Double lives with The Agent
The Mastercast
09/30/24
•3m
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This week we look at The Agent.
If you'd rather read the reviews, check the show out on Instagram or Twitter.
Links and sources:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/themastercast
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-agent/id1587714169
Transcript:
Hey Pod lovers. I’m your host Marie and If you’re joining us for the first time: Welcome! The Mastercast is a podcast recommendation show that brings you a brand new non-spoiler binge-worthy review every week of the best podcasts in a short and sweet 2-3 minute summary on everything you could want to know, from the number of hosts to on average how long you can expect each episode to be. New episodes come out every Monday. You can find the week’s other reviews on the show’s social on Instagram @themastercast and Twitter @mastercastpods. If you like what you hear and want to help out with this independent show you can find me on Buy me a coffee by searching The Mastercast. I’d really appreciate it. This week’s review is on
The Agent - No spoilers !
It’s been a minute and to welcome us back is a really good one. The Agent is a 2022 Webby Award honoree and so good that I had to borrow his book “Deep Undercover: My Secret Life and Tangled Allegiances as a KGB Spy in America” from the library. The 15 episode series tells the true story of Jack Barsky’s life as a KGB spy during the cold war when he spent 10 years undercover leading two very different secret lives. It’s this amazing narrative told by Barsky himself that weaves together Jack Barsky the person and Jasck Barsky the spy until something happens that leads him to have to choose between the two. The story is so immersive and wraps you up in his life. I didn’t want it to be over even though in total the podcast is over 3 days’ worth of audio content. It really does look at his whole life and not just what he did for work. That might be too much backstory for some, but I love glimpses into the lives of others, especially one this fascinating. It’s a production of Imperative Entertainment and Windjoy and was the brainchild of Jason Hoch. Barsky, of course, plays a huge role in how the story is told. It has 4.7 out of 5 stars with 1,100 ratings but still had some common themes in the reviews. First, I think the show was once paywalled but isn’t anymore. I was able to listen to all of the episodes on PocketCasts. Then there’s some reviews about the Jack Barsky as a person but honestly we’re not there to like Jack. Like most people his not a villain or a hero, he’s just a person and this is his story. I don’t think people get very far or learn anything from someone they just write off as one or the others and I encourage you to listen to the story holistically. I really appreciated his authenticity and humility. He’s honest and acknowledges bad choices he’s made and how that effected others. Some have labeled this as ego but putting asisde the fact that he was a spy and I’m sure that’s a job requirement, I did not feel the same.
Similar pods: Agent of Betrayal, To Die For, and The Miami Chronicles.
All right, guys, that’s all for this week but remember if you want to see the cover art, sources, or the written transcript for this episode be sure to check out the show notes. You can also send us an email at themastercastpodlist@gmail.com. There you can tell us if you have music you would like played on the show or submit a podcast to be recommended. This week’s music came from Seasoned Souls and their brilliant song is called Haze. Please check out the show notes for how to find them and their music! Remember to share the show with the pod lovers in your life and tune in next Monday. Thanks for listening.
This week's artist: Seasoned Souls
Song: Haze
https://www.instagram.com/seasonedsoulsofficial/?hl=en
https://soundcloud.com/seasonedsoulsmusic/haze-1?in=seasonedsoulsmusic/sets/cryptic-defects-ep
Previous Episode
International crime with Have Murder Will Travel
January 22, 2024
•2m
This week we look at Have Murder Will Travel.
If you'd rather read the reviews, check the show out on Instagram or Twitter.
Links and sources:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/themastercast
https://havemurderwilltravel.buzzsprout.com/
https://www.instagram.com/havemurderwilltravel/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/have-murder-will-travel/id1634439656
Have Murder Will Travel - No spoilers!
This week we’re looking at an American crime show that travels internationally to tell stories from every part of the globe. Like many of its fans, I found this podcast by recommendation from the Morbid podcast, who like me, is a big fan. The true treasure of this pod is its host Valeira Drake who is also a St.Louis based actor and dancer! She is so funny and charming and I love her voice. Some don’t care for her tangents but I think they are hilarious and make the show. She’s just saying what we’re all thinking. I even named my monstera plant after her. So there hasn’t been an episode in a while since May of 2023 actually but Valeria has mentioned on the show before about depression. Let’s just be hopeful and supportive and maybe another episode will bless our feeds soon. There are episodes to burn through though! 43 in fact and I binged all of them in a couple of days. Most are about crimes. There are few disappearances, the rare spooky episodes, and even rarer still a survival story. My favorites are Episode 33: Deadly Cruise Ships: The Disappearance of Tammy Grogan, and Episode 12: Guatemala: Rodrigo Rosenberg although there are too many to name. Usually each episode has a great instagram post with it. When the show was really active they came out once a week. Apple Podcasts has a 4.7/5 with 94 ratings.
There is swearing and of course the normal trigger warnings for true crime.
Similar pods: Location Unknown, Lost in the Woods, Twisted Travel and True Crime.
★ Support this podcast ★Next Episode
It's complicated with Crime Junkie
October 7, 2024
•6m
This week we look at Crime Junkie.
If you'd rather read the reviews, check the show out on Instagram, Twitter, or the website.
Music this week:
Artist: COS & Effect
Song: Inside
https://soundcloud.com/cosandeffekt\
https://www.instagram.com/cosandeffekt
https://www.facebook.com/cosandeffekt
Links and sources:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/themastercast
https://crimejunkiepodcast.com/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crime-junkie/id1322200189
https://variety.com/2019/digital/news/crime-junkie-podcast-ashley-flowers-plagiarism-1203302072/
Transcript:
A 50/50 review Crime Junkie - No Spoilers!
It’s time! I’ve put off doing this review for a long time because of the complicated nature of this podcast’s impact on the podcasting world. I still have reservations about coming out and recommending it so I’m going to start what I’ve been calling 50/50 reviews for podcasts I’m on the fence about. What’s to be on the fence about? We’ll get into it in this episode of The Mastercast.
Crime Junkie is a very popular true crime podcast produced by Ashely Flowers and Brit Prawat that covers a variety of well known and not so well known missing, murdered, and mysterious death cases. Some are solved, some or not, and I like listening to the episode not knowing which it’ll be. There is the very rare conspiracy episode but these cover crime related conspiracies not like big foot or anything. They’re more like cover ups and things of that nature. With over a billion downloads and placing consistently in the top five of various podcast charts since their debut in 2017, very popular might be an understatement. It’s as widely known as Serial, the podcast that let’s face it - got us all into true crime podcasts. There are over 412 free episodes and new ones come out weekly on Mondays. The show has 4.7 stars and over 350,000 ratings on Apple Podcasts. That’s almost triple the amount of reviews Chartable and Rephonic report for globally beloved podcast This American Life. In addition to the public available episodes, there’s over 150 bonus episodes. To prepare for writing this review thoroughly I actually signed up for the monthly subscription that give access to them all, thinking that I would get through them in a few weeks. It’s been two months and I’ve only gotten through back to 2021. Not only are the founders good at storytelling but they’re very smart business women. Everything they do is perfectly executed to generate a profit. This includes a well organized and supplied website. Their subscription plan and separate app locks down bonus episodes. Their merch store only opens for highly anticipated limited releases. Subscriptions are tiered to allow accumulative access to bonus episodes, videos, fan meet ups, and early access to merch releases. The show also expanded to become a network with some other really good shows like Anatomy of Murder and Counterclock. Wrestling with the ethicacy of review those shows is a big reason I choose to review this one. That being said, there are plenty of great free resources on the websites! There’s the famous “If I go missing folder” template, newsletter, and craft patterns.
Now I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the plagiarism scandal which stopped me from listening to the show for a long time. The challenge didn’t necessarily come from liking the show (although I do admit that bias) but from lack of citation standardization in the podcast community. I won’t go into much detail of the scandal’s whole story, for that I recommend the Let’s Taco ‘bout True Crime episode titled Let's Taco ‘Bout the Crime Junkie Plagiarism scandal where multiple hosts that had their work plagiarized spoke about it. But for a very short summary in 2019 the podcast was found to have clearly and knowingly plagiarized former Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reporter, Cathy Frye’s work. After this accusation came out, others came to the surface as well. It’s important to note that the work Crime Junkie plagiarized was not the result of one website copying another copying another, but came from boots on the ground, never heard before investigations. Frye and other spent time and money over decades. investigating these cases and Crime Junkie presented their conclusions like they were a result of their own work. While many were understandably upset by the plagiarism itself, there was the insult of no apology which was what stopped me from listening. I expected them to apologize for the action but it wasn’t until someone pointed out to me, that they probably didn’t at the advice of a lawyer, that I started to wonder if maybe they didn’t realize the gravity of what they had done. Before this is was extremely rare for a podcast to cite it’s sources, in the show notes or in the audio. It...
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