The Audio File: Long Night in Egypt

I’ve finished most of my outstanding obligations for reviews, at least for the moment. Well, that’s going to not be the case for too long, but I do have a brief respite. As such, I am able to talk about one particular audio drama. Now, I admit I was prepared to be disappointed, but this one surprised me in the best way possible. It utilized Egyptian Mythology while remaining incredibly faithful to the original myths. So, what is this audio drama? Why, we’re taking a look at Long Night in Egypt. 

Long Night in Egypt follows four college students named Mo, Kayla, Jorden, and Pia. They are on vacation in Egypt to visit Mo’s aunt and uncle; a pair of renowned Egyptologists. It’s sure to be a trip filled with relaxation, visits to archeological sites, and maybe even a bit of partying. Then, Mo’s cousin Samira comes up with the idea to visit the Pyramid of Unas at night. Mo’s aunt and uncle are very firm that the Pyramid of Unas must never be entered at night. However, the students sneak into the pyramid anyway. They will soon discover that the myths and legends of Ancient Egypt might just be true after all. They will have to navigate their way thought the Egyptian underworld, and face numerous challenges, if they wish to survive their long in Egypt.

I had known about Long Night in Egypt for a while. It had the word Egypt in the title, and a pyramid on the title card. What can I say? I was sold. However, other obligations kept me from listening. Then, I got a chance to listen, and I was blown away by what I heard.

I’m a lover of mythology, but I have trouble deciding which particular mythology is my favorite. I’m reminded of what Neil Gaiman wrote in the introduction to his novel Norse Mythology. He said that picking a favorite mythology is a bit like picking a favorite cuisine. Variety is the spice of life, and your favorite often depends on what mood you’re in at the moment. However, there’s always those dishes and stories that you always come back to. Given the title of the book, it should come as no surprise that Norse Mythology is that for Neil Gaiman. But what about me? 

I always find myself returning to the gods and stories of Egyptian Mythology. I love the weird and wonderful animal-headed gods. I love reading about all of the spells and incantations Egyptian magicians created. I love the way that real Ancient Egyptian historical figures sometimes factor into the stories. I love Egyptian Mythology. The stories of Egyptian Mythology took me on magical adventures away from my mundane world.

We have had several audio dramas adapt or reinterpret Greek Mythology, but not really any takes on Egyptian Mythology. In fact, Long Night in Egypt is, thus far, the only audio drama I’ve encountered that utilizes Egyptian Mythology in a major way. Now, this was certainly an exciting discovery, but I had my apprehensions. I’ve had to endure far too many movies and television shows that played way too fast and loose with real mythology. Hey, I’m just saying. If the source material you’re incorporating is a hindrance to the story you want to tell, then perhaps you should write a different story. That, or find a mythology more agreeable to the story you want to make.

Sorry, I got a little distracted there. Getting back on track, I was cautiously optimistic, but I was fully prepared to be disappointed. I was combing through every episode with a fine-toothed comb. I was prepared to pounce at the slightest slip-up. I was particularly worried that Anubis and/or Set would be portrayed as Ancient Egyptian Satan. However, much to my pleasant surprise, I couldn’t find a single mythological misappropriation. In fact, I even learned a few things as a result of listening to Long Night in Egypt.

So, let’s talk about all the great mythological stuff in this podcast. The main inspirations for this audio drama are The Pyramid Texts and The Egyptian Book of the Dead. The Pyramid Texts is one of the oldest surviving religious texts in the world. It is inscribed into the walls of the pyramids and burial chambers of Saqqara. And yes, that includes the Pyramid of Unas. The texts are a series of spells, incantations, hymns, and utterances that help the pharaoh to navigate the afterlife and ascend to godhood. The Egyptian Book of the Dead is much the same, but with different spells and writings. Also, the Book of the Dead was written on papyrus, not carved into stone. 

The Pyramid Texts were completed in the Old Kingdom era, while The Book of the Dead wasn’t completed until the New Kingdom era. The characters do discover inscriptions from The Book on the Dead on the walls of the Pyramid of Unas. However, they do acknowledge this discrepancy, and wave it off as The Book of the Dead being older than previously believed. The Book of the Dead does drawn heavily upon The Pyramid Texts, so, this isn’t all that implausible.

We frequently hear characters, both mortal and divine, quoting passages from both The Pyramid Texts and The Book of the Dead. Oh, and that part where Unas consumes some of the gods to increase his power? Believe it or not, that is directly from The Pyramid Texts. That particular section is even called The Cannibal Hymn. See, this is why I’m such a big advocate for being accurate to the mythological sources. Oftentimes, the actual sources are way wilder than anything a modern writer might come up with.

We also get a few fun facts about modern Egypt sprinkled in. For example, Mo has a book that was written by Ahmed Kamal. He was the first Egyptologist to actually be from Egypt. There’s also a scene where the characters are at a club, and it is offhandedly mentioned that the drinking age in Egypt is twenty-one. I looked it up, and it is indeed twenty-one, just like in America. Also, you can apparently buy alcohol in Egypt.

Long Night in Egypt is a horror audio drama, and I like the approach it took to that. Unas isn’t portrayed as some monster who is bent on world domination. The main characters were warned not to go into the Pyramid of Unas at night, and they paid the price. Granted, they probably wouldn’t have believed the real reason they were to stay away. Still, their troubles are self-inflicted because they ran foul of ancient traditions, and disrespected the pyramid. Even without the undead pharaoh and the magic, it probably wasn’t the smartest idea to go into a pyramid at night. It is bound to be dark, and you can get easily hurt if you don’t know what you’re doing.

The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there. I was particularly thinking about that during the scene in the Halls of Judgement. Ancient Egypt was a foreign culture with a foreign value system. You might consider yourself a good person by modern standards, but how well would you stack up to Ancient Egyptian standards? Though, thankfully, an important part of the Weighing of the Heart is remembering the correct incantations from The Book of the Dead. Of course, even the things the Ancient Egyptians viewed as a great reward/honor for the afterlife could be potentially unpleasant by modern standards. What do I mean by that? Oh, that would be spoilers, but let’s just say you’ll see.

On a related note, I loved how the horror comes from the characters finding themself in a story straight out of mythology. I’m a big fan of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, as well the wider Riordanverse. Yes, that includes The Kane Chronicles. Naturally, I love mythology, and I do tend to fantasize about going on urban fantasy mythology adventures. On the other hand, perhaps I should be careful about what I wish for. Such things might be fun to read about, but it might not be so fun to actually live though. Especially if you don’t have magical powers.

But hey, maybe I’d get some moments of awe between my terror. Terrifying or not, it would be kind of cool to discover that Egyptian Mythology is real. That’s why Kayla was my favorite character. She constantly geeks out over archeology and mythology. This does cause some friction with Mo during the journey through the underworld. However, all the other characters would have been seriously screwed without Kayla’s encyclopedic knowledge of The Book of the Dead. Granted, Mo is certainly no slouch either, but he does need occasional prompting and reminders. I really loved the part where Kayla geeks out over all the obscure gods in the Hall of Judgement.

And speaking of the characters, we need to talk about the voice acting. I find it endlessly amusing that Mo is voiced by Amr Kotb, but Mo’s cousin Amr is voiced by Amro Mahmoud. I was excited when I heard that Roshan Singh would be voicing Jordan. He is the creator of the audio drama Temujin, and we’ve interacted a bit on Twitter. He didn’t really have a lot to do. Jordan is kind of…I believe himbo is the term the kids say these days. Still, he did the most with what he had to work with. Alice Pollack does an amazing job capturing Kayla’s endearingly nerdy personality. Asil Moussa is clearly having a lot of fun playing Samira. 

Karim Kronfli has a brief cameo as a BBC newscaster. Always great hearing him, and amusingly, this isn’t the only Ancient Egyptian themed project he’s part of. He was also part of the voice cast for the video game Total War: Pharaoh. The music and sound effects are also really great. This is a show that’s being distributed by Realm Media. So, of course it’s going to be a cinematic audio drama. And I wouldn’t have Long Night in Egypt any other way.

Hmm, do I have critiques? Well, the image on the title card is not the Pyramid of Unas. It is the Great Pyramid of Giza, but I get why the production team did that. The Pyramid of Unas isn’t very photogenic. In fact, it kind of looks like a giant dirt mound. The Pyramids of Giza scream Ancient Egypt a lot better, and get the point across. And hey, it is a very nice looking title card regardless.

Switching gears, I’m not sure how I feel about the way Anubis was voiced. I know the voice actress. She’s the announcer from We Fix Space Junk. It would have been nice if there was an easily accessible cast list for Long Night in Egypt. Anyway, I know she tried to give Anubis an otherworldly voice, but it came across as a bit too feminine. Not what I would have gone for if I’d been casting. I got used to it, but it was a bit of a sour note in an otherwise great voice cast. The other gods had excellent voice casting

Those are really the only critiques I can think of. Long Night in Egypt was an absolutely fantastic podcast. I won’t give away the ending, but suffice it to say, there’s no way we’re getting a season two out of this. I’d be genuinely surprised if we do. On the other hand, there are a lot of other mythologies out there. There’s plenty of other myths that could be given the Long Night in Egypt treatment. Hint, hint, Violet Hour and Realm.

Long Night in Egypt was an amazing audio drama from start to finish. It really shows the great things that can be accomplished when you make the effort to be accurate to mythology. This is the Egyptian Mythology audio drama I was hoping we might have someday, and it did not disappoint in the slightest. Do yourself a favor and listen to it today. Especially if you love Egyptian Mythology or all things Ancient Egypt.

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

The Audio File: Modes of Thought in Anterran Literature

The new year is here once again, and that means plenty more audio dramas to review. And I know precisely where to start. I’ve been wanting to review this one since last year. Without further delay, let’s get right into it. We’re taking a look at Modes of Thought in Anterran Literature. 

Modes of Thought in Anterran Literature is presented as a series of recordings from a second year Literature and Classics class at Harbridge University. Anterra is a civilization discovered only six or seven years prior to the recordings. It dates back to over 60,000 years ago. This makes Anterra significantly older than any previous known civilizations. It was discovered when rescue drones were sent to recover a sunken Chinese submarine. The Chinese government has been rather secretive about archeological finds from the ruins of Anterra. However, some discoveries have made their way to the West. In particular, quite a few discoveries relating to the mythology and literature of Anterra. These finds offer a tantalizing glimpse into a civilization unlike anything that came after it.

We follow the class as they explore the fascinating mythology and archeology of Anterra. However, there’s something sinister lurking in the background. Many strange occurrences happen throughout the course. Could these mysterious happenings have something to do with Anterra?

One day, for no particular reason, I found myself scrolling through the Realm Media website. I came across a show called Modes of Thought in Anterran Literature. It was made in association with Wolf at the Door Studios. They’ve been involved in several audio drama productions, such as season three of the DUST podcast and Batman Unburied.

The title sounded intriguing, and so did the premise. At first, I thought it would be like a fictional college course about xenoarcheology. That is, archeology applied to the past civilizations of alien planets. I assumed that Anterran referred to the Antares star system. But no, that wasn’t quite the case. Oh, it takes the form of a fictional college lecture, but Anterra is a purely terrestrial human civilization. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t slightly disappointed by that initially. However, what I got instead was just as good, if not better. 

The sound-design is phenomenal. I loved the use of ambient background noise. Sometimes, whenever I’d hear a car driving by, or an ambulance siren, I’d pause the podcast to see if it was real or not. The audio is done in such a way as to give the impression that it is a recording. We can hear the professor fairly well, but sometimes he’ll move around and get fainter until he comes back. We also don’t always fully hear the students, depending on where they are seated. Thankfully, we can get the gist thanks to the professor’s responses. Though, some students are heard clearly if they’re close to the recording device. That, and if they happen to be an important character to the plot. The episode where a music professor comes and plays some recreations of Anterran music was a nice touch. It's one thing to talk about how unusual Anterran music was, but it is far more effective to actually hear how unusual it sounds.

Modes of Thought in Anterran Literature also has an amazing sense of atmosphere. Things start off normal, but there’s a sense that something is lurking in that background. That’s there something just a little off about everything. At first, it just seems like the usual incidental mishaps that might occur in a college classroom. A bit of water spilled on the floor, the lights going out, the professor having a sudden headache. But it all starts to add up after a while, and can’t just be dismissed as coincidence. There’s something going on, but what could it be? And what connection does it have to Anterra?

I have stated on a few previous occasions that I am a history major. As such, I can attest that the dialogue, and the general presentation of the class, is very true to real life. I was frequently reminded of my own time in college. Granted, nothing mysterious or supernatural ever happened during any of my history courses. The professor reminded me of several professors I had over the years. This is the first time I’ve encountered an audio drama that takes the form of a college lecture course. It certainly makes from a very fun change of pace, and I hope to see more show that use this format.

There’s a debate amongst the students of the class as to whether or not the professor is telling the truth, or if he made Anterra up. It was pretty clear to me that the professor was telling the truth. Still, even if he had been crazy, I’d probably have still signed up for his course if I could. Everything about Anterra and its culture is utterly fascinating. Everyone on the Modes of Thought in Anterran Literature team clearly put a lot of thought and dedication into crafting Anterran culture. In fact, they’ve included a small list of real world inspirations on the series website.

The general culture of Anterra appears to be vaguely Polynesian. The names all have a vaguely Polynesian feel to them. This does make sense, given where the ruins of Anterra are located. Anterran Mythology has a number of unusual features. For example, it was humanity who created the gods, not the other way around, in Anterra. The Anterran creation myth says that the first human was a woman named Teotia. She helped to shape the Earth, but her creation would reset itself if someone wasn’t observing it. She had children, the number nine is very important to Anterran culture, and they slept in shifts. But then Teotia decided they needed a more permeant solution. So, she created the 1000 eyed-god Ikopaa to always watch over the world. Thus, the world was preserved, and humanity could grow and multiply.

The first parallel that comes to mind is Argus Panoptes from Greek Mythology. Argus, much like Ikopaa, was covered in hundreds of eyes. Though, Argus was a fairly minor character, rather than a major world-preserving deity like Ikopaa. Very unusual that it was a human who created the gods. Gods are on a much higher power scale than humans. Some mythologies speak of humans who ascended to godhood, and ever gods who temporarily become human. But I can’t think of a single mythology that has humans creating the gods.

But you can also tell a lot about a civilization based on the monsters it imagines. This is true of Anterra as well. One Anterran myth tells of how a goddess of beauty fell in love with a mortal woman. They had five daughters together, but this angered the other gods. So, they drugged the goddess and ripped apart her children. The goddess decided to defy the other gods and bring her children back to life. She stitched them together into a Frankenstein-style monster, with nine arms and ten legs. Unfortunately, the monster still felt the pain and suffering of the daughters, and killed the goddess.

Apparently, this legend came from a time when Anterrans were placing a lot of emphasis on loyalty to the collective. That is, they expect everyone to be loyal to society as a whole above all else. Even loyalty to one’s family was discouraged in favor of loyalty to the collective. So, you can see that in the myth. The goddess defied the other gods in the name of her daughters, and she paid dearly for her transgression. There have been plenty of societies that prioritize the collective good, but few who do so at the expense of family units, especially in pre-industrial society.

But there’s more to Anterra than just myths and legends. There’s plenty of archeology and history to discover. One cultural institute of note was that of the Idiot King. Anterra culture has a reverence for darkness and the unknown. So, in the early days of Anterra, a child would be selected to be taken to an elaborate underground palace complex. The child would be fed and treated well, but it would never be taught anything. There was a group of diviners whose job it was to interpret the will of the Idiot King. Whenever there was a major problem, especially involving the unknown, the diviners got advice from the Idiot King.

This is very obviously a reference to Ursula K. Le Guin’s famous short story “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas.” It’s a little strange that none of the characters ever brought this up. “Omelas'' is frequently taught in philosophy and ethics courses. If nothing else, the professor should have been familiar with it. You can also see parallels to ancient oracles, such as the famous Oracle of Delphi. The general consensus is that such oracles would deliberately word their prophecies in ways that could have multiple meanings. That way, people saw what they wanted to see. And if the prophecy failed to come true, well, then you just picked the wrong interpretation. Perhaps the diviners of the Idiot King operated under a similar principle.

And yet the Anterrans were also strangely progressive in many ways. For example, everyone got to pick their own gender. Children were referred to with gender-neutral pronouns until their coming of age ceremony, which is when they got to pick their gender. Anterra did have a caste system, but this too was oddly progressive. The caste system was less of a tiered pyramid, and more of a pie chart. No one caste was necessarily better or worse than the other, and there was some degree of relative mobility within castes.

I could keep going, but I’ll leave some of the myths and culture of Anterra for you to discover on your own. Suffice it to say, the worldbuilding of Modes of Thought in Anterran Literature is top-of-the-line.

I liked the way that the professor handles the stranger aspects of Anterran culture. He presents them in a very matter-of-fact sort of way. It isn’t totally non-judgmental, but that’s understandable. We’re all human, and we all have our biases. Still, the way he approaches it is from a perspective of “What does this tell us about Anterran culture?” That is an excellent perspective, and probably the best to strive for. When you study ancient civilizations and/or non-Western cultures, you’ll often encounter things that don’t mesh well with modern sensibilities. However, the question to ask is not “How well does this jive with modern Western sensibilities?” but rather “What does this tell me about this civilization that I’m studying?”

My only real point of criticism would be that the Modes of Thought in Anterran Literature website hasn’t been very good about keeping up to date with the transcripts. Only transcripts for the first three episodes are available. It would have been nice to know how to spell the names of various Anterran gods and people for this review. Realm is usually pretty good about keeping up to date with the transcripts for it’s shows. As I have often reiterated in the past, transcripts are very important for listeners with hearing difficulties.

Now, it is time for some speculations. I’ve got a few theories about the mysterious happenings. One of the characters is Hai Rong, a foreign exchange student from Canada. Though, her parents were originally university professors in China. She makes a couple statements that suggest she’s quite familiar with Anterra. Almost on a personal level. Could it be that Anterra isn’t so dead after all? Could Anterran society have continued, somehow, in the shadows. Alternatively, Anterra is indeed gone, but what if the myths and legends of Anterra are more than just stories? Or here’s a thought, what if, somehow, Anterra discovered the secret to immortality, and Hai Rong is an Anterran? And on an unrelated note, is Harbridge is a fictional university, or did Harvard and Cambridge merge, and the series takes place in the near future?

I guess we’ll have to wait and see. And I certainly can’t wait to find out. I listened to several shows from Realm, but none of them really knocked my socks off. I’m pleased to say that Modes of Thought in Anterran Literature finally broke the streak. It has a great sense of atmosphere, amazing worldbuilding, and I love how it took the form of a college lecture. I strongly recommend giving it a listen as soon as possible.

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

The Audio File: Silly Old Bear

We’ve finally gotten the public domain moving again after many years. Many great works of fiction are becoming free for everyone to use and remix with each passing year. I’ve seen some familiar faces, such as The Great Gatsby, enter the public domain. However, there have also been many pleasant surprises along the way. We’re going to discuss one of those pleasant surprises in this review. We’re taking a look at Silly Old Bear.

Edward J. Bear, known to his friends as Winnie the Pooh, lives in a house in the forest. He has many friends, such as Piglet, Rabbit, Owl, Eeyore, and of course Christopher Robin. There’s lots of adventures to be had for a bear of very little brain. Pooh and friends will learn many lessons, and have many laughs, during their (mis)adventures. So, why not journey into the forest, and spend some time with everyone’s favorite silly old bear?

I am a lifelong fan of Winnie the Pooh. I grew up with the Disney cartoons, and watched the video tapes constantly. Well, when I wasn’t watching Thomas the Tank Engine or The Tales of Beatrix Potter, of course. Though I’ve gotten older, there’s still very much a special place in my heart for Winnie the Pooh.

So, one fine and blustery day on Twitter, I saw a tweet. It was one of those “these people you follow also follow this” sort of tweets. It was promoting an upcoming audio drama called Silly Old Bear. It was to be an adaptation of the original Winnie the Pooh stories by A.A. Milne. It was created by Caroline Mincks, who has created several other audio dramas, such as Seen and Not Heard. There was only a trailer available, but I decided to give it a listen. It was love at first sound. The gentle, calming, whimsical music perfectly capture the spirit of Winnie the Pooh. That theme music always manages to put a smile on my face whenever I hear it. And then there was the actor who played the titular silly old bear. Ashley Hunt was obviously not copying the Disney version of Pooh, but my goodness, did he ever nail Pooh’s character. The entire trailer was less than a minute long, but I was sold. I eagerly awaited launch day.

And come it did. A new episode came out once every three weeks, but I always eagerly awaited the premiere of new episodes. The first season has come to an end, and my review is here at last.

Now, as previously stated, Silly Old Bear draws upon the original Winnie the Pooh books by A.A. Milne. Only the original books are in the public domain. The Disney cartoons are very much still under copyright. For example, Pooh’s iconic red shirt was codified by the Disney cartoons. He did wear a red shirt in The House at Pooh Corner, but that’s still under copyright. So, a good rule of thumb for artists is as follows: Red shirt on bear, artists beware. If nude he be, your Pooh is (copyright) free. Also, don’t expect to see Tigger in Silly Old Bear. He first appeared in The House at Pooh Corner, which won’t be public domain until 2024. Think of it like this: Norse Mythology is public domain. However, if you make a comic book or an audio drama, and your versions of Thor and Loki look and act too much like the Marvel Comics versions, you can expect a cease and desist letter in the mail.

The books are mostly the same as the cartoons, but there are some slight differences. For example, everyone knows that Winnie the Pooh lives in the Hundred Acre Woods, right? Except, no he doesn’t. The Hundred Acre Woods is but a small part of the unnamed forest that Pooh and company live in. The characters were a bit more nuanced and multifaceted in the books. The cartoons simplified them into their most iconic elements. For example, in the books, Eeyore was still gloomy and a bit depressed. However, he could also be snarky, sarcastic, grouchy, stubborn, and even a bit of a jerk at times. Or to put it another way, a bit like a real donkey. We do get a few hints of this in Silly Old Bear, but nothing too major just yet. Of course, that might change in future seasons. It was from listening to Silly Old Bear that I learned that Winnie the Pooh’s real name is, in fact, Edward J. Bear. But, of course, he is known as Pooh to his friends.

The voice actors don’t attempt to copy the voice actors from the Disney cartoons. I suspect that this is done deliberately. That way, it helps to give Silly Old Bear its own unique identity. Well, that, and Disney’s legal team probably wouldn’t like it if Silly Old Bear sounded too similar to the Disney cartoons. The casting in Silly Old Bear also returns Winnie the Pooh to its British roots. The Disney cartoons used American voice actors, which has lead to the misconception that Winnie the Pooh is of American origin. To the contrary, it is quite British. In fact, A.A. Milne was considered one of Britain’s finest satirists and playwrights before he wrote Winnie the Pooh.

The cast of Silly Old Bear is a veritable who’s who of British audio drama voice actors. Our narrator is played by Sarah Golding. She is a highly versatile actress, and it would be easier to list the audio dramas she hasn’t been involved in. She is to audio dramas what John Ratzenberger is to Pixar movies. However, some highlights of her career include Drunk Helen from A Scottish Podcast, one of the aliens from We Fix Space Junk, the Irish grandmother from Cultureverse, the receptionist from Boom, and she’s narrated several episodes of Gallery of Curiosities.

Our title character is voiced by Ashley Hunt. He does an absolutely fantastic job of capturing Pooh’s child-like innocence and optimism. Piglet is voiced by Sophs Hughes, who uses they/them pronouns. They nailed Piglet’s nervous and perpetually paranoid demeanor. Their performance as Piglet was one of my absolute favorites of the entire cast. It was equal parts cute and hilarious.

Rabbit is voiced by Felix Trench. He is most famous for playing Rudyard Funn in Wooden Overcoats, but he also gave some fantastic performances in Unseen. I mean, if Rabbit is going to be anyone from audio drama, he’s definitely going to be Rudyard Funn. Owl is voiced by Karim Kronfli. He is most famous as Bruce the gangster on A Scottish Podcast. He does a good job, but knowing him as Bruce makes some of Owl’s lines come across as unintentionally sinister.

And of course I must give praise Ethan Hunt, son of Ashley Hunt, as Roo. What can I say? He is just utterly adorable. I see a very bright voice acting future for young Ethan. And of course I must also praise Khalila Marie for her performance as Kanga. I wasn’t aware that Pooh and the gang, mostly due to Rabbit’s paranoia, didn’t truest Kanga and Roo initially. The book version of Kanga is a loving mother, but she has a bit more bite to her than the Disney version. Khalila’s performance really emphasized this.

Rounding things out, we have Layla Katib as Christopher Robin. She captures Christopher Robin as the voice of reasons, but also shows his playful and adventurous side. So, as you can see, we have great performances from the entire cast.

Silly Old Bear was an absolute joy to listen to from start to finish. I loved revisiting stories I was already familiar with, and discovering new ones. Whether it was hunting for heffalumps and woozles, trying to find Eeyore’s tail, having tea with Rabbit, or enjoying some honey, it was splendid to spend time with Pooh and friends. 

And I’m certainly not the only person who thinks that Silly Old Bear is fantastic. As with Caroline Mincks’ other shows, Silly Old Bear is now a member of the Realm Media family. Realm doesn’t really have much in the way of family-friendly shows at the moment. Silly Old Bear is pretty much the only such show. But a lot of big name audio dramas have been joining the Realm family. So, who knows what the future might hold. Silly Old Bear is certainly an excellent starting place for family-friendly shows at Realm.

Well, I don’t think there’s really much else I can add. Silly Old Bear fills me with warm and fuzzy feelings, and always manages to put a smile on my face. It is an absolute joy from start to finish. It is an excellent audio drama for both the young and the young at heart. You certainly won’t want to miss it if you’re a lifelong Winnie the Pooh fan.

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

The Audio File: Seen and Not Heard

Audio drama, and audio fiction in general, is the last place you’d expect to find people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Despite this, there are a surprising number of such individuals involved in the world of audio drama. And it isn’t just fans. In fact, the audio drama we’re taking a look at today was created by one such individual. We’re taking a look at Seen and Not Heard. 

Seen and Not Heard follows a young woman named Bet Kline. She has recently lost most of her hearing as a result of an unspecified illness. The series follows a few weeks in Bet’s life as she tries to navigate her now mostly soundless new life. She has to deal with her rather insensitive mother. She meets a nice young man named David, who might be more than he appears. More than anything, Bet has to decide what she wants out of her new life.

I first become aware of Seen and Not Heard when it got recommended to me on that “You Might Also Like” section of the Apple Podcast app. The first thing that stood out to me was the title card. You see a circle of hands using sign language. That, plus the title, clearly indicated that this would be something involving deafness. A non-fiction podcast about deafness would certainly be odd, but not necessarily out of the question. But this was recommended based on my recent listening. Surly, it couldn’t be an audio drama about deafness, could it? I tapped the cover art, and sure enough, that’s exactly what it was.

I admit that this show had a certain dancing bear element to it. It’s not everyday that you find an audio drama where the main character is deaf. Oh, but that’s not the only unusual feature about Seen and Not Heard. You see, it is also created by a deaf individual. Series creator Caroline Mincks, who uses they/them pronouns, is legally deaf. They describe themselves as being exactly halfway between fully hearing and fully deaf. So, they have some hearing, but it is less than optimal. They often get help from their friends to make sure that the audio from their podcasts is correct and up to snuff. And yes, that’s podcasts plural. Caroline Mincks has made several other podcasts besides just Seen and Not Heard. They have also worked on several other audio dramas, and have helped make transcripts for several shows. Speaking of which, transcripts are available on the Seen and Not Heard Twitter account.

And Caroline isn’t alone. As it turns out, there are a surprisingly high number of deaf and/or hard of hearing individuals who enjoy audio dramas. They come because the shows all seem interesting, and they want to take partake in them. Just the same as hearing people do. This is why it is important to include transcripts with your audio dramas. Without them, it is very difficult for deaf and hard of hearing individuals to enjoy audio dramas. Also, transcripts are very handy for people who write reviews of audio dramas.

Now, prior to listening to Seen and Not Heard, I’d had a less than stellar experience with depictions of deafness in audio dramas. The only other time I’d seen deafness in audio dramas was in The AM Archies; which is season six of The Bright Sessions. There’s a scene between a hearing character and a deaf character. The deaf character communicates using sign language, which is conveyed by a series of barely audible wind rushing noises. I actually had to rewind multiple times to just to figure out what the hell I was listening to. It didn’t help that Lauren Shippen bragged about how groundbreaking the scene was on Twitter. She came across less as someone who wanted to sincerely depict deafness, and more like she was cynically trying to virtue signal. It also didn’t help that the characters only appeared in that one scene, and had no impact on the plot.  

I went into Seen and Not Heard with an open mind, but I was fully prepared for it to be terrible. Much to my surprise, Seen and Not Heard proved to be quite well-written, and took great care to execute it premise in an entirely audio medium. There is strong feeling of sincerity and genuine care being put forward. This is clearly a very intimate subject for Caroline Mincks, and they wanted to do the topic of deafness proper justice in an audio medium. I alway give points to those who act with sincerity and genuine conviction.

We get a few scenes where we actually get to hear what things are like from Bet’s perspective. It sounds like she has her head underwater. I could kind of make out a couple words and phrases, but I was fairly lost during those scenes. Of course, that’s the point of those scenes. We’re suppose to sympathize and empathize with Bet’s struggles. Bet communicates verbally both in interactions with other characters and her internal monologue. Bet was not born deaf, so presumably she remembers the mechanics of talking. It is also mentioned that she can lip read, and can somewhat better understand people if she’s facing them. She does enroll in a sign language class. She’s the only actual deaf person in the class. Pretty much everyone else has family of significant others who are deaf or hard of hearing.

I should probably mention that, technically, Bet’s real name is Beth. Apparently, she had a slight speech impediment as a kid, and pronounced her name as Bet. So, the mispronunciation stuck later in life.

I must also give credit to Seen and Not Heard for another aspect. There are three mini-episodes that occur before the main series. They offer brief vignettes into Bet’s life. One of them involves Bet going to visit her rabbi for advice and guidance. Now, in the past I have made it no secret that I have an extreme disdain for ordained clergy, and other religious figures. So, it is a testament to Caroline Mincks’ skill as a writer that I found the rabbi to be an incredibly enjoyable character. One of my favorite lines from her was towards the end of the mini-episode. She says, basically, “You don’t have to love your lot in life. Be angry, be pissed off, very Jewish thing to do. But for as long as you can, however you can, leave goodness in your wake in spite of how the world treats you. And if you can’t do any good, just don’t do any harm.”

Bet’s mother is someone who really ought to heed that advice. There are very few audio drama characters who have made me feel genuinely angry. Mrs. Kline, however, was one such character. It is very clear that she and Bet have been having issues for quite a while. She frequently chides Bet for not focusing more during family dinners and other family gatherings. She ignores how Bet genuinely is trying her best, but still has understandable struggles with keeping up. It doesn’t help that the rest of Bet’s family is fairly inconsiderate of her needs. Mrs. Kline also considers Bet’s sign language classes to be a waste of time and money. In fact, Mrs. Kline boarders on being flat out abusive at times.

I’m reminded of a PBS documentary I once watched about the history of deaf people in America. It mentioned how education deaf children used put a lot of emphasis on lip reading and vocalization. The educators claimed this was for the benefit of deaf children, but it was really because doing that made things easier for hearing people. It used to be like that for autistic people too. In the past, emphasis was on getting autistic children to act more like neurotypical people. However, in recent years the emphasis has shifted to accommodating the needs of autistic individuals. You’re probably wonder why I brought this up, but we’ll get to that in a minute.

Bet works as a food photographer. She has a true passion for all things culinary. In fact, she wanted to be a chef, but losing her hearing put the kibosh on that dream. Granted, there are some restaurants where the kitchen staff are all deaf, but Bet has made peace with giving up that dream. In Bet’s defense, professional kitchens can be fairly dangerous; with lots of things that can seriously injure you if you aren’t careful. Still, I wonder how Bet would be faring if she’s dreaming of doing something involving sound. Like, say she wanted to becoming a musician, or a 911 dispatcher.

I do wonder how much of Seen and Not Heard is autobiographical. It didn’t escape my notice that Bet and Caroline Mincks share a number of similarities. They are both Jews from northern Virginia. Many of the foods that Bet cooks and eats are also ones I’ve seen Caroline mentioning cooking on Twitter. They also seem to be fairly similar in terms of personality. There’s also the obvious similarity that they are both deaf to the same degree.

There’s a bonus episode where Caroline Mincks gives advice on how do write deaf characters, as well as a bit about what it is like to be a deaf audio drama creator. They said it is considered rude to ask deaf people how they became deaf. Be that as it may, given all of the other similarities between Bet and Caroline, I can’t help but wonder. I also wonder how much of the plot draws from Caroline’s own life. There are some differences, like how Caroline identifies as non-binary, while Bet identifies as female. However, I also don’t know how Caroline identified when Seen and Not Heard was made.

I should also mention that, in addition to being the series creator, Caroline also provides the voice for Bet. Caroline gives a very earnest and heartfelt performance. It was quite clear, as with everything else, that this was a very personal subject for Caroline. Caroline also assembled a team of very talented voice actors to help bring the other characters to life.

As an aside, this is probably one of the scariest audio dramas I’ve encountered in quite some time. I was diagnosed with a learning disability, which included elements of dyslexia and dysgraphia. I learned from getting tested for learning disabilities that I’m very audio oriented. I often do best by listening. Audiobooks have been a major lifesaver for me. So, the idea that I could loose my hearing as a result of an illness was quite terrifying on an existential level. And yeah, Seen and Not Heard make a point that being deaf isn’t the end of the world. Still, I’m not sure how well I’d fare in such a scenario.

Towards the end of the series, Bet goes to an art show. Specifically, it is the art of the non-binary artist name Kit, who is also deaf and autistic. I was excited when I heard this because I am also autistic. I don’t often bring this fact up. I don’t actively hide that side of myself, but I don’t necessarily draw attention to it. I want people to think of me, for example, as Sam McDonald the Audio Drama Critic. I don’t want people to think of me as just Sam McDonald the Autistic Audio Drama Critic. Having autism is certainly a very important aspect of who I am, but it is not the only aspect of who I am.

In fact, I think this might be the first time I’ve actually encountered an autistic character in audio drama. I used to think that I was the only autistic person involved in the world of audio drama. I know of a grand total of one other autistic person in audio drama. That doesn’t mean that others aren’t out there; just that I haven’t found them yet.

Kit provides insight into what it is like to be deaf. Up until this point, Seen and Not Heard had done a good job of portraying deafness without being patronizing or dipping into sentimentality. Unfortunately, it found Kit’s scene to be far too saccharine for my liking. I also felt that Kit inadvertently played into the magical disabled person trope. A close cousin to the magical negro, and alternatively known as inspiration ally disadvantaged, a magical disabled person provides folksy wisdom and down to earth advice. They almost alway provide this advice to an able-bodied person, and their only function within the story is to lift the spirits of the able-bodied protagonist. Now true, Bet is also deaf, but she was born hearing. However, Kit’s only function within the story is to be Bet’s deaf senpai, and provide words of inspiration.

I mean, I do have to give Caroline credit for actually including an autistic person. It also isn’t their fault that autistic characters are still so rare in audio drama. Still, I was hoping that Kit would have been less of a stereotype and more fleshed out. I suppose that this is an example of how even well-intentioned individuals can still wind up playing into negative tropes.

Seen and Not Heard did manage to redeem itself with how things ended. Bet doesn’t come to a big revelation about life, the universe, and everything. She doesn’t even come to terms with being deaf. She still has mountains to clime and challenges to overcome. In fact, she might never truly be at peace with loosing her hearing. But right here, right now, she feels just okay. And is okay to just be okay. Put another way, it is perfectly good to be good, and not perfect. In other words, perfect is the enemy of good.

This is a lesson that I myself have had to learn. In fact, it’s one I still need to do a better job learning. Depression and anxiety are often comorbid with autism, and that’s certainly the case with me. Misery loves company, as the saying goes. I’ve dealt with feelings of inadequacy my entire life. Sometime I wonder if I’m actually making a difference with these reviews, or if anyone actually cares what I have to say. I try my best give myself praise and reassurance for any improvements, no matter how small, I’ve made in my own life. The journey of 1000 miles begins with but a single step. Each step you take is worth celebrating.

Maybe Bet doesn’t have it all figured out, but she feels okay, at least for the moment. And that is certainly something worth celebrating. This is a very important message, and I’m glad that Seen and Not Heard resolved Bet’s character arc this way.

Caroline Mincks has hinted that we might be getting a season two of Seen and Not Heard. No details about the plot, only that it will be gayer. Hmm, if I had to speculate, I would guess that Bet will come out as non-binary. Bet will also develop an interest in audio drama podcast, and will perhaps make one. And perhaps said podcast is reviewed by an audio drama critic from Shreveport, Louisiana? 

In other exciting developments, Seen and Not Heard, along with all of the other shows Caroline Mincks had made, was picked up by Realm Media. Realm has been scooping up a lot of audio dramas recently. They also recently acquired all the shows from Observer Pictures, Fool & Scholar, and Curious Matter. In other Caroline Mincks productions, I recommend Silly Old Bear. It is an utterly adorable adaption of the original Winnie-the-Pooh stories by A.A. Milne. 

But whatever the future holds, I do know that I greatly enjoyed Seen and Not Heard. I took a gamble on this one, and it paid-off. It made the bold choice to depict the experience of deafness in an purely audio medium. It succeeded with flying colors. Give it a listen if you haven’t already.

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