This is a really well-done podcast. I especially appreciate the sensitivity with which the host attended to the dignity of the victims.

Professionally presented with facts and compassion. One of best podcasts I’ve listened to. Prayers to all those effected by this needless tragedy.

I’m not sure why a few people gave this a poor review because as someone that frequently listens to documentary style podcasts, this one was excellent. The pacing was great, the content was great and occasionally heart-wrenching, and the editing was also very good. I definitely recommend to listeners.

Tries to be a comprehensive accounting of the surfside disaster, but poorly edited, repetitive and long winded. Fast forwarded through 40-50% of the content. Would only recommend if you have a lot of free time you want to kill.

I honestly feel that a podcast of this quality could potentially save lives I am the President of our Condo HOA and although Florida State Statute laws are changing to mandatory funding of building reserves this tragedy puts into perspective on what not to do as an HOA Association. I would very much like to see a follow up podcast of the lawsuits and findings of the federal government’s engineers

This is podcast and it’s narrator’s delivery is one of my favorites shows. And I listen to tons of programming. I can’t wait for what you might work in next. Thank you 🙏

There was some solid reporting but I felt like this was focused on how well the Herald reported as it was on the tragedy. I found the investigated reporting to be lacking and they seems to sensationalize the tragedy.

This is very well done. In-depth and informative. I wish they would make this into a docu-series. More people need to hear this story!

This 12 part series provides an in depth look at the Surfside, FL collapse of the Champlain Towers South condos. It covers the personal stories of victims, and the emotional toll on the survivors and family members of those lost. Rather than sensationalizing the disaster, the Miami herald reporting offers detailed reporting with high journalistic standards to explore the causes of the disaster. The engineering, policy and maintenance failures that led to the collapse are explained clearly. Great podcast!

I am late to this podcast and just discovered it. Living in S. fl this hits home and this catastrophe was tragic and sad, the reporting on this show was so well done. However I can’t finish it because there seems to be some issues with the episodes. Episode 3 just cuts off around the 5 mins mark and the other episodes are cutting out too. I wasn’t able to finish to episode 2 because it keeps coming up now as “not available.” Not sure what’s going on and I tried it on 2 different podcast aps with the same results. I hope it’s brought to their attention somehow and fixed because I would love to listen to it completely. Right now I’m just jumping around trying to see which one will work.

The focus on the people involved, the audio of the survivors, how they have been impacted, was the core of this podcast series. Great work Miami Herald

There’s been a shortage of provocative investigative journalist podcasts recently and this is ON POINT. Very timely and relevant. Very well done!

Well done.

Great show until it fully embraces NIMBYism without a second guess. While that may be the politically popular position, one expects more nuance from the Miami Herald.

I’ve followed some you tube channels exploring the causes of the Champlain building collapse. But this podcast is the real gold— stories of the people involved! My imagination was so enriched with the hearing.

A masterful synthesis showing facets of this unspeakable tragedy. Beban is brilliant!

I consider this podcast series to be one of the best I’ve ever listened to. The structure of the story is excellent, as it moves from broad scope to granular detail and back again. The weaving together of the engineering details behind the disaster with the heartbreaking stories of the victims and survivors, as well as the litigation over the collapse, provides listeners with multiple perspectives from which to view the story of Champlain Towers. The production of the podcast is also top-notch, seamlessly intertwining 911 calls with interviews, news clips, and narration. The Miami Herald and its journalists should be congratulated for this tour de force; any accolades it receives for this series, as well as its reporting on the disaster, are well-deserved.

Beautiful, thorough journalism. The details of this story are so well investigated, so beautifully and respectfully told. What I loved the most is the plain, unadorned details given in reverence to the life of the building and, most importantly, the souls that lived within it.

I first learned about this podcast on a Bluegreen Vacations Facebook page. One of our resorts is the building nextdoor…the phone video taken by a resort guest (sitting in the pool deck next door) was harrowing. I so appreciated that this podcast delved into construction and maintenance issues of Champaign Towers and I am truly grateful that the Bluegreen Solara Surfside has remained closed in order to insure the safety of the building. The fact that the Champlaign site has been sold to a developer is concerning. I would hope that the site would be treated as a Memorial site for those that died…much the same as the Twin towers. I fear that that will not be the case.

I want to hear more! Wonderful host as well

The tragedy of Surfside is something that I will remember for the rest of my life and the reporting in this podcast has brought to light the answers to many of the ‘whys’ that stuck with me in the months that followed. The Miami Herald team has done a phenomenal job in their reporting and this podcast has been so informative. As a former Florida resident (5years of that time spent in Miami (FIU go panthers!)), and I still have many members of my family who live on both coasts, it is truly frustrating and terrifying to think that not only did this happen, but unless condo regulations tighten up, it can and likely will happen again. As upsetting as the subject matter is, and the monumental loss of life, I do think this is a must-listen podcast. I will definitely be recommending it, and not just to Floridians, but for everyone.

I learned so much from this podcast.Paul Beban, an incredible narrator. The experts and reporters- stellar. The tale of how everything can come together to cause such tragedy. I wish that we learn from this, but....

Excellent and engrossing!

One of the best podcasts I’ve ever listened to. It was informative, emotional and interesting. Thank you for keeping the victims at the center of this sad event!

Today the State Legislature passed legislation on future required condo inspection. What comes to me: Why does the State allow buildings, especially tall condos, to be built on the waterfront? Sand is not a solid foundation. They were looking for revenue, not to care for the residents. 30 years for the first inspection? I would rather see all the buildings come down and turn the state into a natural preserve.

Very well done. This podcast exhibited superior reporting and presentation, sticking to the facts and treating the stories of the victims and their families with the utmost respect. Paul also has an awesome radio voice. Job well done!

Superb work and great interview with the structural engineering expert from Drexel University and the Miami Herald team. This episode was really captivating and draws the listener into the process. Highly enlightening and informative. I wonder how so many signs were missed, truly bothersome! Paul Beban did an excellent job bringing this story to our awareness and making it very understandable to all. Thank you! My hope is that with this awareness, such a tragedy will not happen again.

Excellent. Riveting. Informative. Heart wrenching. Reminds me of Garcia Marquez’s novel Chronicle of a Death Foretold. Multitude of actions that could have prevented this tragedy were not taken.

Includes a great deal of information you never saw, heard, or read about this horrific tragedy.

Very sad and hard for us friends to know how his last hour was, I hope there is justice and comfort for his daughters and family who lost someone who did so much for Florida, the ports and Dade County! For ever in my heart…

Great in depth information and account of such a horrible tragedy. My condolences to all the victims.

I can't wait for each episode. Love this podcast. Has me on the edge of my seat.

They seem to keep over glorification of journalists. Comparing themselves to first responders

The sleuthing that the Miami Herald journalists have done here is extraordinary, and the podcast makes sure that their vital work prods future builders, engineers, planning boards to do everything in their significant power to ensure something like this never happens again.

For all that gave this one star only for the fact it didn’t come out on time is the WRONG way to review a podcast. Your literally telling people now and forever that this IS a bad podcast and to “not” listen to it. No one ever expects an actual review if it hasn’t begun yet or your feelings hurt over that. People review new podcasts and ones they love for reasons people listen to or don’t listen to a particular show. Leaving your bizarre reviews over such a delicate subject and one that takes tons of verifiable facts from many sources etc takes TIME. Next time this happens just relax and wait for the show to begin and then provide a real review and not a fake review. Yes, your one star reviews given for reasons stated above are truly fake though i’m sure you didn’t realize this going in.

This is over congratulatory and emotional, demonstrating everything wrong with American journalism and how it’s infecting podcasting.

I wish there were more episodes like episode 5, with dissuasions of the engineering aspects of the building and its failure. I could do with wayyy less 911 call audio/audio of terrified and grieving people. A little bit of that goes a long way. I was excited for this podcast because I hoped it would be a really in depth review of the logistics of the rescue, collapse, and contributing factors.

Hard to listen to, due to the subject matter. This is an important story and must not be forgotten. So far, very well done.

While I’m (sadly) fascinated by this tragedy, the first few episodes were difficult to listen too - some being due to the graphic first recounts and real time recordings. But episode 5 was excellent. The woman scientist or engineer was so smart and riveting to listen to. More like this please!

I’m so glad I found this podcast. When the building collapsed last year, I was pretty obsessed with the story. Anyone can relate to it. Most everyone has stayed or spent time in a multi story building. How could this happen? How could it have been prevented? Are other buildings at risk? Of course, the answers are revealed to be what they almost always are: greed, avarice, selfishness, and an unwillingness to face the facts that are right in front of you. It’s important to keep shining a light on this story so that people continue to ask questions and demand answers.

Very much addicted to the developments of this investigation. The audio is super powerful. Stellar pod!

Ep. 4 still has a lot of bad audio exploiting people who are traumatized. But finally there’s some real investigative reporting with new information. This catastrophe affected housing laws around the country. We need to know why it happened and how to prevent it.

4 episodes in and I have heard nothing I didn’t already know. Maybe I’m not as emotional as these other reviewers but this podcast is slow, drawn out and uninformative. The only audio you can hear is the narrator who yells.

Obviously a difficult listen, but I think its an important story, and Im glad someone is covering it. I do have a criticism… There should absolutely be no upbeat, happy jingles in the advertisement breaks. They are telling the story of the families finally being able to go to the site , for some type of closure, 3 days after collapse. The segment has a dramatic break, and all of a sudden happy music advertising dog treats, or something. Found it very distasteful.

Are people seriously complaining that it’s “hard to hear”? Yeah, many of these recordings are LIVE, during the rescue. Come on, people. Stop the silliness and use some common sense. Appreciate the investigative journalism that is heartfelt, and heartbreaking. Thank you for shedding more light on this tragedy. Many of us that live hundreds of miles away forget how deeply devastating this catastrophe was.

This podcast is very rich and informative? While also being sensitive to the suffering of the families.

The narrator and the audio of the emergency calls and communications truly convey the utter chaos that happened after the collapse. Not being local, I am hoping that the following episodes will fill in the factual gaps missing from our regional coverage. I also hope that your podcasts are able to expose the negligent practices and factors that caused this tragedy to happen. My condolences to the families of all of those who were injured or killed. My thanks to the production team for bringing this into the light of day, for all to see. — J.V.B. , North Carolina

Good so far. I agree with other review. This podcast needs disclaimers. Heavy audio experience.

Had a hard time getting through the first 15 minutes. Sobbing the entire time. My heart goes out to all who were there and for those who lost loved ones.

For all the alleged “moderation” of Reviews Apple does, often never posting at least HALF of the ones I write… I’m SHOCKED they’ve done nothing about the mass 1-star reviews left by people who were upset the release of the podcast was delayed a couple weeks. While I believe they should’ve released an update about the delay on the feed — it is completely unfair to hide this podcast from others by “retaliating” for it being late. This is a story that needs to be told! It’s clear the dozens of Investigative Journalists and witnesses that reviewed hundreds of hours of 911 calls, police bodycam footage, surveillance videos, witness videos submitted to them or posted on social media, and interviews with firsthand witnesses put blood, sweat, and tears into reporting this story — and thus it’s completely understandable delays will happen, especially in the name of accuracy. Better to delay publishing rather than leaving something out or getting something wrong. If only more journalists were willing to wait to ensure everyone’s story gets told the way they’re comfortable with and that accuracy and facts prevail, we wouldn’t have an information crisis is our society.