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- Bobby's Snacks Vol. 38: The Lives I Don't Have
Bobby's Snacks Vol. 38: The Lives I Don't Have
Bob Raymonda
February 16, 2025
Happy #AudioDramaSunday Friends,
Bone tired this morning. Couldn’t fall asleep last night for the life of me, and yet I still woke up at 6:30 without the possibility of passing back out. Used the time well, at least, but gosh what I wouldn’t give for a few more hours of shut eye. This weekend has been an otherwise restful one. Sam and I went to the Bruce Museum and got lunch at a favorite Japanese spot Friday, followed by a grueling 6-hour marathon of Love is Blind season 8, which somehow released 6 full episodes and STILL never got out of the pods. One might argue that that’s the part of the show that is the ~point~, but frankly? One would be wrong. We’re here for the mess. And that doesn’t come until these dummies all get to meet each other IRL.
Yesterday we spent most of the day in bed lazily marathoning another absolutely ridiculous reality show: Celebrity Bear Hunt, which, good god, is so bafflingly dumb in the exact way we needed. Hide and go seek in the woods with Bear Grylls? Sign me up… I’m guessing y’all can probably sense a theme here. Reality TV has been a salve these past few weeks (and months… and years) of grinding day by day through a barrage of horrifying news and more fascistic power grabs by a bunch of ketamine fueled edge-lords. It’s been a genre that I’ve spent so many years turning my nose up at, but I can’t help but get it now. Mundane and pointless and the perfect kind of soup that will absolutely turn my brain all the way off for hours at a time.
Later this morning, I’ll be heading into Queens for Ghost Tour practice. We’ve got a gig coming up in Bushwick on Thursday (unless, of course, we actually get the 16-19 inches of snow that my weather app predicted yesterday). I’m really hyped on the set list we’ve put together for this one, so if you’re around NYC and have nothing going on that night, I’d love to see you there!
On that note, I’ve gotta get started in earnest:
We’re at the penultimate episode of season two here, and damn have things gotten juicy. Cali’s still frozen from a bit of Hannah’s new (and uncontrolled) power of persuasion, so our hero is forced to climb Goldengate and confront Rictor all on her own. It’s a confrontation that is half a century in the making at this point, and I was not prepared for how things would be wrapping up. The fate of the entire encampment and all of zombie-kind lies in the balance, and our Big Bad is forced to ask himself: did he truly make this whole trek to confront (and maybe even destroy) Hannah? Or were there more innate reasons for his need to meet his maker? Maybe ones that he has no control over in the first place? Beautiful stuff. Can’t wait to see how the full thing wraps up!
I’m still an episode behind on this show, but in scene XiX, an assignment in the fae wilds pits some of of our favorite members of the troupe in direct opposition with one another… and a whole host of other things that go bump in the night (and the day). What this does is allows them to play to their own strengths, whether that’s shmoozing with fairies or brandishing your gigantic sword to fight off some terrifying monsters. I continue to adore the entire ensemble in this show, but my MVP for this chapter would be my pal Cole Burkhardt, who always stuns as Dalyn.
I think it’s probably pretty clear to everyone from the jump in this episode that there’s another shoe, and it’s going to drop. There’s no way you can make it in this world of bovine supremacy and earn a title without someone around to challenge it. Which is why it should come as no surprise that The Oldest Milkman in The World is probably not who he says he is. But good god, when you realize that: no, he is, but the reason that he is is due to some good old fashioned murder. Of a man he claims to have loved. Out of his own vanity. And yet somehow somehow, I very much doubt this unhinged 95-year old dairy delivery boy and his ketamine-fueled half-horse/half-car monstrosity are going to be banned from the program for future appearances. And that, my friends, is why I’ll always tune back in for more.
The first thing I did when I woke up this morning was press play on the season 1 finale of this show, and god dammit, (to the surprise of no one) Lisette Alvarez and team have done it again. This show is full of sociopolitical intrigue, heart, and a depth of the knowledge of history and spycraft in the best kind of way. I was particular taken with the penultimate episode of the season released last week, which featured archival clips of Ronald Reagan, interspersed with scenes between Juni’s recruitment to The Company, all the way up to her disappearance. It was a dense listen, but my the kind of boundary-pushing, meta-sound art that this medium has been sorely lacking of late. I’m so thrilled that the show will be returning for a second season. And I hope you’ll join me in celebrating its achievements so far!
I’ve officially marathoned the rest of this series, and as I expected, the full things is astoundingly beautiful. What I especially loved about it was that it didn’t attempt to gloss over Martin Luther King Jr.’s flaws as a human being. Absolutely, yes, he was a visionary Civil Rights Leader that preached nonviolence over anything else (whose entire movement the current administration is trying its absolute best to erase), but he was also a man who reserved his violent rage for the woman closest to him, and strayed from his own purported values with trips to motels with sex workers. And yet, it didn’t approach these topics in a way that was sensationalized, or exploitative. Its lens, through Martin’s long-standing relationship with his own mentor, Howard Thurman, allows the piece to confront those parts of himself as failings, yes, but also as something to not shy away from. To acknowledge and atone for. My other favorite part of the series were the disparate reactions to the overall movement between the nurse who cared for him (reserved, suspicious), and her young, idealistic daughter (inspired to action). The entire piece is extraordinarily important, and I’m so glad that it exists.
Still not caught up on this one, but I have devoured another episode of the Welcome to the Horizon miniseries. Tina Case and Cat Blackard have such delightful chemistry as Diedre and Verge respectively, and the intrigue surrounding the secret military base in the depths of the mountain outside of town was delicious. It’s hilarious to know that there can be someone hiding right out in the open for the whole town to see can be at the center of such a well-kept secret, especially when you realize that the loudest, most annoyingly conspiratorial person that everybody knows just so happens to be right. A wonderful addition to an already wonderful side story!
God, was that episode simultaneously an absolute release and also a panic attack in waiting. Having Jamie and Malik reunited after their time apart was so necessary, but to have it happening during a moment where one of them is in such clear and present dangers was heart-rending. Jamie understandably pleads with her best friend to get his ass together and finally pack that go-bag she taught him about several seasons ago at this point, and get out of the immediate path of the Kaiju barreling down on Chicago. But… he can’t. Because if he gets up and gets ready to run at every single threat that comes their way, he’d never stop running, and he’s got a life to live. And besides? Isn’t that exactly what Jamie did when she made her dangerous trek cross-country to be with her dad? A gratifying end to Gabriel Urbina’s initial tenure on this series (although, from the looks of it on social media, definitely not his end on the show by any means). Extra special shout out to TOMIXCOMICS for his recent animatic for the series!
It seems like every week, our intrepid explorers come across something so world-breaking, that they’ll certainly turn back. They’ll suspend their journey into the depths of the Midst Cosmos and prioritize safety over an extended (and incredibly dangerous) adventure ever forward. And yet? There probably wouldn’t be a series if they didn’t ignore those very understandable impulses, and press further still into the unknown. Which, I mean, is all well and good, because then I wouldn’t have any extra time with my three favorite narrators in all of audio fiction, bar none. So please, press on, Merlin and The Grandmother and the rest of the crew. I’ll always be up for another visit, no matter how weird things get.
There are some pretty serious protocols in place, in order to determine that none of our erstwhile heroes have been replaced by whatever it is that lurks just beyond the borders of their camp. Basically a human two-step verification process happening, which may seem overly cautious, but definitely isn’t when things have gotten this bleak in a world who otherwise allows its horrors to creep around on the edges. Big ups to Tanja Milojevich, whose Dragana remains as badass as ever, even as the world around her attempts to take her for all she’s worth.
I’m ALMOST caught up on the newest show from Monkeyman Productions, and god damn, is it fantastic. Robin Regelado and Tina Daniels have both slid into the archetypes necessary for a couple like Karo and Yvonne effortlessly: with Karo’s cautious hesitancy around their potentially fraught trip to the home world, matched by Yvonne’s absolute wonder at getting to experience all that October has to offer. Episode 4 was particularly devastating, as the curtains are pulled back even further on why Karo fled this land in the first place, with an encounter with some spirits who seemed a bit to familiar for comfort. Also? I would die for Ishani Kanetkar’s Frederick, and can’t wait to listen to his entire minisode!
This week saw both the release of season 2, episode 3, but also the 6-year anniversary of the release of our season 1 trailer. Never did I imagine that it’d have taken us this long to get back to Proxima, but I am so happy that these episodes are finally here. There is a music cue at the end of this episode that not only underscores one of my favorite moments of the entire season, but also pushed my brother Adam’s skills as a composer to the limit in a way that absolutely makes this show what it is. And guess what? I’ve already heard episode 4, and I can promise you that it’ll be worth the month-long wait, as it sees the return of not one but two fan favorite characters who we haven’t seen since this city experienced its dreaded Contact Day all the way back in 2019…
I’m so happy that this show has returned from its mid-season hiatus! And wow, what an episode to come back with. Giving us a King-ian haunted car story is perfect, obviously, but also having it narrated by none other than Graham Rowat? chef’s kiss 1965 Ford Falcon by Tim Foley is one of the best episodes I’ve heard of this series yet, and has me chomping at the bit for more! (Plus, who can go wrong with a wild stray Josh Rubino sighting).
You’re telling me that adapting the entire epistolary novel of Bram Stoker’s Dracula and releasing it in chronological order wasn’t enough for this team? But we’ve got a whole new adaptation of Camilla on that same feed with the always brilliant sound design of Tal Minear? Sign me all the way the fuck up. I must admit: I’ve been graciously offered the entire series of this show to listen to up front, and while I’ve only had the chance to listen to what’s on the public feed so far, I know that I’ll have devoured the entire thing by my next update. Trace Callahan’s score for this gothic lesbian vampire romp is utter perfection, and I won’t be able to resist it until I’ve savored every last single drop.
If there’s one thing that the town of Night Vale can handle, it’s change. Whether that’s in the form of a Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives In Your Home, or the ascendance of the Church of the Smiling God, residents of this hamlet can typically handle the rise and fall of a new sociopolitical order with aplomb. And that’s been no less true with this year’s return, although, no matter how long it’s been going on, nothing has ever truly prepared me for the earnest love and affection that Cecil has developed for his brother-in-law Steve Carlsberg, who finds himself in bed with some shady people at his new job. And yes, I know they made up years ago, but still: when our erstwhile narrator spent so much time bemoaning the ineptitude of this man who his sister chose to marry, his earnest desire for him to be safe and protected will never not tickle me pink.
BONUS SNACK
I’ve gotta admit: after being obsessed with Jonathan Hickman’s Krakoan Era of mutants, I was extremely hesitant about the company’s back-to-basics approach in the leadup to the release of Deadpool vs Wolverine last summer. But Jed MacKay’s From the Ashes run that’s given me the badass leader version of Cyclops that I’ve known and loved for decades has consistently surprised me month to month, no more than in issue #10. I’m a sucker for these muties, and while I thought this was going to pave over a lot of the developments of the last several years of storytelling, it has perfectly blended in intrigue seeded back when mutants were still the immortal rulers of Mars. So I’ll keep tuning in.