I went to school with a woman who, whenever any story was read and it was her turn to critique, would say,"It was a good story, I liked it."
She was really perky and cute, and had a VERY strong southern accent ("I laaahked it," was how it came out). And all her stories were full of strung out junkies and desperate murderers and they inevitably gobsmacked people the first time they read them because how did that come out of her smiling little head?
This story reminded me of her commentary. It was a good story. I liked it. I see there was some critique of its lack of depth, and I'm usually the first to charge stories with being superficial, but I think this story's superficiality was deceptive. No, it won't leave me thinking for days and no, I don't think I'll listen to it seven times in a row, the way I did Samantha Henderson's EP, or twice a month for several months, as I do with stories that really GET me, but I'm truly not seeing all the hate.
I liked the intro, too. I don't have any problems with kids. Or cookies. I only wish that the story included mailing some of the described cookies to my house, because it's kind of mean to talk about fresh cookies without providing any but ehhh, not a perfect world, I guess.
I don't really care whether the intros have anything to do with the stories or not. Or whether they have kids in. Do people not have fast forwarding on their mp3 players or their computers? I'm never forced to listen to stuff I hate, though sometimes, I'll admit, it's a bit like a train wreck I can't stop watching. But clearly the problem there is me, not the podcast, which I have the power to make go away.
Intros with children followed by stories about children seems like a peculiar thing to abandon a podcast for, but if you're moved to it, you're moved to it and I'm no one to tell you otherwise.