Mobituaries Third Season: John Denver, Loretta Lynn, Death Of A Name

 I hear dead people. No, I'm not channeling the 1999 film The Sixth Sense. I am talking about listening to the third season of Mobituaries, humorist-writer Mo Rocca's engaging paean to those who have passed on but left us bodies of work that deserve more reflection.

This is the podcast's tagline: "CBS News correspondent Mo Rocca has always loved obituaries. Each episode of Mobituaries covers his favorite dearly departed people and things, from the 'Latin Lover' who redefined Hollywood masculinity in the 1920s to the TV dog who introduced kids to literature in the 1990s. Every Wednesday, hear fresh takes on famous legacies and uncover people worthy of their overdue moment in the spotlight. Even if you know the names, you’ve never understood why they matter until now!"

Rocca calls these episodes "Mobits." Get what he did there. But the real charm is inherent in Rocca's delicately balanced re-examination of the subject's life.

The first two seasons of Mobituaries garnered critical reviews and impressive ear time from listeners. Rocca had even published a successful book, Mobituaries in November 2019. Rocca's last episode premiered in March 2020 and then COVID hit. 

It's been over two years since a Mobituaries episode was released, so it was with great joy that Rocca released a late September two-minute introductory teaser episode to season three. 

The first episode dealt with singer John Denver ("Rocky Mountain High"), who in the mid-70s was one of the most popular and well-known celebrities of his time. The episode, titled, "Death Of The Sunshine Boy" relied on interviews with Denver's ex-wife Annie, Denver's close friend Tom Crum, and music critic Bill Flanagan.

Rocca's treatment of his "Mobit" is not simply an audio Wikipedia page, with a laundry list of his accomplishments and often messy personal life. Rocca details Denver's rise to fame, his cultivation of his public persona, and his inevitable fade from the public short-attention span eye. 

Especially during the height of his musical career, John Denver was dismissed by music fans and critics as bland, middle of the road, and too safe. But Rocca and Flanagan navigate those turgid waters, discussing the depth of Denver's talent to balance the thermostat of the culture during the turbulent, treacherous 70s with music, a stage persona, and early onset environmental activism that made millions fans.

Third-season episode topics include June Foray, who voiced classic cartoon characters such as Rocky The Flying Squirrel, Anna May Wong, a trailblazing movie star for Asians and the first Asian American features on U.S. currency.

Mobituaries host Mo (Maurice) Rocca is a correspondent for CBS Sunday Morning, which is perhaps one of the most underrated shows on television today. For podcast fans, Rocca is well-known for years as a guest on the NPR's Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! show. Who can forget the swirling controversy around Rocca's unintentional slight of sweater knitters on Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! in late 2010? Trust me, you had to be there, especially when Rocca had to issue an on-air apology for those nicked-off knitters.

Rocca's voice is not classically podcast with a frictionless smoothness like Michael Barbaro, Roman Mars, or Dallas Taylor. His nasal tone underlies a hypervigilant sense of balance, fairness, and investigative rigor on the subjects of his "Mobit" episodes. 

Today, we have too many podcast hosts who offer listeners answers all wrapped up in a conspiratorial bow with no thinking required.

A key manifestation of a thoughtful and comprehensive podcast episode is that it asks more questions than it provides answers. That's Mo Rocca's Mobituaries. In fact, Rocca simulates the Socratic Method, asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to draw out ideas and underlying presuppositions.