Welcome back to my blog about “My Favorite Murder,” a crime comedy podcast created by two women who share interesting murder mysteries in a fun, casual manner. While listening to the next few episodes of “My Favorite Murder,” I got very invested in the podcast. I love that each episode is so different. With this format, I had a new, unique experience while listening to every episode. Despite the different stories, the producers utilize similar narration styles throughout the series.
I have listened to more episodes of the podcast since my last post. I was especially interested in episode 53, which was about the discovery of a secret dungeon, as well as a more recent episode, 192, about the disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi. Additionally, I enjoyed listening to episode 83, which focuses on more hometown submissions. Even just from these simple descriptions, it is evident that the hosts format each podcast differently. I think that the hometown submission episodes are the most engaging, so I will be detailing episode 83 in this post.
In this episode, Georgia and Karen focus on a few“hometown stories” that they received via email. As mentioned, these hometown episodes seem to be my favorite, so I would like to take note of this. I think I enjoy these specific episodes so much because of the extremely personal touches. In my work, I must remind myself to include distinctive details so that my podcast can be personalized and likable like this one. The main story of the episode is a submission from a girl who explains that her roommate is a “moonie.” A moonie is a member of the Unification Church. This is a relatively new religious movement that has gained attention due to significant criticism and considerable controversy. One host explains the religion to viewers, while the other intervenes, “it’s a straight-up cult.” In all episodes of this podcast, the hosts narrate by having one person lead a specific conversation, while the other chimes in with anecdotes, questions, or to add greater detail. This is a great strategy. I attempted to use it in my first podcast submission but plan to improve by making sure my conversations and moments where one person chimes in are incredibly natural. The casual vibe of this podcast is its best asset. As they continue to narrate the story, listeners learn that the roommate had to endure a mass wedding ceremony for a planned marriage, a common occurrence in this religion. We learn that unificationists believe that when someone wants to get married, their parents and the church officials are in charge of finding a single match for that person who will be their spouse no matter what.
At this moment, the hosts create an intentional break in the story. They have a long conversation with each other joking about the Unification Church. They chuckle, “Wouldn’t any girl sign up for this? Being set up by someone else is the best way to find a boyfriend?” They continue to talk about dating life struggles while shouting out fans who may feel the same way. This fun conversation lasted for 3-4 minutes of the podcast. Although it may have been a silly anecdote, it was one of the most entertaining parts of the podcast to listen to because it was personable, very relatable, and simply fun to listen to. This pattern of transitioning in and out of the story continues for the remainder of the podcast. Listeners follow the journey of the roommate as she endures the entire marriage process of this “cult-like” religion in finding her husband.
Evidently, I loved this layout of this podcast with breaks in the story with personal details and casual conversations. I believe that this is the most compelling narrative strategy because listening does not feel like a chore. Instead, listening to Georgia and Karen makes me feel like I’m in a conversation with friends. The podcasters also included other small narrative techniques like referencing previous episodes and foreshadowing future episodes. I thought this was a genius tactic to engage viewers. When I heard them say that this story was “similar to one mentioned two episodes ago,” I immediately favorited that previous episode because I was enjoying this one so much. As a result, this personal reaction, I will make sure to reference earlier episodes in my series. I think this is a great way for listeners to see the relationship between episodes because it will make them curious about future episodes. On that note, the hosts ended their episode by mentioning the “upcoming cool surprises.” They involved fans by telling them to submit stores about secret lives and said that this topic pertains to the surprise. Although I could not exactly foreshadow a surprise in my podcast, I could forecast future episodes because this is the perfect way to retain fan attention. “My Favorite Murder” has been very entertaining, and I am inspired to make my episodes similar to this series.
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Hello Paige!
I really enjoyed hearing about the ‘My Favorite Murder’ podcast and about your experience listening to it. It seems kind of similar to mine in that it is about different murder stories, although mine involves more ghost stories in addition to murder. I found it interesting that you also enjoyed, similar to me, that each episode told a different story, but the podcast as a whole follows the same format. We both decided to focus on specific episodes that we especially enjoyed and go more into depth with those. It is funny that we both noticed and apricated the little details of the podcast episodes where they joke and things which makes the stories seem more real, raw and enjoyable. I notice a lot a lot of similarities between our podcasts in the format with interviews and conversation and intros, yours sounds very interesting and I might have to give it a try! It was interesting reading your take on the podcast and their narration technique. Those are good ideas that I would want to incorporate in my podcasts since I want them to be enjoyable for my audience. I want the podcast to be serious, important and relevant, but in a way that is interesting and intrigues the reader while also portraying my personality. The only problem with this laid back approach we both notice and appreciate, is that it may not be for everyone. Talking about such a serious topic like murder, some people may think it disrespectful to be making jokes. However, I believe that is what can make a podcast so interesting is when you are real and relatable, so although it may not be for everyone, I like this feature. Overall you did a great job reviewing this podcast, and I can see that you are very interested it in and enjoy it! I like the way you analyzed specific features of the episodes and focused on the aspects you really enjoyed. Keep up the hard work!
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Hi Paige!
First of all I thought it was really funny and kind of surprising how you started your blog, by saying that these two women talk about interesting murder mysteries in a fun and casual way. I mean I find it really difficult to see how could someone talk about murder like this, but I also found it really interesting because I have never heard of such thing. I liked the way you emphasize the type of podcast that you like the most, I feel like you make the readers become interested as well, also I thought it was really useful that you explained what a moonie was and the breakdown of the submission. I agree with you when you said that this way of making a podcast, that it feels like a conversation rather than a chore, is the most compelling narrative strategy for a podcast, because it makes you feel like you are part of them, that you relate to what they are saying and you pretty much are engaging with the narrators in some way. Personally, I am not a huge fan of making podcasts, maybe most of us feel this way, but your reflection on this podcast made me feel like maybe there is a good side of this, if I were to achieve incorporating this techniques on one of my podcasts, I am sure it will make it a lot more fun for the listeners and for myself. Thank you for sharing your experience!
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Hi Paige, I am also a huge fan of My Favorite Murder! It is always so interesting to hear another person’s perspective about a podcast I love so much. It always amazes me they way Karen and Georgia seamlessly merge two incompatible things: true crime and comedy. The listener stories are great because you never know what you are going to get! The stories are so drastically different but always entertaining. I love their relationship with listeners and their ability to make you feel like you are part of the conversation.
I agree that the personal anecdotes and casual conversation makes this podcast extremely enjoyable. One of the hardest things I have noticed while making my own podcast is maintaining that casual tone and not being overly stiff and formal. It’s hard to be in casual conversation with someone with a microphone in front of your face! But I think that is something you just have to practice to perfect. The call back to past episodes is a great tool in podcasting as many podcasts you can listen out of order and not be lost.
Going forward I would like to include many of the aspects you mentioned in my own podcast. You mentioned that listening to this podcast did not seem like a chore instead you looked forward to the episodes. That is what I (and probably even podcast host) seek to do. I think Karen and Georgia have a great grasp on their audience and cater their episode to that demographic. It is important to think about the type of people listening and make sure to format your podcast in the way most suitable to them.
Looking forward to hearing more of your thoughts on My Favorite Murder!
SSDGM
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