Happy #AudioDramaSunday Friends!

This week has been another whirlwind, as I battled my first major bout of allergies of the season while also trying to accomplish as many things as possible. That idea was a bit better in theory than practice, though, as my head ballooned full of snot and put me out of commission for more time than I would’ve liked. That being said, Sam and I did mange to go to two concerts that sent us screaming back to high school, first seeing Owen play acoustic in CT while touring his fantastic new album The Falls of Sioux on Tuesday, then catching Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service up in Albany to play all of Transatlantacism and Give Up respectively. We also took advantage of the nice weather to grill at her parents’ house on Monday, and celebrated our niece’s 12th birthday last night.

In more global news, I was extremely heartened to see that students at my alma mater, SUNY Purchase had joined in the growing campus peaceful protests against the ongoing genocide in Palestine. I was dismayed (if not at all surprised), on the other hand, to see how the administration responded to the demonstration, by calling in the police who brutally attacked and arrested several students and faculty who were taking part in their Constitutional right to demand divestment and boycott. Purchase has always been a place of student activism, and the actions by administration and the local PD here has been despicable. If you’re a fellow alumnus like myself, please consider signing this petition signaling your support of the students’ actions, and then do one better by donating to one of the countless Palestinian families and organizations on the Operation Olive Branch spreadsheet in order to help them get access to much needed aid.

I’ve got another busy family day ahead of me, so let’s jump right in:

Among the Stars & Bones

I’m still two episodes behind on this fantastic tale of xenobiologists on the derelict planet of Proxima, but hot damn, is the season heating up. The stark image that our heroes are treated with on a video recording of their missing colleagues, as they all begin to move as one, as if part of some unseen hivemind was extremely striking. Can’t wait to catch all the way up! PS » an extra special shout out to Karim Kronfli (Re: Dracula, The Magnus Archives) for consistently killing it on this show!

Welcome to Night Vale

This year’s deep dive into Cecil’s past continues with a late night rerun of local public access show Uncle Jasper’s Wasteland! We love nothing more in this world than a pseudo-mysitical oddball, and Uncle Jasper absolutely fits this bill, as an unhinged children’s entertainer who single handedly plays dozens and dozens of characters (mostly by changing hats). We also get more of Cecil & Abbie’s deepening relationship, from siblings with understandably deep frustrations with one another, to two fractured adults, attempting to make up for time lost to misplaced resentment.

Forgive Me Father

Father B is back at it again, taking anonymous confession, and doing is level best to offer advice that is worthy of his parishioners! But that’s not Father Ben, no, that’s Father Bertram, the star of Ross Finlayson’s darkly comic, sci-fi take on the extremely niché confessional fiction podcast format. I stumbled on this show on the fantastic resource that is audiofiction.co.uk while making sure our own show was listed and couldn’t help but take a listen. I’ve only heard the pilot so far, but I can’t wait to catch up with the rest!

Midst

Well. That was certainly an episode. The shaky alliance of Moc Weepe and Imelda Goldfinch has reached its zenith with an unexpected and wildly unsettling romp across her quarters in the Highest Light. It shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that these two social-climbers would be so horny for each other, but wow, was I as uncomfortable as our three erstwhile narrators as they had the distinct displeasure of witnessing this conscious coupling as it unfolded. Another fantastic installment from what is one of my favorite shows this medium has ever produced!

Give Me Away

I had the immense honor of writing Lauren Shippen’s new character introduction for this show, and while it may not be my first time writing a script for one of my favorite creators of all time, it was my first time getting to play in Mac Rogers’ and the rest of Gideon Media’s sandbox, and, in fact, the first time they’ve ever allowed another writer to do so! I’ve been helping them out with marketing for almost two years now, so when this opportunity presented itself, I jumped at it immediately. It was such a blast, and I can’t wait for all of you to get to know Noa (and her eventual Second who we’ve yet to meet) over the coming weeks!

We’re Alive: Scout’s Honor

We were on our way home from the Death Cab for Cutie and Postal Service show when I caught this one, which meant the vibes were perfect. It was lightly sprinkling on our 2.5 hour drive home from Albany and pitch black out on the thruway, which is the right vibes all the way around for wading into a zombie apocalypse. This time, we find out for certain that poor Zack’s shitty parents really did abandon him to his fate along with the rest of the Adventure Scouts when escaping Catalina on the family helicopter. For awhile, all seems lost, with no ideas for how to better survive their situation, because while they may be in a giant gated compound, the pantry is all but empty and the hoarde is closing in. I’m going to be so sad when this show ends next week, but am so glad that we got to experience it. And I can’t help but wonder if there’s any chance that we’ll meet any of these kids again, later on in their lives, when We’re Alive: Descendants inevitably returns.

Breaker Whiskey

A lot happened to Whiskey this week as she takes the long way around to make her meet with Harry up in Maine. On the trail of Don, who she suspects may also be stumbling around the vast emptiness of this ripple, she makes her way instead to a town in Massachusetts he always spoke of fondly during their time together. And just when we think we’re on the heels of a happy reunion, Fox sends some coordinates over the CB that instead leads her right to the screaming, unhinged visage of a very angry Junior. Maybe she’ll have better luck next time? One might hope, but 205 episodes could probably tell us otherwise.

BONUS SNACK

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

Yesterday was May the Fourth, which means it was this year’s Star Wars day and I predictably fell for the late stage capitalist hype. From buying a new Kelleran Beq Lego set at the mall, to getting free comics at my local comic shop (the ALWAYS incredible Aw Yeah Comics in Harrison), to seeing The Phantom Menace’s 25th anniversary screening in the afternoon, and finally marathoning Tales of the Empire when I got home that night, but none of it really compares to revisiting the majesty of this 1999 gem. I’m in what used to be the minority here in that I have always loved the prequels, even when I spent a few years in college and the immediate aftermath pretending that I was also too cool to see them as anything but trash. And look, is it a perfect movie? Of course not. There are plenty of flaws, and I understand why it wasn’t the movie that older Star Wars fans wanted at the time, but I was nine years old when it premiered, so I was exactly this movie’s target market.

I thought Darth Maul was bad ass, I loved meeting Obi-Wan’s master Qui-Gon Jinn, obsessed over Amidala’s elaborate costumes and mysterious handmaidens, and even loved Jar Jar Binks. Look, we all know that Ahmed Best and Jake Lloyd got an unmitigated amount of shit for what they brought to the galaxy far far away, but watching it back again for the first time in years, on a big screen for the first time in 25? And I’m absolutely struck by how much FUN this movie must have been to make. Sure, was it often a blatant example of George Lucas’ merchandising genius that leaned way too far into trade politics? Of course, but it was also colorful, and vibrant, and joyous film with fun new alien species, a blink and you’ll miss it ET cameo, the brilliance that is pod racing, and the best fight choreography this franchise has ever seen. I absolutely cannot wait for Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith to get the same treatment in a few years’ time. I’ll be spending my days exactly the same way, and all the more giddy about it.

Didn’t get my shit together for a creator spotlight this week, but who knows, maybe next week will be different. No matter what, it’ll be chock full of fiction pods, so I hope to see you then!