Soo, the whole point of this show is to bash Serial?! That’s helpful… thank you, “journalists”.

Not only is the woman extremely difficult to listen to, but who the hell cares what they think? How about coming up with an original idea instead of just piggybacking on the success of another podcast. Worthless podcast and worthless hosts

Not insightful commentary

As soon as I'm done listening to an episode of Serial, I immediately hit Play here. Their analysis, especially in Season 2, has been insightful, thought-provoking and validating. Since none of my friends have been talking about S2 like they were about S1, this has been a place for me to be able to silently say "yeah" or "huh" to my iPhone and understand the episodes better. And honestly, it was nice to hear I wasn't the only one confused or bored by something.

While I enjoy this podcast, Katie's voice is very annoying and Gabe's delivery can rock you to sleep. Their content and view is relevant, but the people who did this podcast for season 1 were much more interesting than these two.

I loved listening last year but this year got very sick of hearing criticisms of what the hosts thought serial should be... I personally did not have preconceived expectations for serial to be the same as last year but something new and really enjoyed listening to the new storyline. I did not enjoy listening to any of the spoiler episodes though... And rarely listened through due to the constant nit picking. Thought much less of your story this year in fact. There really didn't seem to be any thought provoking critique, only complaints.

I couldn't take anymore of Katy's voice, as others have commented. 3 episodes and done.

Katie's voice is very distracting and very hard to listen to and it sounds like she doesn't know what she is talking about although she tries to use fancy words and references. She also uses the word 'Wiley' in every episode. I liked the Main host in season 1 but find Gabe's voice in season 2 is also hard to listen to although I like him. I haven't cared for the all of the guests but some were great- even better than the hosts! I still listen because I appreciate the discussion regarding season 1- but not interested much in their comments on season 2. Also in season 2, there are like 4 sponsor msgs per episode! It's way too much for sub a short episode!! I don't really listen anymore unless there is NOTHING ELSE to listen to :(.

I just simply cannot listen to this podcast any longer, the vocal fry is unbearable.

The content is great, but the woman should avoid the use of vocal fry. EXTREMELY hard to listen to.

Hopelessly out of touch. Katy mentioning her surprise that Bowe wasn't heroicized upon his return nearly made me fall out of my chair. Her voice will make you want to fall off something much further from the ground - it's grating.

The guy is great, the content is great, but the girl (Katie?)'s voice is SO distracting and PAINFUL to listen to. I notice lots of reviews go back to 2014 with the same complaint. Why hasn't she gotten speech therapy or fixed it? Won't listen unless I fast forward her parts, her voice is torturous!!!

I'm not sure when the podcast descended into sitting in judgment of Serial, rather than providing insight and analysis of the content, but their own podcast doesn't meet the overblown standards that they are unqualified to offer. I am done.

These two are idiots. Not worth the time spent listening.

Interesting, but her fried voice is hard to handle.

I managed to cope with Katy's overwhelmingly nails-on-chalkboard bad vocal fry during the first season, it's actually worse in the second season. It's disappointing, because I want to hear what they have to say, but listening to Katy causes me physical aural pain. She should seek out vocal training as soon as possible, as she probably has insights that are worthwhile, but listening to her do that with her vocal chords has made me stop listening, delete all episodes, then unsubscribe. Either find someone else to contribute, Slate, or encourage her to do something about her unlistenable voice. Not worth your time as it is, to be honest, particularly not if you listen via buds or headphones.

What is the point? It almost feels like they are jealous of SK's success and using this as a platform to tear her down. The last episode I listened to (commenting on the daily updates on Adnan Syed's hearing) was the nail in the coffin for me. Unsubscribing, disappointed.

I liked Season 1 of this podcast, but the hosts are way too critical of the show for season 2. I'm not sure why fans of Serial would want to listen to a podcast that focuses on talking crap about the show?

The woman's (Katie) vocal fry is out of control as is the pretension. The guy is better. I am considering Unsubscribing because of the silly commentary.

I've been listening since Season 2 of Serial started, but I'm unsubscribing now. They both seem overly critical of Serial and Sarah Koenig and spend most of the podcast criticizing Koenig's journalistic style instead of dissecting and analyzing the evidence presented. It just gets old hearing about all their complaints with Koenig and Season 2 of Serial (which I'm actually enjoying).

My ears are bleeding from Katie's voice fry it seems to get worst with every episode. Distracting. I can no longer support this podcast.

Wow, what is up with the woman’s voice? If you can’t get a full breath through your vocal cords when you speak, then audio is not the medium you should be working in. Truth. She needs sos voice coaching, or they need to replace her - cannot listen to this, awful.

The best podcast on Serial. Seriously. People need to get over the woman's voice--her vocal fry is not that bad. Also, the insights are amazing. A shame to miss them because you think you don't like a certain voice.

I really want to listen to this podcast but Katy’s vocal fry is so strong and so frequent, it’s hard to listen to it. I am usually OK with vocal fry, but hers is so bad. I can’t focus on what she is saying. Besides, I don’t find her comments that interesting.

The content is great and they bring up interesting points that passed me by. Its a nice companion to Serial especially since I don’t have anyone to speak to regularly about the Serial podcast. BUT. and that is a massive, epic ‘but’ - as many other commenters have said, Katie’s vocal fry is truly atrocious. Its a shame they can’t edit it somehow. It hurts my ears and throat to listen to her speak. If she plans to be on podcasts/radio/any spoken medium she needs immediate help from a vocal coach because its difficult to take her seriously even though she has worthwhile things to say.

I don’t know why everyone’s picking on Katie Waldman. Roth is insufferable. I know they don’t like season 2, but I’m not sure why. They barely discuss the content before launching into meta critiques and self-satisfied musings about “narrative” and Sarah Koenig’s methods. I’ll keep checking in to see if they bring in someone interesting like Pesca or June Thomas, but the regular hosts are the worst.

I’ve been listening to this because I want to hear SOMEONE discussing Serial, but these podcasters are driving me crazy with their willful misunderstanding and/or dismissal of what the show is offering. They seem to think that the whole series should be a character study of Bowe Bergdahl, so they use words like “padding” and “fluff” to refer to deep historical, geopolitical, and theological elements in the story. I can’t stand to hear them complaining about all the FASCINATING and INCREDIBLY ILLUMINATING and NUANCED context that the show is building around Bergdahl's experience. Through the lens of this one man’s experience, I believe the show is assembling a unique GLOBAL picture of the US involvement in Afghanistan. It’s like a novel that fuses intimate humble details (blanket, spoon, particleboard) with decades-long historical processes and a geographic scope from Pakistan to Abu Ghraib to Guantanamo. I think Serial Season 2 is better than Season 1 - more complex and more significant. But I’m about ready to bail on this Spoiler Special.

If you're as desperate as I am to listen to more about Serial, go listen to The Serial Serial instead. These people are obnoxious and trying way too hard to sound intelligent. (Case in point: "an allergy to facile explanations." ... Seriously?) This is my first podcast review, but that's how grating this podcast is. These people are the worst. UPDATE: I don't know why but I tried to give this another shot with the arrival of the new serial season. It managed to be even worse than I remembered. From their pretentiously douchey vocabulary, to the fact that they're going to be discussing agricultural references... is this podcast a joke? (Spoiler alert: I don't think it is.)

I was really looking forward to listening to the spoiler specials but I cannot listen to Katy Waldman's voice. I know vocal fry is all the rage and everyone thinks it's sexy but I am a voice teacher and it's so distracting. All I can hear is scrape scrape scrape. It's impossible to listen to the content of what Katie says. It's not true that there's nothing that you can do about vocal fry. You can learn to speak on the breath and project your voice. I wish people who are broadcasters would go to a voice therapist a couple of times and learn how to speak in a way that is not damaging.

Half way through the episode and 3 rounds of commercials. I’m sorry but this feels tacky

FOUR live reads for sponsors for a 35 minute pod + ads at the intro… are you serious? Slates ad sales team needs a talking to.

I love Serial and tried to give this podcast another shot for the second season, but Katy's voice is just too difficult to listen to. Maybe they should get her a different microphone? As I woman I don't want to be sexist and I have no problem listening to podcasts with other women with high voices/slight vocal fry, but this hurts my ears.

Yikes

Good podcast but the amount of ads is ridiculous. You don't need that much funding for 40 minutes commenting on another podcast.

The content of this podcast is good but the vocal fry makes it almost unlistenable.

The concept is ok but first off, Katie's voice is the worst thing I've ever listened to. It distracts from nearly everything she says. It's kept me from being able to listen anymore. Secondly, the amateur psychology being spouted is weak.

In my opinion, this was awesome! But you either absolutely love the podcast or it's terribly dreadful. The first episode takes a little while to get into but in one day (I'm afraid to admit it) I listened to all 12 episodes. There are so many twists and turns. I highly recommend reading the serial webpage before listening to the podcasts. Love love love this!

This girl, Katie, is trying to sound like a Kardashian sister. Vocal fry has no place in podcasts.

I guess there’s some enjoyment to hearing someone chewing someone else’s meal…but reporters talking to reporters about other reporters reportage feels a little pointless. It’s especially painful to hear people who have no information on a case passing judgment like armchair quarterbacks. Since there’s no additional information brought to light by Slate Magazine, the discussion (at least as much as I’ve heard) seldom rises above water cooler discussion, and at worst indulges in unfounded rumor-mongering. It must be nice to critique other reporters, or comment on a case without ever having to put any skin in the game.

In between episodes of Serial I would listen to this as a filler. I find myself sometimes shouting back at some of the things that are said. I find myself getting so tired of people who are profiting off of the success of Sarah Koenig's hard work. I mean these people have advertisers?! I would understand if they were doing this just to do it, but to be literally using the Serial audience to make money, and not reallty even doing it in a good way is just frustrating and I am frankly glad it's over...at least I hope it is.

iTunes deleted my review but I hate the Vocal fry, smug hosts, and overuse of "problematic"

Discussion is generally okay. It’s kind of painful to hear the “Adnan didn’t do it” supporters twist and turn their way around evidence that doesn’t support what they want to hear. AV Club discussion is better. And yes, I’m ashamed to admit it, but person with the vocal fry got pretty distracting very quickly.

I would be willing to listen to the elementary analysis from David, however, Katie's voice and valley girl accent makes it unbearable. Is she zoned out while David is talking? Her reply to his opinions are hardly acknowledged and not elaborated on. She goes off on her own topic when clearly David spends his entire breath on a certain topic. And Katie please stop answering questions with a question.

Better than The Onion’s Serial podcast, but not better than the Crime Writers.

I loved 'serial' - after discussing with my friends and reading all of the reddit conversations, I wanted more... This podcast gives nice additional perspectives on the finer details of the podcast. Worth a listen if you miss the weekly 'serial' podcast

Sorry I really wanted to like this. I enjoy the guy and he seems to be thoughtful with his commentary but holy moly, the womens voices are terribly annoying. Especially Katy. And it is so put on, you can hear her real voice occasionally so why oh why do that vocal fry? I listened to 2 and can't do it.

Like most of the other reviewers, I find the woman’s Valley-speak to be about as enjoyable to listen to as Linda Gutierrez’s voice, but the thing that really ruins the podcast is the way she (in particular) has made up her mind and nothing, nothing gets through it. This is the same problem that the Serial Crime Writers host has, and it really isn’t fun to listen to: kind of like listening to a discussion on Fox News, in that the people have already made up their minds and they only like the info that confirms their own viewpoints. I made the mistake of downloading the one on the interview with Jay (against my instincts) and it was the worst yet. DON’T BOTHER!

MAKE IT STOP

Sorry, I can't take Katie's voice. FFS please work on your voice if you're going to PUBLISH something, like say, a Podcast. The other lady also slips into vocal fry, too. Please, put some energy into speaking so we can tolerate listening. Sheesh.

There are several Serial hangers on, but this pretentious claptrap is one of the worst. Full of whining (or gravelly grating) rants and pointless self references. These self-important and ever so lacklustre participants add nothing to the Serial podcast experience. (Hilarious that these wannabes find SO MUCH wrong with a very good podcast -- now THAT is meta.)