Vocal fry on podcasts. Anyone immediately put off by a voice?

[auberginefortea]

I listen to quite a few podcasts, mainly from the UK and US. Is anyone else immediately put off by certain voices? I really struggle with the kind of vocal fry I sometime hear. It seems that it's often US journalists, and it's a real shame as the topic can sound quite interesting ... but the voice, oh my god.

I cannot listen to vocal fry. Also people who do that upward inflection so that every sentence sounds like a question. I like a calm mid range voice, if it veers towards deepness that's fine too. Women get a lot of stick for vocal fry (even though men do it too) as its presumed they do it to sound young and sexy. Those breathy depressing vocal fry song cover versions that are sometimes used for advertisements are terrible

I wasn't aware of vocal fry, there's something else that's going to have me shouting at the radio.

The main one for me at the moment is people who put the last word or two of every sentence up a notch? To make every. fucking. sentence sound like a question? James Wong, I'm looking at you. There are others. Many others.

I've only heard Jon Ronson's trailers for his programmes or podcasts. I was shocked to see in his Psychopath Test book that he is married, to a woman. That is my bad for being so assuming.

Women speaking quickly at a certain pitch has me switching off too. I shouldn't complain, I used to speak quickly in the hope of not boring people or of not being interrupted but I either just stop speaking or raise my voice over the interrupter now. So complain I will.

Anita Anand does have a good voice but her 'we don't have much time so I'll say em err em err err ad nauseum and make even less time for callers' on the question thing on a Saturday afternoon has me not just switching the radio off but throwing it through an upopened window.

I'm another who shudders at wet mouth noises and any sniffling and gasping. Makes me feel murderous. And makes you realise that only a small number of voices are cut out for broadcasting.

I agree with pp saying Mishal Husain has a great voice. Calm but not soporific.

upward inflection

That's what I was meaning@DeeCeeCherry , but I couldn't think of the right words. The rage was addling my brain 😬

I have stopped listening to American podcasts, and I'm now avoiding American TV and films as well. I'm not anti-American, but I feel bombarded and swamped by their media, their culture, their version of everything. The rest of the world exists too.

Science Brian Cox's voice drives me potty. So whispery and delighted.

Thespian Brian Cox has a good voice.

I love watching the programme Chateau DIY, but cannot stand the voice over on it. The woman has a really weird way of phrasing and over empathises all the time. Hard to explain properly but I always wish i could mute her and still hear the people in the programme speaking.

He's not a gay mancunian!
I like Anita Anand but I can see that not everyone would.

The main one for me at the moment is people who put the last word or two of every sentence up a notch? Often the sentence will include like and literally too.

Women speaking quickly at a certain pitch has me switching off too. I shouldn't complain This is my complaint about the Tara & Marian thing. It just sounds like it's two middle-aged women going to witter on about their personal lives. I never listen.

Same re Laura Whitmore. I wanted to
listen as it sounded interesting, but could only manage a few minutes at most. Awful. Same with I could Murder a Podcast. Really wanted to listen to the Concordia episode, but could only get so far. Luckily, Stuff you should know, covered it way better.

I love Redhanded, but the presenters are very posh RP vocal fry. I persevere as I enjoy the podcast.

This same for me !!!

Yes! It's only women I notice doing it and it's ruined so many podcasts, I can't listen to it. It's an affectation just like years ago when people raised their voice at the end of a sentence so it sounded like a question. That eventually died out so I'm hoping vocal fry does.

I think it happens when women try and make their voices sound deeper in an attempt to be taken seriously. In a similar vein I can always tell when they’ve pitched themselves wrongly for their voice and their ‘up and down’ emphasis is all out of tune although they don’t resort to crackling their voices.

Often the sentence will include like and literally too.

Yes! There was someone on the TV last night and I thought "That's nice, there's what's his name" and he was like using like like all the time in the short few words he spoke. My rage has obviously erased who it was from my brain, to protect me in future.

I quite enjoy the Tara and Marian programme but I can't read Marian's books because I just hear her voice through the words on the page. I've tried two, so I've given them a good go.

Or the ‘not just xx’ M&S ad. For extra shudder factor, add the stretched out consonants ‘s’ and ‘t’, making it sound even more like dodgy mobile reception.

I love Fiona Bruce's voice and delivery. Very professional and calm, with no abominations such as "I am sat...".

To me Fiona Bruce's voice just drips with smug.

Ooh, I can think of more smug, such as some bloody 'influencers' and people like Sarah Jarvis (Radio 2 doctor.)

Many Ted talks are unwatchable due to the 'he was like and I was like and they like and I was like'

I like a Liverpudlian accent! In fact I like most regional accents. It’s fakery I can’t stand. False enthusiasm or faux intimacy.

Oh yes awful smuggery! Fiona Bruce and Sarah Jarvis are the worst! Is this personality or voice though or both?

It's not just vocal fry in podcasts, that bothers me. It's the very rigid gesticulating fingers with the sleeves pulled down over the hands in vlogs too.

I am clearly unsuited to 21st century life.

I hate vocal fry/creaky voice, AQI (Australian Questioning intonation) especially by non antipodeans. It's all so affected and pretentious. Another bug bear is that a lot of presenters can't say create correctly and say 'crate'. Bloody Kirsty Allsop is one. Don't get me started on 'liddle' instead of little.

@StandardLFinegan , I like a slight regional accent. Some are quite harsh.
I got a bit sick of Irish accents when there was a glut of them on R4. There wasn't anything wrong with them other than that it seemed to be every time I switched on it was yet another.

Awful isnt it.

I also love Michal Hussain's voice but ideally, I'd just like to listen to Matthew Goode's voice. Alan Rickman too when he was with us.

There’s a podcast called ‘Something Was Wrong’. Ended up switching it off because the voices are so grating - fast talking, fry, the lot.