Of Now And Then

Of Now And Then

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Fictional stories in the public domain that speak to our present and near future, some with alarming prescience.

Episodes

  1. The Colour Out Of Space

    02/04/2022

    The Colour Out Of Space

    By H.P. Lovecraft, 1927 Howard Phillips Lovecraft (August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American author who achieved posthumous fame through his influential works of horror fiction. Virtually unknown and published only in pulp magazines before he died in poverty, he is now regarded as one of the most significant 20th-century authors in his genre. Lovecraft was born in Providence, Rhode Island, where he spent most of his life. Among his most celebrated tales are “The Call of Cthulhu” and “The Shadow over Innsmouth“, both canonical to the Cthulhu Mythos. Never able to support himself from earnings as author and editor, Lovecraft saw commercial success increasingly elude him in this latter period, partly because he lacked the confidence and drive to promote himself. He subsisted in progressively straitened circumstances in his last years; an inheritance was completely spent by the time he died at the age of 46. "The Colour Out of Space" is a science fiction/horror short story by American author H. P. Lovecraft. An unnamed narrator pieces together the story of an area known by the locals as the "blasted heath" in the hills west of the fictional town of Arkham, Massachusetts. Special thanks to our good friends BattleBards for their amazing sound effects! MUSIC: "Cylinder Two" by Chris Zabriskie "Gagool" by Kevin MacLeod "Dark Elf City" by Mike Bridge "Moorland" by Kevin MacLeod "Unlight" by Kevin MacLeod "The Tale of the Spine Breaker" by Stephane Lorello "This House" by Kevin MacLeod "Trance of Cluster" by Ars Sonor "Bellow" by Ben Carey "Oneiri" by Kai Engel "Oppressive Gloom" by Kevin MacLeod "Away" by Twilight Tipi "Touch the Darkness" by Kai Engel "Somnolence" by Kai Engel "Dancing on the Edge" by Kai Engel "Universe in Hands" by Kai Engel "Tomie’s Bubbles" by Candlegravity "Candlepower" by Chris Zabriskie Of Now And Then retells fantasy and future fictional stories in the public domain produced as audiobooks. The show is voiced, edited and produced by Aram Vartian. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    1h 30m
  2. 2BR02B

    02/03/2022

    2BR02B

    By Kurt Vonnegut, 1962 Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer. In a career spanning over 50 years, Vonnegut published 14 novels, three short story collections, five plays, and five works of non-fiction. He is most famous for his darkly satirical, best-selling novel Slaughterhouse-Five (1969). Vonnegut published his first novel, Player Piano, in 1952. The novel was reviewed positively, but was not commercially successful. In the nearly 20 years that followed, Vonnegut published several novels that were only marginally successful, such as Cat's Cradle (1963) and God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (1964). Vonnegut's magnum opus, however, was his immediately successful sixth novel, Slaughterhouse-Five. The book's antiwar sentiment resonated with its readers amidst the ongoing Vietnam War, and its reviews were generally positive. After its release, Slaughterhouse-Five went to the top of The New York Times Best Seller list, thrusting Vonnegut into fame. He was invited to give speeches, lectures, and commencement addresses around the country and received many awards and honors. "2BR02B" is pronounced "2 B R naught 2 B" and references the famous phrase "to be, or not to be" from William Shakespeare's Hamlet. In the story, the title refers to the telephone number that one dials to schedule an assisted suicide with the Federal Bureau of Termination. Special thanks to our good friends BattleBards for their amazing sound effects. MUSIC "Candlepower" by Chris Zabriskie "Readers! Do You Read?" by Chris Zabriskie "Carefree" by Kevin MacLeod "Somewhere Else" by Candlegravity "Cylinder Six" by Chris Zabriskie "The Star Spangled Banner" by The United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps "Frozen Star" by Kevin MacLeod "Tomie's Bubbles" by Candlegravity Of Now And Then retells fantasy and future fictional stories in the public domain produced as audiobooks. The show is voiced, edited and produced by Aram Vartian. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    22 min

Shows with Subscription Benefits

  • Starring Jameela Jamil and Manny Jacinto! After crash-landing on a mysterious planet with no memory and a sentient AI implant in his brain keeping him alive, a soldier searches for answers about his past.  There are only four things Lucan knows with certainty: his name, his rank, that the droll AI implant speaking to him inside his mind is named Ven, and finally, that she is the only thing keeping him from dying. With no other memories or connection to their pasts, Lucan and Ven must navigate their new reality on an unknown planet split into warring factions. As they search for answers about where they came from, they confront dangerous forces that threaten the safety of the planet’s civilians. But the most urgent threat of all lurks in the recesses of Lucan’s mind, kept hidden by Ven, and if she were to reveal it, their relationship would change forever.  Marigold Breach is a Realm production, starring Jameela Jamil and Manny Jacinto, and created and written by Joel Dane. Listen Away. For more shows like this, visit Realm.fm.

  • Undertow is Realm’s premier showcase of original audio horror. Hosted by audio horror pioneer and creator Fred Greenhalgh, each season presents a spooky standalone story, so you can dive in anytime... if you dare! Current Season: Hovering In the sleepy seaside town of Durham, Junior Constable Kyle Grinham is stumped one night when he receives four desperate calls about a strange metallic object hovering in the night sky. As he interviews the witnesses and tries to figure out who’s lying and why, Kyle realizes each of the people he talks to have a stark choice. They can keep what they saw in the sky a secret, or tell the truth and change the way people in the town look at them forever. Hovering is an independently produced, limited series fiction podcast from Melbourne-based Plot Twist.  Craving More Frights? Explore Past Seasons: Season 1: Simpson Falls - A reporter awakens malevolent forces in his haunted hometown. Season 2: Blood Forest - Every 20 years, werewolves descend for a night of horror. Starring Jack Falahee. Season 3: Dark Tome - A teen unleashes a terrifying story from a spooky bookshop. Season 4: The Well - Family secrets resurface, setting loose horror from an old well. Season 5: The Pulse - A meteorite awakens animalistic instincts in a group of treasure hunters. Season 6: The Sisters - True events inspire a chilling tale of occult & possession. Starring Mae Whitman. Season 7: Last Call - A hustler gambles for his life against the Grim Reaper. Season 8: Narcosis - A rescue dive turns deadly beneath the waves. Season 9: The Harrowing - A barbaric crime heralds the rise of an ancient evil. Binge Ad-Free & Early! Subscribe at realm.fm.

  • An actual play D&D podcast, The Lucky Die is a character driven story, set in an apocalyptic fantasy world. In Diskora, Demons and Celestials have started stalking the lands, tensions between the factions leave death in their wake and blood red clouds boil across the sky. You would be forgiven for thinking that the end was nigh, question is - do you want to face the end alone? I guess we're about to find out.

  • [COMPLETED SERIES] In What Will Be Here?, five friends send a rocket to space with a collection of recordings on it that document the world’s decline, the stories they want to tell, and their efforts in building this rocket to get their message to the stars. They wonder what their world will have become by the time their message is listened to. At its core, this show is about living and creating when things feel pointless. It's a story that came out of the pandemic, and the landscape in which this story was written and produced greatly influenced how it turned out. What Will Be Here? is set on earth 200 years in the future, where large-scale crises are fully normalized. But despite the bleak backdrop, this story is one of hope - of overcoming challenges, of making things that might be temporary, but also things that might be launched into space and continue on forever.

  • The Violet Hour presents - BETWEEN THE DEVIL. Craving adventure, a young girl in 18th century Europe stows away aboard her father’s newly-christened merchant ship. Instead of adventure she finds terror on the high seas, as rampant paranoia grips the crew, and unseen malevolent forces commandeer the vessel for their own purposes. Learn more at www.VioletHourMedia.com

  • When anyone asks Audrey why she moved to Alaska, she tells them for a fresh start. But a lot of the people in Alaska are hiding from something. And Audrey is no different. When she journeyed to Alaska, she found something even more dangerous. Maybe we feel the uncanny valley because long ago, we had to fear something that pretended to be human.

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Fictional stories in the public domain that speak to our present and near future, some with alarming prescience.

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