Happy #AudioDramaSunday Pals!

This week, my listening has been incredibly delayed, because my focus has been full steam ahead on production: between helping finalize launch plans for two upcoming Gideon Media shows, writing scripts, running recording sessions, editing dialogue, and generally planning for a stacked year of creation that has me incredibly stoked for 2024.

I’m still in a hyper-transitional phase right now. My last day at the New York Botanical Garden is this upcoming Wednesday, and while I’ve had a bunch of promising conversations about the future, I haven’t landed an official offer yet. The thing that has me really frustrated at the moment is the lack of communication to all of my old co-workers about who will be assuming my responsibilities after I am gone. Everyone (understandably) is asking me to get as much work done as humanly possible before that last shift, while I’m left questioning: shouldn’t whoever is taking this on start learning? There’s going to be a whole lot left to do come Thursday, so someone should know how to do it. I’m doing my best to help, but my sympathies are frankly, not super high.

As much as I don’t want to leave my former colleagues in the lurch, the decision was made that my position itself was redundant. That my institutional knowledge not worth the cost of my annual salary. So while everyone confidentially reaches out to me, nervous about what will become of the work I did after I’m gone… I can’t help but tell them that they are right to be. And maybe it’s a bit messy of me to be publishing this kind of information on a public platform, especially one that will inevitably get posted to my LinkedIn during my current search, but what about a layoff isn’t messy? They informed me of their decision two weeks before the holidays. I got to spend the entire remainder of 2023 in a fit of near constant anxiety, is it petty of me to feel a little satisfied to see them getting anxious as the end nears? Maybe… but I’m only human.

Honestly though? I am enjoying this time as much as possible, while I have it. I’ve been reconnecting with friends, going to the movies often, and even joined a band. I quit playing music 7 years ago, because the idea of “making it” was so far from my grasp, that I didn’t think it was worth the effort any longer. My heart had been broken one too many times, by one of our members choosing to focus on their career over ours. But now, creeping up toward my mid thirties, I realize that it’s entirely unnecessary for me to capitalize on all of my hobbies, and getting to play loud four chord songs in a tiny practice room in Queens is all the gratification I need. And when we end for the night, and I’m still sweaty with my ears ringing from the volume, I feel free in a way I haven’t felt since I was 14. And that makes everything I’ve been going through lately feel worth it.

Take a listen to the newest single by my new band Ghost Tour, a reworked acoustic version of one of our first EP singles, written and recorded entirely by our singer Mike Andronico, who has been a close friend of mine since college (which was more years ago than I’d like to acknowledge at this exact point in time):

Let’s get to why you’re really here, shall we?

The Land Whale Murders

I had four episodes to catch up with on this one, which had me wrapping up the full season of The Land Whale Murders for the year. I’m biased, since I’ve been working so closely with Jordan Stillman (The Ordinary Epic, Space Ranger 421) on Greater Boston for the last several years, but gosh this series is a delight. It’s got a quippy sense of humor, a playful historical lens, and one fantastic narrator. This season’s mystery seemed to wrap up fairly neatly in the penultimate episode, while the finale set its sights on the future. And while I’m bummed this show is done for now, I can’t wait to see what journey it takes us on next!

Breaker Whiskey

I hadn’t checked in with Breaker Whiskey since the end of last week, which meant that I had six episodes to catch up on this morning. Luckily, given that it’s a microfiction show, I was able to do so in less than 15 minutes! In all seriousness though, Whiskey’s loneliness in the world of this wasteland is palpable. It has been six long months since she’s left Harry’s side, and while she certainly doesn’t regret the decision to leave, the enormity of the country’s emptiness is clearly weighing on her. Especially now that she finds herself in Denver, and some really wild things begin to occur.

The Kingmaker Histories

I was kidding last week when I dinged The Kingmaker Histories for excluding my favorite character, Telesphore, but this week’s Chapter 17 more than made up for it. Not only do we hit the ground running (quite literally) with our favorite trio of Colette, Eisen, and Telesphore, but we run right into the arms of Telesphore’s ex-boyfriend, Sebastian, a capable magic user that Eisen is in no small way incredibly jealous of. It was a hilarious and heartfelt entry into what is currently one of my absolute favorite airing shows. You should go catch up before the season is over!

The White Vault: Goshawk

The White Vault: Goshawk continues to be a fantastic new entry in the long running arctic horror series. A new character we met last week helps our new heroines apprehend one of their would-be pursuers, and also get in touch with emergency services… although they won’t be able to reach our friends until after this dreaded storm passes. It’s a claustrophobic and cold episode where tensions ran incredibly hot, even if the shelter they found themselves in decidedly wasn’t. But is their captive telling the truth? Was his partner ripped away in the night by a mysterious creature? Or is he stalking outside, waiting to strike as soon as their guard is down? We’ll have to see next week!

Give Me Away

I mentioned at the top of today’s letter that I’ve been helping plan a launch for two new Gideon Media shows, and one of those just so happens to be the hotly anticipated second season of Give Me Away. I’ve written ad nauseam about my love for this show on DiscoverPods, but was struck again by the brilliance of its pilot upon a re-listen this week. And while I’d love to sit here and tell you all the delicious new details I know about the show’s return, I’d be remiss not to bring up the genius of Mac Rogers, Jordana Williams, and Sean Williams’ (Steal the Stars, LifeAfter) combined efforts on this show. Because while you may think the most important thrust of this series is the giant spaceship in the Nevada Desert, filled to the brim with screaming digital political prisoners? The real drama comes from Graham and his fractured family unit. I just love how secondary the unveiling of the sci-fi aspects of this show occur in the pilot, while the drama of divorce takes center stage.

Windfall

Since Windfall has been my primary focus for the new year, I couldn’t write this weeks’ newsletter without another season two update. This week, I had a fantastic recording session with Jes Washington (Greater Boston), which allowed me to capture the remaining missing audio for our premiere episode… which also means that the first cut of our first dialogue edit is in the can. It was a quick and dirty one, which means I didn’t review all of the audio we had on hand while I put it together, so I still have plenty of work ahead of me on tightening it up… but being able to hear these words and performances meshed together for the first time after sitting untouched in my Dropbox for two years was SUCH a gratifying feeling. I am so stoked for you all to hear what we have up our sleeves.

BONUS SNACK!

Taskmaster

Adam got my wife, Sam, and I into Taskmaster by forcing us (lovingly) to watch series three at the end of 2022, and over the next five months, we marathoned eight more series. It is such a hilariously stupid show, with such low stakes, and some of the dumbest challenges I’ve ever seen on television, and yet? It brings us more joy than almost any other thing we regularly watch. Last year, we got burned out a bit and so we took a break from the show, but I kept seeing series 16 on so many best of 2023 TV lists, that we marathoned the whole thing this week. The entire cast was maybe one of the best I’ve ever seen on the show, but I’d like to shout out my personal highlight Susan Wokoma who happened to star in Shenee Howard’s amazing Audible series, Koreaboo which was one of my favorite shows last year!

That’s all for now, folks! Next week I’m sure I’ll listen to even more, especially once my day gig is officially in the bag and I’ve got some extra time on my hands. In the meantime, take care of yourselves!