15 minutes in and the monotone host just started talking about the Badlands. His voice is so un-engaging that it’s impossible to continue listening.

But the ‘up-speak’ on every single sentence/phrase is unbearable. How do you go through dozens/hundreds of hours of narration without realizing this?!

I have been listening for many years and it feels like the show has run its course. I hope I’m wrong and for someone just starting to listen you wouldn’t notice anything except great storytelling. I’m not going anywhere but my expectations are a little lower than they used to be.

The upward inflection at every pause makes the narrator sound so disinterested. New episodes are irritating to listen to but the early seasons are incredible.

The stories are entertaining without going into too much detail. Short and sweet!

Love the stories and the way they’ve been told is impeccable.

This used to be my favorite podcast. I highly recommend listening to the first 5 seasons. Episode 11 and it’s extra from season 6 seems to be the last episode narrated by the host. Episode 12 of season 6 and beyond are filled with monotone, awkwardly spaced, narration delivered in a bored cadence that leads into an awkward inflection that no real person speaks with. I hate to give up on the podcast, but the delivery is antithetical to the act of listening.

If you’re suffering from depression, don’t listen to this podcast. The boring, dull and monotonous narration will give rise to suicidal thoughts. If you’re not suffering from depression, don’t listen to this podcast. The boring, dull and monotonous narration will give rise to depression. The podcast has gone from unexplained to unsolved crimes, and the narrator sounds like a dying man reciting his last will.

I absolutely love this podcast. The topics are interesting, and they’re delivered well

Just stumbled upon this podcast and tried to listen to the most recent episode. The narrator sounds like they’re bored to death just reading sentences off the page in front of them. Based on the other reviews it sounds like this has not always been the case, but this is unbearable to listen to.

The show itself is great, But the new format is quickly losing me. Its now jammed full of the absolute loudest commercials, 2-3 minutes of people yelling ads. This is what the Patreon was killed for, such a drop in quality. At one time this show was good enough to pay for, I hope it gets back to that point again.

Why? Because of the sheer boredom the narrator’s voice, cadence, and new style conjures! What happened? Please make an effort to return to what we fell in love with. This is disappointing.

So well-written, such great stories. I’ve loved this podcast for years.

I tried several times to listen to this show but the host’s voice and affect are so flat that I can’t stand it. I didn’t think anything could deter me from listening to stories about the supernatural but I was very wrong. This show is just disappointing.

What happened to the reading of these stories? Early seasons the narrator reads normally but the newer seasons are basically impossible to listen to. The cadence is awful and the way he gets louder at the ends of words and reads in a forced slow motion is just terrible. PLEASE go back to speaking like a normal human!

I used to listen to this show all the time while driving, and stopped for a while during the pandemic, because I didn’t need to drive to work. Now I’m starting to drive to work again, and want to catch up on the episodes, I wasn’t sure if the host was the same person until he said his name! His voice changed quite a bit, and he sounded like he’s half asleep or has zero energy. did anyone know why he started reading his script the way he is now? It’s sooooo strange and somehow he adopted a very strange cadence, and he wasn’t like this before, I wonder what happened? I’m sorry I just can’t enjoy this anymore no matter how good the story is!

I’m sure the stories are great but I hate the way you lilt your voice up at the end of sentences. It annoys me so much I can never make it past 3 minutes.

But the cadence or rhythm of how you’re reading the story is just too difficult for me to listen to.

I wish I could listen to this podcast. I’m interested in the stories, but the narration is just plain bizarre. The narrator drags you along in a truly strange, repetitive, sing song monotone. It is so annoying and disturbing that I can’t listen. I am totally bewildered by the positive reviews for this narration style.

Great, interesting, and creepy stories. I also love Richard’s style of narration and his music choices; they add to the creepy atmosphere.

I love your voice and more importantly your profoundly gifted storytelling. I’m not sure others agree, but I would only ask that you work on not having quite so robotic inflection in your narration. Keep up the great work, you’ve earned a new loyal listener for 2024!

Richard…. McLean….. Smith…. Is a marvelous narrator, and the stories are interested and varied. He isn’t obsessed with witch trials, or massively condescending (cough cough Lore). It is never over the top, and the writing is wonderful. Thanks for a great podcast!

I’ve listened to this podcast for years. Richard’s beautiful writing has frequently made me cry or completely reconsider my perception of the world. My favorite episodes were those of genuine, small mysteries which are becoming fewer and farther between. The thing which always enchanted me about this podcast, even if I couldn’t connect to the story, was the atmosphere. Unfortunately, we live in a capitalist system. Richard and his staff need to make money from this project, I won’t fault an artist for monetizing their work. There are now very intrusive ads at the beginning, middle, and end of every episode. O that art might live free, her ransom paid by the collective.

I loved this podcast in the early seasons. But the most recent one feels different somehow. It feels like it’s trying too hard and I find my attention drifting now during most episodes. But the pre-2021 seasons are fantastic!

I listen to one podcast and only only, and Unexplained is it!! I’d given podcasts a chance several times in years past but never found one that could keep my interest for more than a couple episodes. Then I discovered Unexplained and was instantly hooked by its content and its impeccably prepared and well-researched host, Richard! Richard's voice and cadence is perfect for the type of stories he tells! Others I’ve heard narrating “similar” podcasts spoke far too quickly, but Richard’s cadence is perfect… Quick enough to keep things moving, but slow enough to allow each carefully-chosen word to seep into your mind’s eye. I’ve listened to every episode of Unexplained, and I’m still waiting to find another that can match it. Keep up the good work Richard!!

The tales are intriguing and full of history and background. I stopped listing a while ago and have recently retuned. The narrators new storytelling inflection goes up about every 4th or 5th word like asking a question. This makes the sentences choppy and hard to follow the story. Please return to your normal storytelling inflection and cadence. It was beautiful and should never have been changed. Thank you!

The episode took place in the 1920s, but someone was described as calling 911, which wasn’t a thing for nearly 6 more decades. This was my first listen to the podcast, and unfortunately such an obvious error casts doubt on the accuracy and care taken in the writing process. It’s such an obvious error.

Really mesmerizing show! I love it. Great storytelling

The writing of this podcast has always been phenomenal and I THOROUGHLY enjoyed the early seasons. Returned to it now to listen to the 3-part Skinwalker Ranch story, but I genuinely can’t handle the new narration style. Why, WHY, is every sentence finished with up-speak. It’s absolutely maddening and I had to turn it off. Very strange and disappointing 😕

Love the content of your podcast. Was looking for where I could private message you instead of posting something here…but couldn’t find anything. Wanted to let you know that something changed from your early seasons to your latest ones where in your later seasons your intonation has changed in a way that makes you sound bored with the whole thing. Perhaps it’s that you started to end many of your sentences with an upward lilt that either sounds like you are asking a question or are incredibly bored. Maybe take a listen to early seasons vs later ones to be sure that this is an intentional change

The narration is too boring to pay attention to.

Have been a long time listener and Richard never disappoints. I love his voice and the music is beautiful- I get chills every time I hear the opening melody. To those that complain of ads- this podcast is free- therefore the ads are necessary. Fast forward them- Have a wonderful holiday season Richard and thank you for continuing to produce great content!

Love the show, but just fyi, 911 was not implemented in Los Angeles until 1984, so Walter’s mother, Christine, could not have called that number in 1928.

This was my favorite podcast to wind down to for years.. but these ads are starting to feel like poorly executed jump scares. RMS- please just put them at the front or back end if you must.. or narrate some sponsorships instead.

This last episode was excellent. Repetitive, loud ad breaks notwithstanding, it was creepy and visceral (even though I knew the story), well-written, thought-provoking and evocative. It made me think. I ended it going “yeah, that’s fascinating and I need to look into it more,” and when it was credited to be written by the man himself, I nodded sagely and said aloud, “ah, yes, that’s why.” Richard Maclean Smith is so good at what he does. If his sponsors/partners/whatever would just leave him be… everything would be great. I’m so happy I listened to this, because I was seriously thinking about unsubscribing for a bit there. But this ep is a great example as to why I bought the book when it first came out. His writing is so good. Just let him do his thing!

I used to really enjoy this podcast, but the constant ad breaks are becoming too much. Each episode seems to have more and more. And for such short podcasts, the multiple ad breaks feels very excessive. Really starting to loose interest.

Richard, The last few episodes you've written harken a return to the early days of the pod. I've always found the philosophical elements of your show to be the most interesting part. I'd rather wait more days between episodes and enjoy the sophistication than have them every week. Thanks for your show!

Used to love this podcast, but he has changed his narration and now I can’t even listen. It’s just read in this strange song-song voice with every sentence ending on an up note, if that makes sense. Wish he’d go back to his old way reading them.

This show seems like it could/would be good if he ever got to the events of the story. Instead he shares too many facts about this and that that I cannot bear to continue listening unfortunately. I really wanted to enjoy this podcast it is just draining waiting for little bits of the actual story to come across.

While I still thoroughly enjoy the podcast, I’ve become much less interested because of the massive uptick in ads. At the beginning, multiple commercial breaks throughout the episode, and more at the end! Over ten minutes in ads! While I appreciate and understand that podcasts can be revenue generators, what I don’t enjoy is a podcast flow being sliced and diced by multiple ads every ten minutes. Until the ads get cut down, I’ll be tuning in less and less.

I’ve listened since the beginning. I’ve even listened to seasons 1-5 a few times. But these episodes lately are not what I enjoyed about the podcast. I don’t know how to put it but much of the podcast is ether adds or not much to do with the story. At times I feel as if I’m being lectured instead of hearing the tale of unexplained. As of this posting it’s a 1 of 3 episode. I’ll finish this but then sorry but I’m done.

Please stop. This used to be my favorite podcast. Now it’s too irritating to listen to. And stop with the animal cruelty products especially.

This is one of the best show. I enjoy every story on this podcast. One of my favorite episode (even though I enjoy all the episodes) is season 4 episode 4 Alway Already. Thank you to the host and everyone involved for the hard work, research and dedication that goes into making the show and the amazing stories told.

In the old episodes you have so much character and interest in your voice and stories. Now your narration has absolutely no inflection beyond this monotone sing-song relentless string of sentences that my brain simply cannot follow. I’ve tried and tried but I can’t get my brain to make it make sense. Why the change? :(

Similarly to most of the reviews I’ve read on here Richard, the narrator, sounds like he is being held hostage in some sub basement in Belgrade. RMS, my man, please go back to your original narration. Pls. You were such a big part of my drives to work years ago. I would listen to this podcast as I would pass a cemetery in the early hours of the morning and the vibes were astounding. Will we ever know why RMS gave up his wonderful presentation and style? Was there something else at work that silenced him? Why does him team in silent to this day? There’s no chance he’s not reading these reviews. Unexplained.

As many other listens have stated in recent reviews, this use to be a great podcast; interesting material, soothing presentation, low key minimal music but….the jarring ridiculous ads have made it impossible to listen to. I had become a patreon member, in part to avoid loud intrusive ads that interrupted the calm flow of material, but that doesn’t seem to be an option anymore. WHAT DOES ONE HAVE TO DO TO LISTEN TO THIS ONCE GREAT PODCAST AD FREE?!?!?!?

I can’t listen to this anymore because it makes me fall asleep. It’s something about his voice and the low level drone type music. It’s hard to even follow what he is saying.

I came across this podcast a while back, and recently found it again. What happened to the narrator? This is the strangest way of reading out loud I’ve ever heard. You can’t listen to it. In the old episodes, the reading is very good.

This used to be my favorite podcast to fall asleep to. I was a Patreon supporter for years with the benefit of no ads (for sleep purposes). Now it’s midnight I’ve been woken up to a jarring ad. I’ve spent an hour trying to figure out how to go ad-free — I’ll pay anything! But apparently it’s not an option. I hate this change. It breaks my heart, but I have today goodbye to my once favorite podcast.

I absolutely love this podcast and have been listening for years. Richards style of storytelling is lovely and I always find the stories interesting. But the loud repetitive ads 5 or 6 or more in a 30 minute podcast is way too much. I don’t want to hear the same ad for rat traps 4 times in 30 minutes! I listen to this podcast to sleep and I just can’t do it anymore. Please cut the ads down, stop repeating the same ad multiple times and lower the volume. I don’t want to unsubscribe but I will if this continues.