Robert Evans

Genre: speculative future, social critique

 Link To Listen

The Dust Cover Copy

A jaunty walk through the burning ruins of the old world, the one we all live in now, and a guide to avoiding the worst pitfalls along the road to a better world. It Could Happen Here season 1 ended with the possibility of a second civil war. It Could Happen Here Daily with Robert Evans, accepts collapse as a given, and tries to provide a roadmap to survival.

The Scene

Podcast Setting And Staging

The trick of reviewing this podcast is that its style changed completely between the first and second season. So what I will say will often be broken into what I thought of the beginning, and the end.

The first season deserves five stars for sure. It’s a wonderful piece of thoughtful storytelling: using sensible research and good journalistic ethics to create a powerful journey into what we, as a country, may become, and what choices we can make to stop it from happening if we don’t like those results.

The second season…well, sadly, it lost a lot of that. The host let us know that he needed to stop writing what amounts to a novel, so he shifted to interview format rather than pre-written vignettes and research work. Some of the people he chats with are interesting, and I did learn about some new resources and people I now follow. But by the end of 2021, I unsubscribed. Too many episodes sounded like a couple of buddies in a college dorm complaining about the world and boasting about what they got up to during the last protest. That really isn’t for me. I found the constant tone of complaint distasteful, and the rambling style irritating. A real shame.

The Crowd

Hosts

When Mr. Evans writes a script, he is amazing. I adore his thoughtfulness in the first season.

…but when he speaks off the cuff, things are a lot more cranky, a lot less informative, and a lot more likely to make me fast forward.

The Lingo

Podcast Pacing And Story Choice

Evans’ story choices in season one were amazing. Moving. Frightening. Powerful. And, in the end, empowering.

His choices of guest in the second season are…well, they can only be called a mixed bag. Some are fascinating and wonderful speakers. Some…aren’t. And the show suffers for it.

Overall Rating

Season 1: 5 stars. Powerful, hopeful, fascinating and invaluable.

Season 2: 3 stars. Losing the thread, rambling, and fairly problematic.

I definitely recommend starting the work. Where you stop is your call.