doesn’t really add any info, and as far as the story—it’s done far better by Astonishing Legends podcast. host even mentions a couple times she wasn’t sure if she should even continue this one since theirs was so much better. she should have stuck to that instinct. this one adds nothing.

I really enjoyed this podcast and your effort to shed some light on this mystery. It’s good to revisit things like this to bring attention back to it and maybe view it with a new lens. You have an awesome personality as well! Would love to see an investigation into more mysteries. 5 stars

Listen to the Astonishing Legends podcast episodes on this subject instead. They did a deep dive into the Betz sphere and interviewed a family member. Much more interesting than this one.

I loved this and found it fascinating, I keep checking back to see if there’s an update - I sure hope there will be!

I had listened to Astonishing Legend’s episode on the Sphere, as mentioned in this show. I hopped on this podcast in order to dig even deeper or find new perspectives. Unfortunately, this show wasn’t able to. Not only did it not go as deep as Astonishing Legends did in 3 episodes, but it gave me nothing new in 5 episodes. I feel bad writing this because I understand that plenty of effort went into it, and it seems like a personal venture, but any truly excellent podcast shouldn’t take me months to push myself to finally finish the series.

I’m not sure what’s happening. Is this story real?

Glad I came upon this podcast. Very interesting information of history that happened in my own city that I had no idea about.

Nice

I can tell that they worked really hard to make this Podcast something, and I appreciate that. Sometimes a story is just not there.

I Liked it

Love listening to you tell this story you should do more podcast about other mysteries similar to this really enjoyed how u tell the story.

I had to duck out at “Soooooooo, I guess this is what phones used to sound like?”

So. What else to do on a rainy day when you don't feel like doing anything? You find a podcast that's different. Entertaining. One that sticks like peanut butter on the brain. Odd Ball was it. Well done.

Kinda long and tbh you lost me about halfway through. It sort of droned on. Not horrible, good story telling and I like the back story

This is great. Must listen.

I felt like this was the Lost of podcasts. It was long, repetitive, and left me with no answers.

It’s fun listening to a podcast about your hometown. I’ve learned a lot of new info that I didn’t know before. It’s not a riveting story but it is charming. The narrator should be more confident in herself! :) This is a great start for WJCT.

Good story! I also think the host does a good job.

Binged it

The voice of the host kills it.

I really enjoyed! Looking forward to that episode next year.

Interesting story and generally well-produced. Narrator sometimes comes across as immature.

Interesting subject, but the podcast does not have 5 episodes worth of content

I couldn’t get past the host’s lisp. Like nails on a chalkboard

This podcast is engaging and very professional.

It’s pretty apparent that the writer and host listens to a lot of Radiolab and This American Life, because this podcast feels like an amateur attempt to emulate them, almost exactly. The amount of cliche podcast lines is groanworthy. The editing is a bit... lackluster, with subpar pacing and uninteresting inclusion of irrelevant material. On the whole, a somewhat intriguing story which loses steam a few episodes in, executed only barely well enough that I didn’t stop listening.

The story is pretty interesting, would have been perfect for a 3 episode podcast. It went around in circles, repeating the same things again and again and adding small (teeny) pieces of information throughout. It felt unnecessarily stretched and over hyped. Presenting itself as more than it turned out to be. Props for the research and A plus for effort.

Doesn’t muck around too much in paranormal conspiracies — fairly covers all aspects of the Betz sphere, including its likely unremarkable origins. A kooky cast of characters. Good reporting based mostly on original interviews and archival news clips, some of which you can see on the podcast’s website.

This story was really interesting, until the last episode...😳 Not sure what I was expecting out of a story like this, but the last episode felt like filler- a deadline had to be met so they put out what they had...as a listener, it kind of felt like a waste of time, tbh.

it is a good attempt to spice up a really boring nothing story. sorry npr, i still love you otherwise.

NOTHING HAPPENED. Nothing. Nada. Zero. Why did I listen to all this?!?

Loved this podcast and the Jacksonville roots. Excellent reporting constructed into an intriguing narrative. Great work to Lindsey and the team.

Well-researched and reported strange topic. The host is very up front about the limitations of her work and where she wants/wanted to go with the podcast and I don’t think it’s the end yet. Confounded by poor reviews.

Such an interesting story! Amazing interviews and some really neat sound editing. Compelling through to the end. Ignore the bad reviews, I have no idea why some people are so rude because the story didn’t turn out the way they expected. That’s not a reflection of the quality here. 100% worth your time!

A story that’s as eerie and amusing as the ball’s mysterious properties. Really a fun ride. Conjures up the same kind of ambiance you get from some of the more interesting/absurd fiction pieces in The New Yorker. Can’t wait to see if Gerri gets back to you, Lindsey.

Not investigating further that the sphere could have come from the paper/pulp mill is just lame. The extraterrestrial angle is impossible to prove and the lead actor in all of this refuses to be interviewed.

I’m sorry Lindsey wasted all her energy on this. There’s nothing here but a waste of her time. Quite boring. Sent with love

This is a story about a metal ball, possibly of extraterrestrial descent, possibly not. Host spends almost all of their time researching this “odd ball” and finding out its origin. However, the host claims that this is not what they researching or the “real story.” But gives us no indicator of what the “real story” is. I’m assuming it’s about the Bates family, who found the ball and have a lot more history and story to tell than the ball itself. The host fails to see this and spends all of their time focusing on talking to researchers and scientist about the make-up of the ball and the journey the ball had in the 70’s and not on the journey the family had. Major let down in a podcast, it’s story telling at a middle school level.

If you’re researching a story... and realize there’s no “there” there... don’t move forward with it. This podcast was 4.5 episodes too long. Could have been summed up in 20 minutes. My advice to prospective listeners... google the Betz ball case. Save yourself some time and frustration waiting for something interesting to happen on this podcast. Also: the simplest explanation is the most likely. And to the host: creating an entire podcast based on rumors, innuendo and hypotheses that are in no way backed up by facts, is the definition of exploitative. It was incredibly disingenuous to sell it as anything but that to Gerri Betz, and being a smart woman, she knew that and that’s why she rightly declined to be used for this purpose. ✌🏻

Odd Ball is fantastic. It manages to coherently focus the fringe perspectives and personalities of those that hold themselves out as the factualists and those for whom it becomes very important to convince the factualists and chronicles the collateral treatments that befall an answer seeker in between. It recounts, in fair balance, the views of skeptics, believers, and middle-grounders with respect to wonderfully weird happenings. It includes episodes built around a catchy tune and cliffhangers that are interesting and exciting enough to binge. What’s not to like? Also, does anyone else think Lindsey should be a voice actor?

Too much time saying the same thing over and over

❤️❤️ This podcast made me laugh at times and tear up at others. It does a good job of holding your attention from the first episode to the last. Lindsey is relatable and honest in a way that doesn’t feel forced. Really nice Florida story ❤️❤️

The storytelling is so interesting and thoughtful! I couldn’t get enough of this peek into the lives of the people behind the mysterious story. I thought the way the journalist chose to focus on the human aspects and not just the mystery was fascinating and endearing. I thoroughly enjoyed this and definitely want more!

It’s okay, I keep forgetting I’m listening to it. A little too much filler for me. I like facts not notes on how so and so wore her hair.

The amount of repeat info per episode is crazy! There isn’t much new info episode to episode!

I wanted to love this! But the inconclusive nature of the show, the repetitive narration and interviews, it just kinda falls short. The host makes you think you’re diving into a wild ride but this remains a fairly slow crawl to the end. No fun climax or startling realizations here, sorry to say.

A little confused.

Nothing is discovered or exceptional about this story.

Investigative journalism with a twist of Florida weirdness. Awesome listen, best of the year IMO

Really boring story about backwoods royalty and possible machinery. Terrible ending. Should have named your podcast "Live with the question" if you knew you werent going to be able to answer anything.