Hi again, it's John. Hope you all are hanging in there. I'm back with another installment in our

Between Seasons mini-series, a few of my favorite things. I'm dropping in episodes from shows that I

like and admire that have learned from, and that seem like the sort of thing seen on radio listeners would like to hear.

Next up, a fascinating and seriously innovative project, really kind of a meta thing.

It's called shocking, heartbreaking, transformative, and it's about the doing of narrative podcast work,

and what you could call the nonfiction storytelling industrial complex.

It explores the ethics of this kind of thing, and does so in a surprising way.

Its maker is Jess Shane. She's a Canadian artist and producer based in Brooklyn. Jess and some

collaborators made this series for Radiotopia Presents. Among other honors, the series was named

one of the best podcasts of 2024 by the New York Times. It's in five parts. You can find it

wherever you listen. But here to get you hooked is episode one of shocking, heartbreaking, transformative.

What is this exactly for? I know this is like I'm definitely working on and stuff for...

Let me get your mic set up and then we'll talk about it.

If you're listening to this, I'm guessing you've been moved, entertained, even changed by a well-told, true story about someone else's life.

And then the first thing I need to get you to do is to sign this release form.

Well, you can read it and ask any questions for signing.

No problem.

You'll sign until it feels good.

Okay.

It's just making sure that you are consenting to being recorded and to be using the recording.

Okay.

All right.

...