Listener sentiment
Listeners continue to overwhelmingly praise "I'm Not a Monster" for its rigorous, high-stakes investigative journalism, with Josh Baker's on-the-ground reporting in Syria and his immersive, empathetic storytelling drawing consistent acclaim across both seasons. Many reviewers describe bingeing the series and commend the production for bringing nuance and humanity to a politically polarized story, forcing them to weigh competing arguments about agency, victimhood, and accountability. A persistent minority criticism carries into the latest reviews: several listeners feel Baker is unduly skeptical of his subjects—particularly the women at the center of each season—second-guessing their accounts even when corroborated by other sources, and a few argue he underexamines the roles of gender, race, and religious prejudice in how these stories have been handled by authorities and media. One recent reviewer also feels the Shamima Begum season falls short of the first season's depth, noting that the question of why she joined ISIS in the first place goes largely unexplored. Despite these tensions, the overall sentiment remains strongly positive, with the series widely regarded as a benchmark for long-form investigative audio.
Apple4.8 · 1,135
Summary generated Sep 15, 2026
