Case #3 Belt Buckle

12:11 is an example of a tangent in “Belt Buckle”. The artist explains to Starlee Kine how to “do the horizon”, and how she will show her how to create it more in-depth if she ever comes to California. This isn’t really relevant to the mystery, considering it has nothing to do with the belt buckle and is merely an aside about art. If this tangent were to be deleted, then a little bit of the story’s charm would be lost. Something about the artist’s voice is very eager and passionate about what she does, and I believe that translates well into a podcast where the host spends her free time (as Carson points out in the beginning) solving people’s little mysteries for them. In many ways, this podcast in general is about passion. On the other hand, if this tangent were to be deleted, then time would be gained. Starlee could spend more time going over details more relevant to the mystery, and that would perhaps be more interesting and to the point. I would vote to keep the charm though, and keep the passionate tangent about the horizon (and the glass half full or half empty joke) in the show.

Around 28:31, I really enjoyed when Carson was going through his “jar of junk”, reliving past moments from his youth. The clanking really put me in the moment, and added both the immediate clinking sounds that bring the story to a new level and the sentimentality that is linked with every piece of scrap that’s been at the bottom of your jar and the back of your mind since you acquired it when you were some single-digit age. Another appeal about this journey into the jar of junk is that you can hear it even when Starlee is talking to the audience. Even though she leaves the conversation with Carson, we are still tied to the mystery through the sounds of him exploring the jar.