Podcast Review: This Sounds Serious
From our neighbors to the north.
Every once in a while, something comes along that you just really want to hip everyone to ASAP because it’s so great. The last time I recall being this excited about something was when I discovered Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag on Amazon Prime.
This time it’s the podcast This Sounds Serious (click here or go wherever you get podcasts). Sifting through the vast swaths of podcasts to find something good can be a Sisyphean task.
It seems like true crime has found its home on the podcast format. There was the one that really captured the zeitgeist: the first season of Serial, the fascinating Up and Vanished, Sword and Scale, In the Dark (Season 1–2016 Peabody Award winner), Crimetown, Criminal, et al.
According to Esquire Magazine, of the 10 best podcasts for 2018, four of them are true crime/murder-centric (Caliphate — ISIS-centric, Atlanta Monster — from Up and Vanished producer Payne Lindsey, My Favorite Murder — satire, and I’ll Be Gone in the Dark — based on the book).
Now to be fair, I like, nay love, true crime (not committing them). Also, like almost everyone, I love to laugh. And if someone can combine the two, it’s kind of like nirvana. This Sounds Serious has done just that.
What’s it about? In their own words, “Florida, 2007: A famous local weather man is found dead in his water bed. His brother calls 9–1–1 to report the murder. This sets off a shocking series of events involving cults, boy bands, horses and mistaken identity. From CastBox and the comedy producers behind Stop Podcasting Yourself, CBC’s This Is That and Dexter Guff comes a story so believable it can’t be true.”
So far, This Sounds Serious, is absurd in all the best ways.
If you’re concerned that you don’t know what a podcast is (imagine old timey radio. . . on the internet) or how to hear one, don’t worry, you can (and should) listen online.
You don’t need to be a fan of podcasts or of the true crime genre to appreciate the humor here. This Sounds Serious nails all the tropes of true crime and is a perfect parody of the genre while still having universal appeal.
Okay, I should probably point out it’s from Canada, so if you have some sort of jihad against our neighbors to the north (although why you would or how you could is unfathomable) or dislike the accent, you should avoid this podcast.
It’s also Florida-centric, which, for me, is bliss. Florida is a state of bizarre hilarity that seems endless. Florida may one day warrant its own entry in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (aka DSM-5), as in “Floridian Disorder”.
In fact, the joke that sealed the deal for me was “…plus it’s Florida, everyone’s a murderer there. It’s like America’s Australia.”
I feel confident in saying that if you like true crime at all, enjoy good satire or simply like laughing, right now, you can do no better. And honestly, we all need a lot of laughter these days.
Is This Sounds Serious worth your time? Without a doubt.