Hello to everyone who has been following this blog for many years - I'm still blogging, I'm just moving over to https://www.claireheffer.com/blog - please continue to follow and let me take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been kind enough to visit over the years. May the lists continue...

Wednesday 14 February 2018

PODCAST: THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT



PODCAST: THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT 

This is the welcome note for the podcast which was at first only available on Audible but now is free on iTunes:

Hi everyone,

Welcome to The Butterfly Effect. It's sort of about porn, but it's about a lot of other things. It's sad, funny, moving and totally unlike some other nonfiction stories about porn - because it isn't judgmental or salacious. It's human and sweet and strange and lovely. It's a mystery story, an adventure. It's also, I think, a new way of telling a story. This season follows a single butterfly effect. The flap of the butterfly's wings is a boy in Brussels having an idea. His idea is how to get rich from giving the world free online porn. Over seven episodes I trace the consequences of this idea, from consequence through to consequence. If you keep going in this way, where might you end up? It turns out you end up in the most surprising and unexpected places.

So if you're thinking, why do I want to listen to a show about the tech takeover of the porn industry, I have two things to say:

1. Why wouldn't you want to listen to a show about the tech takeover of the porn industry? That's a great idea for a show.

2. Would you want to listen to a show about three women destroying a mysterious Norwegian man's stamp collection? Well, that happens at the end of episode 2. At the end of Episode 3 a woman becomes convinced that she played a part in a murder committed by an Italian priest. At the end of Episode 4 a boy in Oklahoma is forced to move to a house on the very, very edge of his town.

I hope you like our show,
Jon 


MY VERDICT: I absolutely loved this podcast. I am a fan of Jon Ronson, having devoured ‘The Psychopath Test’ many years ago, and find his story telling technique to be always surprising and often exhilarating. His voice is reassuring and he has a way of putting heart into everything he investigates. He is one of the only researchers/journalists I know of to find the positive side to every story, to get excited about things or to find a way to get excited about things where others might give boring facts.

The premise of the podcast itself allows us to see into the lives of all kinds of people and professions and it’s heartwarming to hear people open up to Jon Ronson. The subject matter is an important one, because even if you have never watched porn and know nothing about it, you can find out how it’s affecting the world we live in.
There are some truly amazing stories which I don’t want to spoil here but as Ronson mentioned it already above, the story of the custom porn creators who were asked to destroy one man’s stamp collection is fascinating.

I only finished this the other day but have already recommended it to several people, and I now recommend it to you.



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