refs

the new season has been out since mid-April and we are already halfway through it. i know the WTNV team has been posting about it on their social channels for months leading up to it. i dont think we are doing anything differently, promotion-wise, than we did with the first three seasons which seemed to find their audience much more quickly.

personally i find it rather frustating given the amount of work we put into this show, but im not really sure what to do about it. i know part of it is down to the fact that audiofiction is a far more competitive field than it used to be, and there's also so much noise and chaos in the world these days that its hard to find anything, and so many terrible problems that fiction feels less important.

1. Do not do age verification.

Oh no I dropped my link, what a horrible thing! Sure hope this doesn't get reblogged until it reaches users from the UK and Brazil!

this is a vegetarian potato curry recipe that's about 75% spices; once you get the potatoes in there you can really do whatever you want with it

this is literally just pasta, broccoli, and cheese babey and you can live off that shit for DAYS it makes such a big portion

bro this spinach/pesto/3 cheese flatbread is so fucking tasty bro

also you can make the flatbread yourself it's super quick!!

oh hey I'm eating this white chickpea chili right now, much like the curry it's mostly spices and you can do p much do whatever you want with it

don't let the name fool you these potatoes are delicious any time. not just breakfast.

Garlic butter rice

Pork - any cut boneless

Onions- chopped anyway you like

Orange juice - about one cup (you can use about 2 tablespoons of the condensed frozen stuff if you have it)

Root beer, pepsi, or other cola soda - about one cup

Preferred chili mix seasoning - 1-2 packets depending on how intense you like your flavoring and how much pork you put in

Garlic - as much as you wanna, specifically smashed not cut

Canned or frozen corn - to your preference

That aside, here's my beef pasta/potato recipe, serves a family of 3 comfortably. Cook time, roughly 25 min if you can multitask 3 pots

- 1 package Mushroom Gravy Mix

- 1 package Brown Gravy Mix

- 1 can Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup (optional, for a creamier gravy)

- 1lb Ground beef or turkey

- 1 can corn

- 2 1/2 - 3 cups of pasta (it will absorb well if you go low) OR Mashed potato. I feel like i never get the mashed potato ratio correct so go on vibes (what's the down side? You have too much gravy and have to make more potatoes??)

Directions:

Cook pasta and drain or mashed potatoes. Set aside if it finishes early.

Cook beef/turkey, spicing to preference. I like salt, pepper, garlic, onion powder (optional ingredient is to use diced onion instead), basil, and parsley. Set aside if it finishes early.

Follow instructions on back of gravy packages and cook them together. It usually ends up being 2 cups of water, bring to a boil, then let simmer for a few minutes. AT THE SIMMER STAGE add the 1 can of cream of mush soup. Do not add more water! Mix well and let simmer. Set aside if it finishes early.

"what the fuck"

"revoke my animal nerd license"

"screaming, crying, throwing up"

"At least I got my fave right?"

"FUCK THE GOLDEN MOLE QUESTION"

I dont know if this is your specialization or not but the deadline is approaching. I dont want you to do it for me obviously but how do I go about this? Im mad stressed and Im stuck. How do you write a good methodology? Is there a system everyone else knows but me?

Well, first of all, your professor is a shit teacher, so jot that down.

Second of all, I'm so sorry you're so stressed. Even through this ask I can FEEL your mental state trying to dissolve. But, I promise you can do this, Anon. You won't enjoy it; but, that's not the same thing. You can do it.

Third of all, there's no universal system; BUT, good news! There's an Elanor System. And I'm about to teach it to you. Take my hand. We've got this.

Step 1 - the Research Questions

Start here!

Your research questions should be formatted as literal questions, and this is what your study wants to answer. "How many fruit pastilles does it take to choke a kestrel?" "Do dragons breathe hotter fire in the day than the night?" "Are oak trees more effective than beeches at stabilising Welsh soils?"

(One, no, and yes)

Have at least one question, and an absolute maximum of three. Crucially, these questions need to be specific. For example:

"What's the link between coastal development and sand lizard conservation?" - too broad. How are we defining "conservation"? How can you measure it?

"Are sand lizard populations higher in undeveloped areas than developed areas?" - much better. Directly actionable (you just count them), easily defined (has the coastal site been built on or not)

For the sake of this tutorial, I shall use that last one.

Step 2 - Anticipate the Data

So, put simply, what data/results would answer this question?

I'm not talking the actual data yet, obviously - you need to carry out the research to get that! But, in broad terms, what sort of thing is needed for you to consider that question answered?

Take a look at our example - Are sand lizard populations higher in undeveloped areas than developed areas?

To answer this, I need:

Some developed (i.e. built up) sites

Some undeveloped (i.e. semi-natural) sites

A head count of the sand lizards in each

Then, sketch out for yourself what this data might look like in a table, graph, map, etc. Whatever format is needed to display the data. Here's our lizards:

The numbers are totally made up, of course. It's not about them. They aren't part of this experience. The TYPE of data, on the other hand, is; because this now leads perfectly into the next step:

Step 3 - the Protocol

This is no longer a broad, vague and terrifying spectre. This is now specific and targeted. Your protocol now is not about testing for "sand lizard conservation". It's about getting the actual numbers to plug into that graph above.

So, I now know I need to do a census of sand lizards in a selection of developed/undeveloped sites. This is the central plank of my methodology.

Firstly: how many sites? Maybe five of each type? How am I defining "developed" and "undeveloped"? What other variables might affect this, e.g. sand dune height/stability, visitation numbers, predator numbers, etc. A little bit of research will let me decide these points, and then I just need to select the sites locally. Do they have public access? Maybe logistics mean this comes down to three of each type.

Secondly, what are the best census techniques for sand lizards? Again, a bit of research will tell me this. Nothing wrong with finding a published paper that's already looked at this, and copying their methodology - it's peer-reviewed, and replicability is important in science.

Thirdly, consider the following:

Is your protocol written out clearly in an easy-to-follow way? Think of baking recipes. Could a third party replicate your work based on your description?

Variables. I've mentioned some already, but what else? An obvious answer here is weather - will that affect sand lizard numbers between sites? What about time of day/year?

Replicability: if you or anyone else wanted to do the same study in five years' time, or on a different selection of sites, etc, could they? They should be able to.

Practicality: are you physically capable of the tasks? Do you have the necessary equipment? Etc

But, fundamentally, your protocol should be able to get you the data you identified in step 2. If instead my plan here was just to count lizards on a single beach, that would be a fail - there's no site comparison. If instead I decided to survey the dune vegetation in both, that might well provide good habitat insights, but it's not getting me the abundance data I need to make that graph.

Step 4 - Timing

We have a protocol! So now: the logistics

Can your plans be done in the time you have available?

Maybe I only have three weeks to count my lizards. If so, depending on the weather, that may well be too little time for a full ten sites. Especially if each site requires more than one visit. If so, I need to amend my plans.

My recommendation for this step:

Work out how much time you have available

List the individual jobs needed (e.g. walk 100m transect 5 times)

Estimate how long each job will take, using whatever unit is appropriate (e.g. days)

Evaluate - is there enough time?

Gantt charts are great for this, and you can find free online Gantt chart makers. They also look good in the research proposal

******

And that, in a nutshell, is it! There's obviously more depth you can add in various ways, but that's your basic protocol construction. The value of a protocol is how well it can answer its research questions - I imagine this is where you're going wrong atm, and currently you're being too broad. So, start with the questions, decide on the needed data, work out the steps needed to get that data, assess logistics.

Poster warning of slave hunters searching for Ellen and William Craft. Love the inclusion of a date at the bottom - including the year! - because who knows how long a poster has been up?

They emerged from a courthouse in Boston to behold a vast, multiracial army of men, women, and children — about 2,000 people, by John Knight’s estimate — together shouting the refrain that Knight had come to loathe: “Slave hunters! Slave hunters! There go the slave hunters!” Some called for feathers and tar.

A hackney coach soon drove up with a pair of white horses, wild with excitement. With the sheriff pushing through the crush, Hughes managed to jump inside, but “not without losing his hat and getting somewhat hustled about.” Knight, meanwhile, was caught behind and forced to retreat, as protesters hissed and jeered, and tried to break the carriage doors. Eyewitnesses would vividly recall the scene: The crowd became like one body, single-minded, with long, strong arms, as it covered the coach and rocked it from side to side, intent on taking the passenger. One man, a journalist wrote, smashed open a window, aimed his weapon, and, for a quivering moment, had Hughes within his sights. But another protester pulled him down. The driver raised his whip and cracked it high, and with that, the coach convulsed forward, doors akimbo, people hanging off all sides.

The carriage clattered over the Craigie Bridge, speeding through the toll, driver and rider hoping that the fare would deter the protesters, who clung hard. Above all the others, one “colored man” straddled the roof, riding “in triumph through the streets of Cambridge.” It was protest in motion.

Only many miles later, in a landscape of cattle markets, slaughterhouses, and racetracks, did the carriage at last outrun the protesters, rolling to a stop at Porter’s Tavern in North Cambridge. But the driver, spooked by the ordeal, refused to continue service, leaving Hughes to find his own way back to Boston, where he finally reunited with Knight at the United States Hotel, their Boston headquarters.

(from Ilyon Woo's Master Slave Husband Wife, excerpted in the Boston Globe)