Examining the dark side of popular podcasts created for questionable entertainment
An Editorial Review by Mike Hobson
Last week the Centreville Press and Bibb Voice received an announcement of an event at the Alys Stephens Center on the UAB Campus that attracted our interest. Here is the description:
Join us for an exclusive session featuring Brian Reed, the mastermind behind the groundbreaking podcast S-Town. S-Town shattered audience records and won a Peabody Award for its pioneering storytelling, pushing audio narratives into the realm of great literature. During this live event, Brian Reed will share insights into his three-year investigative journey that began with a mysterious request from a small Alabama town resident, leading to the creation of a podcast that has captivated millions. The session will end with a live Q&A where you can engage with Brian and delve deep into the world of podcast creation and the creation of S-Town.
We have not been as enthralled or fascinated as the rest of the world over the phenomenon of S-Town, however, we were impressed by the production itself and its worldwide appeal. Our interest piqued, we decided to attend and motored to the big town of Birmingham on Friday night.
We found the gorgeous Stephens Center 1300 seat auditorium crowded with people interested in the story and the production. We could not help but notice some well known writers, along with Bibb County residents and several notable dignitaries from Woodstock in the crowd.
In case you don’t know, S-Town is a critically acclaimed investigative podcast produced by Serial Productions (the team behind Serial) and released in March 2017. Hosted by Brian Reed, the podcast starts as an investigation into an alleged murder in a small Alabama town (Woodstock, which the main subject calls “Shit Town”). However, it soon evolves into a deep, unexpected character study of John B. McLemore, a brilliant yet troubled Bibb County clockmaker who becomes the heart of the story. Here are some key thoughts about the production:
- Unlike traditional true crime podcasts, S-Town shifts away from crime and instead explores life, mental health, time, regret, and Southern identity.
- The storytelling is deeply literary, often compared to a novel, blending investigative journalism with poetic themes.
- The story keys on several themes, including John B. McLemore’s life, his genius, struggles with depression, frustrations of the world and repressed sexuality.
- S-Town was a massive success, downloaded over 40 million times within months of release. It received widespread critical acclaim for its emotional depth and storytelling approach, though some criticized it for ethical concerns about privacy. McLemore never explicitly consented to be the subject of such a widely consumed story. The producers initially framed the show as an investigation into a crime but when that fell apart, they pivoted to McLemore’s life without his explicit consent.
- Some have argued that by airing his deeply personal struggles the podcast sensationalizes his pain for dramatic effect. Sadly, the podcast leans into tropes about Southern eccentricity, making McLemore seem like a tragic, colorful character rather than a fully realized person. The show paints the Town of Woodstock as a decaying backwards town reinforcing sterotypes about the hopeless and stagnant South. Some locals were deeply betrayed and felt misrepresented by the portrayal of their community.
New York Creator Brian Reed spoke for about an hour of the course of the story development. After having been contacted by John McLemore years prior to the story release Reed undertook to determine whether a murder had been committed as alleged by McLemore. Upon discovering there was no murder the producers first decided to shelve the story. The project was later revived and redirected to a study of rural life and an eccentric, often sad, local figure. What was their motivation ? To perpetuate the Yankee ridicule of the South and its way of life perhaps.
We were never a fan of S-Town because of its prejudicial and negative portrayal of the people and places of the South. S-Town is just the latest exploitation of our communities and culture for pecuniary reasons. A tired theme we have suffered thru over and over during our adult life.
From Civil War reconstruction to the storied civil rights exploitation era the south has been often exhaustively ridiculed while rural life has been envied but laughed at for years by outside literary producers. S-town is the most recent example. We think that the S-town story is a continuation of the same tired theme, although highly successful around the world.
The South has been repeatedly and unfairly portrayed by outsiders—whether in literature, journalism, or entertainment. From Reconstruction-era “Lost Cause” narratives to civil rights-era media portrayals of the Deep South as uniquely barefoot backward, uneducated, and often illiterate, there’s a deep history of selective storytelling that often highlights the South’s struggles while ignoring its strengths or complexities.
S-Town continues the tradition by portraying McLemore as a tragic, almost gothic Southern figure, a tortured genius stuck in a decaying town, reinforcing the image of Southern eccentricity. The story portrays Woodstock as a stagnant and declining Southern town offering few opportunities for its residents. Ouch!
Although the production was highly successful and acclaimed by much of the media it was not without biting criticism from peer reviewers. Writer Gay Alcorn of The Guardian wrote “S-Town never justifies its voyeurism, and that makes it morally indefensible.” She went on to say that “journalism requires a purpose beyond telling a good story”. Aja Romano of Vox wrote “S-Town is a stunning podcast. It probably shouldn’t have been made.” The production is “brilliant, complex, and incredibly invasive deep dive into one man’s life”.
During his presentation at the Stephens Center creator Brian Reed acknowledged the emotional impact of the peer criticism and how he has reflected upon it. Reed has also been mired in his defense of a lawsuit that eventually plagued him for years over this story. The litigation was brought by the Estate of John McLemore that alleged a violation of law. Reed said in a statement to Hollywood Reporter that the lawsuit “put me in a position of having to think about what journalism is in a very elemental way that I had never done before”.
One other interesting perspective from the Friday night event were the crowd members that approached the microphone to ask questions of Reed. Several aspiring writers offered praise for his work and credited Reed with their inspiration to enter journalism. Some talked of their own struggles with mental health and gender identify and offered that the production had helped them deal constructively with their personal issues and demons.
The sad ending to this story can be no other than the real and personal death of its central figure. John B. McLemore never defeated his personal demons, he succumbed to them. The pensive amateur philosopher McLemore committed suicide before the self-ignited and fueled story was released to the public. Perhaps McLemore’s death was hastened by his own willful telling of his sometimes sordid personal story and the eventual revelation of how it would be consumed by the world. It is comforting to know that a competent lawyer drove the producer to a years long period of self-reflection about this story and his role in journalism. The terms of the agreement that settled the McLemore Estate litigation is surely confidential.
If you have stayed with this Editorial to this point then read on for a word about how it was financed.
National Public Radio (NPR) is a nonprofit media organization that produces and distributes news, cultural programming, and entertainment content to a network of over 1,000 public radio stations across the U.S. It is not a government agency but does receive some public funding, primarily through grants rather than direct appropriations. NPR does not receive direct appropriations from the federal government. However, it benefits indirectly through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), an independent nonprofit that allocates federal funds to public broadcasting station.
The CPB’s total federal appropriation for public media in FY2024 was $535 million.
About $100 million of that goes to public radio, but NPR itself receives only a small portion directly according to our sources. Local stations receive the bulk of CPB funding and then pay NPR for programming, indirectly benefiting the network.
Since This American Life is an independent production, it does not receive direct funding from NPR. However, because it airs on many NPR-affiliated stations, those stations may use government funds (via CPB grants) to pay for programming, including This American Life. The show also receives funding from listener donations, sponsorships, and podcast revenue.
Though S-Town was not an NPR project, it benefitted from the public radio ecosystem and its funding structures, including CPB-backed stations promoting it.
It is worth contemplating how the producers of S-Town could finance the S-Town project over a period of over five years. The total cost of the production and the resulting litigation is unknown to the public. It is also meritorious to consider whether our government should provide multi-million dollar support to a non-profit entity that results in this type of programming with our tax dollars. After all it is community newspapers who work diligently to build up their communities rather than to tear them down with scorn and ridicule. And they operate without governmental financial support. We will have more to say on this topic in a follow-up article.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The foregoing is an editorial opinion. The thoughts and views expressed herein are solely those of the writer. Your thoughts and comments are welcomed.
Resources:
The AI of ChatGPT
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/stown-lawsuit-brian-reed-journalism-1235999020/
https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/question-everything
https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/3/30/15084224/s-town-review-controversial-podcast-privacy
