Meghan Markle slammed for talking 1.5 TIMES more than Serena Williams on her 'dud' podcast
Meghan Markle's much-awaited podcast, 'Archetypes', was out on Tuesday, August 23. With all eyes (and ears) on the debut episode, critics have one thing to say - Meghan Markle spoke much more than her guest. According to critics, the former royal could have allowed her guest, tennis legend Serena Williams, to share more of her stories rather than monopolizing the conversation. After all, the 23-time Grand Slam Singles winner does have her share of anecdotes to recount.
The debut episode released on Spotify was titled 'The Misconception of Ambition with Serena Williams', with Markle describing her first guest as the embodiment of "the spirit of ambition." Notably, Williams is a friend of the Duchess of Sussex.
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According to critics of the former royal member, the host spoke 1.5 times more than her illustrious guest. This by no means indicates that the tennis legend had a shortage of stories. But she wasn't allowed to speak enough. Such a negative reception of the show has led people to label it a "dud.
People have gone as far as to refer to the transcripts of the podcast. Meghan critic Daniela Elser wrote, "Meghan, based on the word count from the transcript available, was responsible for about 61 per cent of the conversation" whereas, the illustrious tennis champion "hits the 39 per cent mark." She concluded, "To put it another way, Meghan spoke for approximately 1.5 times more time than the woman who was there to tell her story."
Such criticism of the debut episode of 'Archetypes' will certainly affect the rankings of the podcast which is yet to break into Spotify's Top 100 for individual episodes in the UK and the United States after 24 hours of its release.
Elser said the entire episode could be summarized as, "Meghan, Meghan, a touch of Harry and some more Meghan with some Serena thrown in here and there. So, Markle is essentially using her podcast as a platform to engage with listeners and share her own personal views and stories, rather than her guest's, who in her own words, is a 'trendsetter, trailblazer, businesswoman, mum.'"
The Duchess of Sussex has notably "shed" any other marker of her identity for the podcast and will be hosting all episodes as simply "Meghan," something that has been featured in the promotional posters of her podcast too.