Didn't particularly enjoy this, probably because it wasn't really what I was expecting. There are certain modern addictions to which I am rather prone. Now, some of this is the fairly typical "honestly, you're never off your bloody smartphone", but that always has to be balanced against the "honestly, you are a bit too interested in instantaneous access to all of the knowledge humanity has acquired, as well as nigh instantaneous communication with everyone important in your life". Meaning, is it an addiction, or just really useful?
I would have been rather more interested in that sort of investigation into how these modern conveniences activate our various brain pathways, perhaps with one of those "here I am in an MRI" sections. Instead, what I got was Mae Martin being more autobiographical than I was really interested in, talking about her crush on Bette Midler and the fact she used to be a weird kid, who went to see the same comedy sketch troupe just a bit too often. It's just not terribly engaging.
There is an attempt to introduce some more academic elements with Dr. Gabor Mate, but apparently he's only reachable via a dodgy Skype connection. If your expert is on that poor a line, go find a more local expert. And maybe make more of a feature of them.
A bit of research suggests that this is effectively Martin's recent show, Dope, repackaged for the radio. That was very much an autobiographical wander through her personal problems with addiction, so I would guess that the next episode is going to be mostly about her descent into actual drugs and rehab. Highly doubt I'm going to give it a listen though. Whoever wrote the iplayer blurb should go and have a long hard think about what they've done.
Not recommended.
Tagged: Radio Comedy Monologue Stand-up Autobiographical