Here we all are, 2+ months since we’ve been allowed to go about our normal lives. Having finished the “Tiger King,” we find ourselves groping around for other ways to pass the days in quarantine. For the culinary-inclined, that baking sourdough and banana bread. For the professional bodybuilders among us, it apparently involves playing chess.
One potential pastime many find themselves considering is the suddenly ubiquitous online course catalogue called MasterClass. For the so-called “extremely online,” MasterClass ads are everywhere. It is impossible to search the web without stumbling onto a celeb like Natalie Portman or Steph Curry pitching you their services. MasterClass, which is propped up with over $100 million in VC funding, went all out in paying the best and the brightest to sit in front of a camera for a couple of hours to teach you something new.
But is MasterClass worth it? If you are buying just one class, which costs $90, the answer is probably not. However, the one-year all-access pass, which cost $180, is quite a good deal. You can sample subjects and teachers that interest you, even following through with a couple of sessions before realizing someone is not your cup of tea. I started to “take” a class called “Storytelling and Humor” with David Sedaris. It took me only an episode and a half to realize that he wasn’t funny.
There are so many classes on MasterClass, I couldn’t begin to evaluate them all. Undoubtedly, as with a real course catalogue, some will be better than others. I particularly liked one taught by presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. In a way, it was like a CliffNotes version of her bestselling books on TR, FDR, LBJ and Lincoln. As anyone who’s seen Ken Burns’ “Baseball” knows, Goodwin is an engaging speaker.
The real question as far as the value of MasterClass is does it actually teach you anything. A Joyce Carol Oates-led seminar purported to teach me how to write short stories. Did it? MasterClass offers supplementary “assignments” and discussion groups, but without a teach to put a grade on your work, it is difficult to follow through. MasterClass’s most popular course, one that I have yet take, is taught by an FBI hostage negotiator. I am very interested to see how they advise putting that one into practice.
