Dr. Christopher Duntsch – the name sends shivers down the spines of medical professionals, forced to remember the personification of the flaws in our own healthcare system. Following the first episode of Dr. Death, narrator Laura Beil utilizes Duntsch’s troubled upbringing to generate the pivotal character that harmed the lives of many. Listening to the episodes “Chris and Jerry,” in addition to “Occam’s Razor,” one thing is for sure, Christopher Duntsch was to have never obtained a license, and his employment should have never been sought out.
Both episodes play off and build from one another – providing intense details and knowledge on Duntsch’s upbringing. The first episode, “Chris and Jerry,” establishes a relationship between previous episodes by immediately following up with the major conflicts previously brought into fruition. The maiming and deaths patients Mary Eaford and Florella Brown throws listeners back into the conflict, as Duntsch had performed actions no other professional would ever perform. However, as Beil researches Duntsch’s background, it’s clear that he was once “considered a medical professional in every way possible.” This statement brings forth the question that many listeners are asking – what tore away at the potential of this neurosurgeon? The titular character within the episode, Jerry Summers, makes a lasting impact on the listeners, as we better understand Duntsch’s own motives and intentions. Once known as Duntsch’s best friend, Summer’s relationship with Duntsch provides listeners a glimpse into the man who was to surely harm those around him. This episode to me, was quite shocking, as it is revealed that Duntsch later operates on Summers, maiming his own friend so that his head is no longer securely attached to his body, and he is permanently paralyzed.
“Occam’s Razor” – it is the belief that the simplest idea is sometimes the correct one. Christopher Duntsch is cold, ruthless, and arrogant, his “Occam’s Razor” set him up to become “a horrible surgeon who was so blinded by his arrogance he couldn’t see that trying harder and harder wasn’t going to make him better.” This episode emphasizes the inappropriate relationships, drug abuse, and actions that establish Duntsch’s foundations as Dr. Death. Not only did these interactions impact the lives of those that operated under him, but to my surprise, his employers as well – none of whom were able to prevent him from continuing to practice. What surprises me most about this episode, was the fact that despite having a horrible reputation, and not having the skills necessary to operate despite receiving high quality training, Duntsch had practiced all over the state of Texas. It’s absolutely shocking to recognize Duntsch had shown red flags throughout his career, yet people looked the other direction, failing to acknowledge his malicious intent.
Structurally, I felt as though Beil did a magnificent job of keeping listeners on the edge of their seat. Utilizing background music and descriptive language, Beil often puts listeners into the environment, and allows them to perfectly envision what is occurring before their very eyes. Music not only allows listeners to step into the podcast, but allows for quick, emotionally driven changes in tone to occur. An example I remember most significantly, was when Summers was about to go into surgery – utilizing ominous, dreary music behind someone saying “goodbye” prior to operation, it was clear that something was meant to go wrong. It’s astonishing just how much the podcast utilizes auditory tools to their advantage, and invoke various emotions within the listener. Additionally, we continue to listen to various interview excerpts, most importantly a conversation between Beil and Summers himself. Listening to Summers reminisce about the brutality behind the man he once recognized as his best friend, it’s clear that those following along will become emotionally attached. It’s hard not to care for these characters, as they’re not fictitious – they’re real victims.
Lastly, an element that interests me, is the fact that these interviews and episodes all occur without acknowledging Duntsch himself. Listeners continue to learn about the downfall of a man destined for greatness, however it’s his own lacking presence that adds a sense of mystery to the podcast. Various hypotheses are created by listeners as they further understand his character – was he addicted to drugs, or was he just clearly a sociopath holding a scalpel? Choosing to develop Duntsch’s character in a matter that talks around him, there’s an enveloping air of suspense, leaving listeners craving more, as we learn about the real Dr. Death.
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Great blog post! I found there to be many parallels between this podcast, Dr. Death, and the podcast I am listening to, season one of Serial. It interesting how Beil uses music to create a scene for the story; when you mention that dreary music was playing before a bad operation, I was able to envision the scene and its terrible outcome. As a listener to podcasts, use of music is really impactful because it adds an added element of emotion that spoken words cannot convey. It also helps envelope the audience into the scene of the story by removing them from reality and putting them in a new world that is described by the narrator. For example, Serial uses somber music during transitions which increases the effect of the eerie mood of the situation.
Additionally, it is important for story telling podcasts to recall information from previous episodes and build off of that information in new episodes. You mention that this keeps listeners in the action of the story and without a dull moment. Much the same can be said about the podcast Serial in which older episodes foreshadow shocking evidence that will be discussed in future episodes. This adds a sense of intrigue to listeners which causes them to continue listener to the podcast one episode after another. Summarization also helps the podcast create its own unique identity by maintaining constant themes thought the entirety of a season or episode.
One aspect of Dr. Death that really caught my attention was that all of the interviews occur without acknowledging Duntsch. This is a great narrative choice by the author because it doesn’t limit Duntsch terrible actions to the constraints of written and/or spoken words; it actually leaves a lot of room for listener’s creativity to run wild as they create their own description of Duntsch’s persona. I guess it is true that less can be more sometimes.
The structural elements in Dr. Death seem to create an interesting podcast that I will definitely have to check out in the future.
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I am also listening to Dr. Death as my chosen podcast for the quarter. I find many of the points you have raised to be an integral aspect of this podcast. Biel uses many sounds and music cuts to really engage the listeners emotions and keep them intrigued to what the narrative is presenting. The fact that there were many instances where the medical board and other administrations could have done more than they did to try to protect the public from Duntsch but instead just tried to save face and turn the other way in the effect to allow him to proceed with hurting people and just pass the problem on basically. It was chilling to hear the recollections from Summers and really feel the hurt that had been caused to him by someone he had tried to help get a practice started and peruse what he though was Duntsch’s dream essentially. The music cuts during the interview in that episode really solidified the emotions of the event for the listener. How could someone (Duntsch) care so little and hurt someone (Summers) so badly as to paralyze him for the rest of his life. It really brings the thought to mind, as presented in the 3rd episode, was Duntsch really just purposefully hurting people and truly trying to be a cold blood killer as he stated in some of the emails he had sent to the nurse practitioner he was sleeping with. Biel does an amazing job connecting each episode with facts and interviews which bring everything to a conclusive message.