This is petty of me, but I can't stand the Daily. Not because the content is bad, but because Michael Barbaro's cadence is grating to my ears. I can't get over it, and I tune off NPR whenever the Daily comes on.
It brings me back to third grade and reading aloud - some kids just couldn't follow the natural rhythm of a passage or breath properly. Inserting pauses where they don't need to be, stretching out words and throwing in meter where it doesn't make sense... I just can't get over it.
I don't know, maybe I'm crazy. You can notice it when he shifts from reading off a script to talking with a guest.
His cadence and intonation is intolerable. It’s as if he’s every every syllable needs to be as dramatic as possible. He also slips into a half-whisper sometimes that perhaps is supposed to be soothing but I just find unsettling.
Not to mention, the constant interjection of hmms, huhs, and ahs as guests are speaking.
As much as I appreciated the content, I found the delivery so incredibly grating that I had to stop listening.
While I still listen to and enjoy The Daily, I'm 100% with you with Barbaro's cadence and the way he reads from his script. Especially with how he reads off the ending "Here's what else you need to know today" line after the main story is over. It sounds like "Here's... What else... You need... Toknowthcirbfifhskd". I always laugh to myself every time I hear that.
I also understand that teasing someone about the way they speak (even if it's just to myself, hundreds of miles away from my commute to work) especially shitty because how you speak is one of the most personal things about someone, but JEEEZE!
I don't think it's wrong to critique a radio/podcast personality on their cadence. It's a part of the act, and it's something most pros work on and do intentionally. A lot of sportscasters talk about this (on podcasts and TV, ironically) - they put on a voice like an actor puts on a character.
I just don't care for Michael Barbaro's chosen vocal persona and find it distracting. But he's doing a good job with his show, so some people must like it.
In a similar vein I really like Terry Gross and Joe Buck but a lot of people disagree with me on both those counts.
PocketCasts has a feature where you can trim silence and adjust playback speed without affecting pitch. I found that plus 1.2x speed strikes a balance between efficiency without feeling like a firehouse.
I had been listening to podcasts at 1.5x speed for a while, but that gets overwhelming and difficult to multitask.
I grant that its an intentional affectation, which can make it a bit annoying, but it seems to put me at ease while hearing about the deep details of the stressful issues of the newsday. Cadences can put us in a hypnotic trance and I think his comes pretty close and it can be soothing.
Still, I don't find his cadence as objectionable (or 'intolerable') compared to what are my three pet peeves when listening to speakers: uptalk, feminine vocal fry, and the dropped final '-in' syllables (e.g., 'button', etc., practiced by a good 60%+ of Gen Z)
So I was a bit surprised to see such consensus around Barbaro's cadence, but your mileage may vary.
The success of The Run-up is the real story behind The Daily, but his radio voice has certainly changed - quite dramatically - and back episodes highlight this:
I too have noticed the cadence, and it occurred to me that non-native English speakers probably benefit from his deliberate cadences. I find it to be a well designed podcast.
It brings me back to third grade and reading aloud - some kids just couldn't follow the natural rhythm of a passage or breath properly. Inserting pauses where they don't need to be, stretching out words and throwing in meter where it doesn't make sense... I just can't get over it.
I don't know, maybe I'm crazy. You can notice it when he shifts from reading off a script to talking with a guest.