Holiday Stories #6

One of the reasons I’ve loved RISK! so much all these years is that no matter how subversive, questionable or misguided the actions in the featured stories have been, the storytellers themselves have usually been humble, compassionate and KIND in their telling of the events. In a media world that often spins on humiliation and insults, I’ve been so impressed that on RISK!, I almost never hear storytellers insult, demean or denigrate the other people in their narratives — or if they have, there’s a payoff in which they realize their misjudgment, and change.

Thanks so much, Sam Feirstein, for becoming a huge, glaring exception to this rule.

I am sickened by the story “Santa’s Cabin”, and by the way Sam talks about his girlfriend Liz. She’s hairy? Yes – we all grow hair – we are mammals, that’s how it fucking works. He calls her a “monster”, a “kidnapper” a “wet/dry shop vac eating a McDonald’s SuperSize meal”. He mocks her for listening to musical soundtracks, for making noise during intercourse (“a viking having a seizure”, “a bull with an arrow”)…and the sex they have makes him hate his life, he tells us repeatedly. The entire story is an excuse to SHAME this woman, in ways that feel completely irrelevant to the actual issues that are going on between them.

I KNOW from experience (and from ALL THE PREVIOUS EPISODES OF RISK) that it’s completely possible to tell a story about a bad relationship choice without shaming and insulting the other party. Sam admits that his life wasn’t perfect, that he was making poor choices…why is there NO self-deprecation here, or introspection, to balance the slash-and-burn of Liz? Why is there no epiphany here whatsoever?

I’m not surprised that Sam’s previous girlfriend broke off their engagement, or that he can’t find another partner. I wouldn’t spend a minute with a man who has so little respect for another human being.

Disappointed said it perfectly. No risk at all in that story, just a lack of self-awareness and a pathetic mean-spiritedness I’ve never, ever heard on this podcast. He fell very short of the show’s standards.

I just stopped by to praise Risk on both of the Holiday episodes this year for being as diverse, wacky, and intriguing as I have come to look forward to and stumbled across this silly rant about about Sam’s story. I enjoyed Sam’s story and didn’t feel at all like the story was shaming in such a vehement way as the people above describe and agree with. What I heard was a guy who admittedly thought with his dick and wound up with an unsavory stalker. Did he embellish the things he disliked about her? Yup! But isn’t that called comedy? This is not the first time I’ve heard something like this on Risk but it is the first time I have seen such an overblown reaction to it. Risk will always be my roadside companion. Amazing and hilarious, and certainly not always for everyone! I would think that the adults out there listening should be adult enough to use the fast forward button or at the very least, let it go! No one can agree with every story or viewpoint. The world is full of different viewpoints with no two alike. What we ought to be able to agree on is that Risk is a safe place for people of all walks to share their own true stories with each other.

Now…. That all said…. Congrats to Risk on another great year of shows and I look forward to hearing what you got in store for 2015!!!