The Audio File: Project Pulse

Anime and audio dramas have a bit of a history together. Many anime often create audio drama tie-ins. There are several anime fans within the indie audio drama scene. Many audio dramas take influence from anime in on form or another. The audio drama we’re taking a look at today, however, truly captured lightning in a bolt. It managed to perfectly distill the essence of a shonen anime, and put it into audio drama form. Without further ado, onto the main event. We’re taking a look at Project Pulse. 

The world was changed forever on April 15th, 2022. That was when a company called Octic burst onto the scene. Brent Nolewood, the CEO of Octic, lead a revolution in the field of augmented reality. Artificial intelligence, robotics, and medical technology saw almost overnight advances. Much of the workforce was rendered obsolete thanks to advances in automation. Though, Universal Basic Income also became a thing, so that helped. Still, the people needed something to keep them occupied. That something was Project Pulse. A unique three-on-three battle of wills and human spirit. Each team uses special augmented abilities to defeat their opponents in combat.

It is into this world that Derrick Walker enters. He is the last blind kid on Earth, but he carries the legacy of his mother. She believed that disabilities aren’t a weakness, but a difference to be accepted and cherished. He’s determined to climb his way to the top of Project Pulse.

I’d discovered Project Pulse thanks to Julie Hoverson of 19 Nocturne Boulevard. She used to run the AD Infinitum account on Twitter. It was decided to promoting indie audio dramas. She had to shut it down due to changes to the way Twitter lets you set up automated tweets. Still, we here at The Audiophile, and by extension The Books of Thoth, thank Julie for her service. It truly was an invaluable resource.

Back on topic, I’m glad I finally got to listen to Project Pulse. There have been many audio dramas that take inspiration from anime. However, Project Pulse is, in my opinion, the one the really managed to distill that essence. Now, I should probably preface this by saying that anime is a medium, not a genre. Nine time out of ten, whenever someone says that something is anime-inspired, they are referring to shonen. That is, anime aimed at boys between the ages of twelve and eighteen. That tends to be stuff like Naruto, One Piece, Fullmetal Alchemist, or JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. Though, on occasion, you also get darker stuff that startles the line like Attack on Titan, Death Note, or Neon Genesis Evangelion. When you have an anime that is aimed at adult men, we call that seinen. Shojo and josei are the female counterparts to shonen and seinen respectively.

Derrick starts off as an underdog, but one with great potential. He is taken in by an unlikely ally. Said ally whisks him into a world of adventure. Derrick proves himself to be incredibly talented, despite being a newcomer to the world of Project Pulse. One of his new allies is a guy with glasses who oozes cool. The other is a snippy, sarcastic girl, but she turns out to have hidden depths. Throughout it all, Derrick strives to be the very best, like no one ever was. Oh, and it all takes place in a future with super advanced holograms and AI. Put that all together, and it sure sounds like the start of a science fiction shonen, doesn’t it?

Ah, but it isn’t just the premise that gives that anime feeling. I have to take a moment to praise the fantastic voice acting. I don’t know if Project Pulse was intentionally trying to sound like an anime dub, but they really captured the aesthetic. Now, I know dub vs sub is a very touchy subject in the anime fandom. I admit I tend to consume my anime dubbed. That’s a personal preference on my part. There’s nothing wrong if you prefer subbed anime. I will admit I’ve watched some anime where the subbed version was, overall, a bit better. That having been said, there’s also plenty of quality voice acting on the dubbed side of things. I am pleased to say that the spirit of those quality dubs is alive and well in the voice acting of Project Pulse.

Okay, now it is time to meet the characters. Derrick is blind, so in a way, we are experiencing the story from his point of view. Or lack thereof, as the case might be. He could have had this corrected via surgery, but he chose not to. However, he compensates for this using the same technology that Pulse players use. Octic tech grants Pulse players enhanced physical abilities. In Derrick’s case, he uses an app called Telescopic Hearing, which allows him to focus his hearing, and tune out excessive noise. I wondered if perhaps he was going to be depicted like Daredevil. That is, having his other senses heightened to superhuman levels to compensate for his blindness.

Well, there’s a scene early on where Derrick runs into some thugs…and promptly gets his ass handed to him. Honestly, that was actually a really smart move on the part of the creators. That scene shows that Derrick has a lot to learn before he’s going to make it to the top of Project Pulse. It makes his victors feel more genuine and actually earned.

Kato Atadori fills the role of the smart guy with glasses who absolutely oozes coolness. I mean, the dude is cool as ice, and that extends to his Pulse abilities. You see, there are different classes of Pulse players who each specialize in different abilities. In Kato’s case, he is an Elemental. He is the master of all things ice, and he’s very creative in how he uses it. The way that Project Pulse is described, everything is created using holograms. However, the Elemental powers sound more like magic. Kato’s ice is genuinely cold, and he can use it to make shields and protective domes. He can also use it offensively to create blizzards. Maybe it's like in Star Trek where the holograms are somehow solid. Then again, plenty of anime also feature surprisingly solid holograms. Clarke’s Third Law is clearly at play here.

Kato is the one who takes Derrick under his wing and introduces him to the world of Project Pulse. The Project Pulse website has a section that includes information about the characters that hasn’t been included in the show. At least, not yet anyway. From this, we learn that Kato is third generation Japanese-American, and is quite proud of his heritage.

Mia Clark is the Speedster of the group. As the name suggests, they are Pulse players who specialize in fast attacks. She is also the resident tsundere. For those of you who aren’t otaku, a tsundere is someone who starts off kind of mean and snippy, but then they turn out to have a hidden nice side. Sometimes, though not always, they act mean because they’re hiding a deep sadness or hurt. This is certainly the case with Mia. She comes from a wealthy family, but her parents are dead. So, she lives with her Uncle Heath. He used to be a construction worker, but that was rendered obsolete due to the technological revolution Octic ushered in. Heath didn’t know what to do with himself, and turned to drinking to drown his sorrows. 

Mia gets a monthly stipend, which should be enough to live in a nice loft uptown. Unfortunately, Heath usually spends the money on alcohol and drugs. Quite ironically, Mia’s family got so wealthy because her mother invested stock in Octic during the early days of the company. Heath tries to pull himself together for Mia, but almost always falls back into temptation. Mia could easily abandon him, but Heath’s the only family she has left, and she feels obliged to him. I feel kind of bad for finding Mia’s tsundere tendencies amusing in the first season. Poor girl sounds like she could seriously use a hug.

In other characters, we have Emma. She is Derrick’s AI assistant. She takes the form of a blue-haired anime girl. She likes to tease and sass Derrick, but she’s always there for him. Especially since she doesn’t want to be factory reset. I would remark that this is slavery, and that factory reset amounts to lobotomy, but that’s kind of an omnipresent trope in works featuring artificial intelligences. Well, that, and we increasingly see the world of Project Pulse is not quite as utopian as Octic would have us believe.

Speaking of AI, let’s talk about Mark Bolt. Well, technically the Mark Bolt in the series is an AI replicant of the real Mark Bolt. Mark is a popular Pulse announcer who gives play-by-plays of the action. This is a creative way of letting us, the out-of-universe audience, know what we should be visualizing. It has the bonus of being diegetic, and makes sense in-universe without coming across as unnatural or forced. Although, if AI voices have gotten that advanced, well, that has grim implications for the voice acting industry.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention one unexpected ally Derrick finds. Derrick is transported to the underworld during one of his first Pulse matches. He meets the Greek god Hades. Hades offers Derrick the use of his bident as a Pulse ability. The bident is the two-pronged staff Hades is often depicted holding. Okay, so we started off as an anime, and then we turned into Percy Jackson. I remember listening to that scene and thinking “This show just keeps getting better and better!” Hades might have only appeared in that one scene, but it was certainly a memorable one. Though now that I think about it, a mythological god in a futuristic anime setting, is that a Persona reference?

Okay, now we’re going to switch gears and talk about a few of the things I didn’t like. The creators of Project Pulse were clearly trying to give positive representation to people with disabilities. However, I feel that they missed the mark. Derrick’s mother, Catherine, was a big champion for the downtrodden. She was also a big believer that disabled people can do anything. Unfortunately, that attitude also got her killed. When Derrick was little, he and his mom came across a burning apartment building. The automatic firefighting drone malfunctioned, and Catherine decide to rush in and rescue the trapped tenets. Did I mention that she was paraplegic?

I mean, where do I even begin? Catherine’s wheelchair didn’t appear to be anything other that a standard chair. How did she get up the stairs? How did she navigate fallen debris and fires? She didn’t come across as a hero, she came across as an idiot who senselessly threw her life away. Derrick had to grow up with a mother, and Mr. Walker lost his beloved wife. Frankly, I wonder if Catherine really cared about those people in the burning building. Let’s suppose she’d done the sensible thing and hadn’t intervened. In doing so, she’d have to admit that there are legitimately some things disabled people just can’t do. Yes, sometimes in life we have to make hard calls. It might seem cruel, but the cold equations have to be balanced somehow. Sometimes that means not everyone gets to live.

This also leads me to another point. I feel that having Derrick willing abstain from corrective surgery might not have been the best move. One of the arguments disability advocates give against such procedures is that there will always be those who can’t get them. The thinking is, this will lead to a shrinking of the disabled community. Those who get left behind will find themselves increasingly isolated from society. However, this is not the case with Derrick. His refusal frankly comes across more as him wanting to feel special and unique. Personally, I feel it would have been better if Derrick had a one in a billion genetic fluke that not even Optic could fix. He’d still get to be the last blind kid, he’d still be disability representation, but he wouldn’t come across as trying to be special for the heck of it. Plus, it would tie into the previously mentioned real world issues.

Now, I want to emphasize I don’t think any of this is inherently unfixable. One of the key points of Pulse is the case system. Each special ability takes up a certain number of slots in a player’s case. There are ten slots total, so players have to pick and choose carefully. Telescopic Hearing takes up three slots already. Kato emphasizes that Derrick might have to consider switching it out some day. Perhaps, when that day comes, Derrick will seriously have to consider getting corrective surgery. Now, I’m not saying he’s got to go through with it, but I do see that as a potential source of internal conflict for him.

Perhaps, we could also have him question his mother’s choices. He could acknowledge that she was a good woman at heart, but had her share of flaws. He can decide to honor her legacy, but avoid repeating the same mistakes she did. Unrelated, but at one point Derrick realizes he’s been holding a corndog upside-down, and Kato didn’t tell him. Uh, do what now? You don’t need eyes to figure that one out.

On an unrelated note, I also felt the depiction of Universal Basic Income was a bit inconsistent. Derrick hypes it up as being this wonderful thing that finally ensured equality for everyone. Yet we see that there’s still a fair degree of wealth inequality. Mia and her uncle aren’t the only people we see living below the poverty line. Granted, it would make sense that there would still be rich and middle class people. Presumably, wealth from the old world carried over to the new. However, the way things are presented, it gives the impression that the only reason poor people still exist is that they’re irresponsible with their money. Granted, we do get hints that there’s a sinister undercurrent lurking just beneath the surface of this world. So, perhaps this is by design.

I don’t want to end this review on a negative note. Taken as a whole, I was very pleased by Project Pulse. Season one was absolutely fantastic. Season two only has a couple episodes out so far, and production seems to have stalled. I certainly hope it gets moving again, because I’m dying to know what happens next. Season one was centered on Derrick, but it seems that Mia will be taking center stage in season two.

So, there you have it. Project Pulse is an absolutely fantastic anime-inspired science fiction audio drama. I have seen few other audio dramas that capture the spirit of anime so perfectly. You definitely do not want to miss this one if you are an anime fan. Don’t sit on this one like I did. 

Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time.

The Audio File: Sorry About the Murder

What comes to mind when you think of Canada? Is it a moose munching on maple leaves? Is it a hearty plate of poutine at a cafe in Montreal? Is it a rowdy night at the local hockey arena? Perhaps is it the dark killing instinct that lurks within the hearts of all humans, no matter how polite? In case it wasn’t obvious already, we’re going with that last one for this audio drama. We’re taking a look at Sorry About the Murder. 

The sleepy little town of Beavermount, Ontario is one of those picturesque little slices of heaven. The sort of place where the women are strong, the men are good looking, and the children are above average. It is the last place you’d expect a murder to occur, but that’s precisely what has happened. Scott, Scotty, McDonald was the owner of the local hockey rink. He has been found murdered. Specifically, run-over by the Zamboni. Frenchie, the sole Quebecois in town, is the Zamboni driver. He’s just become the prime suspect in the investigation. Frenchie has to clear his Quebecois name, and get the ice ready in time for the night’s hockey game. It’s a story of small towns, hockey, Stubbies, smelts, and a very Canadian murder mystery.

Sorry About the Murder is created by Drew Frohmann. He is also the creator of Human B-Gon. Naturally, this means that Sorry About the Murder is a member of the Fable & Folly podcast network. As such, it is time for another podcast roll call. Other members of the Fable & Folly family include show such as Hannahpocalypse, Harlem Queen, We Fix Space Junk, Alba Salix, The Carlötta Beautox Chronicles, Spaceships, Modes of Thought in Anterran Literature, and Who is Cam Candor?

Sorry About the Murder is a loving spoof of True Crime podcasts. I also detect hints of Lake Wobegon from A Prairie Home Companion. Though, perhaps this could be incidental. Minnesota has always had a bit of a Canadian character to it. And this audio drama proudly wears its Canadian influences on its sleeve. It lovingly pokes fun at numerous Canadian stereotypes. Fear not, you don’t have to be Canadian to enjoy this audio drama. Sorry About the Murder does a good job of letting the listener in on all of the jokes in a way that feels organic. In fact, you might learn a thing or two about Canada. Or rather, how Canada makes fun of itself.

We learn that Scotty was holding his Stubby upright when he died. You know, just as any good Canadian would. Also, Stubby is slang for beer, because several Canadian beers come in stout bottles. Beavermount is also home to an annual smelt festival. Fried smelts are a popular dish in Atlantic Canada. Well, for the most part. I remember watching MasterChef Canada, and one of the contestants was excited to cook with smelts. Unfortunately, he made what amounted to smelt chicken nuggets. Alvin Leung really did not hold back with how disappointed he was.

In other references, McDonald and MacDonald are both considered stereotypically Canadian last names. Sir John Alexander MacDonald was Canada’s first prime minister. I do on occasion get mistaken for Canadian due to having some many friends in the Canadian audio drama scene. Though, my last name certainly doesn’t help dissuade that notion. Also, I won’t give it away, but the importance of politeness plays a major role in the plot. Specially, the importance of always saying sorry. And not just in the title of the audio drama.

However, I do have to ding Sorry About the Murder for some rather glaring omissions. Where were the ketchup chips? Why did nobody eat Kraft Dinner? And come to think of it, there wasn’t a single reference to Tim Horton’s. I mean, it seriously strains credibility that Beavermount would have at least one Tim Horton’s. This paragraph was a joke, in case it wasn’t obvious.

So, let's now talk aboot the colorful cast of characters. Frenchie is our main character, and is notable for being the only character not voiced by the narrator. Frenchie is voiced by Jeff Tremblay, who really is from Quebec. The narrator is voiced by Tom Goudie. I suppose they had they narrator voice everyone to really give it that Prairie Home Companion feel. I don’t know enough about True Crime to tell if that’s a trope.

Frenchie is quite possibly the most intelligent person in all of Beavermount. And by that, I mean that he actually has common sense. He often muses about the wise words of his grandfather from rural Quebec. It helps that Chieficer Dougie, the closest thing Beavermount has to law enforcement, is easily distracted by sweets. Dougie is cut from the same cloth as lawmen such as Barney Fife and Chief Wiggum. But hey, he’s still a pretty swell guy. In fact, he’s such a polite Canadian, he even takes Frenchie out for bear claws on the way to the station. And he’s more than willing to go on as many detours as Frenchie requests. At times it almost feels like a buddy cop show.

There’s plenty of quirky townsfolk. For example, there’s a group of sextuplets who are produce farms running a protection racket. Nobody sells produce in Beavermount without their approval. Oh, and they all have male names, despite all being women. Then there’s the members of the local Ojibwe tribe. They recently scored a major land settlement with the government. Thanks to reparations, each member of the tribe is a millionaire with plenty of dough to spend. And then there’s the annual smelt festival were…well, let’s just say that shooting fish in a barrel has some slightly different connotations in Beavermount

Honestly, with all of the quirky townsfolk, Sorry About the Murder feels kind of like a slice of life audio drama at times. It does have a cozy feeling, and the murder mystery doesn’t detract from that. It almost feels like a parody of one of those mystery movies from The Hallmark Channel. Well, maybe not quite like that. There’s not enough handsome salt-of-the-earth widower Christmas tree farmers.

It appears we will be getting a season two, and Frenchie will have another murder on his hands. I always wonder, in show like Grantchester and Murder, She Wrote, how the small towns maintain a stable population despite all the murders. To be fair, it does tend to be the come from aways who tend to get murdered in those shows. I suppose Sorry About the Murder will wrestle with this issue as well.

So, there you have it. Sorry About the Murder is farcical, cozy, and true crime inspired. But above all else, it is very Canadian. It is another great audio drama from the creator of Human B-Gon. You don’t have to be Canadian to enjoy it, but that certainly doesn’t hurt either.

Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time. 

The Audio File: The Earth Moves

Some audio dramas last for numerous seasons. Some fizzle out after only a single season. That’s not even getting into serialized vs anthology vs hybrid. The point being, audio dramas come in all different shapes and sizes. The audio drama we’re looking at today clocks in at only two episodes, and slightly less than an hour in runtime. Still, as is often said, good things frequently come in small packages. We’re taking a look at The Earth Moves. 

Brent Ziff is something of a modern-day Howard Sterns. He runs an internet radio show where he interviews various callers. Inevitably, they are brought on so that Brent can make fun of them for being strange or otherwise unconventional. Tonight, however, it is Brent who will receive the jolt of a lifetime. Leo Short is calling into the show. Leo is a big fan of the show, and he has an equally big message. Leo has a strange superpower. He gets intense intestinal distress whenever a major natural disaster is due to occur. Leo explains it as being able to sense the movements of the Earth itself. Leo’s power tells him that tonight won’t just be one earthquake, it will be lots of them. Leo is trying to convince Brent to help him get the word out.

I first came across this audio drama while perusing the r/audiodrama subreddit. I was in the mood for something shorter, and I decided to give it a shot. I did very much enjoy The Earth Moves. I sometimes share what I’ve been listening to lately on the Twitter account for my own audio drama The Books of Thoth. Gideon Media, the creators of The Earth Moves, were delighted by my brief Twitter write up. They even followed The Books of Thoth. So, I kind of felt a bit like my arm was being twisted. And if that’s the case, congratulations, it worked. But, just a tip, the best way to get my attention for potential reviews is to take the direct approach.

So, a bit briefly about Gideon Media. They are an audio drama production studio. They are in the same weight class as studios like QCODE and Realm. Gideon Media has attracted some very big names. They’ve adapted the plays of Wallace Shawn into audio dramas. They’ve also been commissioned to make audio dramas for Audible, including one based on Are You Afraid of the Dark?

The Earth Moves is a two-man show, but both of the leads carry it fantastically. Abe Goldfarb channels his inner edge lord as he portrays Brent’s devil-may-care, take no prisoners persona. At the same time, he doesn’t neglect Brent’s more human moments. He is really about to sell us on how Brent cares about his mom back in Minnesota. Brain Sillman starts Leo off as a dorky, but good natured, sort of guy. You can see why Brent might be hesitant to believe Leo at first. Ah, but then the tables turn, and Brain adds a bit more confidence to his performance as Leo.

In a way, The Earth Moves can be seen as a deconstruction of the disaster movie genre. Most disaster movies end with the heroes having survived the major calamity. Sure, the city, or nation, is in ruins. And yeah, they might have lost some pals along the way. But hey, they lived to tell the tale, and the future looks bright as the happy music swells triumphantly. Ah, but therein lies the rub. You see, most disaster movies end there because, well, they kind of have to. If they were to keep going things would be feeling a lot less triumphant and happy.

I was in middle school when Hurricane Katrina happened. My nuclear family lives in North Louisiana, but I’ve got family all through South Louisiana. My dad’s half of the family is scattered throughout the greater New Orleans area. I can remember seeing those images of the flooded city, but still not being able to grasp the scale of the destruction. All these years later, and I’m still not sure I can really comprehend just how bad it was. That’s not even getting into all the looting and rioting that happened after law and order broke down. I remember having family coming over to stay until things cleared up. I also remember having several classmates who were refugees from down south. What happened with the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas hits even harder now that I work at the Shreveport Aquarium. 

All these years later, and it still feels like we’re dealing with the scars of Katrina. I went through a lot of those same feelings when Hurricane Laura hit Lake Charles. My mom’s side of the family is scattered across that general area, but especially in DeRidder. 

The point being imagine that sort of destruction, but on a global scale. Oh, there would be some areas spared from the destruction. Particularly, the higher inland areas that avoided the tsunamis. However, Leo rightfully points out that the supply lines that keep the world running would be completely severed. Food shortage would be all but guaranteed. Ironically, so would fresh water. Hey, all that salty ocean water is sure to contaminate sources of freshwater. Medical supplies would also be an issue. Going back to New Orleans, we saw numerous displays of kindness and generosity among the survivors of Hurricane Katrina. However, we also saw that this altruism had its limits. Eventually, people are going to prioritize themselves, and their families.

And yet, The Earth Moves does not take a nihilistic view to all of this. Leo acknowledges how horrible things are going to be. And that’s exactly why he believes it is so important to get the word out. There won’t be anyone to swoop in and help the survivors. Therefore, the survivors must band together if they want to do more than just scrape by. I’m reminded of one of the Norse sagas. I can’t remember which it was, but there were a group of Vikings who didn’t believe in the gods. Or perhaps, viewed the gods as cold and uncaring. They knew they couldn’t depend on anything but their own strength. So, they banded together against the cruel and indifferent world. I see much of that same sentiment in The Earth Moves.

So, we have an audio drama that doesn’t sugarcoat the human cost of a global disaster. And yet, it paints an optimistic view of humanity’s survival, and ends on a hopeful note. There really isn’t anything for me to really critique about The Earth Moves. If I were to get super nitpicky, there is a scene where Brent watches a livestream of a right-wing rally in…Seattle. Uh, this was supposed to be our universe, right? Like, I’m pretty sure the Republican part of Washington state is on the other side of the Cascades. Like I said, an extremely minor nitpick, didn’t ruin the show in the slightest.

The Earth Moves isn’t just available as an audio drama. It was also adapted into a film, with Abe Goldfarb and Brain Sillman reprising their roles. I haven’t had the chance to watch it, but the trailer looked pretty good.

So, there you have it. The Earth Moves is a darkly comedic audio drama about a shock jock getting the shock of a lifetime. It deals in disaster, but keeps things surpassingly hopeful. It is short, but sweet, and well worth your time.

Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time.

The Audio File: The Truth: Part 2

Well, it seems that Part 2 of my review of The Truth came sooner than expected. If you’re looking for Part 1, you can find it over here. Now, before we dive on in, I wanted to address something. There were a couple times in the last review I came across as a tad harsh. I intended for these reviews to be a warts and all look at The Truth. Where there is good, it shall be given due praise. Where there is lacking, this will be duly noted. Personally, I think, when you look at it as a whole, The Truth got more right than it got wrong. Every ax has a few speckles, as Benjamin Franklin famously said. 

So, with all of that out of the way, let us continue our review of The Truth.

The first episode we’ll be looking at in this part of the review is “They’re Made Out of Meat.” It is adapted from the short story of the same name by Terry Bisson. It follows two aliens who…well, actually, we don’t get any physical description of them. The only thing we know for sure is that they definitely don’t look human. You see, they have discovered a mysterious planet known as Earth. The local intelligent life isn’t made out of energy, or plasma, or gas, or anything sensible like that. No, Earthlings are made out of meat! And they stay meat their entire lives!

I was familiar with the original short story, but this episode was still a lot of fun. When you think about it, it is kind of amazing that a lump of meat and fat can produce our complex minds. Oh, and just so you know, you probably used that lump of fat and meat just then. I suppose this is a humor solution to the Fermi Paradox. Just where are all the aliens? Well, we do tend to be biased towards ourselves. We assume that E.T. and company will be carbon-based meat sacks like us. But what if they turn out to be different? Perhaps we’ve been looking in all the wrong places.

This episode also includes an interview between Terry Bisson and Jonathan Mitchell. Terry said that this episode was probably one of the best adaptations of the story. I agree; this story doesn’t lend itself well to the visual mediums. Though, he did mention a short play a university did. The aliens were represented by lights on a stage curtain. That sounds kind of fun and unique. Also, apparently Steven Pinker and Sam Harris have used this story in their university classes. There was the part where Terry apparently didn’t know audio dramas are a thing, and Jonathan tried to politely correct him. I thought “Mr. Bisson, I’d love to give you some recommendations!”

All in all, an excellent adaptation, and an excellent interview. Two great episodes for the price of one.

Our second episode will be “Possible Side Effects.” This episode follows a guy named Joel. He’s been having stomach pain, but his doctor has put him on a wonderful drug called Intestilax. It has helped it, but it does come with a few side effects. Chief among them is that Joel is hallucinating the disembodied voices of three women named Kimmy, Tina, and Scarlet. Kimmy is the sweet and cutesy one, Tina is the sensible one, and Scarlet is the sexy one. They all love Joel, and want him to be the best version of himself possible. And Joel is equally fond of his special ladies. Unfortunately, Joel no longer needs to take Intestilax. Long term use can result in kidney failure, and his doctor isn’t keen on the whole hearing voices thing. Joel refuses to be without his girls, and will do whatever it takes to get a supply of Intestilax.

There have been times in my life where I would have loved something like this. Well, maybe not the parts where Intestilax turns out to be detrimental to Joel’s health. Still, having some voices that only I can hear, and who like me for who I am, might be fun. Though, as I type this, I realize that this all sound kind of like schizophrenia, which is a decidedly not fun disorder. I’m also reminded of how Son of Sam claimed to hear his dog talking to him, and then he killed all those women. So, uh, yeah, maybe I should think twice before indulging in the fantasies of this episode.

On a lighter note, Kimmy, Tina, and Scarlet were a lot of fun. I find it interesting that they reminded me a bit of the three personalities from The Three Faces of Eve. It could have been coincide, and it probably was, but it was just something I noticed. I suppose there’s an anti-escapism moral in this episode. Escapism can be a good and even necessary thing, but eventually we must face our problems head-on. Retreating too far into our fantasies can have negative results.

Possible side effects of this episode include: laughing, smiling, and listening to another excellent episode of The Truth.

Our next episode is “Sleep Some More.” It follows a college student named Dan. He is taking a literature class, and is really struggling. Then, one night, he hears his roommate Tom talking in his sleep. Tom’s sleep talking provides deep and insightful literary analysis about the various works that Dan has to write essays about. The only catch is that Tom bleeds when this happens. The more Dan exploits Tom’s sleep talking, the more Tom bleeds, and the weaker he gets. How far will Dan go to maintain his grades?

I admit I always kind of struggled with literature class. There were some bright spots during middle school. I had a good English teacher. What finally clicked was eleventh grade American Literature class. I had an excellent teacher, and I really loved how she incorporated history into what we were learning. It made me interested in learning more about the various great novels. Naturally, I became a bit of a popular resource among other students. Though, nobody ever tried to pick my brain while I was sleeping. Well, to my knowledge, anyway.

It is interesting how the action of the episode paralleled Tom’s insights into Dan’s assignments. Like Macbeth, Dan is conflicted towards the start of the episode, but he quickly made his choice. Like Dr. Faustus, that choice is an, albeit metaphorical, deal with the devil. Like Victor Frankenstein, he is more concerned with whether or not he can do something morally questionable, rather than if he should. Like Dorian Gray, he wears a mask of civility in public, and uses it to hide a rotten soul. Like Rodin Rashkolnikov, he is laser-focused on his life’s goal. Dan’s only concern about Tom’s failing health is how it will impact his dream of becoming Secretary of Commerce. 

The parallel with Gregor Samsa is especially interesting. Tom is Gregor, and Dan is Gregor’s family. Tom, albeit unknowingly, sacrifices himself for Dan. And yet, Dan is completely ungrateful. He never even considers stopping for Tom’s sake. He never thinks of revealing the truth to Tom, and perhaps getting his permission to continue. No, all Dan cares about is what’s in it for him.

But this brings us to the most important question of all: how far are you willing to go to listen to this episode of The Truth? To your podcast app of choice, that’s how far!

For our forth offering we have “Salamanca.” Our protagonist reminisces about a trip he took to Spain back in the 1980s. He had a wonderful time in Salamanca, especially when he met a beautiful woman named Emilia. An old legend says that if he can find the frog carved into the Cathedral of Salamanca, you will have good luck all year. Our protagonist certainly felt quite lucky in those gentle summer days. A dream come true, you might say. But a dream, no matter how beautiful, must come to an end eventually.

I have never been to Spain. However, I really wanted to visit Salamanca after I listened to this episode. I never felt like a travel ad. Although, Spain's Ministry of Industry and Tourism probably should have commissioned The Truth. Audio dramas can do wonders for the tourism sector; just ask Blum. Anyway, this felt like a sincere love letter to Salamanca.

The legend about the frog is indeed a real legend. It is also not the only notable site at Salamanca. There’s also a carving of an astronaut. Contrary to what the loonies on Ancient Aliens would have you believe, there’s a mundane explanation for this. The cathedral underwent renovations in 1992, and the astronaut was added as part of that. Along with other additions, such as a dragon eating ice cream.

This episode reminded me of a trip I took to Italy the summer before junior year of high school. I saw many wonderful things, but I also met Rebecca. She was another student on the trip, and we really hit it off with each other. We remained friends, and kept in touch. We thought about maybe being something more, but she had personal demons to sort out. In all honesty, so did I. Eventually, we got our shit together, but then she came out as lesbian. We still remained friends, and I did my best to be supportive, but things were always kind of awkward between us after that. Honestly, part of me wished we could be more than friends, even if I knew that could never happen.

Still, despite everything that happened, I’m grateful that I got to know Rebecca. I still treasure all the good times we had together. I’m reminded of what the protagonist’s Spanish papá says about the song at the end of the episode. I loved the bird, but if it was caged, it would not be a bird.

Come and take a wistful, slightly melancholy, auditory journey to Salamanca.

We’ll be changing gears as we take a look at “Justice Battalion.” Holy Silver Age, Truthman! This episode is an homage to Super Friends. We follow a noble group of heroes called the Justice Battalion. They are: Bright Star, Night Wolf, Captain Kilowatt, and Silicone Savior. The President is giving the State of the Union address. Among other things, he plans to ramp up the War on Drugs, repeal climate change legislation, and will increase production of fossil fuels. Bright Star has had enough, and murders the President on live television. The remaining members of the Justice Battalion must find a way to bring Bright Star to justice. But what does justice even mean in the modern world?

When I listened to this episode, I immediately thought of Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice. The first thing I thought after finish this episode was “Wow, The Truth told a better story in thirty minutes than Zach Snyder did in two and half hours.” I don’t think this was necessarily meant as a response to Batman vs Superman. I detected the DNA of quite a few comics. The idea of the Superman analog going rouge, and embracing vigilante justice, brings to mind Injustice: Gods Among Us. However, the bit about a superhero killing the President, and the question of how far is too far in the pursuit of justice, brings to mind Black Summer by Warren Ellis.

So, now let’s sort out who is who. Bright Star is Superman, Night Wolf is Batman, Captain Kilowatt is Wonder Woman, Crying Clown is Joker, and Silicone Savior…hmm, I guess he’s vaguely similar to Red Tornado. This also extends to the performances the actors gave. Erica Schroeder sounded almost exactly like the Super Friends version of Wonder Woman. Billy Bob Thompson was channeling Mark Hamill’s iconic take on Joker. Marc Thompson was going for Christian Bale’s raspy Batman voice. And, of course, Graham Rowat nailed the announcer role.

Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s another excellent episode of The Truth!

Our next port of call is “Mark the Creep.” We follow a man named Mark who has been dealing with some intrusive thoughts. He frequently has hallucinations about people getting angry at him over the slightest mistakes. He also occasionally has fantasies about intimacy, but he worries that this means he’s secretly a pervert. We follow Mark as he tries to navigate life and come to terms with his intrusive thoughts, and gain a sense of self-worth.

This was one of those episodes from the final season of The Truth. It was the worst of times, but it was also the best of times. There were increasingly more misses, but when The Truth managed to land a hit, they really knew how to knock it out of the park. Case in point, this episode. It is rare to see a work of fiction that captures my own struggles so clearly. Like Mark, I also frequently deal with intrusive thoughts, and fear that everyone secretly hates me and resents me. I have a tendency to assume the worst about interactions if I’m uncertain. Such tend to be the case when you’re on the autism spectrum. And yet there are plenty of times, probably most of the times, in all honesty, when things turn out perfectly fine. The other person isn’t angry or appalled at me, and I simply catastrophized things in my head. It’s probably the result of my anxiety and low self-esteem. I sometimes wonder if I might have undiagnosed OCD. I’ve got pretty much every other mental disorder.

This episode was a surpassingly realistic take on someone with OCD. Contrary to popular depiction, OCD isn’t about obsessively ordering everything. Rather, it is dealing with repeated unwarned intrusive thoughts. Basically, you fear that if you think about something bad for too long, you’ll eventually do that bad thing for real. This often leads to various coping methods. You know they’re irrational, but they’re the only thing that feels like it brings relief. Perhaps I need to be more like Mark, and learn some more self-compassion, and to cut myself more slack.

Like I said, this episode was a bright star during a turbulent time for The Truth. Keep that in mind as we get into the next review.

Speaking of which, we will now turn our attention to “Journey into Kalanu.” It follows a man named Richard. He has a strained relationship with his sons Brian and Zach. Still, he’s trying his best. He has taken them to a theme park centered around Kalanu. It is a science fiction franchise that…well, it’s basically Star Wars, with a smidge of He-Man thrown in. The author of the Kalanu book is pretty clearly George R.R. Martin. Anyway, Brian and Zach are big fans, but Richard just doesn’t get it. Richard decides to try out the park’s latest dark ride, and has a surpassingly good time. Little does he know he’s going to uncover the dark underbelly of the Kalanu fandom.

You know, I actually had hopes for this one initially. At the start, it seemed like the episode was going to be about Richard coming to appreciate Kalanu. He enjoys his trip on the dark ride, gets to know a Kalanu fan named Christine, and perhaps even becomes a fan himself. Now, doesn’t that sound like a great episode?

Unfortunately, that’s now how things played out. You see, Christine does not like the recent changes that have been made to the Kalanu franchise. She especially isn’t fond of the new character Rey Palpatine…okay, that’s not really her name, but she’s clearly meant to be Rey. Also, the company that bought Kalanu is pretty clearly Disney. Christine belongs to a conspiracy theory group that claims that the creator of Kalanu is being held hostage, and is being forced to make these changes. And what do they decide to do about this? Why, to set fires across the park, and commit other acts of domestic terrorism. Also, Richard’s sons support the arson.

I mean, wow, where do I even begin? What we have here is a massive strawman argument. Basically, you can either blindly consume everything in a franchise without any criticism, or you can be a domestic terrorist. We never see a character who doesn’t like the current direction of Kalanu, but expresses it in a sensible way. Given the lack of nuance, it’s pretty clear what the message is here. Especially given the connection between Kalanu and Star Wars.

There’s certainly a double standard whenever fandoms do stupid shit. If it’s a fandom that skews male, the media immediately pounces on it, and declares a moral panic. If it is a fandom that skews female, completely crickets from the media. True, this episode does has Christine as the main fanatic. But just ask any woman who openly admits to not liking the Star Wars sequel trilogy about their experiences. Odds are, they’ve been called a pick-me, or get accused of having internalized misogyny. So, no, this episode ain’t off the hook.

So, what do I mean about the double standard? Well, there was that fan artist who got harassed by the Steven Universe fandom because she, supposedly, drew some characters too light-skinned and a smidge too thin. Poor girl tried to take her own life, and thankfully failed. Hell, even the Steven Universe creators had to step in, and tell people to knock it off. And what was the response from the media? Silence, complete and utter silence.

There was also the shipping wars within the Voltron fandom. Further proof about how hardcore shippers really need to get a life, and maybe some meds. Death threats being sent left and right, the creators having to tell everyone to knock it off. And then there was that one person who threatened to link storyboards of the new episodes unless their favorite ship became canon. Naturally, Studio Mir quit giving out tours of the studio after that stunt. But once again, nary a word from the media.

I could go on, but I’m sure you get the point. The message of this episode might as well be “Don’t ask questions, just consume product. And then get excited for next product.”

It isn’t like we can’t poke fun at fandom excess. William Shatner’s “Please Get a Life” sketch is one of my favorite Saturday Night Live sketches. The Animaniacs also had a similar sketch that I enjoyed. But both of those felt like they were coming from a place of good faith. It also help that they weren’t trying to lecture their audience. Both traits being something this episode sorely lacked.

What else can I say? Two thumbs way down. Easily one of the worst, if not the worst, episode of The Truth.

We shift gears slightly to have “Breakfast in Wartime.” We follow a struggling comedian named Liz. She’s been trying to break into the big times, but her fellow artists are being unsupportive. Liz wants to be apolitical, and just have a good time. However, the other artists think are should have important messages, and speak truth to power. In fact, they’re all involved in a protest for…well, actually, the episode never says why they’re protesting. So, Liz brushes them off, and lands a gig as a comedian for Fox News/The Daily Wire. She has to decide how long she’s willing to ignore the events around her.

There was an idea here, but it just never came together. I feel that this episode got yanked out of the oven too early, and didn’t have chance to bake properly. The biggest problem is that we never find out why exactly Liz’s friends are protesting. Now, granted, as we saw with “Journey into Kalanu” this could easily go rather poorly. On the other hand, it is very hard to care about them if we don’t know what they’re fighting for. I also felt Liz got a bit of an unfair shake. Not all art needs to have a profound message. Even the most seemingly trivial piece of art can have significance to everyone. It is easy to get emotionally burned out, and sometimes you just need an escape. There is nothing wrong or evil about that. It is important to have an emotional release valve. Doing that could be Liz’s supporting her friends in her own way.

So, while this episode had potential to be good, it just never came together. Perhaps another round of revisions was in order.

We’ll finish this installment with “Naughty or Nice.” It follows an elf named Spark. He works at the Naughty and Nice division of Santa's workshop. He and his coworkers sort all children onto either the Naughty or Nice list. Lately, however, more and more children are winding up on the Naughty list for misdemeanors. Something's going on, and Spark is going to get to the bottom of it.

This was a really fun episode. Of course, in order to discuss it we're going to have to talk about the twist. Why are so many children getting coal? Santa is in bed with the coal industry, that's why! You'd think he'd be concerned about global warming, due to living in the Arctic and all. Maybe he has enough magic where it wouldn't be a problem? In any event, Santa was well-written, and seemed believably nice before the big reveal. I love these stories that give a more technological edge to Santa's workshop and its employees. Also, great sound editing to make the actors playing elves sound convincing.

A fun, slightly satirical tale that I'm sure you'll enjoy. This one is on the nice list.

And with that, we wrap up Part 2 of our look at The Truth. Don’t worry, this is not the end of my review of The Truth. I fully intend to make a Part 3 at some point. I’ve got a feeling that there will also be a Part 4 sooner or later. So, be on the look out for both of those.

Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time.

The Audio File: The Truth: Part 1

Where do I even start with this one? This is another review that has been long overdue. Perhaps a bit too overdue. This one was a true cornerstone of the audio drama community. Doubly so for those of us on the anthology side of things. It is still kind of surreal that they are actually gone. But we aren’t here to mourn their passing, but to celebrate their life. What else is there for me to say? I’m Sam McDonald, and today we’re taking a look at The Truth. 

The Truth is an anthology of nearly 200 episodes spanning a wide variety of genres. It billed itself as movies for the ears, and it certainly lived up to that description. Now, it is true that quite a few audio dramas fit that description, but you have to consider the context that The Truth occurred in. The first episode of The Truth premiered way back in 2011. The indie audio drama community was still very much in its infancy. Fiction podcasts tended to be short story readings like StarShipSofa or Lightspeed Magazine. If you were lucky, you might get something like The Drabblecast, with music and sound-effects added to the mix. The Truth was a full-cast show, performed rather than read, and with immersive sound-effects and music.

The Truth was an anthology in the purest sense of the word. Each episode was a new present to unwrap. It spanned multiple genres and styles. The early years did tend to be a bit more experimental in terms of material. I had the opportunity to chat with series creator Jonathan Mitchell. Jonathan described these early episodes as scenes rather than stories. True, they are certainly shorter than later episodes, but that’s hardly a bad thing. Each of them was like a snapshot into a different life, and they were certainly memorable snapshots. I’m not the only one who is of this opinion. Many episodes from this era of The Truth were featured on various programs such as All Things Considered, Weekend America, Planet Money, This American Life, and Studio 360. Eventually, the need to pay the bills came knocking. So, the episodes began to favor longer stories in order to provide more space for ad breaks. Now, some people say this was the era when The Truth went into decline. Personally, I strongly disagree. There were still many quality episodes being produced.

The real decline, ironically, was around the time The Truth celebrated its tenth anniversary. Well, maybe not entirely ironically. I have noticed that many anthology podcasts tend to start going stale around the ten year mark. It was at this point the misses started to outnumber the hit. Now, to be fair, there were still a few diamonds in the rough. That being said, it was clear that the writers’ well of inspiration was starting to run dry. The episodes also increasingly had the same feel to them. The decline of The Truth didn’t come with a bang, but with a whimper.

It is certainly sad that the curtain has finally fallen on The Truth. No show can last forever. Eventually, if you smolder well past your time, you will see a steady decline in quality. In the immortal words of Harvey Dent, you either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain. I certainly hope that The Truth is always remember for what it was, rather than the decline it saw during its final season.

And that, my friends, is what this review is all about. We are going to celebrate The Truth in all its myriad ways. From those early “snapshots of a life” episodes, to the more full-length episodes. We will also look at a few less than stellar episodes. They can make for a good teaching moment about what not to do.

Now, a bit of clarification before we move forwards. I’m doing what I did with my review of Campfire Radio Theatre. I’m going to give it a good start, and then periodically update it with more reviews. Anthologies always take more out of me than serialized shows do. I have to analyze and weigh the merits of each individual episode. This can take a fair bit of time, and you might imagine. I will also not be reviewing the episodes in chronological order. One of the beauties of anthologies is that you can listen to the episodes in any order that you please. As such, I apply the same principle to this review.

With all of that being said, I’m Sam McDonald, and this is The Audiophile’s review of The Truth.

The first episode we’re taking a look at is “Moon Graffiti.” We start things off with an alternate history piece about the Apollo 11 mission. In this story, The Eagle comes in for a crash landing on the Moon. The lander’s capsule is damaged in such a way that it can’t launch into orbit. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin are stranded on the Moon until their oxygen runs out. After that, they will go down in history as the first men to die on the Moon. They take their remaining time to chat and muse about the nature of life and mortality.

This was the very first episode of The Truth ever, and they certainly started out of the gate strong. As you might imagine, the alternate history premise piqued my interest. This scenario was very much a concern during the real Apollo 11 mission. In fact, President Richard Nixon had a speech prepared just in case Armstrong and Aldrin became stranded on the Moon. The speech is actually read at the very end of the episode. The actor sounds nothing like Nixon, but he certainly captures the emotion of the speech. Ironically, there was a memorial to the victims of the Apollo 1 fire included with the other equipment on the lander.

What would it be like to experience such a stroke of bad luck? You are stranded hundreds of thousands of miles from home with no hope of rescue. You can see death slowly, but surely, creeping towards you. I try my best not to think too much about death, but the thought proves rather intrusive. I don’t know how I would like to die, as I would very much not like to die at all. But I’m also keenly aware that the reaper will claim me sooner or later.

Yeah, there are a lot of implications on how such a disaster would impact the Space Race. However, this episode is presented as a very intimate story about two men complimenting their own imminent mortality. I am of the opinion that this was absolutely the right move.

“Moon Graffiti” was an excellent start for The Truth.

Our next episode is “Eat Cake.” It follows a woman named Elizabeth who is participating in her favorite Valentines Day tradition: baking a coconut cake for herself and going to a movie of her choice. It's been a thing with her ever since she broke-up with her boyfriend a few years ago. She's just received a phone call from a mysterious man named Brian. Apparently, he calls random people in hopes of having someone to talk to. He's sweet, if a tad socially awkward. So, they decide to meet at the movies.

So, what's the trick? Where is the twist? No trick here, and no twist either. Brian really is exactly what he seems to be. He's a genuinely kind-hearted guy, and he and Elizabeth have a great time. They initially hit it off over their shared love of coconut cake. Elizabeth's former boyfriend didn't like coconut cake, so she rarely got to eat it. A true pity; not enough people appreciate coconut cake. Still, at least she has Brian now.

What else can I say? “Eat Cake” is really cute and I utterly adore it.

The third episode we’ll be looking at is “That’s Democracy.” Jeffery Mohr is a high school social studies teacher. He’s going through a rough patch in his life. Still, he’s determined to give his students an excellent lesson on Direct Democracy vs Representative Democracy. He has brought a gun with him to class. He challenges the students to elect a representative. This representative will select one person from the class to be killed. The students will have the opportunity to debate and persuade the representative about who to pick. They must choose wisely. For if the students fail to pick someone, Mr. Mohr will kill them all, and then kill himself.

A lot of people say “That’s Democracy” is the best episode of The Truth. I’m not sure if that is the case. There’s simply too many great episodes to choose from. However, it is certainly one of the most memorable episodes. The episode started off as a part of a Halloween episode that The Truth made for PRX. However, due to the rise in high profile school shootings, PRX got cold feet about the plot. However, the team behind The Truth didn’t want their hard work to go to waste. And it was thanks to that hard work that we got an excellent episode.

In a way, this episode is about the classic thought experiment of The Trolly Problem. Of course, it is easy to act moral when everything is hypothetical. It is quite another story when the knife’s literally at your throat. Or the gun at your head, in this case. I’m a bit reminded of the classic Twilight Zone episode “The Shelter.” It isn’t as well known as other classics, such as “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street”, but it is very much worth looking into. It hits on many of the same themes as “That’s Democracy.”

“That’s Democracy” is also notable for having been adapted into a short film. It is the only episode of The Truth to hold this distinction. The short film follows the plot of the episode almost exactly, baring a couple minor differences. It is an excellent short film. It was certainly interesting to see an audio drama be adapted into a different medium.

No matter the medium, “That’s Democracy” is very much worth experiencing. If you haven’t done so already, of course.

Next up, we have “Do You Have a Minute for Equality?” This episode follows a young woman named Kate. She’s a professional activist of a sort. She goes around collecting donations for various social causes. And yet she doesn’t really give too much thought at the causes themselves. One day, while collecting donations, she meets a prosthodontist named Arnold. He doesn’t have any money right now, but he’ll be sure to give her a big donation if she comes to his house. What could possibly go wrong?

I have many social causes I feel strongly about. I admit I could be a bit of a firebrand in my younger days. And yet, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve also grown more cynical towards activists. Particularly, those who make a career of being professional activists. I sometimes feel such people do fare more to harm the causes they claim to support. I also often feel there are those who are only in it for the attention. That, or so they can claim unearned moral superiority over others.

Kate claims to be fighting for voters' rights, but is totally unfamiliar with the major cases relating to that cause. To their credit, the writers certainly make Kate flawed, but not a strawwoman. I will say, however, that I felt that the ending was darkly comedic in a way. Suppose I related to Arnold somewhat. Oh, and remember that Halloween special I mentioned earlier? Well, “Do You Have a Minute for Equality?” was one of the segments included in that special. And don’t worry, we shall get to the other segments in due time.

No, I don’t have a minute for equality. But I do have a minute to say that we’re four-for-four when it comes to great episodes of The Truth.

For our fifth outing, we have “Brain Chemistry.” This one follows a man named Richard. He was cryogenically preserved, but he’s been revived. The future isn’t quite what he expected. Oh, climate change is a bit of an issue, but the people are nice enough. Unfortunately, Richard, and others like him, could only be revived as a brain in a jar. He spends his days as an exhibit in a museum. He tells visitors, usually kids on field trips, about what the 21st Century was like. One day, he meets another cryonically preserved brain named Casey. Richard hasn’t had much to look forward to in a long time, but Casey lights up his world. They might be a couple of brains in jars, but they’ve got serious chemistry.

We already discussed how I often have morbid thoughts about death. I have entertained the idea of cryogenics as a way to cheat death. It sounds nice in theory, but is there any hope that it could actually work? I’d like to think so, and yet I can’t help but feel that is far too optimistic. Still, I suppose you never know. What would it be like to awaken in a brave new world of the future? There are many people who choose only to have their heads frozen. The thinking is that future science will be able to provide entirely new bodies for them. Of course, what if the future isn’t a better place? Even if not dystopian, perhaps the future is different in a way you might find enjoyable.

I do value my mind, but I’m not sure if I could handle being a brain in a jar. It is nice to take a stroll around the neighborhood every now and again. It is especially hard on Richard. He used to be a mountain climber. Still, any hardship is easier to shoulder when you have people you love and care about you.

The ending was absolutely fantastic. I won’t give it away, but I loved how Richard gains a new perspective on life. The ending where he asks the kids to tell him about their lives, rather than the other way round, and the way the music was woven in so beautifully. It was just such a wonderful ending.

And yet I’d be lying if I said this episode wasn’t somewhat tainted for me. The Truth wanted to do something special during their tenth anniversary. So, they allowed listeners to audition to be interviewed about an episode they loved. I picked “Brain Chemistry” because it was the first episode of The Truth that I ever listened to. I poured my heart out in the application. There were only five slots, but I was selected. I did my best to be extra sure I was prepared for my interview with Jonathan Mitchell. We had a really good time chatting, but wouldn’t you know it, Jonathan forgot to press record. So, we had to do the whole thing all over again. I was mentally exhausted from giving it my all, and as a result, I sounded like a total dumbass the second time round. But I was assured that all was well. So, I patiently waited for the big day to come. It felt like I was going to get some validation for helping to promote quality audio dramas.

Alas, this was not to be. The big day came, and I received an email. The Truth couldn’t make my interview work, but they hoped I understood. I was crestfallen, but I listened to the episode…which featured five interviews. Apparently, Jonathan had done seven interviews. It would seem there was a lack of planning with the tenth anniversary special. He says he wanted to include them all, but he wanted things to flow well. And if that meant cutting interviews, then so be it. In his view, it would be no different than cutting an actor’s scene from an episode. 

Well, in my view, I felt like The Truth was spitting in my face, and didn’t even have the decency to call it rain. But I bit my tongue, and wished everyone a happy tenth anniversary. But I’m not holding my tongue anymore. I would expect a certain degree of professionalism, or at the very least planning, from an audio drama like The Truth.

Look, I get that Jonathan was probably being sincere. I get that he had good intentions, but you know what they say about the road to Hell. What The Truth did was an absolutely shitty thing to do. Especially how they waited til the day of to let me know. It didn’t completely ruin The Truth for me, but it was still a pretty serious black mark against them. If there was a possibility that the interview would be cut, well, you should have been more upfront about that. You could have at least tried to schedule a do-over. Just saying.

Well, anyway, let’s move right along.

The next episode is “Fish Girl.” It follows a girl named Win who has the ability to talk to fish. She befriends a porcupine pufferfish named Jane. Jane lives at an aquarium store, but longs to see the ocean. Win can’t do that, but she can take her down to the pond. Safely in a plastic bag, of course. It’s sure to be the adventure of a lifetime for them both.

Many of you know that I work as an edutainer at the Shreveport Aquarium. I inform and entertain the public about the animals; especially the touch pool animals. As it happens, we also have porcupine pufferfish. His name is Potato, and he is very cute. We also have a green spotted pufferfish named Bean. He is also extremely cute, if a bit shy. As such, this episode has become entertaining in a whole new way. I loved how real fish fact got woven into the story. Pufferfish have extremely powerful jaws, and can snap snail shells and clam shells in half like crackers. And yes, most fish will happily eat themselves into obesity if given the opportunity. Also, Eddie the store owner is right, don’t tap the glass. It sounds very loud to the fish. I admit that I don’t have the ability to understand fish. However, I do often talk to the fish as though they were people. That’s pretty common among aquarium workers.

Now, “Fish Girl” is all in good fun. However, I should point out that, in real life, it is important not to anthropomorphize animals. Don’t worry, the fish you see in aquariums are not longing to be in the wild. In fact, they have no clue they aren’t in the wild, and are most likely being well cared for. Their biggest concern is about what’s for lunch. I only mention this due to having dealt with my share of loony animal rights activists while on the job. It’s an occupational hazard, but thankfully they tend to be few and far between.

This was an episode that has gotten even better with age. It is also one that I happily recommend.

Our seventh episode is “Mall Santa.” It follows a longtime mall Santa named Al. He's growing increasingly disillusioned with the cheeriness of the holidays. However, he's about to have an encounter with an amateur Santa that just might help him rediscover the magic of Christmas.

It is cliche, but true, that giving is better than receiving. There is a certain magic that can be found in helping your fellow man. This magic isn't exclusive to the holidays. It can be found any time of the year. I think that's really the take away from this story. You don't have to move mountains to make the world a better place. Spare some time for those who need someone to talk to, and perhaps could use a few kind words.

This episode might be Christmas themed, but it plays well no matter the time of year.

Like I said before, this is just the initial foundation. I will be returning periodically to review more episodes of The Truth. In fact, I think I’ll have to split things off into a part two. So, be on the lookout for that at some point. But until then, I hope you have enjoyed our little look at The Truth. I certainly hope I’ve inspired you to check it out. It was movies for the ears, it was a shining star to other anthologies, it was a tapestry of genres. Above all else, it was The Truth, and it will be missed.

I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time.

The Audio File: Blum

Audio dramas can be found all over the world. I’ve always been particularly interested in what the audio drama community outside the Anglosphere is like. Unfortunately, the only language I speak is English, and this can be a major stumbling block. However, sometimes I get lucky, and the stars align just right. And by that, I mean a non-English audio drama gets re-released in English. Such was the case with the audio drama we’ll be reviewing today. We’re taking a look at Blum. 

Blum follows a university student named Emma Clark. She has traveled to Switzerland to research an artist named Ursula Blum. Ursula Blum was a painter who lived during the early 20th Century. However, she was also a composer, and dedicated her life to researching the possibility of using music for healing. She was involved in a lot of esoteric groups and secret societies. In particular, Blum was intrigued by the concept of the Music of the Spheres. Emma isn’t the first person to research Ursula Blum. Five years ago, another student named Clara Torres disappeared while researching Blum. Emma is determined to find out what happened to Clara. She’ll also do whatever it takes to discover Ursula Blum’s secrets.

I had known about Blum for quite some time. As is often the case, it first got on my radar when I was pursuing the r/audiodrama subreddit. I was intrigued, but then I saw that it was only available in Spanish. Blum is produced by the Spanish audio drama production company El Extraordinario. However, there was a potential silver lining. If it made the weekly roundup list, then maybe, just maybe, an English version might arrive someday. Time passed, but eventually my faith was rewarded. However, I got tied up with requested reviews, so I couldn’t listen right away. But then I finally got a gap in my schedule.

I share what I’ve been listening to every other Sunday on the Twitter feed for my own audio drama, The Books of Thoth. Naturally, one Sunday I mentioned I had listened to Blum. El Extraordinario was happy to hear this, and I promised them I would give a full-length proper review of Blum when I have a chance. And so, here we are now.

I have a degree in history. I spent my freshman year at a liberal arts college. It didn’t work out, but eventually I found myself at LSUS, where things turned out better. I bring this up, because Blum really tapped into that feeling of being a liberal arts major. The liberal arts are fairly interdisciplinary. History, music, art, literature, philosophy; no matter your major, you’ll get a bit of everything eventually. So, like the protagonist of a Marcel Proust novel, I felt enveloped by a strong sense of remembrance for my own days in university.

The scenes at St. Gallen’s Monastery were particularly fun. Learning about the musical notions that medieval monks used took me back to my days in Music Appreciation and Music Theory. Though, I also admit I got excited because one of the segments in Agent of Byzantium took place at St. Gallen.

Blum is quite possibly one of the best tourist ads for Switzerland I have ever encountered. I really wanted to go visit Switzerland after I listened to Blum. This, of course, is very much by design. Blum was commissioned by Switzerland Tourism in hopes of attracting more visitors for Switzerland. However, it never felt like I was listening to an ad, or any sort of product placement. It is very clear to me that series creators Manuel Bartual and Carmen Pacheco have a deep, and genuine, love for Switzerland and Swiss culture. That love is stitched into every aspect of Blum, and the audio drama is all the better for it.

But that’s not the only area where love shines through. This is, ironically, felt the most in scenes where sounds are absent. There was clearly a great amount of care put into the sound design of Blum. Emma often finds herself in various museum galleries. There is a certain ambiance to these scenes in how they are quiet in a specific way. I have spent much of my life exploring museums and art galleries. As such, I’m well acquainted with the sounds of such buildings. These scenes were recorded in actual galleries to properly capture this ambiance.

But, of course, Blum is certainly no slouch on the other end of the spectrum. One of my favorite scenes is in the first episode. Emma talks about how music and religion have been intertwined for centuries. We get a montage of music being using in religious ceremonies from around the world. It was a very well crafted sequence; felt like something out of a non-fiction podcast. On that note, Blum really nailed the true crime investigation vibe. Each episode opens and closes with a bit of classical piano music. There’s also a few more bit of classical music liberally sprinkled through the audio drama.

I must also take a moment to praise the voice acting. Emma’s voice actress did an especially good job. There were a couple time she pounced certain words more along the lines of British English, even though Emma is supposed to be American. Make me wonder if the voice actress might not be American. But if that is the case, she did an absolutely amazing job of maintaining the accent. Come to think of it, Clara was pretty much the only Spanish character in the entire podcast. I wonder if, perhaps, Emma was from Spain in the original Spanish version of Blum. Whatever the case, it never felt like anything had be lost in translation. There was clearly effort put in to ensure the English version of Blum would live up to its Spanish predecessor.

Okay, I want to choose my words carefully for this next part. I want to make sure nobody misconstrues what I’m saying here. Blum reminds me very much of a Dan Brown novel, and I absolutely mean that as a compliment. Look, I’m aware that Dan Brown has a bit of a bad reputation. Yes, he often gets pretty significant facts wrong in his novels, and maybe his novel aren’t exactly high literature. But that man knows how to write a page-turner. If nothing else, he got me interested in the various artists he mentions in his books. Another big appeal of his books is that, for lack of a better way of putting it, they are travel porn. They are often filled with loving descriptions of various European cities. I always wanted to travel and see the world, and Dan Brown’s novel let me indulge those fantasies. Thankfully, I did eventually get to visit Italy, and I even got to see all the places mentioned in Angels & Demons when I was in Rome.

Blum evokes that same sense of wanderlust with its lovingly detailed descriptions of Swiss cities. It also incorporates art and classical music into a plot about solving a mystery. However, unlike Mr. Brown, the writers stayed true to actual facts and history. So, you get all the good parts of a Dan Brown novel, in audio format, but none of the downsides. For example, Ursula Blum is an entirely fictional character. However, she was inspired by several real life artists and musicians.

Speaking of the mystery, just what is the Music of the Spheres? We have known since Ancient Greece that all music can be converted into mathematics. But what about the reverse? Can math be turned into music? There have been attempts to translate the orbits of the planets into music. Under the Ptolemaic Model, the planets were believed to occupy different celestial spheres, hence the name Music of the Spheres. But what if it goes deeper than that. What if there is a music written into reality itself? This appears to have been the opinion of Ursula Blum and the various esoteric groups she belonged to.

Okay, now comes the part where we have to get into spoilers. So, turn back now if you don’t want any of that.

Last chance, you sure you want to continue?

If everyone who wants out is gone, let’s get into it.

So, as Blum progressed there were hints dropped that Emma was poking into things better left alone. I got some cosmic horror vibes. Perhaps there was something Lovecraftian afoot? Would it turn out to be something that mortal minds weren’t meant to comprehend? Something that would drive Emma into madness?

Well, I suppose that it is a matter of perspective.

You see, Emma does uncover the music Ursula Blum had been researching. It turns out to be incredibly beautiful. So beautiful that it makes Emma feel as though she is flying. So beautiful she can see the connection that binds everything together. So beautiful that she completely fails to notice that she jumped out a window.

I was reminded of my own short story “Chain Reaction.” It is about a man who goes crazy and starts a religion based around rollercoasters. He has a very similar experience where the rollercoaster god shows him the connections that bind all things together. The rollercoaster explains that it can’t show him this too long, or he might forget to eat and drink.

Well, as they say, great minds think alike. I thought the big reveal was very well executed. I liked the way it explored that concept of pantheism. It is the idea that everything within the universe contains a spark of divinity. Or, to put it another way, that the universe itself is God.

Blum was an absolute joy to listen to from start to finish. It appealed to my inner liberal arts major. It was like taking an auditory vacation to Switzerland. It was a great introduction to the world of Spanish audio drama. I cannot recommend it enough. You should listen to it as soon as possible.

I certainly hope this means we might see more El Extraordinario audio dramas getting translated into English. I also hope we might see audio dramas from other parts of the world getting translated. Perhaps, even some English audio dramas getting translated into foreign languages. But whatever the future holds, I’m glad that the world of audio drama is ever expanding. It is great to see more countries joining the party.

Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time.

The Books of Thoth: Starshot

The second episode of my audio drama anthology The Books of Thoth is here. It is titled “Starshot.” 

A fleet of alien space probes enter the night sky. But this is not our sky, and the probes are from Earth. A scientist from Alpha Centauri studies the probes aboard a space station. What will the scientist discover about their place in the universe?

A big thank you to Angela Yih for performing this episode. Be sure to listen to her audio drama Residents of Proserpina Park, if you haven’t done so already. You guys should know by now how much I love Residents of Proserpina Park. So, it was awesome to have Angela as part of The Books of Thoth.

What I wanted to do with “Starshot” is tell a story of First Contact between humanity and extraterrestrials, but from the perspective of the aliens. I wanted it to be hopeful and optimistic. Where the aliens are looking for a friend amidst the darkness, just like humanity is.

The title is a reference to Breakthrough Starshot. It is an proposed space mission to send a series of probes, via solar sail, to Alpha Centauri. It would take between 20-30 year, plus an additional four years for any messages from the probes to reach Earth. Hundreds of probes would initially be launched, with most being lost along the way due to collisions with interstellar dust and other debris. But, hopefully, a lucky few would survive the journey across the ebon sea. Pictures and/or video from another star? Now there’s a thought.

I also attempted to answer the question of the Fermi Paradox. That is, if the universe is so big, where’s all the alien. Perhaps they are in the same boat as us. Advanced enough to wonder who’s out there, but not advanced enough to initiate significant contact. Perhaps it is only just now that intelligent life has finally evolved in the universe. I suppose they would make a kind of sense. Look how long it took for intelligent life to evolve on Earth. Well, intelligent as we define it, anyway.

I wanted to evoke the feelings of wonder and frustration from archeology. Especially with regards to civilizations where we have yet to translate their languages such as the Minoans or the Indus Valley Civilization. I suppose that makes the protagonist a xenoarcheologist.

Still, that isn’t to say you can’t find at least some meaning. Even if it wasn’t the kind you were initially looking for. So, I wanted the story to end with a sense of awe and wonder. With the feeling the the universe is so much bigger, and isn’t that great?

But most of all, I hope that all of you enjoy “Starshot.” I kind of rushed this one so I could get it out before Christmas and New Year’s. It is a bit more low-key than my previous episode, “Paleontology Conference” was. But I felt Starshot was a very personal, intimate sort of story, and it didn’t need as many bells and whistles. And hey, we got some nice music to listen to along the way.

You can listen to The Books of Thoth on your podcast platform of choice.