- Bobby's Snacks
- Posts
- Bobby's Snacks Vol. 44: Young, Dumb, and Full of Christ
Bobby's Snacks Vol. 44: Young, Dumb, and Full of Christ
Bob Raymonda
December 21, 2025
Happy #AudioDramaSunday y’all!
I’m so happy to be sneaking one more update for you before the end of the year. I won’t lie, it’s been a different one for me. The arrival of my kid kind of slowed everything down and sped everything up all at once. The mile-markers between second to minute to hour to day to week to month got all fuzzy, and now she’s already seven months old. Soon enough it’ll be eight. Not long after that, she’ll be going to college (I kid). It’s been such an absolute gift to get to experience these simple things that feel so gigantic. Seeing them through her eyes. She’s sitting up now. And crawling far faster than I could’ve imagined at this point. She even learned peekaboo. She’s obsessed with Greek yogurt. And god forbid, you touch the back of her head when she’s tired and she doesn’t want to go to sleep, there’ll be hell to pay for everyone in a ten mile radius.
Her utter whimsy and joy for being alive, and discovering what it’s like to have a body, help to distract me from gestures vaguely at everything. I don’t want necessarily to feel so deeply disengaged with the world at large, and yet, I feel grateful for it. Because instead I can be engaged with watching her grow. The utter awe she feels as she pulls endless cloth tissues out of a wooden box. The way she cackles when we sing her favorite stream of consciousness jingles about changing her diapers. That have kept us going since we were running on utterly no sleep and boundless adrenaline. Telling us to keep this precious thing warm, and safe, and happy. Forget everything else.
I’m very tired. And it has made my listening practice look a lot different. Rather than rotting in my bed or barreling through a task at work, I’m rocking her in her chair, trying to distract her before it’s time to have her first bottle. Or I’m on the mat on the floor with her as she tries to crawl somewhere she shouldn’t. Or I’m stuck on the couch, with the most incredible weighted human blanket as she begrudgingly takes another contact nap. Or I’m stealing five minute chunks, here and there, as I switch over the laundry. And yet—I’m still finding the time. So I’m glad to be able to be here with you again, to spread some of the joy I’ve felt. Experiencing these wonderful stories while experiencing the first wondrous months of my kid’s life.
Let’s hop to it.
Jeremy Ellett has got some wild shit going on in that gourd of theirs. This new miniseries, released on the rebranded anthology comedy STITCHES feed (née TWO FLAT EARTHERS KIDNAP A FREEMASON), is packed full of Good Pointe Podcasts’ signature humor and wit. Buster, an unstable man, walks into a diner on Christmas morning and decides to hold court… by kidnapping everyone inside and forcing them to become his de facto family for the holiday. You see, his family used to own this diner, and had some very specific Swedish traditions that he’d like to see honored. It’s brash, it’s weird, and it harkens back to the kind of off-beat storytelling you’d expect from the person who brought you THE SUBJECTIVE TRUTH. But don’t think that it isn’t without some serious heart: especially in the storyline of Alex and Holly, a young couple played by Jeremy and his wife/co-producer, Danyelle Ellett, who in semi-autobiographical fashion are waiting on word from a young mother who has agreed to let them adopt her baby, during Texas’ mandatory waiting period after birth allowing her to change her mind. It’s really wonderful stuff and includes a fantastic cast from top to bottom.
This brilliant two-hander from Jeffrey Cranor and Janina Matthewson has long been one of my favorite jewels in the Night Vale Presents crown, so I was understandably heartbroken to learn that it’s current 10th season is also its last. I’ve long loved my visits to The Society and all of the ways its alt-history have unveiled themselves to us. This year, a researcher on a remote island deals with insufficient gear, dangerous flora, and no direct line of contact with the outside world other than cassettes recorded over the course of a month and sent home with the boat captain who delivers their supplies. It’s performed to utter perfection by Meg Bashwiner, someone I’ve been so happy to see have a chance to anchor an entire seaon. While I’ve always adored Deb, the Sentient Patch of Haze, Lexi has given her the opportunity to chew an enormous amount of scenery. And as much as I’d love to experience another visit into this world, this is an incredibly high note to leave out on.
This one has been a sleeper hit for me. As soon as I heard its original premise last fall, I knew that I had to add it to my queue, but frankly: my own preconceived notions/preferences about starting a series with a pilot longer than 30 minutes held me back. This is a very me-specific opinion… but I have a hard time investing in a new pod when the episodes are on the longer end from the jump. That being said? I’m kind of glad I did wait, because it’s on a monthly release schedule and now I’m all caught up in time for the last few episodes. It’s a very cyberpunk/noir sendup about a journalist who goes undercover in a floating city full of wealthy people and the automatons who serve them, in order to solve the disappearance of the colleague she was sent to replace. There’s a fantastic mystery hook along with a cast of delightful characters including a similarly undercover illustrator from a rival paper, a rogue security bot, a doting seamstress, and her nerdy engineer wife. I’m truly obsessed with this one. Give it a listen if you haven’t already.
And, continuing with our light theme of holiday cheer—I am so deliriously glad that this show is back for a second season. Ella Gale’s writing is as sharp and witty as ever as Candy and her sidekick Minty investigate the disappearance of a large swath of elves going back as far as 30 years. I’ll never forget discovering this show at last year’s edition of the New Jersey Web Fest, hearing a clip in the movie theater and then marathoning the entire first season on my drive home and back the next morning. It’s exactly the kind of dark humor that I personally need at this time of year, which is why I’m glad that we’ve got even more macabre mysteries up in the North Pole. Plus, Kyle Kinane as a deadbeat POS-dad version of Santa Claus? chef’s kiss
This show is a sickly-sweet-bubblegum-and-blood-soaked thrill ride. Following Faustina Fetamine, a delightfully queer femme fatale who also happens to be the star of a global gladiator sensation struck down by a sex tape scandal, this show has its cake and devours it too. It premiered right before my kid was born and while I was too delirious to keep up with it while it aired, barreling through the rest of the season over the past few weeks was unforgettable. I’m all for anything that comes from the minds of Addison Peacock, Henry Galley, Meg Molloy Tuten, and the whole rest of the production team behind this hallucinogenic wonderland. It’s every bit as horny, angry, and violent as you can imagine, while also having a pumping heart of rose gold.
Amber Devereaux’s soaring tone poem has been a semi-annual part of my listening experience for years now, and I’m so sad that it’s over. It’s been such a (forgive me… and again for that one) towering achievement of storytelling, performance, and music for as long as it’s existed, but never more so than in its two-part finale. Kiri’s journey to the top has been long, difficult, exasperating, and fascinating. And so to be there with her when she finally finishes her quest, and realizes the combination of accomplishment and emptiness that comes with an ending, was sublime. A massive bravo to the entire cast and crew for sticking the landing with this one. It hit me in the feels. It took me places I never imagined, and it gave me a little bit more time with my friends again. A massive shoutout to Katrina Allen, David Pellow, Mark Gallie, Karim Kronfli, and Sarah Golding: without the natural chemistry you all share and your earnest care for these characters, it wouldn’t have been remotely possible to pull this off.
So, I guess there’s another theme emerging here: endings. Yhane Washington Smith has long been a pioneer in the independent audio drama space, crafting incredibly impactful historical fiction across a variety of shows. But none so long as this one: the story of Madame Stephanie St. Clair, a real life policy banker and community leader during the Harlem Renaissance. I’ll never forget getting a chance to see them produce an episode live in front of a studio audience with live foley. It’s such a gorgeous show, and I’m happy to have seen that it’s being spun off into a new series called CROWN BEAUTY. On a separate note from Washington Smith, visit THE COURTSHIP OF MONA MAE feed for the new holiday two-parter, A SENECA VILLAGE CHRISTMAS. This time an entirely fictional story set in the thriving predominately black community that was erased in order to build Central Park. It’s fantastic to see this kind of sweet and tender joy portrayed at this time of year.
I’ve particularly loved the seventh season of this show, which sees Malik-actor Michael Turrentine in the writers’ room. It’s been as wild and weird as ever, but Malik’s specific dating subplot has been so beautifully fleshed out. The entire arc has been fantastic, but the standout episode for me is for sure What Do We Do When We Can’t Fall Asleep? which sees the co-hosts consistently checking in with one another over a twenty-four hour period during which a sleep paralysis demon is wreaking havoc around the world. It starts really zany and after-school-specially in the, what do we have to do to stay awake? Kind of way, but then takes a real turn when Malik does, in fact, fall asleep. Things turn on a dime and when I tell you the chills I felt down my spine toward the end? Immaculate stuff.
I legitimately texted Mac Rogers, Jordana Williams, and Sean Williams after finishing their season 3 two-part finale about how MAJESTIC it was. The landing that they’ve been able to unfurl here, includes the magnificent resolution to a long-simmering plot on the edges of the entire season, as the citizens of Red Camp do whatever it takes in order to secure their future during the incoming hostile administration takeover. It’s got some really gnarly action sequences, but my favorite part was absolutely the moment where all is revealed. It’s the kind of stuff that makes your teeth itch, and was clearly a tremendous labor of love in order to bring to life. I’m lucky enough to play small part in helping to get the word out about this show, and am so grateful to the kind of warmth and artistry I’ve been able to experience in this team’s presence. They’re true masters at their craft, and also some of the kindest souls you’ll ever meet. I am so tremendously blown away by this achievement.
We’re experiencing some pretty extreme bombshells as we make our way toward the latter half of season two. People we’ve known from the very beginning of this zombie world have been shown to us in a whole new light. And the new characters we’ve met since this story began have continued to grow in depth and intrigue. The endgame that KC Wayland and co are setting up here is bound to be pulse-pounding. And that cliffhanger at the end of Chapter 20, Part I? Legitimately delectable. I’m really loving this new generation of folks trying to survive the zombie apocalypse, and have adored watching all of the many layers of its onion peel back. And I’m sure there’s plenty more where that came from!
This is another show that, IIRC, dropped around the time that my wife had our baby. So I’m feeling pretty late to the game, and especially bummed that I couldn’t support their second season kickstarter because: wow. This is such a bold and modern continuation of a true classic, and I absolutely could not get enough of it. The Macguffin in this series is the literal head of Dracula, and our two main protagonists are possessed by the souls of Jonathan and Mina Harker. It had so many wild twists and turns, from a Van Helsing descendent who has become a tried and true movie star, to the reawakening of the head, and so much more. I’m glad to see that the show will happen regardless of its initial crowdfunding shortcomings, because this is a story that needs to be told.
Well, fuck. Y’all really did that didn’t you? I cannot begin to explain the satisfaction I felt getting to see those two characters meet for the first time. The whole conceit of season 5, of the Amelia team still separated, as Kozlowski and the Interviewer telling different sets of listeners stories of their deaths faked across history, has allowed so many creators in our space play in this world (*biased, because I am in fact one of those creators) which has been a real gift to the community at large. And to finally get to witness how these two characters, with a ravenous hunger for magic and stories, stumbled across one another’s paths, and did absolutely anything possible in order to stay together across centuries, is beautiful. And that gift that the surgeon passed along, at the end of The Phoenix?! Utter brilliance. I feel so grateful to have met these guys at Austin Film Festival all the way back in 2017, before we’d ever produced an ounce of tape. It’s a thrill to get to see how far they’ve come in that time. I’ve always joked that we’re part of the same AD graduating class.
And we’re here. We’re finally at the end of our second season, which we started writing back in 2019, began recording in 2021, finished in 2024, and finally put out into the world over the last 12.5ish months. In a lot of ways, I never thought these episodes would see the light of day. But now that they’re here? I’m so deliriously happy. There are scenes written by both my co-writers Christie Donato and Jess Miller (who plays double duty on the show as Queen Wanda) that knocked my socks off when I first read them, so to have them out and in the world for people to experience is so fantastic. I’m feeling really reinvigorated on this series, and finally allowing myself to consider what it might look like to bring it to an end of its own, something I wouldn’t dare imagine, until this day finally got here. Tremendously proud of our entire team and everyone involved in bringing it to life. It may be a lot less bombastic than CONTACT DAY was, but I think the (no specific spoilers, I promise!) quiet separation of so many characters who’ve only just found each other again, and the new personality combinations teased make the whole thing feel satisfying. It’d mean a lot to me if you’d consider checking it out.
BONUS SNACK(S)
I started drafting this newsletter immediately after finishing watching this movie on Friday night, which is where I lifted the title of this update. I won’t lie: when I heard that line in Act One, I seriously thought to myself: how the hell haven’t Jack Marone and I come up with that phrase in 5 years of making FORGIVE ME!? Seriously though, this movie was so Father Ben coded, there wasn’t an iota of a chance that I would feel anything but undying love for it. The ensemble cast is fantastic, but my favorite scene in the entire film is from a bit part played by the always fantastic Bridget Everett from SOMEBODY, SOMEWHERE. I really hope that Rian Johnson gets to keep making these movies, because as much as I still would love to see his dead STAR WARS trilogy, these whodunnits are quite the consolation prize.
Rachelle Toarmino writes the kind of poems that make you wanna pump your fist in the air and also give yourself the permission to bed rot indefinitely. She’s always been punk rock, and to see her release her second full-length collection under the Third Man Books imprint is so well deserved. We met online a decade ago both running experimental online literary magazines in NY, her in Buffalo, and me in Queens. We tabled next to each other at a zine fest and have both published each other in the years since. I’ll always be thankful when I get a chance to consume more of her work. It gnaws away at you, in the best way possible, until single lines and images are all you can think about for days on end. It’s an extremely self-assured follow up to what promises to be a prolific and interesting career, and I can’t wait to read what’s next.