Snap Judgement is a podcast hosted and produced by Glynn Washington that combines real storytelling and upbeat music to connect to the audience’s emotions. The podcast as a whole is very general, featuring a variety of people that tell their stories and making each episode focused on a certain topic. Bad Medicine (season 8, episode 16) focuses on the medical-related stories of Greg Stone and Ray Christian.
The introduction and conclusion of the podcast are narrated by the host, Glynn Washington. The podcast begins with an anecdote from Washington to hook the audience into the episode and give them an idea of what it is about. He talks about how, as a child, his mother never took his any symptoms seriously, like a cough or a stomachache. When things got serious, like his brother’s knee injury, she would call the pastor to come and cure it — and it magically worked. Providing such a bizarre story is effective in hooking the audience into the podcast, as it can make the audience feel interested in listening to other strange medical stories. Washington makes the audience feel engaged in his podcast by using informal tone and language — as well as his rhythmic way of speaking. The normal perception of a podcast is most likely something informational and very formal, which can be boring to some. However, the use of informal language combined with the upbeat hip-hop music in the background effectively draws the audience into the content and makes them feel compelled to continue listening.
The first guest speaker is comedian Greg Stone, who tells stories about his experiences as a Patient Satisfaction Coordinator in a hospital. As he is a comedian, the audience can immediately tell that his storytelling style is very engaging and is mostly aimed to make them laugh. When retelling conversations that he had with others, Stone uses a different pitch or tone of voice to help the audience recognize who is who in the conversation. It also is very comedic, particularly when he raises or lowers the pitch of his voice. He uses a higher pitch when speaking from the perspective of a nurse he worked with and a lower pitch when speaking from the perspective of a seemingly stern male patient. Changing his voice in such ways is helpful, but also comedic in that it keeps the audience laughing.
Like Washington, his language is also very casual. When describing a conversation he had with a doctor about what he did at the hospital, he uses these words: “and I’m like ‘yeah! They [the patients] scream; I walk in!’” His words are very informal and friendly, which compels the audience to the story by making it seem like he is talking to a close friend. While he does include comedic stories, he also tells some darker, depressing ones — discussing the deaths of patients he frequently talked to and the impact it had on him. By mixing in comedic and serious anecdotes in his section of the podcast, he succeeds in making the audience want to know more, but also in showing the realistic and disheartening side of working in a hospital without disengaging the audience.
Ray Christian is the second and final guest in this episode and he tells a story of his experience consuming a drug while in the military. When first hearing that the speaker was going to tell a military story, I was not interested, as I am not personally intrigued by military stories. However, the casual tone and language of his voice, like with the other speakers, made his story more engaging, as it connects to the audience on a more personal level and is funny. For instance, when making fun of his friend for crying during his jump test, Christian said he was “running with his buttcheeks too tight”, which made me laugh. Christian and his fellow sergeant had taken LSD they found while checking inventory and as a result, were high during their jump test. While describing his hallucinations and experiences of being high, there was an echo effect added to his voice that can make the listener laugh. By adding comedic elements to the story, Christian effectively compels the audience into listening.
The comedic aspects of these stories and the storytelling methods in this episode were compelling to me personally, as I enjoy watching funny videos and seeing funny posts online. Thus, I am interested in listening to more potentially uplifting episodes in the future.
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Hey Hannah! I see that we both listened to the same podcast host, but different sections of his podcast. I noticed that Washington has a seemingly recurring theme of beginning his podcasts with him narrating some story that draws back into his personal life. Similarly, it seems like his Spooked podcast and Snap Judgement both follow a similar format. In both Washington begins and ends the podcast, and in between invites a guest or two to tell some sort of story. Opposed to the more thriller elements of Spooked, I noticed that this podcast follows a more light-hearted and joking tone.
I could definitely find myself listening to this podcast as well, mainly because I’ve enjoyed Washington’s other work. The use of background music and sounds constantly make me feel engaged and a part of the stories being told. I feel as though Snap Judgement is easier to relate too and have a nice laugh. It has a more laid back mood and seems like it would be a nice podcast to play into the background when doing work. The stories always seem so absurd that I never lose interest when listening.
In the future when we make our own podcasts I’ll definitely keep in mind the usage of background music. Sound effects and background music really help keep listeners engaged, and also help set the scene and mood better. I think it’ll be important to use different voices by interviewing different people. Especially because I have a more monotonous voice, so the use of different voices will help listeners feel more actively engaged by switching up the voices every episode.
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