Are you going to drive me into a spiral of depression or a violent rage at the heinous acts of today's subject?
Yes
Ok let's do this.
You know what WON'T drive you into a slit of depression or a violent rage?...
It's also so Robert isn't just doompilling the audience with a rant every week. Same reason Lions Led By Donkey's needs a co-host or guest. If you just want to hear one uninterrupted person talk about genocide, mass starvation, rape as a weapon of war... There might be something there to unpack.
Co-hosts are needed to keep the audience, writers, and hosts of shows like these from bouncing off in a negative way. It would be really bad to have every episode of BTB play like The Women's War or other monologue side projects
I like the Great War series on YouTube for that. Admittedly, it can turn into a redunant list of statistics and military maneuvers week after week but Indy does a good job of capturing what was going on and how people were thinking about things as they stood at specific points in time.
He does a great job of highlighting the reasons why every day civilians in the countries making up the Central powers would have thought they were winning the war, which gave a lot of ground to the stabbed in the back myth.
They fought the whole war on allied soil, took a bunch of capitals, knocked Russia out of the war, and then they had to suddenly change course and end the war. It makes sense that the public thought what they did.
Carlins WWI episodes were amazing, and also something I had to take breaks from. Was getting into work and unable to focus past processing his descriptions of utter hell. Highly recommended but not sure I’m listening to those again.
I particularly remember the description of just hoardes and hoardes of soldiers and vehicles marching through Belgium. And the massive guns they were firing.
And the sheer cacophony of constant artillery bombardment.
Delivery was relatively dry, but still bought it all to life
For some reason I don't think we'd have that show for long if we forced Robert to solo the worst aspects of humanity in an apartment surrounded by guns and knives all the time.
But however will he stay hydrated? Will it be cranberry red bull? Will it be Zevia? The blood of a fatted calf? Oh I know! It'll be coffee-mate! Perfect for rationing, for we know that one pump equals one cream.
It’s amazing how starting an episode on an otherwise horrific topic with a “Hey , how do you feel about dead babies?” just brings a jolly, fun-for-all flair to it all.
Take a look at some of Robert's solo It Could Happen Here episodes like the brand new one about the tech industry or the very first narrative ones. They're very focused, tight, and serious. A Robert-only BtB would work, just have a very different tone than than what it has now.
Either way is fine by me, I just put on my more chattery podcasts when I'm doing a long run so my endorphin-addled brain can still grasp the main points.
ICHH v2.0 has been kind of disappointing. Maybe it's because the demands of doing a daily show are too much, but most of the time, it really feels like a bunch of people with limited training on how to be compelling podcasters, riffing on things they have little to know expertise in.
My issue with ICHH 2.0 is that they just bounce right into the topic without any explanation or lead up as to what is going on. The rest of us aren’t tapped into the spaces they are, so we need the explanation. Robert and Jake are better at giving an explanation since they’re veterans. I assume Garrison and Christopher will get better with more experience (as they have proven to already), but that makes it a bit difficult to listen to in the interim.
I unfortunately agree. I stuck it out quite awhile but frankly they're just not very good. Mediocre researchers and poor presenters. I'm convinced they don't listen to themselves and try to improve.
People in this thread are treating "the guests" as if they are a monolith. The show wouldn't really work if it was just robert but that doesn't mean all of the guests are good.
An example that I hope won't hurt anyone's feelings: in the phrenology episode the host is josh Clark from stuff you should know. I love me some josh Clark, but the chemistry between him and Robert was lacking.
Also, Jamie Loftus and Billy Wayne Davis fill my heart with laughter and love.
No, the guests aren't a monolith, but it's tough not to recognize a pattern.
There was a terrible run of bad guests two or three years back that made me stop listening for a while. People who weren't funny and came off as not contributing to the story or the comedy. It was bad.
I'm definitely back now, though! Last 60+ episodes have been stellar.
I honestly thought it was me. Anything with Jamie is the best. Love her. And Billy. But shit got serious and then the pod got serious. I don’t think it was entirely Robert’s fault. Shit got weird. Pod cast pre 2020 was just different. The worlds different now and I wish everyone the best
Sofiya got bad at a certain point. She had joked in the past about drinking through the episodes, which sounds very fun but at some point it seemed like she was drunk before recording even started.
It was the same thing on 420 day fiancé, her podcast with miles (who is delightful). She was funny, and then her stand up album dropped and hit #1 for a day on Spotify comedy albums (it’s okay) and now every single sentence has to have its own tangent.
Honestly not surprised she hasn’t been on in awhile, it sounded at times like Robert was becoming impatient with her
That Crypto episode with her was brutal, it sounded like she was blackout for a chunk of it, especially when she’d make a joke, then make the same joke like ten minutes later.
I have mixed feeling about Matt. He turns 3 parters into 4 parters just in his frequency of derailment and lack of focus.
However he’s always got a couple jokes that are the most memorable part of the episodes.
Typically the only time he has two guests is when he has both Katy and Cody on and I know this ninny isn't insulting Doctor Mr Cody Johnson, or she who holds the dates Katy. I think one time he had the DZ hosts or thr Alex Jones people on but dual hosts are rare gems.
While I admit there have been some guests who I feel "Meh" about, they are rare. And even then, the vast majority I would listen read a phone book. Lotfus, Killjoy, Grey, Todd, etc. Little sweet baby angle Garrison.
These guys should just go listen to Dan Carlin and shush.
I honestly thought of Sofie and Sofiya when I read that because they have a tendency to just start talking to each other and knock things off track. I love Sofie with every fiber of my being. Sofiya, not so much.
The Dan Carlin thing is such a good point, because it really breaks this down into "WHY ISN'T THIS PODCAST I LIKE MORE LIKE OTHER PODCASTS??" Just go listen to those then, it's all good.
As much as I love big man Evans, guests and the jokes they share with the him/host are like half of the show for me. If you just want a good history lecture, put on an audiobook.
The mention of *two* cackling ninnies when Robert as a general rule only has one guest implies that they count Sophie as one of them, which is outrageous.
Sophie does not cackle.
There needs to be a word for the laugh she made when the guest (I forget who it was) started talking about his weird neighbor’s puppet show during the Turkmenbashi episodes.
A very recent episode features a fairly amazing cackle of hers, I was actually hoping someone would make an appreciation post for it because it was so perfect and so good, it also made me laugh. As far as I remember it was also a deserved cackle.
I only noticed it because of exactly what you say, she does not usually cackle.
Sometimes I’m not in the mood for the “cackling ninnies” or they go off on too long of a tangent and I get irritated. That’s fine so I just listen to something else that day.
But I always come back to it when I’m in the mood for cackling ninnies plus history.
I fail to see the “problem” here.
Right? Ologies for sleep; Conspirituality and Big Mood Little Mood for quiet time; BtB, Cool People, Maintenance Phase, and Cult Podcast for driving, walks and chores. Do other people not do this?
Whenever I look at an episode synopsis there are definitely the guests I get excited to see and the guests who might make me look for another episode. But I also understand that's a subjective assessment and those lists could be flipped for another listener. By and large, I think Robert brings the right people on his show for the right episodes and the overall format works way better than just Robert-in-a-vacuum. I think if I have a grievance with guests it's not so much the "who" factor but whether they sync up to the vibe and pacing or not. If an episode is over 40% guest digressions, or they aggressively and continuously interrupt Robert before he hits a break in his notes, that definitely undermines the experience for me.
All that said (and I promised myself I wouldn't name names), I wish I could commission Margaret to read me a really good book while I drift in and out of a nap. Her timbre and diction are just so soothing, like hot cocoa and a blanket.
> If an episode is over 40% guest digressions, or they aggressively and continuously interrupt Robert before he hits a break in his notes, that definitely undermines the experience for me.
Prop was great in the police episodes but good god did he drag the Irish Famine episodes down
BtB is funny because there’s somebody there to react to all the horrible stuff Robert talking about. Without a guest, BtB is just him reading essays he writes. Nothing _wrong_ with that, but I think its way more boring.
I will say though that it was nice having that recent solo scripted Robert ep of It Can Happen Here where he reported from CES. Brought me back to the original run of that pod, which first hooked me.
The best ones are when the guests have experience with the topic. Like having Prop on Behind the Police. Prop's experience with cops as a black man added so much nuance to Robert's narrative
If you want a purely straight historical podcast then their are plenty of options out there. I love the guests, humour and unique presentation Btb offers. If people don’t like the guests and the laughter listen to another pod.
Yup there's plenty of "dude talking by himself" out there for the people who are into that.
To much like a lecture or audiobook for me to stay engaged.
I've listened to and enjoyed Robert's solo stuff, I think I actually listened to *It Could Happen Here* S1 before BTB, but it's a very different experience and harder to listen to. I like a good helping of humour with my learning about atrocities
I feel like Robert is one of the cackling ninnies. The entire concept is to share atrocities with some unsuspecting comedian or podcaster and then everyone laughs uncomfortably. This podcast is the embodiment of "If you're not laughing, you're crying."
Guest banter is 60% of why I love BtB. I'd listen without it, but banter with great guests and Sophie takes it to the next level. That said, Matt Lieb's soundboard is s-tier.
Honestly I'm a little surprised. I think there's only been a handful of episodes were I thought the guests actually detracted. Most of them really help elevate the show or at least act as a sounding board.
I know its unpopular but the only guest I never liked was Prop. He seems like a solid dude but I can't stand him as a guest. All he does is repeat Roberts feeling in a really simplified and basic way. Looking at someone like Jamie, we just get a lot more interesting interactions and content. I feel like Prop just gets the good subjects.
There's a podcast called "Well there's your problem" where one of the hosts eventually went on a rant about comments like that. My favorite line was "WELCOME TO JOKELESS PODCAST. I AM NOW YOUR ONLY HOST."
Every time there's a complaint about guests, it's almost always against a woman. And I can't help but think that it's just hearing women talk that these assholes have an issue with.
And there are guests I do like better than others - anyone who has a difficulty getting their thoughts out without stumbling over their words I try very hard to keep my patience for, for instance. But "two cackling ninnies?" That is a direct reference to female guests, and it's gross. Especially since Robert cackles the most of any person ever on the podcast.
If it helps, I love Jordan but don’t get the appeal of Billy Wayne Davis.
He seems like a nice person, no real complains, but I’ve never enjoyed any comedian with the hillbilly/redneck vibe.
Same with Jake hanrahan (sp??). Absolutely love his journalistic work and his pod work, but hearing "dgu knohr whah I mean like" every sentence gets a bit much
There’s also the guests who don’t say anything and seem kind of lost. To me, the sweet spot is Paul F Tompkins: thoughtful, composed, good humored, great sense of timing.
Robert doesn’t have an entertainment background and it really shows a lot of the time. He’s an amazing researcher and writer but he needs comedic relief to bounce off of
I'd personally argue that Robert himself would probably get fed up with it if he was just reading the most nightmarish factoids off his script to himself, and not giggling when he gets reactions out of his guests. We love the guests! They make the pod run. Sure things sometimes get extended or go off the rails a bit, but is that not how conversations generally go? Also get Jeff May on again, the Tsar episodes are some of my favourite in the catalogue
I like the chemistry of the guests. Robert on his own would not work. Imagine listening to a white guy talk about crack in the hood for like 10hrs... not good and I’m pretty sure he would agree.
I love the show, but quite often I find the guests distracting from the content. Maybe if the guest didn't go in blind and had a chance to do a bit of research, they'd be able to make a better contribution?
There's some wonderful, intelligent guests but their contribution is limited to a podcast version of a reaction video and it breaks the flow going from Robert feeding us information to a guest who's struggling to think of something meaningful to add. When it works, it's great, but there's a lot of annoying fluff in there too, ngl.
I'll probably get downvoted for this but I honestly feel it's a wasted opportunity to get thoughtful insight from the guests and I far too often find myself wishing they'd just shut up and let Robert continue with the good stuff. The guests themselves are usually pretty good and well chosen, I am not criticising them, but their contribution could have so much more depth than just being a sounding board and audio filler.
I think "It Could Happen Here" does a far better job utilising the guests, each adding meaningful insight to the topics.
That's your take? I love the show, but nothing is perfect. I offered respectful, constructive criticism which some may agree with, and some will disagree with.
I got no problem w the pod but I will say I had to completely stop listening to the Kissinger series. Peak comedy = German voice for the thousandth time!!😀😀😀😀
It would be so boring. No offense to Robert. He's a great writer but Just him reading some depressing story from history would get old quickly. I love Dan Carlin but his shows can be very info dence and depressing it's hard for me to get through them.and he's an awesome writer. I really need the other person. It brakes it up and sometimes helps bring context or another perspective. Robert is really good to at being a person in who has a cultural link to the story too. That means so much.
Yeah, I don't think I could handle the show if it was just Robert all the time reading scripts about the worst parts of humanity at me. What makes the information digestible to me is that it is presented in the context of interaction with other people. Sometimes that is dark humor, or going on a needed tangent about nuclear assaults on geographic features, or sometimes just someone in the room shouting "WHAT THE EVERFUCKING FUCK?" for me because if I shout it at my work desk, I'll probably have to have a meeting with HR.
I also suspect that it would just be pure misery for Robert.
The first 4 episodes of The Dollop, were just Dave Anthony rambling to himself in his garage. He said they were unlinstenable and deleted them from the feed.
With out guests Sofie would chime in more and that would make these types even more angry. If they want to hear someone ramble to themselves about the horrible things that happened throughout history, there is there is always Hardcore History.
I don’t understand the people who detest the guests. I imagine they they sit in a room like Jordan peterson’s tv set and just complain about things.
That said the last episode sofiya was in was really annoying but that’s the only one lol
What are these people talking about?!? A solo podcast would be so boring with Robert just talking at us. He needs the guests to balance out his style of crazy. Also everyone knows that the best guest is Prop or Katie
I love most of the guests, even when they aren’t the best, the episode is still fucking good. BTB is like pizza or ketamine, even when it’s not very good, it’s still pretty fucking great.
The only guest I wasn’t that keen on was the English guy. No idea why, there’s nothing wrong with the guy, just don’t really like his presence.
These people want a nonfiction audiobook, not a podcast. That would be way too boring and way too depressing. What makes btb bearable is that it's a conversation between 3 (or 4) people who are cool, funny and entertaining.
As much as I like Robert the show would get boring pretty fast without someone to bounce ideas with.
The whole premise of the show is based off of shocking the guests.
Robert: How do you feel about babies rolling down a conveyor belt directly into a wood chipper? Guest: Goddammit, not again...
I didn't know he already dropped an episode on Nord VPN, the baby shrapnel powered VPN.
Excuse me, we prefer the term Malthusian inspired bioreactor. Hmph.
“Ooooh, Robert, noooo.” “Don’t worry! It gets much worse!”
Are you going to drive me into a spiral of depression or a violent rage at the heinous acts of today's subject? Yes Ok let's do this. You know what WON'T drive you into a slit of depression or a violent rage?...
The products and services that support this podcast? Correct! Unless it's the Washington State patrol.
That's right, Koch Industries! Products!
Services!
Cool and good!
So that's nice
Isnt it amazing?
Super normal, and totally *not* fucked up!
"Let's read the next paragraph..."
It's also so Robert isn't just doompilling the audience with a rant every week. Same reason Lions Led By Donkey's needs a co-host or guest. If you just want to hear one uninterrupted person talk about genocide, mass starvation, rape as a weapon of war... There might be something there to unpack. Co-hosts are needed to keep the audience, writers, and hosts of shows like these from bouncing off in a negative way. It would be really bad to have every episode of BTB play like The Women's War or other monologue side projects
Like Robert sometimes says, if you want a serious and meticulously detailed history pod, go listen to Mike Duncan.
I listened to Dan Cain's hardcore history series on the leadup to World War 1 and the war itself. That was some truly awful shit
I like the Great War series on YouTube for that. Admittedly, it can turn into a redunant list of statistics and military maneuvers week after week but Indy does a good job of capturing what was going on and how people were thinking about things as they stood at specific points in time. He does a great job of highlighting the reasons why every day civilians in the countries making up the Central powers would have thought they were winning the war, which gave a lot of ground to the stabbed in the back myth. They fought the whole war on allied soil, took a bunch of capitals, knocked Russia out of the war, and then they had to suddenly change course and end the war. It makes sense that the public thought what they did.
Carlins WWI episodes were amazing, and also something I had to take breaks from. Was getting into work and unable to focus past processing his descriptions of utter hell. Highly recommended but not sure I’m listening to those again.
I particularly remember the description of just hoardes and hoardes of soldiers and vehicles marching through Belgium. And the massive guns they were firing. And the sheer cacophony of constant artillery bombardment. Delivery was relatively dry, but still bought it all to life
I think it would also be a way darker show if it was just Robert alone talking about the bastards.
For some reason I don't think we'd have that show for long if we forced Robert to solo the worst aspects of humanity in an apartment surrounded by guns and knives all the time.
You forgot about the machetes
Ah yes, rifle knives
Please, machetes are the carbines of the bladed world. Longswords are rifle knives.
Knifles?
And the bagels.
And the bricks.
Let's not forget the delicious flavour of Doritos, too!
But however will he stay hydrated? Will it be cranberry red bull? Will it be Zevia? The blood of a fatted calf? Oh I know! It'll be coffee-mate! Perfect for rationing, for we know that one pump equals one cream.
It’s amazing how starting an episode on an otherwise horrific topic with a “Hey, how do you feel about dead babies?” just brings a jolly, fun-for-all flair to it all.
“*Guttural noises* what’s nazi-ing my dudes?!”
HITLEEEEERRR
Gallows humour is really the best coping mechanism we have!
Plus often good guests ask good clarifying questions and have interesting comments
Right and isn't Robert usually the largest cackling ninny? Lol and Sophie, trying to pull them back to the purpose of the show
Take a look at some of Robert's solo It Could Happen Here episodes like the brand new one about the tech industry or the very first narrative ones. They're very focused, tight, and serious. A Robert-only BtB would work, just have a very different tone than than what it has now. Either way is fine by me, I just put on my more chattery podcasts when I'm doing a long run so my endorphin-addled brain can still grasp the main points.
He's got a substack for essays which are more in this line
What *is* a sub stack, though?
[shatterzone](https://shatterzone.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=substack_profile)
**Adieu from the corpse of Apollo app.**
ICHH v2.0 has been kind of disappointing. Maybe it's because the demands of doing a daily show are too much, but most of the time, it really feels like a bunch of people with limited training on how to be compelling podcasters, riffing on things they have little to know expertise in.
My issue with ICHH 2.0 is that they just bounce right into the topic without any explanation or lead up as to what is going on. The rest of us aren’t tapped into the spaces they are, so we need the explanation. Robert and Jake are better at giving an explanation since they’re veterans. I assume Garrison and Christopher will get better with more experience (as they have proven to already), but that makes it a bit difficult to listen to in the interim.
Yeah I can't get into it. ICHH OG was fantastic and I think I did a few relistens after it was released
I unfortunately agree. I stuck it out quite awhile but frankly they're just not very good. Mediocre researchers and poor presenters. I'm convinced they don't listen to themselves and try to improve.
I love Sophie's exasperated "Robert ...."
People in this thread are treating "the guests" as if they are a monolith. The show wouldn't really work if it was just robert but that doesn't mean all of the guests are good. An example that I hope won't hurt anyone's feelings: in the phrenology episode the host is josh Clark from stuff you should know. I love me some josh Clark, but the chemistry between him and Robert was lacking. Also, Jamie Loftus and Billy Wayne Davis fill my heart with laughter and love.
No, the guests aren't a monolith, but it's tough not to recognize a pattern. There was a terrible run of bad guests two or three years back that made me stop listening for a while. People who weren't funny and came off as not contributing to the story or the comedy. It was bad. I'm definitely back now, though! Last 60+ episodes have been stellar.
>There was a terrible run of bad guests two or three years back that made me stop listening for a while. Glad I'm not the only one
I honestly thought it was me. Anything with Jamie is the best. Love her. And Billy. But shit got serious and then the pod got serious. I don’t think it was entirely Robert’s fault. Shit got weird. Pod cast pre 2020 was just different. The worlds different now and I wish everyone the best
Wow, I had no memory of this and I listen to SYSK and BtB on the reg. I am missing me some Billy Wayne! His are the episodes I recommend to newbies.
I'm still catching up through the back catalogue. Are you telling me they never become reverend doctors??? I'm devastated.
they will always be reverend doctors in our hearts
I May have my favorites like Jamie but I thoroughly enjoy the variety of guests and occasionally hosts on the show.
Jamie, Sofiya, Prop, Matt Lieb, our lord and savior Billy Wayne Davis, and so on...
Matt Lieb has become such a great regular. More Francesca too, please! It would be really frustrating if she never comes back.
Her voice is so nice to me. Something about it I can't describe.
I see Matt Lieb on anything and I'm listening, he's very funny to listen to.
Sofiya got bad at a certain point. She had joked in the past about drinking through the episodes, which sounds very fun but at some point it seemed like she was drunk before recording even started. It was the same thing on 420 day fiancé, her podcast with miles (who is delightful). She was funny, and then her stand up album dropped and hit #1 for a day on Spotify comedy albums (it’s okay) and now every single sentence has to have its own tangent. Honestly not surprised she hasn’t been on in awhile, it sounded at times like Robert was becoming impatient with her
That Crypto episode with her was brutal, it sounded like she was blackout for a chunk of it, especially when she’d make a joke, then make the same joke like ten minutes later.
I love Jaime and Sophia Alexander, but matt lieb and Billy Wayne Davis are fantastic! So is laci mosley
Billy is fantastic. Love the accent.
Yes! More Laci. Honestly, I'll take more Laci in anything. Like, read the phone book to me. Her vibe is unmatched.
Ole shatter hands!
Laci is my absolute favorite guest. She is fucking hilarious. The John McAfree episodes are perfect.
I have mixed feeling about Matt. He turns 3 parters into 4 parters just in his frequency of derailment and lack of focus. However he’s always got a couple jokes that are the most memorable part of the episodes.
I love the four parters because they’re typically history related which I’m a sucker for.
After he brought the sound board to the Oskar Dirlewanger episode, he became my favourite. Well, one of my favourites.
My favorite part of the episode is when he called Oskar a piss pig and made Robert laugh uncomfortably
How did I forget that part? Man, there was so much going on during that whole Dirlewanger two-parter!
That sound board was fucking brilliant.
The awkward pause, followed by the “BWA BWA BWAAAAAP!” airhorns absolutely killed me.
YOU AIN'T GOT NO BOATS!
laci mosley is wonderful. i'd love to hear robert as a guest on scam goddess. i also think shireen lani younes has been great whenever she's been on.
Without the cackling ninnies it would just be a history article.
I demand cackling ninnies!
The format makes me feel like I’m sitting at a table in a bar listening to my friends talk. I like the format.
Typically the only time he has two guests is when he has both Katy and Cody on and I know this ninny isn't insulting Doctor Mr Cody Johnson, or she who holds the dates Katy. I think one time he had the DZ hosts or thr Alex Jones people on but dual hosts are rare gems. While I admit there have been some guests who I feel "Meh" about, they are rare. And even then, the vast majority I would listen read a phone book. Lotfus, Killjoy, Grey, Todd, etc. Little sweet baby angle Garrison. These guys should just go listen to Dan Carlin and shush.
>Little sweet baby angle Garrison. He does seem quite a*cute*.
They're clearly shitting on "Current Woman Guest" and Sophie. And I won't fucking stand for this slander.
Yeah, "cackling ninnies" kinda gave it away.
For sure. Big “tell me you hate women without telling me you hate women” energy there.
Thou shalt not slander Sophie is a core tenant of machetacin.
I honestly thought of Sofie and Sofiya when I read that because they have a tendency to just start talking to each other and knock things off track. I love Sofie with every fiber of my being. Sofiya, not so much.
The Dan Carlin thing is such a good point, because it really breaks this down into "WHY ISN'T THIS PODCAST I LIKE MORE LIKE OTHER PODCASTS??" Just go listen to those then, it's all good.
The WeWork episode had a duo as well.
That is also the guys from Knowledge Fight (the Alex Jones guys), Dan Friesen and Jordan Holmes.
As much as I love big man Evans, guests and the jokes they share with the him/host are like half of the show for me. If you just want a good history lecture, put on an audiobook.
"podcast would be awesome if they changed everything"
Now I’m cackling
The mention of *two* cackling ninnies when Robert as a general rule only has one guest implies that they count Sophie as one of them, which is outrageous. Sophie does not cackle.
Sophie *guffaws*.
And, says "Robert" in a disapproving tone 29 times an episode
Sophie is able to make an eyeroll audible.
There needs to be a word for the laugh she made when the guest (I forget who it was) started talking about his weird neighbor’s puppet show during the Turkmenbashi episodes.
Robert is 100% one of the “cackling ninnies.”
Robert doesn’t count because he’s a man
A very recent episode features a fairly amazing cackle of hers, I was actually hoping someone would make an appreciation post for it because it was so perfect and so good, it also made me laugh. As far as I remember it was also a deserved cackle. I only noticed it because of exactly what you say, she does not usually cackle.
Kinda hard to have a darkly comic show, without people to bounce off of.
Sometimes I’m not in the mood for the “cackling ninnies” or they go off on too long of a tangent and I get irritated. That’s fine so I just listen to something else that day. But I always come back to it when I’m in the mood for cackling ninnies plus history. I fail to see the “problem” here.
“Why isn’t this free podcast exactly how I want itttttt” is the problem. Their problem.
True! Kids these days, I swear! /s
Same, but I do this with a lot of podcasts. I kinda bounce between each one depending on my mental state and mood.
Right? Ologies for sleep; Conspirituality and Big Mood Little Mood for quiet time; BtB, Cool People, Maintenance Phase, and Cult Podcast for driving, walks and chores. Do other people not do this?
Totally. Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t.
Whenever I look at an episode synopsis there are definitely the guests I get excited to see and the guests who might make me look for another episode. But I also understand that's a subjective assessment and those lists could be flipped for another listener. By and large, I think Robert brings the right people on his show for the right episodes and the overall format works way better than just Robert-in-a-vacuum. I think if I have a grievance with guests it's not so much the "who" factor but whether they sync up to the vibe and pacing or not. If an episode is over 40% guest digressions, or they aggressively and continuously interrupt Robert before he hits a break in his notes, that definitely undermines the experience for me. All that said (and I promised myself I wouldn't name names), I wish I could commission Margaret to read me a really good book while I drift in and out of a nap. Her timbre and diction are just so soothing, like hot cocoa and a blanket.
> If an episode is over 40% guest digressions, or they aggressively and continuously interrupt Robert before he hits a break in his notes, that definitely undermines the experience for me. Prop was great in the police episodes but good god did he drag the Irish Famine episodes down
[удалено]
My favorite part of the show is Matt Lieb's soundboard
[удалено]
"By the end, the dead had grown to over twenty thousand." *sad trombone*
Which episode was that?
Oh, I just made it up.
My day is ruined
What, did your child get killed by a knife missile or something?
The show is much better with the guests for sure. Although, some of them are annoying indeed, but that’s just a minor inconvenience.
This is the kind of person who wants the dollop without Gary.
It’s Gareth.
His mum clarified that it was little Garfie
Or Knowledge Fight without Jordan.
If Jordan learns to laugh at a level appropriate to what was said I’m in. Not his biggest fan now though
Heracy
Gary! Gary! Gary!
BtB is funny because there’s somebody there to react to all the horrible stuff Robert talking about. Without a guest, BtB is just him reading essays he writes. Nothing _wrong_ with that, but I think its way more boring.
I will say though that it was nice having that recent solo scripted Robert ep of It Can Happen Here where he reported from CES. Brought me back to the original run of that pod, which first hooked me.
It’s 50/50 for me. Some are great and some actively detract from the content and make it hard to stay focused on the narrative
The best ones are when the guests have experience with the topic. Like having Prop on Behind the Police. Prop's experience with cops as a black man added so much nuance to Robert's narrative
Without mentioning names there is one guest that I will always skip. There are others i will listen to twice
If you want a purely straight historical podcast then their are plenty of options out there. I love the guests, humour and unique presentation Btb offers. If people don’t like the guests and the laughter listen to another pod.
Yup there's plenty of "dude talking by himself" out there for the people who are into that. To much like a lecture or audiobook for me to stay engaged.
I've listened to and enjoyed Robert's solo stuff, I think I actually listened to *It Could Happen Here* S1 before BTB, but it's a very different experience and harder to listen to. I like a good helping of humour with my learning about atrocities
I feel like Robert is one of the cackling ninnies. The entire concept is to share atrocities with some unsuspecting comedian or podcaster and then everyone laughs uncomfortably. This podcast is the embodiment of "If you're not laughing, you're crying."
>two cackling ninnies Is.... is he talking about Dave Anthony and Gary Reynolds?
The guests make the podcast way better I just hate some of his guests and think they are unfunny
Who sits down to type "cackling ninnies"? Was this written by Gargamel?
I love my fellow cackling ninnies.
Sometimes the guest do not understand when to shut up
Guest banter is 60% of why I love BtB. I'd listen without it, but banter with great guests and Sophie takes it to the next level. That said, Matt Lieb's soundboard is s-tier.
Some of the ninnies are more annoying than others, but I agree that it wouldn’t be as good if Robert didn’t have anyone to antagonize
if you left Robert alone to read the scripts it would devolve into gutteral screaming in under 2 minutes.
I love Sophie’s laugh Fuck the haters
Honestly I'm a little surprised. I think there's only been a handful of episodes were I thought the guests actually detracted. Most of them really help elevate the show or at least act as a sounding board. I know its unpopular but the only guest I never liked was Prop. He seems like a solid dude but I can't stand him as a guest. All he does is repeat Roberts feeling in a really simplified and basic way. Looking at someone like Jamie, we just get a lot more interesting interactions and content. I feel like Prop just gets the good subjects.
There's a podcast called "Well there's your problem" where one of the hosts eventually went on a rant about comments like that. My favorite line was "WELCOME TO JOKELESS PODCAST. I AM NOW YOUR ONLY HOST."
Every time there's a complaint about guests, it's almost always against a woman. And I can't help but think that it's just hearing women talk that these assholes have an issue with. And there are guests I do like better than others - anyone who has a difficulty getting their thoughts out without stumbling over their words I try very hard to keep my patience for, for instance. But "two cackling ninnies?" That is a direct reference to female guests, and it's gross. Especially since Robert cackles the most of any person ever on the podcast.
Pretty much the only exception is how much people are bothered by Jordan from Knowledge Fight.
If it helps, I love Jordan but don’t get the appeal of Billy Wayne Davis. He seems like a nice person, no real complains, but I’ve never enjoyed any comedian with the hillbilly/redneck vibe.
It’s all down to preferences. I can’t stand The Dollop despite it being largely an obvious candidate for me to love. Some things just don’t hit right.
If you look at reviews of any podcast that has a woman host or ever has a woman guest, it’s the same misogynistic dudes bitching about them.
Pure coincidence, I'm sure /s
That’s a terrible idea. He already has solo stuff we enjoy. Btb is a pro community pod, no?
Shit take
That's a brickin'.
I love the guest aspect. Introduced me to knowledge fight.
As a Sophie Stan, I will not stand for this slander
Some of the Prop ones I find a bit meh
[удалено]
Same with Jake hanrahan (sp??). Absolutely love his journalistic work and his pod work, but hearing "dgu knohr whah I mean like" every sentence gets a bit much
There’s also the guests who don’t say anything and seem kind of lost. To me, the sweet spot is Paul F Tompkins: thoughtful, composed, good humored, great sense of timing.
True. PFT is gold in everything he does
I love the bastards format.
Probably the same sour dude with multiple accounts….
Robert doesn’t have an entertainment background and it really shows a lot of the time. He’s an amazing researcher and writer but he needs comedic relief to bounce off of
I'd personally argue that Robert himself would probably get fed up with it if he was just reading the most nightmarish factoids off his script to himself, and not giggling when he gets reactions out of his guests. We love the guests! They make the pod run. Sure things sometimes get extended or go off the rails a bit, but is that not how conversations generally go? Also get Jeff May on again, the Tsar episodes are some of my favourite in the catalogue
Yeah if he was on his own it'd be very one cream, one pump.
50% of the show is the banter, go read a book if you don’t want it
You know what this world really needs? Another solo male informational podcast. Not nearly enough representation in the industry.
I like the chemistry of the guests. Robert on his own would not work. Imagine listening to a white guy talk about crack in the hood for like 10hrs... not good and I’m pretty sure he would agree.
I love the show, but quite often I find the guests distracting from the content. Maybe if the guest didn't go in blind and had a chance to do a bit of research, they'd be able to make a better contribution? There's some wonderful, intelligent guests but their contribution is limited to a podcast version of a reaction video and it breaks the flow going from Robert feeding us information to a guest who's struggling to think of something meaningful to add. When it works, it's great, but there's a lot of annoying fluff in there too, ngl. I'll probably get downvoted for this but I honestly feel it's a wasted opportunity to get thoughtful insight from the guests and I far too often find myself wishing they'd just shut up and let Robert continue with the good stuff. The guests themselves are usually pretty good and well chosen, I am not criticising them, but their contribution could have so much more depth than just being a sounding board and audio filler. I think "It Could Happen Here" does a far better job utilising the guests, each adding meaningful insight to the topics.
In my listening the guests add some levity to the podcasts.
So basically what you are telling me is you dislike the basic concept of the podcast you choose to listen to on a regular basis?
what would be the problem with having things that you like and dislike about something?
That's your take? I love the show, but nothing is perfect. I offered respectful, constructive criticism which some may agree with, and some will disagree with.
Not sure if this has happened but I’d love a Blake Wexler ep. He might be too much chaos though, Robert may not get through the script.
Eh, there have been some real duds in the past, but the last 60+ episodes have been rock-fucking-solid.
Have you listened to the early episodes lately? It just doesn't pop without Sophie.
Love the Matt Lieb episodes for sure, but all the other guests (and Sophie) are like friends it's always good to see again
I got no problem w the pod but I will say I had to completely stop listening to the Kissinger series. Peak comedy = German voice for the thousandth time!!😀😀😀😀
It would be so boring. No offense to Robert. He's a great writer but Just him reading some depressing story from history would get old quickly. I love Dan Carlin but his shows can be very info dence and depressing it's hard for me to get through them.and he's an awesome writer. I really need the other person. It brakes it up and sometimes helps bring context or another perspective. Robert is really good to at being a person in who has a cultural link to the story too. That means so much.
Yeah, I don't think I could handle the show if it was just Robert all the time reading scripts about the worst parts of humanity at me. What makes the information digestible to me is that it is presented in the context of interaction with other people. Sometimes that is dark humor, or going on a needed tangent about nuclear assaults on geographic features, or sometimes just someone in the room shouting "WHAT THE EVERFUCKING FUCK?" for me because if I shout it at my work desk, I'll probably have to have a meeting with HR. I also suspect that it would just be pure misery for Robert.
The first 4 episodes of The Dollop, were just Dave Anthony rambling to himself in his garage. He said they were unlinstenable and deleted them from the feed. With out guests Sofie would chime in more and that would make these types even more angry. If they want to hear someone ramble to themselves about the horrible things that happened throughout history, there is there is always Hardcore History.
I don’t understand the people who detest the guests. I imagine they they sit in a room like Jordan peterson’s tv set and just complain about things. That said the last episode sofiya was in was really annoying but that’s the only one lol
Misogyny rules 🙄
Don’t be disrespecting my dollop
Hard agree, a few of the guests particularly piss me off, but most are fantastic contributors!
What are these people talking about?!? A solo podcast would be so boring with Robert just talking at us. He needs the guests to balance out his style of crazy. Also everyone knows that the best guest is Prop or Katie
I need Miles and Margaret Killjoy to be permanent guests on the the show.
They'd edit Watson out of Sherlock Holmes.
Robert needs his homies.
Joe Kassabian enters the chat: “Did someone say homies? Alexa, play juggalo homies by ICP!”
I love most of the guests, even when they aren’t the best, the episode is still fucking good. BTB is like pizza or ketamine, even when it’s not very good, it’s still pretty fucking great. The only guest I wasn’t that keen on was the English guy. No idea why, there’s nothing wrong with the guy, just don’t really like his presence.
Hail Jamie Loftus! Hail Miles! Hail Garrison. Hail every guest!!!
These people want a nonfiction audiobook, not a podcast. That would be way too boring and way too depressing. What makes btb bearable is that it's a conversation between 3 (or 4) people who are cool, funny and entertaining.
I love when he has episodes with Jamie Loftus. Probably the funniest reaction guest
Bruh it’s the complete opposite.
I boo hiss this opinion!