Seoul Podcast: Interview with Brian Dear and Foreigner Joy -- phone call to a recently freed quarantined teacher: funny or in poor taste?

I'm in my office waiting for my next oral interview test and listening to the interview Seoul Podcast did with Brian Dear (who just got out of quarantine for H1N1) and Foreigner Joy . . . oh yeah, Roboseyo was there too.

During the interview Brian mentions that he has a few phone numbers of other people he had been in quarantine with . . . the idea is suddenly put forth that they should call them while doing the interview . . .

Nobody questions whether or not this is a good idea . . . though Rob did suggest that Brian be the one to start the phone call . . . I think he realized that what they were doing might freak the person out if an unfamiliar foreign voice suddenly called out of the blue . . .

Imagine you're the person they call. You only recently arrived in Korea, and just got finished dealing with what I imagine was a pretty stressful introduction to Korea: being put into quarantine for H1N1.

Imagine that you've been worried about your job and its security. Imagine that you're still under a microscope at your workplace to see if you're sick. Imagine that your workplace is paranoid about any negative media attention.

Imagine that if your name appears in the media and your workplace gets angry about it that you could lose your job through no fault of your own . . .

Imagine you're out and about with friends trying to get a feel for the country, and discover some semblance of comfort and trust with your surroundings . . .

Imagine that this guy you barely know calls you out of the blue, and tells you you're on a podcast without asking if you want to be interviewed, and without any kind of warning or giving you a chance to say yes or no to being interviewed . . .

The thing that gets me about this is that the people involved all seem to be good people--so what gives?

I stopped listening to the podcast after this because I'm pretty disappointed (again) with the lack of respect that this person was shown during the phone call . . .

I'm curious what rationale might be offered that makes calling this person justifiable (especially with no warning or explanation of what was going on--when you're new to the country how can you have any understanding of what Seoul Podcast is, and who listens to it, etc? Answer: You can't.), and I'm also curious if anyone asked the teacher for his permission to put him on the podcast recording and then publish it on the Net . . .

From the podcast,

A: "You're on with the Seoul Podcast right now, we're doin' an intervew, and they wanted to talk to you about the pig flu thing . . ."

Here are the responses given by the teacher . . .

B: "Wait, who talked to you?
B: "Are you bullshitting me?
B: "Oh my god ..."
B: "This is not amusing . . ."
B: "I have no idea what you guys are talking about, and I hear laughing, so you guys are just fucking around, so . . ."
B: "Yeah, I don't know who you guys are so . . ."

Lastly, the podcast did not BLEEP OUT THE TEACHER'S NAME . . . seriously, what the hell is going on?

Not impressed . . . it's one thing if you choose to go on the show, choose to put your name out there, and choose to broadcast personal info about yourself . . .

It's quite another thing when it involves foreign teachers who have not been given full disclosure about what the show is, what the purpose of the recording and interview are, and what will be done with their participation . . .

J