Otherppl is a weekly podcast hosted by Brad Listi who interviews upcoming and successful authors about their work and lives. This week’s episode is podcast #571 with bestselling author Roger McNamee where Brad and Roger discuss Roger’s new book “Zucked: The Facebook Catastrophe”.
I was apprehensive when I first starting listening to the podcast because Brad talks very slowly and is very monotone; However, I chose this podcast because if I was going to listen to a podcast, I’d want to listen to people talk about books, so I kept going. What I like about Brad’s hosting is that he opens discussing a little about the guest and topic today, and then lets his guest introduce themselves and the topic/book they’ll be talking about. He’s not rushed; He just let’s them tell their story. Beneath the podcast player, Brad gives a paragraph-long summary about the author and the subject for today. He asks clarifying questions and engaging comments every few minutes or so, but it’s mostly a long story told by the guest speaker. His comments and questions definitely steer Roger’s story.
Today, we know Zuckerberg as the jerk who started Facebook, but Roger was an early investor and advised Zuckerberg, so he knew him well. He talks about the first time they met and first impressions. Then he goes deeper into the signs he missed at the beginning that put Zuckerberg and Facebook down a dark rabbit hole. I don’t like how Roger constantly talks over the host. I’m not sure if that’s a normal practice that Brad lets people do, but I don’t appreciate it as a listener. It sounds to me like a truthful expose, but also a tool for Roger to frame his side of things, so he doesn’t get blamed for Facebooks privacy issues, politics, and rigging election results. Roger constantly says, “I started to notice…” I wanted the host to ask, “So what did you do about it?” and more direct questions about his role. Could he have done anything? Could he have spoken out sooner?
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