ani, eeeeeeeeee

It's hard to capture the exact alchemy that happened this weekend, because no one part of the day was some keystone perfect moment. For me personally, it was incredible to even just be in the same room as so many of my closest collaborators and people who have made art that has deeply moved me; but then, there were also a good number of audiodrama fans who showed up and kept things from getting too "let's all talk shop." The vibes, so to speak, were immaculate, with people all coming together to appreciate each others' expertise and artistry - and that is NOT a given!

I think the thing I was most struck by, consistently through the whole day, was the spirit of generosity and community from setup at 7:30 a.m. (when more volunteers showed up than Tal planned for) to 8:00 p.m. (when the venue coordinator seemed genuinely shocked by how helpful everyone wanted to be putting the space back together). I had constructive, inspiring conversations with titans of the field and new artists under 20. I learned about how people brought their own loves to their work: linguists, teachers, musical gear distributors, used bookstore owners, ex-marketing firm full-time writers, experts in Greek history, civil rights history, marine biology. And not once - genuinely, seriously, taking account of the whole 12+ hour day - did I feel a single shred of selfishness, competitiveness, or jealousy in any room or conversation I was in. Acknowlement of our egos? Sure! But never indulgence in shit-talking, never a single person saying "that show is so overrated" or "that actor didn't earn that part" or "[whatever] should have been successful instead" and that is *remarkable*

In the closing presentation on how to keep making art in our dark, dark days, Lauren Shippen was asked "what gives you hope?" She thought for a brief moment, and said what I'd been thinking all day: this. This gives me hope. This community that refuses to be cruel to the naive, refuses to be lazy about inclusion, refuses to look away from the pain of the world and yet writes, sings, acts, designs, creates, creates, creates. Dear listener, I did tear up. I did feel that lump in my throat. To be in a room of 200 people who love so fiercely the creative act was nothing short of a spiritual experience for me.

Podcast creators: what's the optimal way to listen to your podcast? Out for a walk on a warm morning? Tucked up in bed with a hot chocolate on a rainy day? Maybe on surround-sound speakers with a bowl of fresh buttered popcorn? Halfway up an old tree?

The Season 0 Premiere begins now! Its first of three episodes "Patience: Zero" is out wherever you get the rest of your weird little fiction podcasts, and the second and third epidodes ("RE: FWD: The End Times" and "You Can Sleep When You're Dead") will be dropping in about 12 and 24 hours, respectively.

It takes place a year and a half before Season 1, and centers around the question "At what point during the end of the world will your boss tell you that you don't have to go to work anymore?" Overall I think it explores the upper and lower bounds of intensity for what will be found throughout the rest of the series.

Be advised of strong language, corporate bullshit from an insensitive manager, and of course zombies. Especially in the third episode (which is probably predictable enough it doesn't count as a spoiler, right?).

Season 0 features the voice talents of (in order of appearance) Alex Povey, Lea Lawson, Matt Bartlett, Bella Garcia, Jason Francey, Rae Lundberg, Sparrow Delgado, Jesse May, and Alex Chew; and lots of behind-the-scenes effort and expertise from Ani Engdahl, James Edwards, Eva J Hansen-Smith, Chloe Briggs, Ani Rey, and Haven Gay (that's me!).

For your enjoyment,

Our RSS feed is now up and running with the release of the Season 0 teaser trailer!

https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/radio-san-lazaro

It will be a few weeks yet before the first episodes start releasing, so subscribe to the feed and stay tuned!

Radio San Lazaro is a semi-anthology. Every story thread will be different and the story will change and evolve over time. The teaser is loosely related to the plot of Season 0, which itself is loosely related to the plots of Season 1.

No story lasts forever, but what they leave behind always lingers.

Let me be the first to officially say: