Homecoming: 1. MANDATORY

November 24, 2016 8:39 AM

New clients arrive. A customer asks for the bill. The airport signage needs a lot of work. A bird wakes up in the Everglades.Homecoming was created and written by Eli Horowitz and Micah Bloomberg; directed by Eli Horowitz; sound design, editing, and music by Mark Henry Phillips; produced by Alicia Van Couvering and Mark Henry Phillips; casting by Henry Russell Bergstein. Homecoming is a production of Gimlet Media.
posted by CMcG (3 comments total)

Thanks for posting this--otherwise I probably wouldn't have known about it. I listened this morning and was impressed by the narrative structure, production, and acting. I'll definitely be listening to the rest.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 9:54 AM on November 26, 2016 [1 favorite]

I enjoyed the episode, but honestly the after show had more of an impact on me. I stopped to think about the other audio drama podcasts I listen to and had to tally up the ones that (at least to my recollection) spend time right off the bat explaining exactly what you're listening to and where that audio is supposed to be coming from in-universe and who the characters are, &c, &c.

Explanatory

• The Message
• Limetown
• Hello from the Magic Tavern (at this point it's even an in-universe joke!)
• The Black Tapes
• TANIS
• Alice Isn't Dead
• Archive 81
• Beef And Dairy Network
• Within the Wires
• ars PARADOXICA
• The Bright Sessions (this and ars spend so much time explaining how everyone loves taping themselves now)
• King Falls AM
• PleasureTown

Non-explanatory

• LifeAfter
• Welcome to Night Vale (dogs are not allowed in the dog park)
• The Deep Vault

Lots of “this is my radio show” or “I taped this”. Night Vale kind of surprised me when I went back to listen to the first episode, it starts as though this were just any other broadcast of Cecil's show on WTNV. It may help that the archives all get fiddled with to insert current ads into the out-of-universe intro, I wonder if the original audio file had more exposition from Joseph Fink.
posted by books for weapons at 9:00 PM on November 26, 2016

I waited a while to listen to this show until I had some quiet time to really appreciate it. I'm now through episode 5. Wow, what an incredible presentation--the way it's written, the sound design, the acting. I'm recommending it to people who aren't even into podcasts.
posted by radioamy at 9:20 PM on December 28, 2016