A recent story that really resonated with me is Season 5 of the CBC podcast Someone Knows Something. There are three main reasons why I found this season of the podcast so compelling, which I’ll go into more detail in this post. The three reasons are:
- True story with a clear and compelling structure
- Compelling characters
- Universal simple story
First here is a preview of Season 5.
True story with a clear and compelling structure
Someone Knows Something is a true crime podcast in which host David Ridgen works with families to try to solve unsolved mysteries or crimes.
It’s interesting because the podcast has a compelling structure in which two story strands are intertwined into one story.
The first story is the historic crime or mystery that is being investigated. The second is that of the investigation the host does with a family member.
They both have a clear structure and purpose that you can outline using the Story spine discussed by Kenn Adams.
In Season 5 the crime follows this structure:
The investigation story follows this structure:
Compelling Characters
In each episode of the podcast we are introduced to new and compelling characters who move both stories forward. They uncover more about the crime that happened and also the story of the journey the host and victim’s brother are taking. All the characters have this common tragedy that connects them and makes them relatable because their lives have all been affected by this common experience.
Cyriaque Lamar highlights in The 22 rules of storytelling, according to Pixar one of the rules you need to ask is:
“Why must you tell THIS story? What’s the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That’s the heart of it.”
At the root of the story is the brother who has been driven to find who did this to his sister causing all this damage to his family
Universal Simple Story
While two intertwined story spines with so many varying viewpoints, talk of investigation techniques, DNA and forensic information makes the story seem complex it really is a simple story of a brother and a father who just want, and really need, to know what happened to their sister and daughter.
Again, as Lamar notes, another of the storytelling rules is to ask:
“If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.”
This story is filled with honest raw emotions that anyone would relate to if faced with the unthinkable loss of someone close to you in such a tragic and senseless way.
You can find Someone Knows Something on CBC Listen.
EXSM 3989 - Digital Storytelling Class Blog 