Un(con)Trolled Podcast: A Drama About The Chilling Effect Of Social Media

 Podcast networks spend millions of dollars on top-notch audio fiction that typically attracts hordes of listeners and opportunistic advertisers. For example, Spotify scored big with Batman Unburied in 2022 and has recently released Batman Unburied: Fallen City. 

Such a successful audio fiction podcast costs at least a million dollars to produce with production costs, voice actor salaries, and distribution and marketing. 

This is another reason why independent podcasts are so essential and valuable to the podcasting industry. There is a recently released independent audio fiction podcast, Un(con)Trolled, that should win awards and was created and produced at a fraction of the cost of some of these network audio fiction shows.

 Un(con)Trolled is a raw, gripping tale of social media influencer, Kenah, who has mastered the art of uncovering her Internet trolls’ darkest secrets and exacting her own brand of karmic justice. As her journey twists between unsettling encounters and mental manipulation, the line between control and chaos blurs, raising one chilling question: who is really in control?

 This audio drama is eight episodes in length, with episode runtimes often less than seven minutes. But in this case, the abbreviated runtime works to heighten the suspense, the fractured sense of reality, the tricks a vengeful mind can play on itself, and the racist, misogynistic, and homophobic trolling that too often defines social media.

Un(con)Trolled is the brain child of Kimberly Renee, who was named 2022's Woman of the Year by USA Today.  Renee is a sought-after speaker, powerful storyteller and commentator, and internationally-awarded social activist. She’s also known for her advocacy work, uncovering hidden truths in history, and creating programs to improve the lives of those in historically marginalized communities.

In 2020, she founded the internationally award-winning plant-based national hunger relief effort Food Love by Might Be Vegan to serve those in need during the COVID-19 pandemic, giving particular attention to needs within BIPOC communities and people under medical care.

​In 2022, she was inducted into Meta’s 2022 We The Culture class.

Passionate about all things justice, intersectional environmentalism, and plant-based living, Kimberly Renee is a multi-hyphenate creator, producer, chef, actor, and singer with a bachelor of science in marketing from HBCU North Carolina A&T State University.

All of those accomplishments and attributes flow into Un(con)Trolled.

 When we asked Kimberly about the creation and production of Un(con)Trolled, she said: "The sound design is by me. I made the choices and selected elements to create the scenes. I recorded in studio at Grindhaus Studios, which is a Black-owned studio in Charlotte, North Carolina. I used one of their engineers to bring to life my vision."

Kimberly worked on every aspect of the podcast. "The vision for the artwork is mine. I ended up hiring two people to bring it to life. First, I worked with an illustrator who drew the keyboard and keys as I instructed. (The broken keys on the table are U, N, Control, L, E, and D, which spell the title.) Once finished, I mocked up the keyboard with the background and added a title (selecting font and colors). Then, I hired a second illustrator to add the broken effect across the image."

When I asked Kimberly about the major themes in Un(con)Trolled, she answered: "Bullying online is easy. The ways people hurl negativity at others online often reflect behavior they’d never display in person. The perceived distance between the bully and their target gives them a false sense of security. But what happens when that distance disappears? What if there were real consequences for what we say online?"

Kimberly continues: "Big picture, Un(con)Trolled offers a fictional lens into the realities of cyberbullying, online predators, and the mental health impacts of social media. As the adage goes, 'On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.' I would go so far as to say that you never know which dog will bite, so scroll with caution. And that goes for bullies and those being bullied."

Kimberly is planning on a second season after the critical success of Un(con)Trolled. 

"Yes, I'll work on season two very soon. Lots of ideas in my head about what happens next. I'd love to have the show purchased by a podcasting network for season two, and soon after produce it for a television streaming service," Kimberly says.

I agree with Kimberly Renee. After listening to the skills she has evinced by creating and producing Un(con)Trolled, a podcast network should snap up her skills. Like Liam Neeson in the movie Taken, Kimberly Renee does have a particular set of skills that include scaring us, making us think, making us question reality, sending us down solipsistic dead ends, and offering a warning about the blurring of the line between the digital universe and physical reality.

 

Un(con)Trolled is without a doubt one of the best audio dramas of the year. Podcasting needs more creators as talented as Kimberly Renee.

 

Kimberly Renee proves once again that independent podcasters are in a class by themselves.