Through The Wind Door

This is going to be the last New's for a while, but I'm glad of it, because it means Alex is taking a break. 

The only thing I have to say is that if this had to be the end of Phase Two, it was a hell of a note to go out on. We talk more about why this is the best homage to Back To The Future possible, discussions on wizards, and speculations for the future.

Stay tuned for outtakes at the end!

 

Live at Grillby's: https://youtu.be/9TwwiLAk4GM

What the Internet Did To Undertale: https://youtu.be/FFIs6LsV0a4

 

The New Century Multiverse Website:

https://www.newcenturymultiverse.com

Fireside Alliance: https://firesidealliance.squarespace.com/

 

Intro is "Humanity" by Scott Holmes of Free Music Archive

Outro is "Closing Time" by Semisonic

Trigger Warning for discussion of both fictional and real world police violence.

Today we finish off thoughts on Chapter 9 and move well into 10 and 11. Our cast of topics:

Speculation on the fact that Truth and Harry are twins

Our thoughts on Agent Li as she is portrayed from Chapter 10 and 12

Wondering about how certain choices were made to include historical characters like Annie even though the Wendigo outbreak would dramatically change her story

Our thoughts on Raven, both his influences and his role in the story

And a brief discussion on the police-led murder introduced in these chapters, and it's basis from the real world history taking place during writing

This means that technically, the episode(s?) to come will be primarily focused only on Chapter 12... or will they? The scope of our conversation when picking a range of chapters is often related, after all...

Spoilers for The Mummy (1999)

 

The New Century Multiverse Website:

https://www.newcenturymultiverse.com

The New Century Multiverse Podcast Feed:

https://newcenturyshow.podbean.com/

Fireside Alliance: https://firesidealliance.squarespace.com/

 

Intro is "One Person, Listening Now" by Doctor Turtle of FMA

Outro is "Human Beings" by Seal

Took longer than I wanted to get this out. But the main show always comes first!

As always, talking about too much detail spoils the story for the audience that has not read it! But today we dive into the discussion with even more gusto. Our love of this stories heroes and the bright and dark reflections of many familiar characters the heroes meet along the way. The ideosyncracies of telling a time travel narrative, the hardship placed on someone trying to navigate it and more. Plus, a special cameo.

Also... WWKHD? Kick ass, apparently.

EDIT: Apparently I picked the wrong version of the song that was referred to in the book, so I got the right one and reuploaded. It affects my stats, but TBH, I care less about those and more about getting this stuff out there and being true to my source. That said, if you downloaded the original, no need to redownload!

Talking Heads: Once In a Lifetime (Live) https://youtu.be/3XCp3ioDjwo

 

The New Century Multiverse Website:

https://www.newcenturymultiverse.com

Fireside Alliance: https://firesidealliance.squarespace.com/

 

Intro is "Humanity" by Scott Holmes of Free Music Archive

Outro is "Once In A Lifetime" by Talking Heads

Today we begin to cover chapters 9-12 of Arlington. I say begin, because as always, our first entry always manages to focus mostly on the first chapter (though we do briefly discuss some elements of Chapter 10 as well, so, progress!) Today's topics include:

The exploration of Frederick's absence

Further discussion on hamartia

Thomas being 'the angriest man [Sarah] has ever known'

Discussion of the Arlington family, with specific focus on Truth and Thomas

At the end, instead of outtakes, we have a sober, unexpected conversation about Toby's relationship with his father, and how it culminated with his unexpectes passing nine years ago. Trigger Warning for frank discussions of familial loss and grief. But if you can hold a space for it, it's a touching stort that we even manage to relate back to New Century, and ponder its relevance for coming up at the time it did.

 

The New Century Multiverse Website:

https://www.newcenturymultiverse.com

The New Century Multiverse Podcast Feed:

https://newcenturyshow.podbean.com/

Fireside Alliance: https://firesidealliance.squarespace.com/

 

Intro is "One Person, Listening Now" by Doctor Turtle of FMA

Outro 1 is "Father and Daughter" by Paul Simon

Outro 2 is "Father to Son" by Phil Collins

Here it is, folks. Some juicy conversation on the New Century time travel story.

As always, I keep the show notes for New's light on details to avoid even more possible spoilers. I will note that something weird happened with this recording where popping noises seemed to affect the sound file in places. Given that we didn't have issues today, I am going to chalk it up to interference from the AC unit being on. I did my best to reduce the sound when the popping happens, so it's less grating at least.

As always, new New Century books often make us reflect on what came before, including our thoughts on what this story would be about based on what few things Alex said and what we knew about the story thus far. So this episode will have a lot of that, a prewritten thesis on BITAS as a whole from yours truly, and some gushing from Toby on the way it felt for him as he laid into the book at start. That's enough for one episode, so, do enjoy.

 

The New Century Multiverse Website:

https://www.newcenturymultiverse.com

Fireside Alliance: https://firesidealliance.squarespace.com/

 

Intro is "Humanity" by Scott Holmes of Free Music Archive

Outro is "Live To Tell" by Madonna

And here, the final episode on chapters 5-8. Thus far, most of our conversations seem to run long enough that there is enough material for three episodes. That does mean that it might take longer to get through a book if we keep doing three 45-55 min episodes instead of two episodes of around an hour and a half. But given the erratic nature of our recording, it works to have the content stretch. Today we cover:

A brief exploration on British vs. American humor

How Chapter 8 is divided - for us - between an entertaining portion and a heavier portion

Analysis of Thomas's behavior under stress, and an unexpected conflict with his wife

Our analysis and feelings about Colonel Tremaine

And finally, a discussion on the naming conventions of Arlington's chapters.

This episode also contains outtakes and further conversation after the outro.

 

The New Century Multiverse Website:

https://www.newcenturymultiverse.com

The New Century Multiverse Podcast Feed:

https://newcenturyshow.podbean.com/

Fireside Alliance: https://firesidealliance.squarespace.com/

 

Intro is "One Person, Listening Now" by Doctor Turtle of FMA

Outro is "A Change Is Gonna Come" by Sam Cooke

As so often happens, the B episode is where we cover the most ground on our assigned chapters! (As a reminder, those include chapters 5-8) Today's topics include:

A discussion on the real world Ulysses Grant as well as his incarnation in New Century

Further analysis on Sarah Arlington as she interacts with Frank, General Curtis, and why she's the official Deputy Director of the NIA

The differences in Frank's relationships with the Arlingtons

The frustrating aspects of real world white supremacy and their role in New Century

Discussion on the comedic and non-comedic aspects of Calvin Wilson, Jeremy Pines, and Donald McTavish

The quote history about Grant: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/02/18/barrel-of-whiskey/

More on Victoria Woodhull: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Woodhull

 

The New Century Multiverse Website:

https://www.newcenturymultiverse.com

The New Century Multiverse Podcast Feed:

https://newcenturyshow.podbean.com/

Fireside Alliance: https://firesidealliance.squarespace.com/

 

Intro is "One Person, Listening Now" by Doctor Turtle of FMA

Outro is "Rocky Mountain High" by John Denver

Today, we begin our look into chapters 5-8, though focusing mostly on chapter 5 because of the deep dive it takes into Thomas and The Handbook once more. Our discussion includes:

Our first introduction to Truth, and the many roles she holds in terms of connections, metaphors, and her position of authority

The beginnings of our analysis of the novel from the perspective of literary tragedy, and a discussion on the nature of hamartia.

Thomas's goals as regards the RSA and how the Handbook is a tool to enact them, as well as potential consequences of same

And a discussion on the significance of positive and negative elements of Nostalgia.

OSP on Tragedy: https://youtu.be/TL4ti1EGNiw

OSP on Medea:

https://youtu.be/b7WH30_8vos

 

The New Century Multiverse Website:

https://www.newcenturymultiverse.com

The New Century Multiverse Podcast Feed:

https://newcenturyshow.podbean.com/

Fireside Alliance: https://firesidealliance.squarespace.com/

 

Intro is "One Person, Listening Now" by Doctor Turtle of FMA

Outro is "Shine a Little Light" by James Taylor

This episode wraps up our discussion on Chapters 1-4 (though focusing mostly on chapters 3 and 4) and includes our thoughts on:

The developing relationship between Frank and Thomas

The new dynamic coming from Frank, Thomas, and Sarah all interacting together

Learning more about Thomas as a father, rather than simply a leader or orator/writer

What 'The Deputy Director' starts to reveal about Sarah as a character

More discussions on communication, and musing on how what is revealed explicitly and implicitly about Thomas reflect on his interactions and the Handbook

Which isn't to say these topics won't get more play in future episodes. But every story has a beginning, and more conversations will be had as more is revealed.

The wall hanging referred to in Toby's room:

 

The video of Apple as shared in the outtakes:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1F8iRDmWipNBk7D4uhqoGIrH4V8K3uu-A/view?usp=sharing

 

The New Century Multiverse Website:

https://www.newcenturymultiverse.com

The New Century Multiverse Podcast Feed:

https://newcenturyshow.podbean.com/

Fireside Alliance: https://firesidealliance.squarespace.com/

 

Intro is "One Person, Listening Now" by Doctor Turtle of FMA

Outro is "If Everyone Cared" by Nickelback

Further insights as we delve into more parts of Chapters 1, 2 and 3. Today our topics include:

The original opening lines of this novel

Further discussion on the momentous pronouncement at the end of Chapter 1

The new characters that Chapter 2 and 3 introduce, both historical and fictional

How Frank uses his people skills to navigate through these new personalities

A careful discussion about certain religious sects and the danger of lauding faith over logic

And furthermore, discussion on the dangers of this new world that come from within, rather from without, like the wendigo.

Chapter 2 is a breath of fresh air after the intensity of Chapter 1, and help set the stage for things to come in this book and beyond. It's one of my favorite parts of New Century to revisit, so we get into it with gusto.

 

On the Amish: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amish

On the BLM protest by the 'Amish'. https://anabaptisthistorians.org/tag/black-lives-matter/

 

The New Century Multiverse Website:

https://www.newcenturymultiverse.com

The New Century Multiverse Podcast Feed:

https://newcenturyshow.podbean.com/

Fireside Alliance: https://firesidealliance.squarespace.com/

 

Intro is "One Person, Listening Now" by Doctor Turtle of FMA

Outro is "You Gotta Be" by Des'ree