Finding Fred Podcast Review

The Pitch:

Carvell Wallace asks what Fred Rogers can tell us about living in today’s world.

The Product:

It’s odd, but there is a trend at the moment of people looking for guidance from universally loved pop culture figures, past and present. It’s almost as if life has turned into a highly politicised hellscape, with leaders that thrive and profit when we are fearful and divided.

And so, like Dolly Parton’s America, Finding Fred is a podcast series that seeks to make sense of the current climate, through the lens of an icon that everybody — regardless of demographics — seems to love.

Mr Rogers told his audience “I like you as you are.” As aspirational as this may be as a way to view the world, Wallace asks if this would or could be applied to some of the literal fascists that have become so vocal in recent times.

Speaking of movements that threaten to aggressively swallow their opposition whole — just kidding, you guys — Finding Fred is a part of the iHeartRadio network (and part of Fatherly, too) and comes with the slick production you’d expect from a podcasting behemoth.

There is invariably criticism of a podcast like this, no matter how much time and care goes into it. It has been accused of having no voice of its own, instead…