My jaw was on the floor on what I was hearing. Just fantastic.

I found this podcast entertaining, honest, and informative. I loved listening and discussing with my avid writer/reader bestie. I had no idea how woven into Hollywood Dahl and his wife were or how audacious his past was. The BFG was my favorite book as a child. I can still remember the worn cover and softened pages from reading. And more recently I stumbled upon the Wes Anderson series with the Henry Sugar story. I loved listening knowing more about Dahl’s creative process as a writer and where there were some similarities with my own. I will always wrestle with the question—how do we relate to someone’s art once we know more of them as a whole human? And I think these are important conversations to have.

5 star podcast that gets 3 stars knocked off for editorializing. Tell the story. Not your opinion. Terrible writer.

Fascinating story. Well narrated. Posed *really* interesting questions. The only thing I wanted more of were citings for some of the early life facts shared by the narrator. But that didn’t stop me from letting curiosity and imagination enjoy this work.

Intoxicating, absolutely loved it. Who is next????

The story behind one of the greatest storytellers of all time is riveting to say the least. Can’t wait to continue the tale! Give it a listen and you’ll understand.

It’s immediately evident that the host has spent too much time around a particular strain of easily-triggered student. The constant asides and observations about Dahl’s problematic attitude was very “2020” and detracted from the material. Most grown-ups understand that it was a different time and are perfectly able to contextualize without the endless scolding explanations. Could also have done without so much personal commentary about the host’s own writing career, which I couldn’t have been less interested in. It comes off as kind of arrogant to compare his own trajectory to that of such a towering literary figure. This host is way too concerned with whether or not people are offended to even be anywhere near the same universe as Dahl.

The host claims not to understand what’s going on with Israel and Palestine and interviews two people who are clearly Zionists and believe Israel has the right to “defend” itself (with no mention of the Nakba or the ongoing occupation and genocide). Promoting that position, while Israel is committing genocide, is disgusting. Learning about Roald Dahl is fun but I stopped listening after the second Zionist. There may be more I’m unaware of. Enabling genocide is despicable.

I loved this podcast so much and was constantly surprised by the history and complexities of this man. I have listened to countless hours of Dahl himself reading audio books of the fantastic Mr. Fox, James and the giant peach, charlie & the chocolate factory and others on CDs with my young son in the car and it was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life as well as his my son’s. I totally disagree with anyone changing a single word of his in these stories for today’s markets and society. I am a die hard Liberal but this is where liberals go wrong with “wokeness”. I am a fan of many problematic authors, my fave being Charles Bukowski who was terrible to women but, like with Dahl, knowing about his history and upbringing, it is understandable how he came to be who he was. It is this way for all artists and people. It takes a strong will to want to change as a person and change the history in one’s family, but it can be done. I had a terrible childhood and was determined to make it a great one for my children and am doing so successfully. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this podcast. I am sharing it with many friends right now! All the best, Steve Conte/NYC.

I read Roald Dahl with my mother as a child and was transfixed by the books. This excellent podcast was fascinating as it filled in details about this life. I was pleased with the sheer quality of writing in the episodes themselves, which stayed interesting and well-paced throughout. Clearly a lot of effort went into these. Excellent.

Loved this podcast! So interesting, fun, and engaging. I thoroughly enjoyed it while also learning a lot.

I enjoyed listening to this over the span of two days. I work a full-time job driving and really felt like I learned a lot from this series. What I feel like I didn’t enjoy as much as the fake dahl voice memos. I understand that they were prefaced and changed, but it confuses me when I speak about it with other people because they believe that there are voice memos of him saying things that he hadn’t said. I also really enjoyed ghe guests they had on. I do wish i heard more women speak on him. Great series!

An unbelievably amazing story, very well written and presented. Fighter pilot, spy, children’s book writer - what’s not to love?

Whether you are a Roald Dahl fan or not, this podcast was unbelievably delightful, informative and well researched. I went into it semi blind, as I didn’t grow up on Roald Dahl stories, and it’s still completely captured and fascinated me.

This is a pretty engaging podcast, but the use of an AI voice when an actor could have been used is deeply disappointing, especially given the financial backing for the show. Human art, please.

As someone who has listened to podcasts long enough for all my favorites to retire, I found a new favorite! Well researched and the host is great

What was supposed to be a podcast about the life of Dahl turned into a podcast about personal feelings. Couldn’t even finish it because of the flagrant obtuseness.

Had to stop listening by the third episode. Percentage of add time via content time was overwhelmingly in favor of the ads. No thanks.

I enjoyed the story but was constantly distracted by the music playing almost constantly in the background.

Was really looking forward to learning more about Dahl. But then I heard you say you look at his AND JK Rawlings books on your shelf with hesitation, and I couldn’t give you my patronage after that. I’m sure the series is good. Just can’t take you seriously after that comment about a woman who’s “controversial” for saying girls are girls and boys are boys. You know, common sense since the beginning of time up until about 5 seconds ago. And to anyone that would come at me for this, make sure you go at the author for doing the exact same thing to JK.

I really appreciate this series! I’m 60 years old, and Roald Dahl was a very importance and influential part of my childhood. I very much appreciate the view that he, along with most humans, was a complex person, and I still wholeheartedly embrace his works, perhaps even more so with this understanding. You did a great job with this series! Thank you!

You are met with an incredibly strange way to frame Dahl’s antisemitism, which does nothing to convince you of the speaker’s point, but actually does the opposite. I do not have any tolerance for reframing the current genocide that is being perpetrated by the Israeli government.

As a child of Dahl’s writing, I found this podcast fascinating. First, I had no idea—this, the secret. Second, the host is as gifted an orator as he is a writer. His self-effacing asides are a gentler, kinder Dahl. Thank you for this amazing work!

I was excited about this podcast because I greatly admire Roald Dahl’s books. I read them as a kid, and now I read them to my kids. But about ten minutes into the first episode, the narrator drops this revealing line: “Dahl’s nastiness and his controversies have sucked up a lot of oxygen the past few years. I now look at the spines of his books on my shelf not that differently than I look at J. K. Rowling’s, which is to say, kind of queasily.” That’s a dealbreaker for me. I don’t particularly care what the narrator’s personal views are, but to frame the entire project through such a preloaded moral lens is to intentionally poison the well from the outset. It turns a beloved storyteller into the subject of a kind of posthumous moral audit—dug up and judged according to current sensibilities. The snide jab at Rowling tells me that, despite the obviously well-funded production, this one is not worth my time or patience.

this podcast definitely did not mean to, but they made me love dahl even more for criticizing Israel way back when. what a hero to call out the actions of a genocidal government especially when it’s not popular.

My favourite line of this podcast is when the narrator said, ‘if I hired a babysitter for my kids you can bet SHE would be vetted.’ WOW. I guess ALL babysitters are women. I’m surprised that slipped by in a podcast about how the use of someone’s words (who is dead and can’t defend himself) define his entire character. FOREVER.

What a joy this podcast is! I have also struggled with the idea of valuing the man and his actions vs the stories he created. I a devoted to the characters and plots, but I don’t discount Dahl’s problematic views. This is all handled masterfully and deeply in this podcast, thank you to the makers who did the work. Great job!

This podcast is at its best when it starts out discussing Ronald Dahl’s fascinating life - from his early years in the UK, time as a Spy, working with Disney, attempting to find success to an Adult story author, his marriages, he major log losses as a child and adult and his anti-semitism. The Narrator has a great voice and pace. The podcast loses its way when the Narrator interjects his own life which isn’t interesting (no one cares where his kids were born) or his opinions and trying to explain if/how to appreciate the art and artist when they are severely flawed. It got silly at that point and loses it way. It completely lost me and was boring at that point. It’s a shame because it started out great.

This podcast was an excellent find! Fascinating, thoughtful, challenging, and fun—I appreciated Tracy’s research, interviews, insights, and storytelling of a familiar author’s life. Tracy gives us a great mystery as listeners must grapple to determine the legacy, the value, the brilliance, and the uncomfortable truths regarding Roald Dahl and his work. Don’t miss this podcast!

Such interesting information presented in such a lively and varied way! I binge listened in 2 days…Can’t wait to go read some more of his books!

I’m writing this after listening to episode 7, and I have to say that Roxane Gay is so painfully smug and self righteous. While I’m sure it’s lovely never to have suffered an impure thought, the rest of us, slogging through the muck, ARE occasionally inspired by another old sinner rising above themselves to produce something lasting and beautiful, that forces us to lift our eyes from the swamp. It’s mysterious, and piercing, sad, and joyful. I can’t always stomach an artists work when I know the full story of their life. But to judge another person for taking inspiration where they can find it? It’s a bit macabre… immoral…ghoulish…even…Dahlian, as the host might put it.

I think that the ai thing has already happened

I thought this podcast was really well written and interesting, until Dahl’s antisemitism was brought up. Dahl had plenty of antisemitic remarks to choose from, but the host specifically chose anti-Israel remarks to prove his point, which actually did the opposite. That aside, I figured I’d still finish the podcast out, but then the guest in episode 10 said it’s infuriating that Dahl didn’t acknowledge that Israel is just “fighting for its survival” which is just unacceptable to me. This podcast isn’t even centered around the Palestinian genocide, so I don’t know why so much attention is given to pretending that Israel is not committing the most well-documented genocide in history. Very disappointing.

A life that rivals fiction. Hypnotizing

I really enjoyed listening to this podcast. The presentation of the events of Dahl’s life was intriguing, moving, and imaginative. I was hooked for each episode. If you’re interested in Roald Dahl or the lives of writers in general, I high recommend this podcast!

This is a pretty interesting biographical glimpse into Dahl if you can get past the awful editorializing throughout

This was really fascinating, and I kind of blew through the first 2/3 of the show not realizing that I would need to wait for the last episode! I think the flaws here are 1) the host/writers etc assumed everyone knows that Dahl was an anti-Semite, and 2) it sort of veers into the host seeking out an “expert” on morality (?!) to give him permission to stay obsessed either Dahl and keep reading him to his son despite the previous fact. It was uncomfortable honestly, especially since by the end he made the sweeping summary statement that everyone has decided it’s fine and Dahl’s genius is pervasive and worth it. I’m sorry but I think you’re still overestimating how many people know this information and sadly how many care…But overall, I liked the content before that, and the conversations about art and artists outside of the pleading for permission.

What would have been a great story is unfortunately hobbled by just bad delivery. The host talks way too fast…so much so that I had to check to see if my audio was on 2x. It has the effect of racing over and trivializing really interesting points. I didn’t get through the first episode because of it. I’d rather read the source material.

As a former third grade teacher, I read the BFG every spring and showed the original cartoon version. I had figured out long ago that I probably would not like Roald Dahl as a person, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t find him fascinating. And this podcast was addicting! Good show!!

I binged on the first 8 episodes of this podcast on a six-hour drive and cannot wait to get back in the car to finish listening to the remaining 2 episodes! I had no idea about Dahl’s adventurous and tragic life. I’ve forwarded this series to all the readers I know. It’s that good. I especially appreciate the guests brought on in episodes 7 & 8 to discuss Dahl’s antisemitism and whether we should continue to read and share his books. Truly fascinating and I can’t wait to listen to more deep dives by this podcaster!

I’m loving this podcast, it’s such a fascinating story of which I knew practically nothing, so I’m enthralled. Thank you for bringing it to us listeners!

In an interview later in his life, Dahl said: “There is a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity, maybe it’s a kind of lack of generosity towards non-Jews,” he carefully explained. “I mean, there’s always a reason why anti-anything crops up anywhere.” Pause. “Even a stinker like Hitler didn’t just pick on them for no reason.” (From a 8 October 2021 article from the New Statesman, by Michael Coren). I get “separate the art from the artist” is a thing for some people, but don’t glorify someone like this.

The topic is fascinating! However the narrator approaches it like he’s an omnipotent narrator in a novel, casually describing people’s innermost thoughts. Given that those descriptions are clearly artistic fabrication, it makes one wonder exactly how much of the story is artistic fabrication or at least embellishment. This is exacerbated by the fact that he Durant cite sources or anything like that, but simply tells the story.

If you have the opportunity to see Giant on Broadway this spring, listen to this before you go. This remarkable podcast offers an insightful way to under Roald's complexity—and, indeed, the complexity of all humans. We are capable of brilliance as well as hurtful perspectives.

I’ve never left a podcast review but this one is worth spreading. What a wild ride! Definitely worth a listen.

I already love reading books by Roald Dahl, but had no idea how crazy his life was! Super intrigued and so excited to keep listening.

I appreciate the story and how it explores deeper issues, like the controversies surrounding the writer and his personal antisemitic opinions. Interestingly, no one ever mentions Michael Jackson in this discussion about his pedophilia and love for his music.

Whoever wrote the script is dumbing down, the whole vibe is patronizing and precious. Irritating

This is a well researched podcast. Who knew Roald Dahl, writer of children’s literature, could be a spy, a father, a husband and a philanderer? Sometimes all at the same time.l I binged listened to the podcast over two days. I couldn’t stop listening.

The details given of Roald Dahl’s life are certainly fascinating, and while the podcast remained focused on telling his story it was enjoyable. The worst parts were when the host started offering too much of his own personal commentary and when the show became a modern social/political critique. Just give us the facts and let us draw our own conclusions.