3 episodes

Path of the Miriam is a fictional podcast set in space, some few hundred years in the future. Featuring a completely queer cast, and several POC voices, PotM follows the crew of the Science Vessel Miriam, led by their abrasive Captain Reni. Among a crew of aliens, it's the new crew member Nym, a human, who stands out, for on her back is an active star chart, something that should be impossible.

Path of the Miriam Path of the Miriam

    • Arts
    • 3.3 • 7 Ratings

Path of the Miriam is a fictional podcast set in space, some few hundred years in the future. Featuring a completely queer cast, and several POC voices, PotM follows the crew of the Science Vessel Miriam, led by their abrasive Captain Reni. Among a crew of aliens, it's the new crew member Nym, a human, who stands out, for on her back is an active star chart, something that should be impossible.

    Episode 3- Adjusting

    Episode 3- Adjusting

    Nym meets the final crew member of the Miriam, Biy learns a truth, and something new emerges.

    Featuring:
    The role of Nym was voiced by Nicole Penrod. The role of Valentine was voiced by Molly Roth. The role of FOX was voiced by Ben Moody. The role of Haven was voiced by Park Hy. The role of Biy was voiced by Emma Currans. And the role of Reni was voiced by Teresa Avila.

    The opening music was “No Fear” by Molly Roth and the closing music was “Choices” by Ben Moody and the Captive Swans,featuring Molly Roth. Additional music provided by purple-planet.com

    Cover and logo art by Ben Moody. You can also find us here: Website: www.inkstainprod.wixsite.com/pathofthemiriam
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/pathofthemiriam Tumblr: https://pathofthemiriam.tumblr.com/

    • 16 min
    Episode 2-Welcome Aboard

    Episode 2-Welcome Aboard

    Nym experiences space for the first time, meets some new faces, and gets threatened by an AI.

    Featuring:
    Nicole Penrod as Nym
    Teresa Avila as Reni
    Gill Hert as Computer
    Hy Park as Haven
    Ben Moody as FOX
    Emma Currans as Biy

    Written and directed by Lacey Shaw

    The opening music was “No Fear” by Molly Roth and the closing music was “Choices” by Ben Moody and the Captive Swans,featuring Molly Roth.

    Cover and logo art by Ben Moody.
    You can also find us here:
    Website: www.inkstainprod.wixsite.com/pathofthemiriam
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pathofthemir...
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/pathofthemiriam
    Tumblr: https://pathofthemiriam.tumblr.com/

    • 13 min
    Episode 1-Back of Stars

    Episode 1-Back of Stars

    Captain Reni Alders of the Science Vessel Miriam has finally managed to come up with the money a wealthy estate owner has demanded of her to buy a map. A "map to end all maps" as it were. There's just one catch to buying the map:a human named Nym.

    • 17 min

Customer Reviews

3.3 out of 5
7 Ratings

7 Ratings

AlexWallace18 ,

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

I want to go easy on this podcast because it's clearly an amateur production, which isn't always a bad thing but doesn't help it. I did give it one star, but pretend it's more of a 1.5 instead.

However, I'm going to be honest: this podcast isn't great. The only acting I could stand was that of the computer--only because the person had a nice voice, and it didn't require any heavy lifting. The sound effects are there, I suppose, and they weren't the worst thing about this podcast, which isn't saying much. I'm shocked I even made it to the 10-minute mark with the first episode, because I didn't get past the first two minutes of the second. The sound is pretty awful, from cut off sound at the end of every monologue to sound effects that straight up don't match the words. An example of the latter would be that the captain is inside a spacesuit (which I don't buy from the effects on her voice, but anyway) and has been injured in several ways, including spraining her ankle...but the sound effect betrays no limping, and the acting itself does not show any sign of strain--and there's no given reason for her to hide her pain. Maybe she's some kind of tough super soldier, but there's also no indication of that either. Speaking of indications of anything, really, the writing isn't great. I found it added nothing to the characters or the world. The only thing it did was take up air.

More on the audio: none of the actors' audio has any processing or effects, meaning that they all sound as if they recorded separately. None of them sound like they could be in the same room at times when they're meant to. The opening theme is cringey, even though cringe culture is dead. I genuinely felt put off by listening to it, whether it's the uninspired lyrics or the lackluster vocals. I wonder if it might have worked just fine just as an instrumental, but that's just a hypothetical. In terms of what is actually IN the show, the theme doesn't start it off on the right foot. No, it's not charming.

And no, I don't consider any of this nitpicking. I have heard amateur audio dramas make do with bad audio. This isn't one of them.

I will be fair and say one thing I liked: I think they tried. They certainly sat down and put something out there, which is better than many indie podcasts that end before they even begin. But I can't say for sure if the "trying" thing is factually accurate, only that it SOUNDS like they tried their best. Perhaps they've been beset by production issues, given that there was a several month gap between episodes 2 and 3, and there hasn't been any update since 3. That happens, but I feel that some communication is necessary from a production team to listeners, especially when a show has already come out. Again, I can only really speak to what I hear, and the only good thing I hear is effort.

I completely understand that making an audio drama is difficult, but sometimes the work you do just doesn't pay off. I don't know how hard the creator worked to get this show out there, but whatever happened, it either wasn't enough, or they didn't know when to call it and say, "Let's go play video games instead." And I do hope the creator, or someone on the team, puts in enough effort to clean up the audio, make the words tighter, and maybe go out and find a better theme song. I think the premise is a great one, it's just a shame the execution really doesn't do it justice.

(Note: Unrelated to the content of the show itself, I also am put off by the show description, which boasts that the cast "featuring a completely queer cast, and several POC voices." To my knowledge, only a few of the cast are actually POC, which isn't exactly several. And saying that your podcast features queer actors is like saying it has people speaking words. It's not exactly an anomaly within the indie podcasting community.)

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