Star Ratings - do we love/hate/need them? Five-star debate here! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Star Ratings - do we love/hate/need them? Five-star debate here! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Author: Mark Ellen, David Hepworth and Alex Gold June 11, 2026 Duration: 37:54

Star Ratings are now ubiquitous and inescapable and it’s not just music, films and books. Everything we encounter tends to be rated which colours our judgement before we try it. Choice can be paralyzing but do we read anymore or just count? Benji Wilson’s ‘Rate This Book: How Star Ratings Took Over the World’ traces their origin – back to 350 BC! – paints a picture of modern life and wonders here where we’re heading, along with …

 

… Aristotle’s 2,500 year-old system of star-rated animals

 

… how Michelin cooked up starred restaurants to get you to wear out your tyres

 

… can we spot fake reviews and the people who sell them?

 

… do we only tend to read one- and five-star reviews? And why writers hate the system

 

… the ingenious deceit of the Krays movie poster

 

… the value of reviews in a world where time and tickets costs are escalating

 

… “Star Ratings are the democratisation of criticism, the least-worst method”

 

… why a 2016 episode of Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror now seems prophetic

 

… the “hidden hands” that manipulate the ratings system

 

… and mass Amazon ratings and the power of Mob Rule.

 

Order copies of ‘Rate This Book’ here: https://linktr.ee/newmodern_books#560826579

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rate-This-Book-Ratings-World/dp/1917923651?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

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There’s a particular kind of conversation about music that happens between friends who’ve spent a lifetime immersed in it-not as distant critics, but as participants in the culture. That’s the atmosphere you’ll find in Word In Your Ear, a podcast from Mark Ellen, David Hepworth, and Alex Gold. With a collective eighty years of writing and broadcasting for titles like Smash Hits and Mojo, and shows from "The Old Grey Whistle Test" to VH-1, they don’t just recount history; they unpack the stories behind it with the ease of a shared laugh. This podcast grew naturally from their work on the late, great magazine The Word, where they began recording over thirteen years ago, building a dedicated following who found something genuinely special in the mix. Each episode weaves together music, commentary, history, and interviews, moving seamlessly from deep-dive analysis of a seminal album to a frank chat with a surprising guest, all delivered with the warmth and wit of a late-night chat. It feels less like a formal show and more like you’ve been invited to pull up a chair in a room where the anecdotes are plentiful and the expertise is worn lightly. The result is a consistently engaging listen that treats music not as a museum piece but as a living, breathing part of our lives.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Word In Your Ear
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