Radio Drama Revival

The Handmaid's Tale - Danny Ortberg

We conclude our two-part conversation series around The Handmaid's Tale, which you can find in an Audio Drama form over at Secrets, Crimes, and Audiotape. This week, I had the great pleasure of talking to Mallory Ortberg, a writer, culture critic, and advice columnist. She's Dear Prudence over at Slate, and she used to run a magnificent site called The Toast. In this episode, we discuss: * The Handmaid's Tale and White Feminism * How to avoid becoming an Internal Expat * Fending off the Republic of Gilead and much, much more!

RDR From the Vault: Stuff of Myth, Part 1

Ahh, ancient Greece. Hot nymphs, raging orgies, much wine, song, and occasional transformations into a goat. All well and good, right? Well things are more wacky than ever in the sizzling and scandalous interpretation of the myth of Orpheus done by Roger Gregg, The Stuff of Myth. This great production won a Gold Ogle in 2007 and has gotten rave reviews as a stage play. Now hear what the buzz is all about in Parts 1-2 of The Stuff of Myth.

The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Willison

Podcaster, culture critic, and ne'er-do-well Margaret Willison (of Appointment Television and NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour) joins me to talk about THE HANDMAID'S TALE -- specifically, the 2000 production by John Dryden that ran recently on Secrets, Crimes, and Audiotape (our sibling show on the Wondery Network). Join me and Margaret as we alternate between quality goofs and serious discussion. Margaret's newsletter, TWO BOSSY DAMES: tinyletter.com/twobossydames Margaret's podcast, APPOINTMENT TELEVISION: atvpodcast.com A Handmaid's Guide to Cambridge, by Margaret's pal Rachel: rachelbythebooks.com/blog/2016/2/28/the-handmaids-guide-to-cambridge Secrets, Crimes, and Audiotape: http://wondery.com/wondery/shows/secretscrimes/

RDR From the Vault: Heart of Morphine, by Roger Gregg

Today RDR from the Vault launches a series of episodes highlighting Roger Gregg, playwright master of Dublin, Ireland. Roger pioneered his own audio sound, a wacky blend of Captain Beefheart sonic assault and an intimate, fine theatre sensibility. He produced for RTE - that’s the public radio of Ireland- for the better part of a decade and since parting ways with them has continued on mostly on stage but ocacsionally gracing us with an audio piece. What we’ll hear today is one of the latter types, from the post-RTE era of Roger’s work, done during his work as a theatre instructor at the Gaiety school of Acting in Ireland. This is “Heart of Morphine” Morgan O’Brien hangs in limbo between life and death, and finds the afterlife a much wilder place than he imagined. Confused, frustrated, and alone, he is forced to confront the reality of his actions made while alive. But is there still time to go back and change things?

Archive 81 - Dan Powell and Marc Sollinger

This week, things are going to get spooky at Radio Drama Revival as we delve into the world of horror audio fiction. David talks to Marc Sollinger and Dan Powell, the evil minds behind Archive 81 and The Deep Vault. They discuss the horror fiction that makes them tick, how to construct audio fiction that’ll make your skin crawl, and what it’s like to collaborate with one of your closest friends. We’ll also take a listen to the first episode of their show Archive 81, which is about a young man with a new job, recordings from an uncanny apartment building, and the dangers of listening.

RDR From the Vault: Mumbai Chuzzlewits, Part 3 of 3

Re-play of the 2012 BBC Series "The Mumbai Chuzzlewits," adapted by Ayeesha Menon from the Charles Dickens novel "Martin Chuzzlewits," and transposed to Modern India. Produced by John Dryden of Goldhawk Productions. Convinced his relatives are after his money, miserly old recluse Martin Chuzzlewit (Roshan Seth), adopts orphan girl, Mary (Nimrat Kaur), to be his carer. As she will inherit nothing upon his death, he believes she will do her utmost to keep him in good health. But when his grandson Mickey (Zafar Karachiwala) falls in love with her, Martin's plans are thrown into disarray. Disinheriting him, Martin triggers a complex web of deceit, betrayal and manipulation as the extended family and hangers-on close in, in pursuit of his fortune. Mickey returns to India determined to show his grandfather he is a changed man and to marry Mary, the love of his life. But, in his absence, things have changed; the old man now appears to be under the control of the scheming Pinto who will not let Mickey near him. And Thomas has fallen in love with Mary... Meanwhile the hapless Joseph loses all his money in a Ponzi scheme. With his debtors closing in, murder seems to be the only way out...

Today, we're introducing I Hate My Boss. Workplace Drama. Comedic Relief. Hosts Liz Dolan and Larry Seal will help you make the big decisions, navigate the small stuff and get more fulfillment from your work life. Plus, a comedy segment based at the fictional ad agency Penn & Pencil, will help you better prepare for and laugh at the characters you'll deal with in your everyday life. Subscribe today at smarturl.it/IHMB

TERMS - Lindsay Graham

My Wondery Network pal Lindsay Graham joins me to talk about his political thriller series, TERMS, in which a terrifying demagogue captures the U.S. Presidency. The outgoing president does everything in his power to stop him, by pulling out some astonishingly dirty tricks. There's something in it for folks of every political persuasion. It's a fabulous show, and not to be missed! We play the first two episodes of TERMS, and then Lindsay and I sit down to talk about the show's origins, his theory of politics, and Nazi-punching. Meanwhile, our producer Eli is starting up a crowdfunding campaign for season 2 of his magnificent series, ALBA SALIX, ROYAL PHYSICIAN. You can find out more by going to http://albasalix.com/season2 This episode of Radio Drama Revival is brought to you by Bose! Check out their fancy listening devices at http://bose.com/podcast