Wednesday, April 20, 2022

The Audio File: The Program: Part 3

Well, here we are at Part 3 of my review of The Program. Just a recap, for those of you joining us for the first time. The Program is an anthology show of sorts, but the stories all take place in the same world. It takes place at some unspecified point in the future. The Singularity has come to pass. The world has been completely transformed by an app known as The Program. It has combined money, government, and religion into a single entity. Each episode follows one or more ordinary people making their way through the extraordinary world of the future. You can find Part 1 over here, and Part 2 over here


I was first made aware of The Program when I was contacted by series creator Ivan Mirko S over on Reddit. I frequently post and comment in r/audiodrama. Whenever anyone ask for recommendations, I chime in with ever larger lists of various audio dramas I enjoy. Ivan noticed that I'm quite the connoisseur audio fiction, and recommended his own show. He also asked if I might give it a review. I did, and kept reviewing it, and had to split the review into multiple parts to make reading easier. And here were are at part 3.

For our first episode of this segment, we have Counterprograming. It is a series of reimaginings of popular works of fiction, in this case The Iliad, The Lion King, and The Bible. The Program changed them to better reflect the values of its new society. Though, the originals weren’t lost or destroyed, merely fell out of popularity. The resulting edits are rather humorous.

Well, that was unexpected. We start off with an interesting reimagining of the story of Helen and Paris, and then the other two segments turn into an episode of Monty Python’s Flying Circus. I can easily imagine the dialogue from the Bible segment appearing in The Life of Brian. The Lion King segment reminded me of the part of Holy Grail where the peasants on the commune debate the merits of different forms of government, and point out that soggy tarts handing out swords in no way to found a proper government.

I liked the more serious tone of the Iliad segment. In fact, it reminded me very much of Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller; a novel I greatly enjoyed. Though I found Circe, the follow-up to Song of Achilles, was a major step down in terms of quality. Don’t believe the hype with Circe. Well, on the one hand it is a bit sad that the original Iliad and Lion King have fallen out of fashion. But I suppose stories are always being imagined and reinterpreted. Lion King itself is, in large part, a reimagining of Hamlet. Song of Achilles hews closer to its source material, but it is also a reimagining. I like to think there would be at least a few people who would still enjoy the originals.

Also, how does intellectual property work? Was it abolished by The Program, and all of fiction is now a fanfiction free for all. Or does it still exist, but it a much less restrictive form?

Let it never be said that The Program lacks a sense of humor.

Next up we have Homepage not found. It follows a very disgruntled man who is attending a meeting of a Neighborhood and Home Owners Association. He is concerned about the lack of affordable housing available in the neighborhood. He also feels that the Home Owners Association is drowning out the voices of anyone who opposes their clique. He feels that working individuals, unmarried individuals, and pretty much anyone who isn’t wealth or well-off, is being ignored. How will be make the NIMBYs listen to him?

Brief note, NIMBY stands for Not In My Backyard. Now, The Program has never exactly been subtle about its views. However, I would argue that it succeeded because it wrapped these messages in creative thought experiments and excellent storytelling. This reminds me of the afterword to Kindred by Octavia E. Butler. The point of the afterword is that it is important for books to have good writing as storytelling, not just good messages. Kindred is an excellent example of this. It is about a black woman from 1976 Los Angles who, for unknown reasons, travels back in time to 19th Century Maryland. Specifically, to a plantation where her ancestors are kept as slaves. Obviously, there’s a lot of emphasis on the horrors of chattel slavery, but it never feels preachy or moralistic. Kindred is an excellent novel, I recommend it if you haven’t read it already.

Now, I bring this up because I feel that this episode ran a bit foul of that adage. I mean, it was about a subtle as a baseball bat to the face. I want to emphasize that I don’t think this episode was bad per se. It was far better than the first few episodes of The Program from way back when. However, it does feel like it was taken out of the oven before it had a chance to properly bake. I’m sensing some potential autobiographical elements with this one. There was a lot here that felt like insider baseball at times. There was some stuff I was able to parse out. I’m familiar with the sorts of nonsensical regulations that home owner associations impose upon neighborhoods. I also appreciated the satirization of…well, let’s call them Latte Liberals. Those suburban progressives who mouth along to left-wing causes, and make a lot of noise, but when the chips are down don’t put their money where their mouths are. Bourgeoisie Bohemians is another terms that I suppose would work here. However, I did feel there was a lot of stuff that sailed over my head, and maybe I’d understand it better if I was Canadian.

This almost felt like a parody at time. Like, it was what The Program would be like it you sold it to a major network, or put someone in charge who didn’t fully understand what makes the show work. It also kind of feels like what would happen if The Program emphasized getting out episodes as quickly as possible instead of taking time to ensue quality.

This was a nice rough draft, but as an actual episode I feel it leave something to be desired. Once more I must mention that it is important to have good stories, not just good messages. Oh, and there is a quiz that accompanies this episode. It deals with questions related to Home Owners Associations. I played the quiz. I thought the trick would be that they were all real, but it seems I was wrong. Give the quiz a try and see how you do.

Our next episode is Jakob's notebook: Antivirus solutions for home and business. This is another of Jakob’s many stories. It tells of Earth being visited by aliens known as the Baci. The Baci warn humanity about a horrible galactic plague that is about to befall Earth. Human doctors believe that the plague can be contained with face masks, social distancing, and vaccination. The Baci, however, insist that the plague can only be stopped by brain implants.

I’m not sure how I feel about this one. It had its funny moments. I liked the part where the Baci get kicked out of China because they acknowledge Taiwan as a nation. Or the part where they says that humans smell of elder berries. I also get that this story was meant to be a satire of the pandemic, and how it has been handled. But I just couldn’t quite get into this one.

The parts where the Baci tell humanity to not wear masks and not to use vaccines just felt awkward. I get that it was meant to be ironic, but with all anti-vaxx and anti-mask propaganda floating around, it just felt kind of uncomfortable. It was like the episode was simultaneously pro-vaxx and anti-vaxx. Like it was saying to listen to experts, but that the experts don’t know what they’re talking about. Maybe it was just a victim of bad timing.

I will say that this episode did a way better job satirizing then pandemic than Don’t Look Up did. It didn’t stretch the joke out way too long, and it wasn’t smug and conceited. Not a very high bar to jump over, but I appreciated it.

I also enjoyed the voice acting. I kept thinking why the Baci sounded familiar. At first, I thought they sounded like Minions, but then I realized that they sounded like the Mexican Squash from VeggieTales, who’s name escapes me. Well, they sound like the Mexican Squash with a vocal filter, but still. That made the American politician come across as even funnier, since he sounded like the old pickle dude, I think his name is Mr. Nezzer. This was probably unintentional, as I seriously doubt the dudes who made VeggieTales would want to act for The Program. It probably goes against their religion.

Also, the Baci got the island of Great Britain as their homeland? Does that mean that Scotland and Wales were considered accomplices in all the colonialism that England did? Also, does Northern Ireland exist as a rump state of the United Kingdom? If so, wow, apparently the United Nations looked back at The Troubles and were like “There was a lot of carnage and bloodshed, but I think we can do better here. Let’s see how many more bombs were can goad them into setting off. Place your bets now!” Well, on the plus side, at least they didn’t give them Israel and Palestine. Or did the displaced British flee to the Isle of Mann an the Channel Isles. A European Taiwan, if you will.

Anyway, this episode wasn’t for me, but maybe other people will enjoy it.

Our next episode is called Overclocking. It is set in a world much like our own. However, the people of this world have known that they are within a computer simulation since ancient times. Human took comfort in known that the Admin watched over them. Unfortunately, by the 14th Century CE, scientist discovered that the simulation is running out of computing power. The mere act of existing takes away computing power from the simulation. Worse, the Admin has mysterious stop responding to communication requests. The world is literally coming apart at the seams, and horrific glitches spring up everywhere. It is amidst this backdrop that our two protagonists are embarking on a great journey. You could, perhaps, even call it a pilgrimage. They have enlisted the help of a ferryman to bring them on a journey to the terminal. Once there, they hope they will finally be able to speak to the Admin. Danger lurks round ever corner. Our heroes must maintain their faith in the Admin if they are to find salvation for their dying world.

At ninety-three minutes in length, this is the longest episode of The Program yet. However, don’t let the length of this episode intimidate you. Like the intro said, after the first ten minutes, this episode flies right by. The first ten minutes are what we need to set-up the world of the episode. IMS said that he wanted to create a movie-length audio drama episode, and he certainly succeeded.

I see that this episode is meant as a reinterpretation of The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan. You’ve got two protagonists set off on a great journey from a land that is doomed to be destroyed. They hope to find salvation, and meet their “God” once they reach their destination. They must literally traverse the Valley of the Shadow of Death. One of them is carrying a heavy load, much as the character Christian did. It also didn’t escape my notice that the current year is said to be 1678 CE, the same year that The Pilgrim’s Progress was first published. The Ferryman can even been seen as a combination of the characters Atheist and Hopeful. He doesn’t believe in the Admin, despite overwhelming evidence, but he finds meaning in the struggles he undertakes. It was very interesting how this episode took a classic work of Christian literature, removed pretty much all the Christian elements, and yet still managed to remain true to the core and themes of the work. That is some quality writing, and another argument in favor of a strong Public Domain. A strong Public Domain allows us to reimagine, reinterpret, and re-examine works to classic literature in new and innovative ways.

The notion of a world coming apart at the seams, and that simply existing causes the destruction of the world, brings to mind entropy. Eventually, our universe will run out of energy, but that will be billions, if not trillions, of years in the future. In fact, for most of its existence, our universe will be a fairly dark and inactive place. So, whenever you feel down and out, take joy that you live in a time when the universe is full of stars and planet, and teeming with light and life. This episode almost feels like a way to bring the concept of entropy to a more human scale. And in doing so, make entropy, and an idea, more relatable for us humans. I was very much reminded of the short story “Exhalation” by Ted Chiang, which approaches entropy in a similar manner.

I won’t give away the ending, but I will say that it wouldn’t have been too out of place in the original Pilgrim’s Progress. Though, the idea of people within a computer trying to reach a terminal, in hopes of contacting their creators, also bring to mind TRON. Oh course, that’s rather interesting, as many have noted that TRON works surprisingly well as a Christian allegory. This was the first movie-length episode of The Program, and it did not disappoint. It is just as creative, engaging, and philosophic as a typical episode of The Program. The added length was more than necessary to do this episode’s story proper justice. You can always count on The Program to be innovative and try new things. 

Next up, we have a standard-length episode titled Disreet optimization. It takes the form of a father and mother recording a message for their daughter, who has recently run away. The father talks about his life before The Program. He helped develop an application called Serendipity, which eventually became part of The Program itself. Serendipity helped to provide options to people. Among other things, it would present them with the optimum responses when talking with people, or in other social situations. Serendipity proved a great success, but the father grew worried. He feared that people were relying on Serendipity too much, and it was eroding their free will. He turned against Serendipity, and indeed, against The Program itself. This lead him to make some very drastic choices, with very severe consequences.

The first thing that came to mind when I listened to this episode were a couple short stories by Ken Liu. Specifically, “The Perfect Match” and “The Algorithms for Love.” They also deal with themes of free will and the way that algorithms shape our lives.

I’m also reminded of the debate surrounding sociobiology and evolutionary psychology. Most people are okay with using evolution to explain how physical features came to be. However, quite a few people balk at the idea that our behaviors and psychology could be explained by evolution. There are various reasons for this. Some people are simply proponents of the tabula rasa view. Others fear that such thinking could be used to justify eugenics, or be used as an argument against fighting racial and gender disparities in various jobs. E.O. Wilson, the founder of sociobiology, frequently got accused of being a fascist by various campus activist groups. In reality, he was anything but one.

However, I think there’s another reason at play here. Humans tend to hold ourselves as being above mere animals. Evolution is fine for explaining animal behavior, but we’re special. At least, that’s what we like to tell ourselves. It’s like how geocentrism used to be so widespread. Sure, not a totally unreasonable assumption if you don’t know better. However, it certainly provided a nice ego boost to think we were literally the center of the universe. And then came Copernicus and Galileo. Of course, Aristarchus predates them both, but I digress.

Personally, I split the difference. I think, to an extent, human behavior is based on nurture and upbringing. But it wouldn’t surprise me if some things come pre-programmed. Or at least, we come predisposed towards certain personality traits and behaviors. Hey, humans are animals too. Why should we be any more special than the countless other species on this planet?

I liked the part about how humans tend to anthropomorphize everything. It’s like how, in cartoons with talking animals, the predators are always presented as evil. Despite the fact that many predators are obligate carnivores, and don’t have any other way to gain nourishment. Also, many herbivores can be pretty violent in real life. Hippos kill more people every year than lions and crocodiles combined.

I also see shades of the debate about genetically modifying children. What if you engineer a child to be the perfect athlete, but they decide that they’d rather play chess or join the debate team? What if they don’t like the hair and eye color you picked out for them? And what about kids with conditions such as autism or ADHD? Should they be forced to fit an arbitrary definition of normal? Or would the world be missing out on the unique insights and modes of thought that someone with these conditions might possess?

Though one minor quibble I had. In the past, The Program has been shown to have borderline god-like powers, up to and including time travel. So, reinstating the protagonist’s daughter to the system seems comparatively easy. Unless it was part of one of The Program’s many schemes. Perhaps, as a way of getting the protagonist to see the metaphorical light?

In any event, this was one more great and thought-provoking episode from The Program.

Our next offering is Planned obsolescence. The episode follows a cynical middle-aged First Nations man named Paul as he interacts with an AI named CODI. Paul is acting as CODI’s teacher. Paul will teach the AI about his life’s story, his Indigenous heritage, and what it means to be human. But why is Paul being tasked with teaching CODI all of these things?

Well, this was a pleasant surprise. I wasn’t expecting an episode of The Program centered around a First Nations person. I also loved the way that indigenous culture was woven into the plot of the episode. I even learned some new things, such as the concept of the Dish with One Spoon. It was philosophy the Iroquois used to share land with their neighbors. Each tribe only hunted for what it needed, and made sure to preserve resources for others. There was also emphasis on preserving the land for future generations. I’m always eager to find examples of science fiction that engage with Indigenous cultures. So, this episode was a real treat.

I liked that CODI had to be aged, albeit in an accelerated way, over time. I read a really interesting novella by Ted Chiang called “The Life Cycle of Software Objects.” The central premise of the novella is that true artificial intelligence has to be slowly nurtured over time. I suppose it makes sense. Human minds take at least twenty-five years to fully develop and mature. So, perhaps we shouldn’t expect true AI to emerge like Athena sprouting from the head of Zeus fully formed.

I enjoyed getting to hear the flute music. I feel like I’ve heard it before, and that is apparently because it is royalty-free music. Most likely from Kevin MacLeod, if I had to guess. 

Having Paul’s father be a victim of the residential school systems was a nice touch. The horrors of the residential schools have been getting more attention in recent years, but still deserves to be talked about more. Also, I can confirm that long haul truckers do indeed listen to lots of audiobooks and audio dramas. I’ve met a couple on r/audiodrama. I also remember D.J. MacHale, the author of The Pendragon Adventure series, giving an interview where he said that he discovered that long haul trackers were some of his most devoted fans. The truckers loved listening to the audiobooks, despite definitely not being Pendragon’s target demographic.

I saw CODI’s teenage days coming a mile away, but it was still funny. I also liked how Paul cured CODI’s ice cream obsession by indulging him until he was sick of it. Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle would be proud. Though, I do wonder if CODI would get thirsty from eating all of that digital ice cream. I also liked the part where CODI incorrectly guessed that sports are the modern day religion. I mean, from a certain point of view, he’s not wrong. Sports culture does have strong elements of ritual and superstition. In a way, sports are a form of simulated warfare and ritual violence.

And as for the big reveal towards the end…wow. That went in a very different direction than I was expecting. A true emotional gut-punch. 

A really excellent surprise to see an episode of The Program that combines science fiction with Indigenous culture. 

And so that is all of the episode of The Program out so far. It never ceases to blow me away with the consistent quality, and how it keeps getting better. The Program is a tale of ordinary people making their way through the extraordinary world of The Singularity. Check it out today. You'll be glad you did.

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

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