Bill Rankin’s intonation on Breakdown is so grating

I said this in a comment before but I need input from more people. I’m sorry bothered by how Bill Rankin narrates. It’s the cadence, it’s a bit sing song almost, like he’s reciting nursery rhymes or reading out a kids’ story. I think he’s trying to sound neutral or something but it sounds more like he’s trying to make it lighter, which this material cannot be. And to be fair, I’m sure he doesn’t mean it. I’m not questioning his journalistic integrity because it’s a respectful podcast for the most part and he doesn’t do any of the cringe things other podcasts do (like praising themselves, (cough Bronwyn), or asking questions leading responders to talk about the positive “huge” impact of their podcast).

Is this a necessary criticism? For an audio medium, I’d say so. To me it is the equivalent of poor acting in movies.