For the final blog post, I finished the first season of The Black Tapes podcast. I listened to more episodes this time since I got more into it and wanted to keep listening since I was so intrigued and wanted to see how the season would conclude. That is what I have enjoyed about this podcast is that although each episode tells a different story, they are all connected in some ways which keeps me invested.
As I was listening to more episodes, I started to make connections to Sherlock Holmes. Dr. Strand is like Holmes is that is he very knowledgeable in what he does, and sort of teaches Alex, the host, like Watson, along the way. Even further, Dr. Strand talks through what he is thinking and doing so Alex learns, yet even by the end she still cannot figure it out without his help. Then I also found myself trying to solve the case while listening as I do when reading Sherlock Holmes. Although they are looking into different types of cases, there are still many similarities between these characters and format of stories.
As the story develops, Alex starts to question Dr. Strand and his beliefs, since he says he does not believe in all the paranormal nonsense and such, yet why would he dedicate his career to just debunking them, when then all he is doing all day is working out paranormal cases. Not to mention, as a reader I start to question him as well, especially when Alex questions his daughter, Charlie, about her life, her father, and what happened to her mother. I think they want us to think as readers that maybe we cannot trust Dr. Strand fully, and that maybe he had something to do with the death of his wife, or isn’t giving us the full story. I think I have started to notice these things since Alex and Dr. Strand are constant in the series so I’ve started to understand and analyze them better and see how they develop.
After listening, I found the 8th episode to be more intriguing to me since it was about Ouija boards which are already very interesting and mysterious to me. The tape was a case about the use of a Ouija board and me as a listener along with Alex, found the tape to be super believable and maybe start to think they actually work. However, Dr. Strand starts to explain how that could easily be faked so you shouldn’t be so quick to judge. But next, Alex secretly interviews a person who was there with the Ouija board, and you start to believe again maybe. I think I enjoyed this so much since I’ve always really wondered about Ouija boards and now I am even more confused, and I think it is sort of believe what you want type of situation. If you don’t think its real, you can explain how and why and it doesn’t makes sense, or you can see it done and maybe start to believe. Which honestly is the case in any of these cases which I like since you have the different parts of the spectrum. You have Dr. Strand who does not believe any of it, then Alex in the middle, neutral and curious, and then you have the tapes those interviewed who are mostly believers or won’t share the full story. \
Altogether I like the layout of all the stories and how they are all connected. The format and same music and sounds keep me in the zone in a way and I enjoy that is it more than just a host or narrator talking the whole time. I might even continue listening to this podcast although the assignment is over.
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Hey Jordan, I enjoyed reading your blog and the connections you tried to make with the characters in your podcast with the characters in Sherlock Holmes. One thing I was looking for was a brief background of what was happening in “The Black Tapes” up until the episode you are discussing as well as what the series is about in general. It was easy for me to follow along as soon as I looked up who Dr. Strand and Alex are. Other than that, I was really intrigued by your comparisons of Dr. Strand to Sherlock Holmes and Alex to Watson. I think the companionship they developed for each other as Alex continues to ask questions with Dr. Strand teaching him along the way is very similar to the relationship of Sherlock Holmes and Watson. However, in the stories we have been reading in class, it seems that Watson is still unable to pick up on the skills of deduction and detective skills of Sherlock Holmes. However, it seems that Alex is more involved from your blog and he even starts questioning the methods and things that Dr. Strand says. It was also really interesting that the podcast made you start trying to solve the case as you were listening. In the podcast that I chose to listen to (Strangers), I am introduced to a different person every week and they tell the listeners about their life stories. Strangers also is pretty interactive because the narrator tells the listeners to imagine things from the person’s perspective. I find myself being in another person’s shoes whether it is being a single mother struggling financially, a gay couple trying to adopt a child, or just a kid going through bullying in school. I also found a difference in the podcasts we are listening to. You mentioned that the narrator does not talk as much in The Black Tapes whereas the narrator would give her own opinion about the situation as well. Overall, I really liked that we had so many things to compare and contrast to, Good job!
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