The amount of venom that has been spewed in my direction as a result of my usage of sound effects is absolutely mind-blowing. A lot of the "communications" I've received, via feedback emails and personal emails, reflect very poorly on the people from whom they came. So many of the attacks have been deeply personal, vitriolic, and incredibly mean-spirited. And all of it over what? An experiment on a podcast that didn't work? What happened to everyone's sense of perspective?
First, to clear up any confusion: there will be no more of them, ever. It is a dead concept. It appears several of the people making comments in this thread either missed the part where Justin "turned the light off on the board forever", or haven't yet listened to the latest show. Either way, you can all rest easy, you have heard the last sound drop out of me.
Moscow trying to be morning zoo radio with the soundboard may have been the worst.
Oh my God, Moscow tried to use SOUND EFFECTS on a RADIO SHOW! What kind of a maniac would dare try something so preposterous?? THIS IS INSANE!!!!1!!1!
First off, why is "trying to be morning zoo" (even though that was not the intention) such an earth-shakingly horrible thing? Across the board, morning radio shows have the biggest audiences of any time slot, usually by a large margin. I would argue this suggests that perhaps a significant percentage of radio listeners LIKE what a morning zoo offers them, sound effects and all.
Second, every great radio show, throughout the history of the medium, has used sound effects. Many of the fondest, funniest memories I have of shows I've listened to over the years came from sound drops. It is inconceivable to me that so many could react so badly to something I've always thought was so entertaining. Those fond memories are why I thought something similar would be a fun addition to The Session. I was obviously wrong. I clearly misread this audience. I do not relate to you like I thought I did.
As I said a few shows ago, and as hard as it might be for all the people with their panties in a bunch to believe, I have in fact received some positive feedback. But what has become very clear is this: the people who enjoy it don't like it nearly as much as the people who dislike it hate it. This is how much of life works - hatred easily overwhelms love. Take, for example, much of the Middle East - so many of the fine folks that inhabit that delightful region hate Jews far, far more than they like fellow Arabs. You think the whole Israel/Palestine thing is about love of Palestinians, or hatred of Jews? If you answered the former, color me jealous of your naïveté.
The last thing I want to say is, you all had better hope that there continues to be new things on the show that you might not like. The hope is that people like it of course, but just remember that the second that stops happening, it means we have ceased brainstorming and attempting to integrate new creative content into our broadcasts. If you think sound effects are bad, just wait until you've got a crew of hosts who aren't interested any longer.
