I’m a long time listener. I so appreciate this show, I can’t possibly say with words. So many great guests and topics that need more attention. On it best interview style podcasts I’ve ever found. Thank you!
This show brings on various economists, journalists, scientists and other professionals. Regardless of the issue, this show sheds light on how rampant/unregulated neoliberal capitalism can be tied to many of the disparities experienced by anyone who isn’t benefiting from intergenerational wealth or benefiting off the backs of exploited workers. Whether you lean right or left, this podcast will give a much needed perspective.
Even the situations are sad and serious. I don’t know what it is, maybe his delivery, but Brian Mier the Brazilian reporter just cracks me up on the way he describes the President of Brazil.
The show brings on a wide variety of guests and Chuck is a great interviewer in that he doesn’t make it about himself at all. He lets his guests speak at length and actually responds to the direction the conversation is going rather than work off a script. Rare these days!
The interviews are always stimulating with subjects and guests that are interesting. This isn’t a trite podcast it’s well researched and expertly produced.
Chuck has been steadfast in humor, smarts and humanity since I started listening to the show (with a radio) in the 90s. Most things degrade over time, let's face it. Not this show. I'm not sure whether he's showing it-- since we all age-- but his presence on the show is timeless. Indispensible survey of the most important thought out there.
Just discovering this show. After listening to three episodes, especially the one on Mexico from a few months ago, I am impressed with the guests and the interviewer.
I subscribe to dozens of Pod Casts but regularly only listen to the Dig and the Intercept and even Pod Save America and Ezra Klein. This show adds something different and good
This is Hell is like a little red buoy of clarity in the bleak, dark, stormy ocean that is modernity. It's a cynically hopeful beacon of uncertain light in terrible times.
Every episode is the same. They have someone on who has researched some social problem. Then the host asks: “so, could we say that this problem exists and/or is worse bc Capitalism?” The interviewee always answers: “Well, I wouldn’t want to generalize, but yes, you could say that.” Then the host says “Ok. We’ll just blame this on Captalism.” It’s formulaic, thoughtless, dogmatic, shallow, pseudo intellectual pablum. The way this show reduces genuinely complicated issues to the economic dimension is unhelpful. I would give it no stars is I could.
Possibly the best interviewer on current affairs topics in the English language. Chuck always asks great questions, LETS THE INTERVIEWEE TALK, allocates a ton of time, and does his homework to the max. I cannot count the number of times that an interviewee has complimented him on having "actually ready my book," etc.
They also see issues coming a mile away. For example, they were talking about the opioid crisis and the unraveling humanitarian situation in Syria many years before the other media I consume understood what was going on.
Been a listener since the late 90’s. Chuck Metz is one the finest interviewers I’ve ever heard. He comes prepared and offers long form interviews. It is refreshing to hear a host that takes the time to research the guests works. Knowledgeable, sincere and humorous. This is Hell is a must listen.
Chuck is the best interviewer around, hands down. The only person I can think of who is on the same par is Michael Silverblatt, which says A LOT, especially since Michael is predominately talking about fiction. But they are similar in their intuitive interviewing styles, which I consider an art. Chuck plows through so much doom, so often, and with genuine humor and humanity. Many thanks to This Is Hell!
This podcast has rocked my socks off! The questions Chuck asks and the long answers he allows for from the anti-establishment experts on the show are totally different from anything else you’ll here on the radio. This podcast is unrelenting in its desire to present radical and varying informed points of view. I learn a ton every time I listen. Also, great book recommendations, and politically-charged poetry from Jeff’s Moment is Truth. Thank you so much!
This is Hell tells it like it is, even if that means acknowledging the endless abyss of despair that is the existential dread of living under capitalism. Chuck reports on stories you just won’t hear anywhere on mainstream media because they don’t support the dominant narrative that capitalism is good for everyone (and even if it’s not it’s the best we can do right?). Despite how heavy many of the topics on this show are Chuck always manages to bring a bit of much needed sarcastic levity to the show. Keep up the great work, at least until you get shut down by the feds and have to resort to airing your content as subliminal messages during late night infomercials.
I learn so much from this show while also chuckling every once in awhile. This show manages to talk about the hardest topics while trying not to be overcome with complete devastation. Keep it up!!!!
Been listening via internet for I think 13 years now. This is an indispensable chronicle of thought and social movement and I’m so thankful for these people’s hard work
I love this show. They always provide laugh out loud moments as they give every subject their liberal spin. Pick any show and you will have a greater understanding of how we wound up here.
The interviews are long and in depth and are very informative. I enjoy the format as it does a great job filling my long day with leftist thought an other fascinating content.
This is Hell has turned into a favorite podcast. It is rare when a program offers interviews that force us to confront long-held convictions and to explore what for many is unpleasant. This program doesn't provide soft food to soothe one's anxieties. It forces us to face them head on. I rate it as invaluable.
I listened to the Chalrie Hebdo podcast from Oct 17. The person being interviewed was quite interesting but the interviewer said something that stood out to me. In speaking about a possible upcoming interview he wasn't sure his audience would know of the Iliad. Good God that statement itself might unfortunately be true but shouldn't you be making your audience work rather than pandering to the lowest common denominator?
Someone called this their "weekly intellectual fix". After that comment I'm not sure about that.
It's one of those shows that's both accessible and intelligent, and also strangely comforting despite its self-effacing front man and the central conceit that we're living in a hellhole of our own creation. It's an indepsensible addition to my weekly podcast diet. Thank you, This is Hell!
I appreciate the humor brought to subjects that some may find too dry or academic. The fact that this is a real radio program and not just a podcast is wonderful and I appreciate the next-to-no editing in preserving the original broadcast. Every show is planned and executed brilliantly, I just wish I new more Chicago area references because I am from Maine!
Tune into the best source of unbiased non-mainstream media available in the U.S., hosted by the bitter, blind, gaped toothed Chuck Mertz, always witty and informative.
I'm new to This is Hell! Listening to the intelligent historians, authors, activists, etc. that are given a voice on the show is opening my eyes to my own assumptions about how the world works. I'm realizing these assumptions are based largely on the logic of neoliberalism which has been presented as truth in the widely available pop culture and media landscapes that I've grown up with in the 90's and 00's.
Chuck provides a perspective seldom heard on any mainstream news site. The whole NPR crowd really needs to be exposed to the authors, activists and journalists interviewed on this show.
