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What do you do when you wake up in the middle of the night and find your father standing at the foot of your bed, looking down at you in silence, then delivering a cryptic message only for your ears?

Welcome back to you’re listening to radio revel, Season three: Four decades.

My mom was a believer in ghosts and saw them all the time. This week’s episode, Her father’s ghost, describes the earliest ghost story my mom told me as a kid. It would not be the last.

And, I’m collecting your stories for a yet-to-be-defined project I’m calling the Everyman Biography Project. Today, as I write this, it’s a project meant to leave memories of people who won’t ever have their biographies written, studied, held up as an example for future generations. I invite anyone interested to send a story about themselves, with the objective being making satellite episodes that share your stories with the world.

Thanks for listening to the podcast. If you liked Her father’s ghost, do subscribe and tell others. There’s a new episode every Monday morning for you to listen to.

Is your family just a little odd? Did your mom see ghosts? Did you and your siblings make up silly games? Did you do things you wish you hadn’t?

Welcome back to you’re listening to radio revel. This is Season three: Four decades.

After years of sharing these stories with my younger brother, Bob, with my mate, with strangers I’ve met, I’ve decided to take the podcast into those first four decades of my life and highlight some of the stories that have stuck in my memory. At the time these things happened, they seemed just run-of-the-mill family legends. Now that I’ve taken a look at them, though, I can see that the first forty years of my life were actually full of little adventures.

Getting older, as we all do, we begin to realize that the only repositories for these stories are ourselves. I can’t ask the generation that came before me about these stories anymore, that generation has begun to exist only in those stories. So, this season I decided to get a couple of dozen recorded so that in that distant future, when digital archeologists sift through them, this slice of a life will contribute to their understanding of who we are, who we were, beyond the biographies of remarkable men and women.

Every Monday for the next several weeks, I’ll share one of those memories, like opening the photo album on the kitchen table and telling you what’s behind those fading pictures, who that was, where this was taken, what was happening.

So, thanks for keeping up with the podcast. I hope you enjoy these stories and, if you are so inclined, that you’ll share some of the so-called mundane stories that made you who you are. These are the seeds of the Everyman Biography Project….

Menoetes, weakened by his grief on learning his part in the tragedy, lies nearly unconscious, as Tiresius enters his dreams and explains the beginning of the end of Oedipus in Thebes.

This is the last chapter. But, I’ve already got the next project bumping around in my head. So, please subscribe so you’ll know when I’m back with Season three, with the working title: Midwestern mediocracy. (Oh, I’ll probably change that, but I like how it sounds for now!). Looking forward to seeing you all then.

Welcome back to you’re listening to radio revel. This is season two of  The shepherd’s story: Episode twelve: Blind yet seeing

Tiresius, Menoetes and Demophon are still on the hill, overlooking the road to Delphi.

The story continues to unfold, affirming to Menoetes, who always knew, that he had had a more remarkable role in history than his birth as a humble shepherd would otherwise have given him.

We’re winding down, just one more chapter to this story left. But you can still subscribe, and if you tell someone else, they can start at the beginning and binge!

Hello friends. Welcome back to you’re listening to radio revel, Season two: The shepherd's story. This is episode eleven, A public show of pride.

Knowing that the gods have asked for the capture and punishment of the killer of the former king of Thebes, Laius, Oedipus sends for the seer Tiresias, for consul. In the meantime, he speaks to the people of Thebes, offering clemency to the murderer if confession is made. Things don't turn out exactly as the proud Oedipus expected, though, the words of Tiresias only seem to make matters worse.

Remember to do all those internet things, share, notify, subscribe, and those things we used to do before the internet, tell a friend, tell a young person, talk about the podcast with others you know who might enjoy listening to it. I'm sure you still have some face-to-face contact with someone....

Hello listeners. I welcome you back to you’re listening to radio revel, Season two, The shepherd's story, Episode ten, The plague of infertility.

The city of Thebes is once again deep into another plague, this one affecting the fertility of all living things in the entire region of Boetia. Oedipus has to first discover why this plague has befallen his state and what must be done to remedy it, which of course means consulting the Oracle, deciphering the message and taking the advice.

News from Corinth emboldens Oedipus, his hubris has been fed, he is sure of his next action and of the prosperity it will bring to the city.

I guess I have to say it, please like, please subscribe, please tell someone you know who likes this kind of story. And if you've stumbled upon this podcast with this episode, remember that it is a serial story and you might want to go back and start at the beginning of Season two with Episode 00.

Thanks, as always!

Thanks for checking out this week's episode of Season two of you’re listening to radio revel, The Shepherd's Story. This is Episode nine, A consequential digression.

I’ve strayed from the story, and those listening later should note that this episode was recorded in May of 2022 for contemporary, historical reference. It may or may not be “evergreen”.

Before you listen, I may use a word or two, none of which begin with an "f", that are just a little "strong". Be warned.

Give us a subscribe hit and share the podcast with others, please.

Hello listeners. This is you’re listening to radio revel, Season two, The shepherd's story, Episode eight, Tiresias on Mount Cithaeron.

Menoetes begins his long walk in the cold night with a horrible burden and even more horrible instructions. An unknown babe has been tethered by the ankles and Menoetes must dispose of the babe in a way that goes against his humanity.

Before he carries out the deed, though, he meets with his old friend, Tiresias, in a clearing on Mount Cithaeron.

Don't forget to share this episode with others and subscribe!

Thanks for tuning in again to you’re listening to radio revel, Season two, The shepherd's story. This is Episode seven, Ismene, the youngest.

Menoetes is alone, thinking about the offspring of the union between Oedipus and Jocasta, the four children that should not have been but were: Polynicies, Eteocles, Antigone and Ismene. We get a common man's look at the queen that bore these children and a closer look at the youngest of them, Ismene.

I hope you are enjoying this version of the Oedipus legend. I've added some details that may not be in the original myths, but who cares? These lives were told in broad strokes, or at least it was the broader strokes that have come down to us. I've just filled in some blanks.

Subscribe, tell your friends and especially a young person to listen in!

Thanks for coming back to you’re listening to radio revel, Season two: The shepherd’s story. This is Episode six, Oedipus and the Lady of Mount Phicium.

Menoetes’ family is gathered to celebrate the birth of a boy-child. As part of the celebration, Menoetes tells the children a riddle which Demophon, the near-blind grandson, the favorite, manages to solve in his own, creative way.

Menoetes then captivates his family by relating how Oedipus, after wandering the countryside, manages to overcome the Sphinx using his intelligence alone.

Keep telling others about this story and subscribe, if you liked it. I'm certainly enjoying telling it!