S-Town, a seven "chapter", 6-plus hour podcast was released on March 28, 2017. The podcast was downloaded a record-breaking 10 million times in four days, and had been downloaded over 40 million times just a few months later. This week Mike and Eric review S-Town, along with The Trojan Horse Affair, Brian Reed's follow-up to S-Town. Drawing on both comparisons and contrasts between the 2 series, we attempt to highlight the techniques and styles that makes Brian’s podcasts so ground-breaking and a must-listen for anyone doing podcasts that involve storytelling.

S-Town begins when a middle-aged man, living in an Alabama town he despises, emails Brian and asks him to investigate a murder that he believes has been covered up by the local police. In The Trojan Horse Affair, an unlikely duo chases down the origins of a mysterious letter that caused a national scandal in England.

On No Harm In Asking, hosts Eric Byron and Michael Kerr are on a journey to gather insights into why podcasts succeed or fail and to explore the myriad of different patterns, structures, topics, techniques, and personalities that have evolved this industry. Through our podcast, we hope to inspire and encourage the next generation of storytellers and visionaries.

All 7 chapters of S-Town can be found here:

https://stownpodcast.org/

They also have a full social media presence on Twitter and Instagram at @stownpodcast (although updates seemed to have stopped after they were acquired by the New York Times).

The Trojan Horse Affair is available here:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/podcasts/trojan-horse-affair.html

Check us out on Twitter at @noharmaskingpod.

Eric also publishes his online journey titled "A Podcasting Journal" on Substack at https://ericbyron.substack.com/

Our sponsors:

Qollab.me - the free to use interview planning, preparation and collaboration toolhttps://qollab.me/

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