Men [Scene on Radio]

 

Podcast, 2018, 12 episodes

 

Premise - After the smashing success of "Seeing White", a season-long exploration into Whiteness, Scene on Radio is back for another season-long topic, this time turning the lens on men. The subject of this podcast series is patriarchy - where it came from, how it stands today, what it means, and how it influences the thoughts and behaviors of individual men.

 

Review - I've really become addicted to Scene on Radio. I listen to it every day on my walks. By the time I'm typing this review, I'm already onto Season 4, on democracy. Listening to "Seeing White" was such an important of my entire 2020.

 

If I'm being honest, "Men" does not hold up the same way for me, and I've been thinking long and hard about why that is. It was still incredible, of course - fantastically produced, edited, and musically scored. Wonderful topics that everyone should listen to. But it didn't have the same impact on me as "Seeing White" and perhaps these are some of the reasons why:

 

1) It felt more scripted. Whether or not it was more scripted, I'm not sure. It's more of a vibe. The authenticity of conversing in a podcast felt lost (I'm just referring to the moments between Celeste and John, of course, not the pre-recorded segments. But even the lead in and out of those segments felt forced)

 

2) It felt less historically grounded than Seeing White? To me it felt like it focused more on current events, which are already familiar to us. It's the history that I was never taught or fully grasped.

 

3) I've read up on more feminist literature, to date, than I have on anti-racist literature. Probably. So information (especially about the current state of things) wasn't as novel.

 

4) I'm a woman. I have more at stake, and was more sensitive about which topics they chose to cover in the quick span of only 12 episodes.

 

That's right - only 12 episodes. It's impossible to cover all the topics of patriarchy and they sure did an incredible job. I suppose my biggest critique was that I want more, which isn't so bad of a critique. (89/100)

 

Quote - "Grandpa Joe, I mean, that guy’s the worst. He’s a bad guy, Joe. This guy lays in bed all day long in his pajamas, while his old lady’s working, like, she’s triple-shifting at the laundromat. And then the second the kid comes home with a Golden Ticket, he’s right out of bed. All of a sudden the old guy is like, hits his head on the ceiling getting out of bed. He’s dancing around, moonwalking.
This guy’s like, (sings)‘I got a golden ticket.’ Yeah, Pops, why don’t you get yourself a job? Why don’t you support the family, why don’t you kick something into that pot? Instead of you and the six others being in bed in your pajamas all day long watching TV. Then all of a sudden the kid comes home with a candy bar and a golden ticket, and you’re ready to run a marathon. Deadbeat." - NOT a quote from John Biewen, but a clip from a sports talk radio show, to give a sense of the kind of "manly" talk that goes on the air. I laughed out loud - HARD - at this quote.

 

What to listen for - Each episode has its own value, but my personal favorite is the one that interviews a teenage boy and sees how these ideas of masculinity and homophobia are entrenched in our culture from such an early age.

 

If you liked this podcast, I'd recommend Seeing White!

 

Hosted by John Biewen

Series part of "Scene on Radio"

Produced by the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University