I'm guessing by now that you guys know the drill. Well, one of the drills that we have around here. I'm happy to review any podcast that I am asked, but I also don't hesitate to give my honest opinion. With all of that in mind, let's jump right into it. We're taking a look at The Resistible Rise of J. R. Brinkley.
I first became aware of this audio drama when I was browsing the r/audiodrama subreddit. Series creator Edward Einhorn was asking for people to review his new audio drama. It was adapted from a play he had written, and he didn't have much experience figuring out how to get reviews and promotions of audio dramas. I was quite pleased when I saw that another commenter listed me along with several other individuals who review audio dramas. The subject matter of the podcast seemed up my alley, so I volunteered my services.
The audio drama alternates between dramatic reenactments from the life of J.R. Brinkley, and a host segment where Edward talks about how the podcast came together, and interviews various experts on the subjects ranging from Populist Politics of the 1920 to the history of Country Music. Edward is joined by his co-host Dan Butler, who you may remember as Bulldog from Frasier.
Edward described the reenactment segments as taking place in the theatre of the absurd. Whenever I hear that term, I always think of the 1966 Adam West Batman TV series. It's fairly fitting for description for the reenactment segments. They're very over the top, melodramatic, and campy; but in a tongue-in-cheek, self-aware sort of way. I hadn't heard of J.R. Brinkley before I listened to this audio drama. From my own preliminary research, he certainly seems like a larger than life, over the top sort of figure that might seem like he couldn't possibly exist. Sometimes the truth really is stranger than fiction. Also, I always appreciate it when audio dramas team me about historical figures that I hadn't known of before.
One would think it would have been fairly obvious that Brinkley was a quack from the start. After all, if transplanting goat testicles into people did work, then there should be significantly more satyrs and fauns running around in America. As we all know, most American satyrs volunteer at summer camp on Long Island, and the fauns hangout in an Ancient Roman city in California. For those who don't get it, that's a Percy Jackson reference.
Of course, Brinkley was hardly the only snake oil salesman in 1920's America. This was the age when radithor was a popular new beverage. Radithor was made by combining distilled water with radium drops. It too was claimed to cure impotence, among other things. Obviously, this was a load of horseshit. In fact, one man named Eben Byers drank so much radithor his lower jaw fell off. He had to be buried in a lead-lined casket. When they dug him up in 1965 his corpse was still incredibly radioactive. Still, at least his death led to a strengthening of the FDA. There are several skulls from people who took radithor that have huge holes in them due to all the radiation.
Now, before we judge the people of the 1920s too harshly, let's not forget that there are still many examples of medical quackery and pseudoscience still running around to this day. You've got people who push things such as homeopathy and crystal healing, or those Internet ads that tout the wonders of various fruits that supposedly burn fat. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose; that is, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
It's pretty much impossible to talk about The Resistible Rise of J.R. Brinkley without comparing it to another audio drama: 1865. In both cases, they're historical fiction audio dramas that deal with events in American History that resonate in the president day. Both series also feature commentary from their creators and experts on the relevant subject matter. Albeit, there are some fairly significant differences. 1865 takes a much more serious approach to its subject matter, and any humor is of the decidedly unintentional variety. Similarly, the parallels within 1865 to the present day were unintentional. By contrast, the parallels to the present day, specifically to the presidency of Donald Trump, are baked into Resistible Rise by design.
I bring this up because I feel that there are a few things Resistible Rise could learn from 1865. For example, I found that presentation of Resistible Rise to be disjointed and uneven. It didn't like how it constantly fluctuated between the reenactment and commentary segments. Certain comments Edward made suggest that this was not the case for the stage version of Resistible Rise. His comments suggest that the reenactments played as a continuous whole, and then the commentary happened once the show was over. I really think that's how the podcast should have gone. Alternatively, you do the 1865 method. Play a whole reenactment episode, and then do a behind the scenes companion episode. Either way, it would help things flow better. As it stands, the podcast almost feels like a demo reel made in hopes that the show will get picked up by a big-name producer.
Another issue is the way Resistible Rise presented its views and information. Like I said, from conception Resistible Rise was conceived as a commentary on the presidency of Donald Trump. To this end, Edward alerted some quotes from Brinkley by splicing them together with quotes from Donald Trump. This was a terrible idea. I would have preferred if they'd just presented Brinkley quotes as they actually are, rather than splicing them. Let the audience draw their own conclusions and parallels. Your audience is not dumb, respect their intelligence. This also had the unfortunate side-effect of making the message of the podcast as subtle as a baseball bat to the face. Again, the audience isn't dumb, they can smell a moral coming a mile away.
I really hate to have to compare Resistible Rise to 1865 again, but I think this is another point Resistible Rise could learn from. Basically, it comes down to allegory vs applicability; with 1865 favoring applicability vs. Resistible Rise going with allegory. You can certainly see parallels to the Trump presidency, but the story of 1865 can be applied to more than just that. By constant, Resistible Rise is attached to Trump at the hip. I can see 1865 being talked about and listened to for year to come, but I'm not so sure Resistible Rise has the same sort of legs.
Let the audience draw their own conclusions. There are some areas of overlap, and areas of contrast, between Brinkley and Trump. They were both populist candidates who lead surprisingly successful political campaigns, and both attempted to run for president. Trump was obviously more successful, but Brinkley did pretty well for a write-in candidate during the Kansas gubernatorial election of 1930. Both men were also endorsed by some very unusual country singers. Brinkley had The Blind Cowboy, who he promised he could cure with goat glands. Obviously, this didn't happen. Trump had the support of The Naked Cowboy. He's a performer in Time Square who plays the guitar in nothing but a cowboy hat and two pairs of tighty whities. Under New York City law, one pair of underwear is nudity, but two pairs constitute clothing.
They both also made some rather derogatory comments about people of other races. Brinkley was anti-Semitic, which was in large part motivated by how one of his biggest critics, Dr. Morris Fishbein, was a Jew. Though, later in life, Brinkley did come to admire Nazi Germany and its anti-Semitic policies. One of his goals in running for governor was to gain controls of the Kansas State Medical Board and staff it with yes-men loyal to him. Also, just as an aside, I wanted to say that I really enjoyed all of the parodies of popular country songs that appear throughout the show.
So, then during one of the host segment, Edward and Dan are joined by Seth Cotlar to discuss things, and the topic of people who voted for Trump. Seth says, basically, "I'm not saying they're all racists and deplorables, but they're all a bunch of racist and deplorables." Now, this was unscripted, and Edward tells me this doesn't reflection his own views on the matter. All the same, yikes, that probably going to piss some people off. While I do commend Edward for wanting to keep thing uncut, perhaps it would have been prudent to keep that but out. I will also add that there is a Brinkley supporter named Jimmy who is presented in a sympathetic light, which does help a bit.
Now, while it does have a few significant flaws, I do think that at its core, Resistible Rise is a good audio drama. I feel like it was taken out of the oven before it had a chance to fully bake. Perhaps it could have benefited for a bit more workshopping and tinkering with. There is nothing more disappointing when a promising audio drama wastes its potential.
So, would I recommend The Resistible Rise of J. R. Brinkley? Uh...hmm, let me think about it for a minute. It does have a lot of really good moments; the musical numbers were fun, it tells the story of a fascinating yet not widely known individual, and occasionally does have some nice interview moments. On the other hand, it suffered from the disjointed plot structure, at times its social commentary was a bit too on the nose, and the interviews were a bit hit-and-miss at times. I’ll give a tentative thumbs up for now. I certainly hope that, if Edward has future plans for the show, he considers refining and expanding it. Resistible Rise is only four episodes long. So, even if you don't like it, at least you won't have lost too much time. Give it a listen and decide what you think.
Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time.
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