Audio Sample
Publisher:
Dan Taberski, Pineapple Street Studios, Topic Studios
Headlong: Missing Richard Simmons
4.5/5
Critic Rating
On February 15, 2014, fitness guru Richard Simmons disappeared. He stopped teaching his regular exercise class at Slimmons, cut off his closest friends, and removed himself from the public eye after decades as one of the most accessible celebrities in the world. Nobody has heard from him - and no one knows why he left. Filmmaker Dan Taberski was a Slimmons regular and a friend of Richard’s. Missing Richard Simmons is Dan’s search for Richard - and the deeper he digs, the stranger it gets. Listen to the podcast The New York Times calls "a cultural phenomenon." Headlong is Dan Tabe...
Critic Reviews
Score: 5
Nicholas Quah • Vulture • Oct 1, 2019
"We can say it’s fairly controversial, given its relationship to the question of privacy as it pertains to public figures. We can also say that it definitely whipped up a frenzy. Missing Richard Simmons’s enduring legacy should be the way it highlighted the fact that podcasting is still a largely undefined medium...the opportunity to play with new, unexpected boundaries."
Score: 5
Hannah Verdier • The Guardian • Mar 17, 2017
"It’s like Serial, but with more Lycra – and a mystery unfolding in real time...It’s hard to believe Taberski’s intentions for the podcast don’t come from a good place; telling Simmons’ story feels like a labour of love."
Score: 4
Amanda Hess • New York Times • Mar 14, 2017
"Enter the latest prestige podcast obsession...the show is instantly engaging. Many of the podcast’s tropes — the mystery framing, the crowdsourcing of clues from the audience and a format that focuses on the narrator as much as his subject — are borrowed directly from “Serial.” “Missing Richard Simmons” has retooled the stale Hollywood documentary as an addictive media sensation. But it’s also turned it into a morally suspect exercise..."
Score: 4
Charley Locke • Wired • Feb 23, 2017
"Missing Richard Simmons Is Gripping. And Also Kinda Icky . Taberski may want Simmons to appreciate his own legacy, but will he appreciate Taberski's podcast? "I’m hoping that if anybody loves a grand gesture, it’s Richard Simmons,” Taberski says. That's a touching sentiment, but he isn’t doing all this just so he can email the episodes to Simmons. He’s sharing it with thousands of listeners—and creating a name for himself in the process."
