Content Warnings for Within the Wires: The Cradle

July 22, 2023 2:30 PM

I am MASSIVELY behind on podcasts. Also MASSIVELY pregnant. Having listened to the promo for Within the Wires Season 4, I suspect that it may not be for me right now, but I can't find anywhere with actual content warnings. Can anyone who has listened to the whole thing help?
posted by DebetEsse to Media & Arts (3 answers total)

It's been quite awhile since I listened to that season, but the cradle mainly was the name of the commune that the woman who speaks on tapes was the leader of. She runs a group that has families with children in opposition of the rules of the Society. I feel like it was more about opposing the society and running the commune than it was about anything that might be triggering. But again, it's been years since I heard it, because I listened to it as it was coming out. That being said, there's SO many podcasts available now, there's nothing wrong with waiting to listen to it when you feel more comfortable.
posted by jenjenc at 7:21 PM on July 22, 2023

Best answer: I also haven't listened to that season in awhile, but having just played the promo, I can see where you might think it wouldn't suit you right now. What I recall is it has a lot of stuff in that style - heightened language used to encourage cohesion in a group that has isolated itself in order to continue to have "traditional" family structures. It's more rhetoric than responding to actual threats, as I remember it.

I don't feel like the season particularly escalates from what's in the promo, but if that had you feeling like it might not be for you right now, it's probably just as well to go with that. Trying to catch up on Within the Wires might not be a great project for right now - I suspect seasons 6 & 7 might also not sit well at this point.
posted by EvaDestruction at 7:20 PM on July 23, 2023

I also haven't listened since its release, but if I recall correctly, one of the main points of the story is a very contentious, antagonistic relationship between a mother and her (now-adult) child, as well as a lot of discussion of hypothetical family structures that some listeners might find dystopian. Possibly not the most fun for someone who is just about to become a parent!

If you like Welcome to Night Vale podcasts and haven't listened to Alice Isn't Dead yet, that one's amazing too. It deals with some heavy subject matter but none of it pertains to parenthood.
posted by fire, water, earth, air at 5:58 AM on July 28, 2023