Crimetown is a podcast that explores the story of Buddy Cianci, the former mayor of Providence, Rhode Island and his connections to the mob. Buddy’s story begins with his younger years, working as an assistant attorney general in Rhode Island.
The podcast and the story it describes is tied together and connected by the narration of the two hosts, Marc Smerling and Zac Stuart-Pointer. The audio often switches back and forth between first hand testimony and the commentary of the hosts, the interviewed audio almost serving as B-Roll footage for their narration. In the intro, Smerling gives some background information on Cianci, calling him “the mayor of a major American city” who was caught “kidnapping and torturing a guy”. The audio then cuts to a testimony from Cianci’s funeral, saying, “He did so much for this city, we’re gonna miss him”. This back and forth between testimony and interview is continued throughout the intro, as well as the rest of the podcast. These interviews, testimonies, and samples serve almost as character witnesses for Cianci and the mob, giving contrasting views, accounts, and opinions on them.
Crimetown also explores an interesting chronological structure, starting with the absolute end of Buddy Cianci’s story, his death and funeral. They open some questions for listeners such as how after being convicted and serving time for a felony, “Buddy ran again [and] won”. The story then cuts back to the beginning of Cianci’s career, his beginnings as an assistant attorney general in Rhode Island. By starting at the end of Cianci’s story then going to the very start, the podcast hooks the reader in with these pressing questions. You want to know how Buddy went from being a lawyer, to a mayor, to a convicted felon, and then somehow back to being a mayor.
The podcast additionally uses both music but also, interestingly, sound effects to immerse the listener visually in the story despite the medium lacking that visual presence that television or film might have. The most notable example I can remember is when the narrators are describing when Cianci first approached the idea of running for mayor of Providence. Vinny Vespia, a good friend of Cianci’s, reminisces about how they were at a restaurant when Cianci first presented his plan. Vespia says “he took a pen out of his pocket, he cleared a couple dishes and he drew a “T” right on the tablecloth.” As Vespia said he cleared a couple dishes, there was a clattering dish sound effect which really added to the scene.
To go back to music, the podcast uses music as a score, to set the mood and create the atmosphere of specific scenes or sections of Cianci’s story. There is this one song they use called “Run to your Mama” by Goat which is used often in parts glamorizing the lives of the mobsters. At the end of the podcast they include a snipped from Bobby Walson who says, “In that day, being a wiseguy was the coolest fucking thing on the planet. There was nothing cooler. Movie stars wanted to be around them,” while the aforementioned song plays in the background. It felt like a scene from a movie.
Crimetown provides a really compelling story in a really compelling manner by taking advantage of both benefits and the limitations of the medium. It balances and carefully manages the listeners imagination, pointing them in the right direction and immersing them fully.
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Hi Jonah!
I really enjoyed your analysis of the Crimetown- Divine Providence podcast! You provided a great amount of compelling information about the structure of the storytelling that makes me want to listen to it myself.
I find it interesting that the podcast is told by two narrators instead of one. The one that I am listening to, Serial S02, is hosted by only one individual, and so I am intrigued by what a second voice would bring to the table in terms of the way in which the story is told. I can imagine that because of this narrative structure, the podcast at times will feel like the listener is involved in a conversation with the two hosts. This could create a sense of familiarity and ease when it comes to understanding the plot events.
Similarly to Serial, you mentioned that Crimetown is designed in a way that provides first hand testimony coupled with the commentary of the hosts. This is an aspect that is very useful as it provides cold, hard evidence which backs up what the narrators are sharing. I like how the chronological structure of Crimetown is used as a hook as well. I think that is a very smart way to grab the listener’s attention by completely exposing how the story ends to raise their curiosity and then backing up to explain the why and how in which the events took place.
You also mentioned how the use of sound effects and music played a key role in the storytelling. This is something that I am going to be aware of moving forward with my own podcasting work. Like you said, it is important to fully immerse the listener into the story and create a movie-like setting for them without the visual. This is achieved through the implementation of sound effects and also through music in order to set the mood of a scene in order to accurately portray the events that take place. Overall, attention to sound, the concept of conversational interaction between hosts, and playing with the chronological order of events to grab the audience are all aspects that I will be thinking about as I make progress with my own work!
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