Popular Reviews of Motherhacker

Quick, fun listen! Keeps you interested without being super suspenseful.

It's well produced, short, and is super easy to listen to. The plot is easy enough to follow along to, and it's quick pace keeps you interested. Definitely worth a listen, especially if you have any interest in cyber security. However, the ending fell a little flat for me, as per a lot of audio dramas.

Carrie Coon is amazing. It's amazing how fast the episodes go. Love every minute.

I love both the story and the gorgeous sound design. Entertaining and fun episodes with a mind-blowing ending.

This series grabs your attention and works well as Audio Fiction.

Koi

What If You Became a Phone Scammer — And Thrived?Motherhacker was my first foray into fictional audio drama podcasts and boy, was it an experience! I was so addicted that I immediately created my own playlist of other fictional dramas and am hearing one every night before sleep and loving 'em.Motherhacker explores "the dark side of the web," and it marks an attempt by Gimlet and Spotify to popularize fiction podcasts. Scripted fiction podcasts — essentially, old-timey radio dramas — have been gaining ground over the past year and its an immersive ,non-visual way of storytelling which with the modern technologies can be enhanced even more. It's like watching a TV series without any visuals, and such an immersive audio that the visuals are conjured automatically within your minds.The series starts off on a great note, setting the premise of the story immediately. Imagine, a woman calls your phone with a siren in the background, claiming your estranged husband, the father of your children, has been hurt in a terrible accident. The only way to save him is to wire $12,000 — your entire bank account, which you’d hoped would cover the overdue mortgage payments — to the treatment facility where he’s going through rehab. Without thinking, you immediately do it. But then when you call the facility, he’s fine: No one there called you. It was all a scam.Starring the unbelievably talented  Carrie Coon (Fargo, The Leftovers) as Bridget, a smooth-talking high school assistant principal and a mom who finds herself in such a position, the podcast explores what happens when an otherwise good person is put in such a compromising situation. As her life savings are stolen with one convincing phone call, Bridget needs that money to support her two kids — not to mention her ex-husband who’s still in rehab — so she goes after the identity thieves herself, sliding into the dangerous world of the dark web to try to rescue her family. Bridget isn’t given much of a choice — it’s either join the team or face financial ruin. But what does it mean if she thrives? The plot follows Bridget's journey as she starts phone phishing as part of the identity theft ring.While the first season focuses on Bridget's journey into the phone hacking world, it ends with [Spoiler Alert] her being caught and investigated by the FBI. It would be interesting to see her in a redemption arc in the next series and I look really forward to it.Besides Carrie Coon, Motherhacker features other big names, including Alan Cumming (The Good Wife), Pedro Pascal (Game of Thrones), Lucas Hedges (Manchester By The Sea), Tavi Gevinson (Rookie Magazine founder) and more. It also has an original score by the indie-rock band Warpaint. The series is written by Sandi Farkas and executive produced and directed by Amanda Lipitz. Each episode is around 8 to 15 minutes long, and the story is a gripping and wild ride from start to finish. You’ll find yourself literally immersed in Bridget’s world as her life begins to spiral, because the sound design team put a painstaking amount of detail into the show to make it feel as realistic as possible. Although its ads can get a little annoying, and its short length episodes do make you crave and want more, its still a great series especially if you're just starting out with fictional-drama audio podcasts. Also I find such short series to serve as good palette cleanser between longer shows.Bridget as a main character does seem annoying especially at the beginning, but she shows right away that she is very crafty and has a skill which she starts utilizing to her advantage. As the series progresses, it doesn't take long for the listener to sympathize and connect with her especially when her moral code (“only rich straight white men") is revealed, making her seem more likeable and connectable. Coon utilizes an incredible range of vocal abilities throughout the course of the show while Pedro Pascal conveys a beautiful depth of emotions in his scenes. As Coon explains, “Motherhacker” presents creative demands from its voice actors both technical and emotional, from using cell phones, megaphones, and even her own Apple Watch inside the booth, to making her solo dialogue sessions sound as natural as when she had scene partners with her in the room.“They were doing some very interesting technical things,” Coon said. “It’s kind of an exploration of technology and how it’s impacting our lives and creating threats where there never used to be threats, and also distance, but also perhaps connection.”Coon said the recording process followed those themes, too, choosing to use props whenever possible instead of after-effects or filters. She used her Apple Watch to record a scene where Bridget speaks into her own watch. She used a megaphone in-studio for another scene, and for most of the scenes where characters are talking on the phone, she was doing the same.“So Pedro Pascal [who plays Bridget’s ex-husband] came in, and he was in another booth — because we wouldn’t have seen each other because [his character] was in rehab,” she said. “It was really interesting to do that scene with Pedro over the phone, which makes it feel more like the circumstances of the piece, you know? With Lucas Hedges [who plays a computer-savvy high school student] we recorded with him in the booth with me because [our characters] were at school together. The [producers] tried to mimic the characters’ relationships.”It's a very addictive, immersive and visual story and the plot is very new and creative. If you do listen to Motherhacker, make sure you have at least an hour and a half to kill, because you won’t want to stop listening until the very end.

Loved this one, made me think the wife was a hacker ?

An unusual podcast, with short, gripping episodes. Very recommended for the sheer gripping pace of the story; just when you think it can't get twistier, it does!

Great story. Loved it!

I just finished listening to the first season and the worst thing about this audio-drama is the title. I mean the first episode randomly came on when I was trying to play something else and when I heard the title I figured Ok, this has to be some kind of comedy. I'll check it out. But this is actually a really well acted audio-drama with a wonderful soundscape. The more you hear the main character manipulating people on the phone the more you fall into the story and suspend your disbelief. If you want to listen to audio-fiction, that is really well made, give it a try. (There's no sci-fi or fantasy here.)

Woah! This is going to have you on the edge of your seat. Great characters, plot and addictive.

This was a fun, well done audio drama. It's short so I was able to just binge it without pause which works well with it being fast paced. The lead character is fun to listen to, and just as I thought - on the last episode - that I had everything figured out and knew exactly how it would end, it ended a completely different way.

A super fast listen, super short episodes, so good you'll be able to finish it in a single day. Very funny, good acting and nice writing. Very good overall. Reminds me in its style to Homecoming (also Gimlet), very recommendable (both podcasts).

I loved it. If it won't get a second season I don't mind it, because it has a perfect ending :) great show, recommended.

i'm in love with carrie cooner's acting and her ruthless and selfish yet humane persona brought out the best experience you could ask for in a short fast-paced story like this. the only thing i didn't like is the feeling of "there should be more" to the story. it was way too smooth and action-packed for my taste. i could not connect with her character.

This was an interesting show because I don't think we're supposed to like the main character for the majority of it. It very much reminds me of Breaking Bad in that way, as it shows one person's downward spiral into crime, exacerbated by the pressures of capitalism. Then the last two episodes come along and all of a sudden there's a rushed redemption arc. The sympathy directed toward Bridget skyrockets.I would've enjoyed a different ending better, but overall the show was still incredibly impressive. It's original and culturally relevant, and frightening because it's something that could totally happen--and does happen.

I just binged listened to the second season of this podcast - it's just so good! The plot, the action and the acting. One of the best fiction podcasts I've heard this past year. I sincerely hope it returns for a third season.

I am of the opinion that Bridget and Sister K are in love. She literally runs away from her husband to be with her despite knowing what a bad person she is. Also I'm sorry but "I thought you'd never ask!" 🧐 Sounds more like a proposal to me. Yes, I know it's more about her entering a new life and becoming independent but let me have this-Genuinely a great podcast though, so entralling!