*Note – I listen to PseudoPod on YouTube because my household pays for YouTube Red in order to not have ads. My reviews do not consider advertisement breaks, if they exist.

974: “The Half-Pint Flask” by DuBose Heyward, narrated by Ben Phillips

Alright. I’m a sucker for old spec fic like this. If you can tolerate the historically accurate racism (that is, depictions of racism, not racist story design), I quite enjoyed it. For some, this story will seem slow and perhaps obtuse. If you’ve the constitution for this kind of writing, I think it’s worth listening to. I’ll be adding Heyward to my list. Something about Ben Phillips’ audio set-up gives it a quality that grates on me a little bit–this comes up again in 973-A.

973: Flash on the Borderlands LXXIII: Perpetuation

*Note – Flash on the Borderlands is PseudoPod’s flash fiction podcast , which contains multiple short pieces. As such, I review each individually rather than the whole episode.

973-A: “Shallow Fangs” by David Marino, narrated by Ben Phillips

There’s a unique voice here, but not one I particularly care for. I also am not a fan of direct-address stories. It’s really just a couple of little vignettes that sketch the idea underpinning a story that doesn’t quite exist. Not my cup of tea, but others might enjoy it. The audio quality is also less than ideal.

973-B: “Glean” by Lindz McLeod, narrated by Kat Day

Is this a short story or a prose poem? Extremely short, but also extremely effective. I can’t say much more without giving it away. It takes like thirty seconds to read. Just go read it.

973-C: “The First Mrs. Rochester Would Like a Word” by Laura Blackwell, narrated by Eve Upton

I feel like I sound like a broken record, but I just don’t love direct-address narratives. The concept of this story is engaging, though, and I felt a payoff at the end, to be sure. However, I think this is really best read immediately after reading Jane Eyre or if you generally already have a Brontë bug. If you’re disinterested in Jane Eyre or unfamiliar with it, this story still works.

973-D: “POV: I’m the Dead Wife in Your Flashback” by Cyrus Amelia Fisher, narrated by The Word Whore

Second verse, same as the first! Another direct-address story. I felt that this story was largely fine. This kind of venting-as-literature is familiar. Important, to be clear, but familiar. The image it leaves at the end has some staying power, though.

972: “Some Say Art Deals with the Unexpected” by James Dorr, narrated by John Michnya

I liked the overall concept of this story, but the execution was not there for me. The base concept of a man who sculpts with meat? Excellent. I love it. But the narrative arc and the delivery (in an authorial sense, not an audio narration sense) were a little exaggerated and the incorporation of complex artistic ideas felt too disconnected from the character’s narrative voice. It’s certainly worth listening to, nevertheless, and John Michnya really breathes life into the protagonist.

971: “Tree of the Forest Seven Bells Turns the World Round Midnight” by Sheree Renée Thomas, narrated by Premee Mohamed

I must admit this story hits a soft spot for me. I’m a sucker for ecocritical literature and especially for plant-human hybrids. I also love stories set in the Midwest. I found both of the characters compelling, and when I thought I might know what the next beat of the story would be, I was never quite correct. Technical excellence, narrative savoir-faire, and attuned to contemporary issues. The one thing that did not hit the mark for me was the audio quality, which I found a little tinny.