King of short-form content flexes his storytelling muscle in A Twist of History

It’s a magic combination: in-depth research on a topic beloved by the chronically online, delivered in a conversational way.

John Allen (MrBallen) in Los Angeles, California. Picture Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images

In an era of endless feeds and unlimited content, the video, photo, or story that momentarily stops the scroll is the goal for many millions of creators around the globe.

And, at the risk of revealing too much about my own online proclivities, there’s one creator who’s got it down to an art: he is the former Navy SEAL John Allen – better known as MrBallen.

Wearing a plaid shirt and a backwards baseball cap exclusively, he tells “strange, dark and mysterious stories” to his more than 20 million followers across YouTube, Tiktok, and Instagram. Impressive, given he only started posting around five years ago, but not surprising.

@mrballen

One Man’s Trash

♬ original sound - MrBallen

Allen’s style – conversational and delivered straight down the barrel – has an everyman quality, but superpower is keeping his audience’s attention for the duration of his videos. It sounds silly when you consider that might only be a couple of minutes on TikTok, but – unlike many, many others – he resists the urge to split stories across multiple parts, unless it is simply too complex for TikTok’s unforgiving time limits.

Of course, it helps that his primary collaborators are Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists: his sister, Evan Allen – formerly of The Boston Globe – and his father, Scott Allen, who led that newspaper’s investigations team for a time.

It’s a magic combination: in-depth research on a topic beloved by the chronically online, delivered in a conversational way.

MrBallen refers to himself as a “storyteller” rather than a journalist, but he’s no flash in the pan. He now leads a team of more than 70 employees under the banner of his Ballen Studios production company, and has turned out a handful of chart-topping podcasts.

The latest is A Twist of History: a series that pinpoints the exact – and sometimes unbelievable – moments that changed the course of history.

Take, for example, the American Civil War, whose course was changed by the discovery of the Confederates’ handwritten battle plans by Union soldiers. That revelation, unexpectedly made in the middle of a field, would ultimately lead the Union to victory – and the formation of the United States of America.

What seems like a simple concept on the surface is fertile ground for expansive storytelling.

Episodes are narrated by Allen in his usual relaxed style, and the narratives themselves are compellingly crafted. The sound design is so expertly immersive I turned my head to look for a galloping horse on a morning walk around my suburban neighbourhood.

The biggest difference from the vast catalogue already available online is the length and the lack of plaid.

Allen is a man who knows his audience, so the first episode of A Twist of History is, unsurprisingly, a true crime story. But it’s not just any true crime story – it’s the first one, to use the modern vernacular, that went “viral” way back in the early 1900s.

He admits in the post-show credits that parts of his episodes have been dramatised, but any liberties taken are clearly for effect and don’t compromise the overall integrity of the show.

This is a series for anyone who’s ever gone so deep on a particular subject that you’re still scrolling at 3am. MrBallen and his team have done the work for you – and his dulcet tones might even lull you to some much-needed sleep.

Kristen Amiet is the producer of The Australian’s daily news podcast The Front. A Twist of History is available now wherever you listen to podcasts.