Author: Jordan G Estabrook
Yesterday, as I was sitting at my desk, desperate for entertainment, I searched my mind for something I could do. The left is always entertaining, so I started there.
I listen to podcasts all the time, but I had never delved into the brilliant mind of Meghan Markle on her podcast Archetypes.
I decided why not. Someone has to, and it might as well be me.
Her podcast delves into what she calls the “archetypes” of women constructed by society, including but not limited to, ambitious women, divas, singletons, etc. Her first episode features tennis champion Serena Williams as they both attempt to dissect the term “ambitious women.”
I say “dissect” loosely. It’s more of recalling experiences, complaining and offering “you go girl” compliments. An overall love fest with overproduced, long as the China wall introduction that takes forever to even start talking to her guests.
However, I promised myself to be as open as I could. So here we go.
The Positives
The positives are difficult to dredge through with all the shallow, feminist talking points and constant schmoozing, but there were a few. For one, Meghan Markle does have an incredible podcast voice. If I didn’t know who she was and the content was different, I’d enjoy listening to her.
I don’t keep up with Serena Williams an awful lot, but she made a couple good statements.
In talking about parenting and overcoming fears, Williams admitted that she’s scared of water, but she still encourages her daughter, Olympia, to swim because she doesn’t want to put her fears on her daughter. I think this is an excellent thing to do.
Despite Markle trying to defend her infamous outburst, Williams readily admits that she wishes she had acted differently and regrets her decision to behave that way.
Now for the negatives.
The Negatives
As already mentioned, the podcast felt very overproduced. The conversation between Williams and Markle was often interrupted by Markle’s commentary, a voiceover clip or an ad. The podcast is just about under an hour, and about 20 minutes in the beginning was just Markle’s intro, which left only 30 minutes of actual interviewing. So, put all the interruptions in there and you hardly get any substance.
Let’s talk about the interview itself. The whole interview was supposed to be about the misconception and mistreatment of ambitious women, but they failed to even dissect the term. The only thing they did was complain about how hard it was and how people don’t like ambitious women.
This, of course, was puzzling to me. Didn’t I just see Serena Williams on the cover of Vogue (it’s in my bathroom, so I’m going to say yes)? If ambitious women are hated that much, why would the biggest fashion magazine in the world put her on the cover?
The oppression just feels made up.
But what about Meghan Markle? She claims ambition for herself, and because of that ambition, she is strongly disliked. This leads into my second issue.
I don’t think Markle is disliked because of her ambition, but more because of her narcissistic tendencies and lies. It’s hard to trust anything that Meghan Markle says, especially since her Oprah interview. Any story she tells could be made up or exaggerated. We don’t really know.
She describes Archie’s nursery on fire when she and Harry were in South Africa. Thankfully, Archie was not in the room, but many sources are saying it was more smoking and melting of the heater, not the room going up in flames. Again, we might never know the truth, but we can’t trust her words, which is problematic for a podcast that relies solely on words.
The podcast itself has an average three-star review.
James Marriot, columnist for The Times UK, sums it up fairly well:
"The podcast is a tastefully soundtracked parade of banalities, absurdities and self-aggrandizing Californian platitudes. The only enjoyable bit involves Meghan seeming to have a dig at the royal family. The listener’s overwhelming sense is of futility and irritation."
Celia Walden, writer for The Telegraph UK, says “Meghan’s podcast is just another way she can talk about herself.”
And that’s kind of the point. Markle loves herself. She talked far more than Williams did. Quite frankly, I would've liked to hear from her more.
In regard to archetypes, Markle may want to ask herself if society constructed her reputation for her, or if she did.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily represent those of Resident Skeptics.
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