Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!
We really should dedicate this episode of Wordsworthing to Christian Andreas Doppler.
I’m sure you’ve all at least flipped through Chris’ seminal work, Über das farbige Licht der Doppelsterne und einiger anderer Gestirne des Himmels, a charming little tome the Salzburger scratched out on the observed frequency of waves and the impact of relative speed. He did this in 1842. Smart guy, Chris.
So anyway, you’re receiving this communique from someplace that without Chris would have still just been the murky insides of a person. I’m referring, of course, to the womb, wondrous flesh cave of dark thought and muffled sound, and the magic of the fetal Doppler device which allows me, your MC for Episode 5, to speak these words of introduction. Naturally other technology infiltrates here and there in the transmission, notably that from the inventors and architects of speech-to-text and the internet, but for just straight old gib gab from the deepest darkest folds of the reproductive realm, Herr Chris is our hero.
Herein (the episode, not the womb) you’ll find the delights of your regular podcast hosts testing out the Emergency Broadcast System for some personal validation, naming bands after the weather, and working with our old pal (and Friend of the Show) T.C. Boyle on making America Great Again. This should be fun.
Then we’ll swim in the warm placental waters of our featured story, “North” by Aria Beth Sloss, a writer of such nice mouth feel as to elicit salivation. This story, gravid with visual lusciousness, transports us to a cold land from which both America and certain characters may never return. I don’t want to rupture the sack of spoilers, but let us agree that there is a reason these words are spoken in utero. (Ben's, Nick's, and Dan's marginalia can be found here.)
Changing directions, the Gutter Monkeys of the cast will force you through a canal of adventure, visiting skeezy beach bars, applauding Lord Byron as he throws shade, and then with full hearted tumescence Ben will deliver us a short piece about a Greek hero who literally takes in hand his own destiny. Seed is scattered like children across this formerly great land, and the cast closes with the pop-free tinkle of a baby’s laugh. (Dan & Nick's spot check of Ben's tumescence can be found here).
Thank you, Chris, thank you for providing me the means to invite the listener to slip through the dilating portal and join me in the swaddled comfort of another episode of Wordsworthing.
– MC Yet To Be Named
PS – Be sure to click here to read the story for the already recorded episode 6, “The Tenant” by Victor Lodato.