Listening Assignment - Believable: The Coco Berthmann Story
It's the first use of an AI voice in a podcast that I've discovered...and it's something that I immediately began to binge-listen to
Hello folks! August time and a new listening assignment for you.
I came across this story a couple of times this week. The first was in Karen Given’s newsletter The Narrative Beat (it’s not a Substack one, so if you’re curious follow that link). And then I read about it again on Elaine Appleton Grant’s newsletter Sound Judgement…you can see how the ecosystem feeds itself.
Maybe the marketing magic here is that three touchpoints make me also want to grab the book off the shelf.
It turns out Karen Given is the showrunner of this series, and also the sound designer/mixer. I pulled it up to listen…and I couldn’t stop.
Lots to follow up on with you about this story, but let’s start with these 3 things…
The feminist in me wonders why are we so drawn into these stories of women, specifically women, who cheat and lie and swindle? There are plenty of white collar crimes, that frankly steal much more money…but the ones about women get you on a different level. Why and how does this mechanism work so very well?
This series uses an AI voice to portray a character…not just a random person, but the star of the show, Coco. Let’s dig into that…have a listen to see how it hits you.
As with Foretold, (I covered this last week) this series also gets meta as the journalists are also drawn into the storyline. They become part of the story. Is this an inside-out reckoning, a way to fill out the slate of characters, or is it about being honest and not hiding the work?
In the meantime, if you’re looking for great other reads, inspiring finds, and great ways to connect with folks, here are a couple more of my favourite reads from this newsletter ecosystem.
And if you’re feeling hungry, and especially if you like beans, please reach for the one that never disappoints, Alison Roman’s
See you next week…enjoy August, whatever you might be doing.
Thanks for the shoutout!