere in the last few episodes. I just called it SHIT in the Russell Brand thread!

It's actually fucking real?! John B. Macklemore was real?! And the town, and everyone he interviewed? I've genuinely thought I was listening to a group of well-picked actors. I actually had a whole moment at the end of one episode where I wondered why they didn't name the actors in the credits! I thought it was so as not to break immersion!

Jesus Christ, I genuinely don't think I can convey how much this realisation has knocked me sideways. Actually feel a bit shaken, reconsidering everything I've listened to. John was a real person! Tyler is real, he actually went to prison over the battle with John's actual cousins. John actually did those amazing things, and he actually genuinely went through all that tattoo/piercing pain. That wasn't a weird and pretentious way of wrapping up the story without addressing the buried treasure​ strand, it was John's actual life.

I fucking... fuck!

[BritishHobo]

Fucking hell, John actually committed suicide. He was that amazing, complex, frustrating, fascinating, incredible man, and he actually did take his own life.

My opinion of this has pivoted entirely. It's incredible! What a heartbreaking, awe-inspiring story.

[Johnny Textface]

Yep real as fuck, the maze can be seen on Google maps.