Operator
4.5/5
Critic Rating
During the 1-900 number craze of the Nineties, one company provided the vast majority of phone sex. American Telnet was an empire founded by the man who called himself “The Telephone Pimp.” He ran the company “like General Motors” and got filthy rich doing it. But for the (mostly) women who answered the calls and delivered fantasies 24-7, it was a different story. The powerful stigma against sex work was always lurking just beneath the surface, until it threatened to tear apart the whole company. Hosted by Tina Horn (Why Are People Into That?), OPERATOR is an eight-part series about big ambi...
Critic Reviews
Score: 4.5
Nicholas Quah • Vulture • Jan 5, 2022
"(Updated) I thought it was pretty good — though I was hoping for more serious engagement with the actual substance, meaning, and anthropology of phone sex itself. A missed opportunity. That said, what you do get from Operator are the thrills of a conventional business drama stacked with betrayal, corporate intrigue, and descriptions of various debaucheries..."
Score: 4.5
Nicholas Quah • Vulture • Dec 8, 2021
"I’ve been closely tracking Operator, Wondery’s new audio doc about the rise and fall of a phone-sex empire. Let me tell ya: I’m pretty convinced that the concept of phone sex is the perfect symbol for the decade."
Score: 4
James Marriot • The Times UK • Nov 26, 2021
"It’s one to listen to with your headphones on. Operator combines a sense of fun, bountiful narrative energy, the slickest possible production values and, of course, sex to wonderful effect."
Score: 5
Stephen O. • Podcast Delivery • Nov 15, 2021
"...you'll be left wondering whether the whole concept is actually legit. America TelNet is the centerpiece of a thrilling 8-part podcast that reveals the story of an empire that came to be, what it was like to be a person on the other end of the lime, and all the salaciousness and/or hilarity that makes the business of pleasure work."
