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Its a good thing, then, that the experiments didnt stop at the TV show.
On paper, such an experiment matches the moment, given the declining rates of societal trust in institutions.
But the episode ofTheWeeklywe got instead on Sunday night was, frankly,a bizarre hour of television.
It simply didnt work as a vessel of insight.
Transparency might have been the goal, but the episode could never rise above a feeling of arbitrariness.
(Or, more accurately, around 50 minutes, plus ads.
)But then the inevitable question would be, Why do it this way, then?
There may still be a chance to salvage the interestingness of the experiment, though.
Each installment ofTheChoicepresents nearly the full audio recording of a candidates interview.
This formats execution gets theTimesmuch closer to the underlying goals of transparency and insight than video or text does.
To begin with, you get the near-complete context of every interview.
TheTimesisnt quite successful with this experiment on either front across all formats, at least not directly.
We see it as a human process, flawed people engaging with flawed people.
On those gains alone, the spectacle is almost marginally worth it.
