Podcast Portal: Crybabies

Welcome to Podcast Portal: a spontaneous column that will highlight podcasts of all genres that are lesser known or new shows that are worth giving a listen. With the medium continuing to grow, it is hard to acknowledge all of them. However, I am going to try and find as many noteworthy titles as possible to share and hopefully expand your mind to the greatest growing medium out there. If you have any podcast that you feel is worth adding to the Podcast Portal, please make sure to inform me whether through the comments or through an e-mail (information in sidebar). 

SHOW: Crybabies
HOSTS: Sarah Thyre, Susan Orlean
NETWORK: Wolfpop Network
EPISODE BEING DISCUSSED: "Christopher Guest"

*Note: For the next week (or until completion), I will be covering every single NEW podcast on the Wolfpop Network. I will not be covering older shows such as U Talkin' U2 to Me or How Did This Get Made. 

The premise is so simple that it is baffling why this wasn't done earlier. To summarize, this show is dedicated to one thing only: crying. No, the hosts don't sit around for an hour and weep into a microphone. What they do is discuss our relationship to media and how it can make us react. This is often based on a connected moment or unexplained phenomenons. In the case of the first episode, there's a lot to take in. There's the origin story, which oddly involves a funeral. There's the host's child, who is the basis for many of topics. There's even split opinions on "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" that makes the overall experience an interesting one worthy of further exploration.

For better or worse, the structure is very free formed and serves only as an excuse to talk about what makes us cry. For the hosts, there's plenty of moments that come across as fascinating and gives substance to the show. It is at times funny and with numerous audio examples of touching music, it creates a wonderful experience that will hopefully only continue to grow into something more interesting. If nothing else, the very idea that a show can tackle the subject of crying is an ingenious way for everyone to become more accepting of the feeling. As stated, we're all triggered differently,  so there's bound to be different experiences that can easily fill hundreds of episodes.

The first guest is also a big reason that I held off on reviewing this immediately (I wanted a biggie towards the end). Christopher Guest is one of those reverential figures in my life who has made a lot of great movies and whose Family Tree TV series was cut short tragically. He is there to share his personal experience with crying, which includes a scene in Waiting for Guffman that meets the requirements. It devolves into a discussion about how different actors approach crying. For the most part, Guest is understated in general, but brings a nice, humble vibe to the episode and never takes the focus off of the hosts. It is funny and thanks to a rich history of films, he makes it a great look into his past.

Overall, Crybabies is a show that I really want to see succeed because it has so much potential. In the first episode, it already has a lot of strong ideas and even features some ingenious segments. It also even has crowd interaction, which it is one of the only Wolfpop Networks shows that I have heard to do so. I like the free form conversation and I like how it informs the hosts. I just wonder if it will just be a list of moments, or if there's going to be more news and interests mixed in. Nonetheless, I am really enthused by the first episode and I want to believe that it will continue to find its footing and become something great.

Rating: 4 out of 5

WORTH A SECOND GO?: Definitely. As long as they keep building and finding something more engrossing and fascinating, they should be doing pretty well. I love the idea that this is a show all about why we cry. I just hope that it becomes a more definitive take on the subject as time goes on, possibly with news and a deeper understanding of how we're all connected by this one emotion.