The Dollop, Not a review, A reflection on the effect

The Dollop

Not a Review, A Reflection on the Effect on my Brain

"The Dollop"
Created by Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds

Rating: Just listen to it.

http://thedollop.libsyn.com/

Okay, technically this part is a review

This is a reflection on the personal impact this show has had on me.

I downloaded The Dollop because of a name drop on another podcast and I've been working my way through the shows for the past couple months. I recommend it frequently. It's a fascinating show where Dave Anthony reads a story to Gareth Reynolds (Or Gareth reads to Dave) from American (or Australian) history and he reacts. It's funny, informative and entertaining.

The topics run the gambit of American (and Australian) history. We are a really messed up country. I Not just now...we are historically messed up. Listening for the first time was a little like when I learned about Christopher Columbus in school. Now, this might sound silly but it always ticked me off when they made that stupid song celebrating him discovering America because he didn't. The thought process wasn't any deeper than that.

The Dollop changed my perception. This is not a unique event for me. Occasionally, I'll hear a thing and it will upend my thoughts and ideas about the world. It's usually a fun experience I actively pursue.

My Mental Windmills

I was researching my great-great-grandfather tonight. I don't know how the man died. It's a question I've been trying to answer on and off for a while. I know his daughters were put into an orphanage and his sons were sent to live with relatives. I don't know why my great-grandmother's life was torn apart when she was a little girl. I don't know the answer because of the name. She was Polish so the name was not easy to spell. Dedkrowski...Decrosky...it depends on the paperwork. I might never know.

I was searching through the lists of deaths in different newspapers around the time and place he was supposed to have died. I noticed a jarring headline on one of the pages and read the story. A police officer in 1903 was arrested for brutalizing his six-year-old son. The boy's mother was arrested as well. While the father was out on bail, he committed suicide by throwing himself off a bridge. The article in the newspaper described how all his bones had been broken. Authorities speculated he might have been aiming for the river and missed. They talked to his other son who said the man would be kind one moment and cruel the next.

I don't know the ending to the family's story. I don't know if that little boy lived. I know that piece of their story and I know that my great-grandmother was put in an orphanage. It's dissatisfying to have chunks of stories. I keep gathering these chunks while I research my own thing.

When I research, I don't typically seek to write a historical narrative. I seek context for pop culture to understand what works of art meant when they were released. I seek to understand what was happening then.

The Dollop has made me reevaluated my writing and made me a better writer and a better person by making me aware of things I didn't want to know about. I'm grateful to anything that makes me better. I think anything that forces you to confront an ugly truth and can make you enjoy it is valuable.

Thank you, The Dollop for making me up my game.