Escape Artists
Escape Pod => Episode Comments => Topic started by: Russell Nash on March 22, 2007, 08:48:30 AM
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EP098: Just Do It (http://www.escapepod.org/2007/03/22/ep098-just-do-it/)
By Heather Lindsley (http://www.randomjane.com/).
Read by The Word Whore (of Air Out My Shorts (http://www.theitspot.com/)).
First appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/), July 2006.
“What do you see?” he asks.
I want to say a menace, but instead I tap the delivery barrel and give the context-appropriate answer. “Unused ad space.”
Suddenly he’s a schoolmaster who has finally found a bright pupil in a classroom full of dunces.
“Exactly, Ms. Monroe. Exactly. No square millimeter wasted, that’s what I say.” He leans across the table and whispers conspiratorially, “We’re looking at co-branding an AOL-Time-Warner-Starbucks Lattepaloosa Crave with a Forever Fitness session discount.”
Rated R. Contains sexual innuendo, advertising warfare, and better living through chemistry.
(http://escapepod.org/wp-images/podcast-mini4.gif)
Listen to this week’s Escape Pod! (http://escapepod.org/media//EP098_JustDoIt.mp3)
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hmm, an interesting one. It had a great, fun concept. I can actually imagine the advertisers taking up these methods in the future, which is deeply worrying.
It was generally very well told: the pacing was good and the world was well-developed, though the characters were only sketichily drawn, but that's generally to be expected in a short and so not a problem here.
I'm afraid that it does tap into one of my strongest pet hates: present tense narration, it's just a personal taste thing I know, but I always feel it comes accross as being pretentious.
My only real critisism is that I couldn't quite accept the narrator's change of heart at the end, she seemed to go from anti-advertising protestor to someone who openly uses such things on her son over the course of a marriage proposal (and isn't 6 months a bit sudden for a proposal?) it could be that I missed something, though, did the boyfriend use b-mod on her?
I also loved the Dunsany quote at the end :)
Simon Painter
Shropshire, UK
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Let me count the ways in which I adore this story! 1, 2, 3, 4... I'll get back to you when I finish counting. It may be a while.
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I like it. I do not think the main character had a change of heart, the main character succumbed to the "inevitable", which is a common theme in Sci Fi. And yes, he shot her with the b-mod dart to make her say yes to his proposal.
6 months is not necessarily a short time before proposal, even in the real world, but especially not for greed motivated execs who need a trophy wife and geeks who can't get a date.
I think that there is a huge deal of truth to the conglomerates co-opting the movements of small grass-roots organizations. (See the new (RED) campaign)
This definitely creeped me out, but not a Pseudopod story as far as I see it.
Lots of Sci Fi creeps me out, mostly because of how accurately predictive it can be.
Keep them coming!
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I'm thrilled to have landed such a fabulous story! I admit I really struggled with the narration and still don't feel I did it justice :-[
Hope to hear more of this author's work on future shows!!!
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And yes, he shot her with the b-mod dart to make her say yes to his proposal.
Ah, I must've missed that. I was listening at work, so my concentration sometimes shifts between the story and my computer. This being the case, then, I'm not sure I can find a fault with the story. Hurrah!
I admit I really struggled with the narration and still don't feel I did it justice
Actually I thought the narration was terrific, you did an excellent job of the various voices, I almost forgot there was only one reader at times :)
Simon Painter
Shropshire, UK
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MMMM Clown fries, must go eat clown fries now. This is a great story, very funny, unfortunately a very believable topic, and I really enjoyed the twist at the end.
seriously though I would proably self inject the fry crave just to make the experince that much more satisfiying.
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Oh, yeah. This is why I subscribe to this podcast.
"It's open-season on consumers!" Brilliantly close to home, that.
The reversal was marvelous. "Oblivious" hell -- he knew exactly what he was doing.
Though I did find myself wondering, what happens if he misses a "Love Me" dose with his new wife? Would all the prior doses have enough residual effect for it to not matter, or would he suddenly be sharing his bed with an enraged former guerrilla activist?
Loved the parent gun at the end.
And I loved the narration, too.
This is a keeper.
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Very well read Whore, you did a fine job of voicing Ms. Monroe.
The story was good, but I'm a little unsure about the ending.
I get that he used the B-Mod to make her fall in love (and probably kept dosing her), but I think the ending was weak, and adding in the parent gun was just a "golly-gee" moment. I don't think simply clipping the extending ending would have made it better, but it wasn't helping it.
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Lots of me toos for this one.
Great story. Great reading - I was impressed that Sandra and the main character had different voices without the reader using funny accents. My cynical mind jumped to the Love Me dart as soon as he mentioned the behaviour mod research. I wouldn't say the story telegraphed it - I'm just a devious bastard - and the parent gun was unexpected. It also got me to thinking that winning an arguement would become something of a quick draw "gun fight". Junior doesn't want to go to school, so he outdraws Mom and hits her with a shot of "Indifference" (by Calvin Klein) before she gives him his morning shot of "Overachiever".
Though I did find myself wondering, what happens if he misses a "Love Me" dose with his new wife? Would all the prior doses have enough residual effect for it to not matter, or would he suddenly be sharing his bed with an enraged former guerrilla activist?
Ditto, or even if her body developed a tolerance - so she gradually stopped loving him. It would make a great sequel or perhaps from the POV of someone else. I would guess the gov't would be misting the every street corner with the "Behave yourself" spray (a la Miranda planet in the Serenity movie). What if the spray broke down - would people rebel or would the behaviour be so ingrained...
I don't think simply clipping the extending ending would have made it better, but it wasn't helping it.
I agree in that I expected the story to end with the proposal. The extended ending was not needed in the story itself, but it left me with all sorts of cool/scary ideas - which I love from sci-fi. So, yes, I agree that the ending was unnecessary to the story proper, but I liked having it.
Intro Comment: Didn't like it. I did find the topic interesting and the reader did fine, but I've grown accustomed to having Mr. Eley warm up the audience, so to speak. Just as I'm accustomed to the talk starting in the same chord of the intro song. It's a comfort thing, like Johnny Carson hosting the Tonight Show or, in more current pop culture, Jon Steward hosting the Daily Show (I'm wondering how many posters even know who Mr. Carson is?). No offence to the guest host, and I'm sure others liked the change of pace.
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I just noticed that the story's been BoingBoinged:
http://www.boingboing.net/2007/03/23/just_do_it_sf_podcas.html (http://www.boingboing.net/2007/03/23/just_do_it_sf_podcas.html)
Kudos to Heather, the Word Whore, and Sal!
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I assigned this story to my class last semester. We read it the same day as Octavia Butler's "Bloodchild," (there's a psuedopod story), which may have affected the way the "JDI" conversation went.
Interestingly, a lot of the students also disliked the ending. Personally, I think it's a good example of how a grace note can be used to give a sense of forward-momentum to a closed arc.
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Loved it:) The old line about Max Headroom being 'twenty minutes into the future' sprungg to mind here, especially the idea of dodging advert-snipers. I also loved the fact that even though victims crave whatever they've been dosed to crave, they know the desire is fake and are bitterly resentful of it. Also, any story that features automarts, one of my favourite pieces of 'World of Tomorrow' tech is okay with me.
A good story and a good reading. Nice work:)
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I would guess the gov't would be misting the every street corner with the "Behave yourself" spray (a la Miranda planet in the Serenity movie). What if the spray broke down - would people rebel or would the behaviour be so ingrained...
... or would 0.1% of the population have, shall we say, an anomalous reaction....
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Intro Comment: Didn't like it. I did find the topic interesting and the reader did fine, but I've grown accustomed to having Mr. Eley warm up the audience, so to speak. Just as I'm accustomed to the talk starting in the same chord of the intro song. It's a comfort thing, like Johnny Carson hosting the Tonight Show or, in more current pop culture, Jon Steward hosting the Daily Show (I'm wondering how many posters even know who Mr. Carson is?). No offence to the guest host, and I'm sure others liked the change of pace.
Ditto.
I really liked what Sal Fadhley had to say and I enjoyed his voice and narration. However, I look forward to hearing Steve give the intro. Like Slic said, it's definately a comfort thing. I assume that this was just to try something new, which is cool. It's not a bad thing, every once in a while, like maybe once every four months or something.
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I just noticed that the story's been BoingBoinged...
Kudos to Heather, the Word Whore, and Sal!
General, you have no idea how hard it is for me to not 'filth this up'
in your nice clean podcast forum ;)
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I smirked at each mention of a massively-merged corporate name-string, although AOL-Time-Warner is actually out-of-date now, unless one believes they'll re-merge someday.
We're already on the trajectory this story postulates, insomuch as products we consume are known to include habit-forming chemicals. It's only a matter of time before the battle for market share is taken to the street in dart gun form.
Now, if only the megacorporations can just get those pesky laws against felony aggravated battery out of the way.
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i loved this story on so many levels.
it is so scary because this stuff can actually happen...
and i loved the parent gun at the end! Great reading by the Word Whore too, it surprised me when i realised she was reading! This was a funny, interesting story, and i will forever be on the lookout for crave snipers. I swear if they start making this kind of stuff I'm gonna make my own crave for those a$$es who shoot me up with crave. I'll make them crave something they'd never EVER want to eat. *grins maniacally*
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Sounds like it would fit in the anarchist movement just fine ;D
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I hate to just be "me too", but me too! This was great! Word Whore: superb.
Interestingly, a lot of the students also disliked the ending. Personally, I think it's a good example of how a grace note can be used to give a sense of forward-momentum to a closed arc.
The story was good, but I'm a little unsure about the ending.
I get that he used the B-Mod to make her fall in love (and probably kept dosing her), but I think the ending was weak, and adding in the parent gun was just a "golly-gee" moment. I don't think simply clipping the extending ending would have made it better, but it wasn't helping it.
Yeah - I liked the ending, but understand the criticism.
I wonder what a fleeting sense of discomfort at using the parenting gun would have done to it?
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I'm not sure. My feeling is that part of the power of the story comes from the disjoint between what is really a dystopian society and the humorous tone. This is, of course, inherently disturbing -- a lot of my students, for instance, complained that they didn't know whether to laugh at this story or not because it made them profoundly uncomfortable.
There's something more horrific in the idea that this character can be so completely absorbed into the coporate system that she doesn't even have a fleeting moment of discomfort about the parenting gun. And at the same time, the incident *is* funny. So it, ideally, evokes both a sort of twisted laugh and a feeling of disjunction.
This seems, to me, to be one of the primary goals of black humor.
DISCLAIMER: I know the author, and I saw this story in its first draft. I have, therefore, both a different investment in the story, and a different relationship to it, than other readers.
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Love it! Loved it! LOVED IT! I loved this story as much as I hate Wal-Mart!
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I don't think that this needed to be put onto pusedopod. It did have some unsettling but not really a horror story at all.
Liked the story but wonder if this could be used for recartion kindof like paint ball.
that could get ugly orgasm darts? not fun specially if some one went loose on street with a bunch of them.
ew all I have to say
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After listening a second time, I wish the crave darts were something more subtle - like a nocoderm type patch, applied "kick me" style. We're discussing podcast science fiction here, there's not a one of us who hasn't been on the recieving end of that one. They could've put the coupon directly on the patch...hey, I think I'm on to something here...
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I didn't care for this one too much.
[ducks behind desk]
As soon as it was revealed that the darts were for advertising I pretty much knew what to expect from the story and didn't get any surprises. Maybe the story works if you already think corporations and advertising are evil, but I don't. After all, I used the services of Microsoft, Apple, Intel, and Nissan to listen to this, and I was recently asked on two different podcasts to buy Ancestor on April 1st so it would be number one on Amazon. I don't have a problem with any of this, it just means that I would have preferred a little more moral ambiguity to make the story interesting.
Also, the trend has been for government to stifle advertising. It's even illegal for a cigarette company to have its logo in a sports stadium for fear that it might appear on tv. So I think that the government would have stepped in when McDonalds starting hiring snipers.
I really liked the reading though (and not just because she may be reading this). Whore has a great, professional voice. The voices of the different characters and sexes were subtle and distraction-free.
More Whore. Less naked anti-capitalism. Naked Whore? I'll be in my bunk.
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Ditto to [almost] all of the above.
The ending was kinda abrupt. I was expecting at least a little exposition on the early stages of their married life. Did she [try to] fight it like she did the fries craving? Did she ever try to escape? Did they have to struggle or did he have to chase/hunt her to administer the drug? If a dose was missed, would she have withdrawal symptoms? Were her memories affected in any way? Didn't her friend worry of about her absence and resulting change in behavior?
Very tempting to write a "Deleted Scenes"-like companion. ;D
And the parent gun was unexpected. But, considering the situation/circumstances that led to that scene, I'm wondering if we should have seen it coming. And geez, the poor kid getting all those doses at such a young age! One word: JUNKIE.
Junior doesn't want to go to school, so he outdraws Mom and hits her with a shot of "Indifference" (by Calvin Klein) before she gives him his morning shot of "Overachiever".
LOL! If only the technology was available to me 15yrs ago, I don't think I would've ever felt the least bit burnt out in college.
[random mental image] Moderate to liberal use of b-mods in the household. Dart guns scattered around the house. Junior accidentally fires a prototype at Daddy. Hilarity ensues. [/random mental image]
As for tWW doing the reading, she did a great job. A thought keeps pestering me though; was inebriation part of the preparation? Not like she sounded like it, but, yeah. ;)
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Slot me firmly in the "mixed feelings" category.
On one hand, everything jived real wel...the narration, the quality of the prose, and the story itself. Could it have gone on Pseudopod? Sure, and that's the beautiful thing about dark science fiction. When it works, a la "Oranges, Lemons, and Thou beside Me", you stand to satisfy two groups of readers, as opposed to one. The trade off is that it can be harder to make it work, but I think the author pulled it off. I say, keep the dark sci-fi coming on Pseudopod.
On the downside, as others have said, this story does rely somewhat on having a fear of corporations, much like a recent Pseudopod tale relied on a fear of snakes. I'm reminded of the great line in Team America wherein puppet Tim Robbins is interviewed on the red carpet about Team America's (that film's allegoric team of terrorist fighters) operations:
Well the corporations, they get all together and get corporationey, then they make money, see?
The same phenomenon runs rampant in this story. I don't see casual acceptance of mind-controlling advertisement. I see blood in the streets. I don't buy that such an advertising infrastructure would be allowed to exist, and I don't think we're moving towards it. Will we see advertisements everywhere? You can bet your replicant on it. But people won't take chemically-induced b-mods.
And yes, the ending went on a while after it should have stopped.
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The same phenomenon runs rampant in this story. I don't see casual acceptance of mind-controlling advertisement. I see blood in the streets. I don't buy that such an advertising infrastructure would be allowed to exist, and I don't think we're moving towards it. Will we see advertisements everywhere? You can bet your replicant on it. But people won't take chemically-induced b-mods.
You'd like to think that, wouldn't you? But it's too late: It's in the water.
You think that you wouldn't tolerate it, but you only think that because they want you to think that. They want you to think that it's all free will that you choose to drive a car, or go to work, or pay bills. But it's all a trick.
You want proof? Ok, stop drinking water. I dare you.
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I would say that simply because a story criticizes unchecked free market capitalism does not mean that it is anti-capitalist -- unless, perhaps, one accepts that we are currently an anti-capitalist society because we haven't yet allowed things to descend to 1890s robber baron levels.
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You'd like to think that, wouldn't you? But it's too late: It's in the water.
You think that you wouldn't tolerate it, but you only think that because they want you to think that. They want you to think that it's all free will that you choose to drive a car, or go to work, or pay bills. But it's all a trick.
You want proof? Ok, stop drinking water. I dare you.
I don't follow your rationale. Prove me to me you don't have a fear of heights, and fly.
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This is a very fun story. I don't think the author meant for the ethics of the corporation to be taken seriously as a reflection of where we are headed. It was just fun. No Pseudopod story here. Just the fun science fictiony goodness we have come to expect from Ecsape Pod with a slightly dark twist. And sure the story could have done without the fast forward at the end, but I think the images that it brings to the imagination were worth it.
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This story had it all. Mystery ( who shooting and why ), Violence ( shooting people and machine abuse ), Love ( main character ), Conflict ( underground vs Corporate ) and Humour ( parental gun ) with a twist in the tail.
This story hit all of the buttons, excellent writing, and an absolutely fantastic reading.
Put me in mind of the reading I heard of "Breakaway, Backdown" on James Patrick Kelly's podcast.
Thumbs up.
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This is a very fun story. I don't think the author meant for the ethics of the corporation to be taken seriously as a reflection of where we are headed. It was just fun.
Agreement. As much as we like to analyse/take seriously our SF, we do tend to lose sight that in the end, it is entertainment. This - like the Clones story of a couple weeks back - is pure SF pop. Fun, with a neat twist ending.
I'm in the Me Too catagory - I loved the story and the telling. The different voices, pace and slightly sarcastic tone was a great read from the VA.
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*snip*
No Pseudopod story here. Just the fun science fictiony goodness we have come to expect from Ecsape Pod with a slightly dark twist.
Yeah, I gotta say I hear what JC and others are saying, but I woulda been bummed if this one had been on Pseudopod. It's got a totally different feeling than "Oranges, Lemons, and Thou Beside Me." And I'm not saying this because of the dark comedy -- "What Dead People are Supposed to Do" is easily one of my favorite stories on Pseudopod. I guess there's some frightening possibilities in this story but I'm glad it was run on Escape Pod and not Pseudopod.
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Loved it. Not much to say. Made me laugh, although the ending with the "you're gonna marry me" stuff was kind of expected.
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I love this stuff. Without these forums I would have just listened to the story, said "meh," and gone on with life. But now I really have to think about what I feel and why I feel that way. Awesome.
I would say that simply because a story criticizes unchecked free market capitalism does not mean that it is anti-capitalist -- unless, perhaps, one accepts that we are currently an anti-capitalist society because we haven't yet allowed things to descend to 1890s robber baron levels.
Yes, you're right. I've been struggling with this. I don't think McDonald's is evil, but I would if they started shooting darts into people. I think there are two things going on with me and this story.
1) I didn't find it believable. There is a lot that doesn't work in our society, but there is a lot that does. If companies were using mind control in the way this story describes then the market and/or the government would correct it. People would boycott McDonalds, and the government would make this activity criminal. Ironically, one of the things that could defeat the free market is a mind control drug. But you can't dart everyone all the time. And the more I thought of it, the more I realized that print and TV advertising would still be more cost effective than hiring a team of sharp shooters.
2) I didn't find the attitude towards big corporations interesting. The snide references to conglomerations, corporate life being devoid of interesting conversation. It's well-worn territory. As soon as it was revealed that the darts were used for advertising I knew I was looking at story about an idealist vs. an evil corporation. The road went straight where I thought it would without any interesting twists and turns.
But in the end I'm left with the same feeling I get when I watch the Daily Show. The left bias of the show annoys me, but then I remind myself that it's on COMEDY CENTRAL and that I'm not supposed to take it that seriously. So I could be overthinking this here.
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Lots of me toos for this one.
Great story. Great reading - I was impressed that Sandra and the main character had different voices without the reader using funny accents. My cynical mind jumped to the Love Me dart as soon as he mentioned the behaviour mod research. I wouldn't say the story telegraphed it - I'm just a devious bastard - and the parent gun was unexpected.
No, I think it did get telegraphed. Remember the bit about not being able to locate any B-mod research labs? That just screamed, "He knows, he's hiding it, he's preparing something." Besides, the CEO was described as an innocent, lovable geek the whole time. So, of course he's not.
But the premise was excellent. I love the idea that all of this corporate manipulation is just out in the open and it works by, well...telegraphing what it's doing and getting everyone to start playing a devious game.
The only real improbability, as I saw it, was getting the darts "legalized" in the first place. Past that, and it all seemed perfectly logical. Frighteningly so.
Though I did find myself wondering, what happens if he misses a "Love Me" dose with his new wife? Would all the prior doses have enough residual effect for it to not matter, or would he suddenly be sharing his bed with an enraged former guerrilla activist?
Ditto, or even if her body developed a tolerance - so she gradually stopped loving him. It would make a great sequel or perhaps from the POV of someone else. I would guess the gov't would be misting the every street corner with the "Behave yourself" spray (a la Miranda planet in the Serenity movie). What if the spray broke down - would people rebel or would the behaviour be so ingrained...
Didn't they mention aerosols? Just pump the stuff in the AC/heater.
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As others said, I found it scarily believable, personally. Perhaps thats a symptom of my massive cynicism in regards to all things governmental: i certainly wouldnt put it past them to permit such vileness provided their pockets were lined well enough.. :P
At the very least though, it's pretty clear that as a whole we're moving towards a society where advertising will be significantly more pervasive and/or invasive. Although, I think, were this sort of thing to occur, it would start with the air-carried advertising first rather than the more sensational dart guns.
One thought did occur to me, though.. how awful would ti be to to have food allergies in THOSE circumstances.. :P
I wonder how the legal department would try making a lawsuit related to a food allergy/dart related death go away. ;)
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As soon as it was revealed that the darts were used for advertising I knew I was looking at story about an idealist vs. an evil corporation. The road went straight where I thought it would without any interesting twists and turns.
I disagree. The idealist is... not truly an idealist. She has idealist tendencies, yes. But she greatly admires the man for his entrepeneureal spirit, and is relatively happy in knuckling under to the order. There's a tongue-in-cheek presentation of the whole thing, yes. But it's not presenting a straight-forward adventure; there's a suggestion that all the characters have to navigate their particular situations in ways that are morally ambiguous.
I believe the main character is supposed to be read (or at least can be read) as a contrast to her friend, who is much more straight-and-narrow, determined, and uncompromisingly idealistic, in the pattern that we would often expect the hero to be. The contrast between these two characters suggests that this won't be a straight-forward "man against society" fight, which in turn permits the dystopic ending.
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1) I didn't find it believable. There is a lot that doesn't work in our society, but there is a lot that does. If companies were using mind control in the way this story describes then the market and/or the government would correct it.
If we went directly to darts, I would agree, but imagine for a moment the little steps it might have taken to get there:
Today, right now, we have stores that add subtle scents to their AC. Now add an advance in chemistry along the lines of the story - the ability to instill stuble cravings for the product.
[We actually are closer to that than you might think - many foods add "flavour enhancers" to their product - I'm not saying that they are addictive, but I wouldn't be surprised that they had some compelling properties - worst case scenario, think nicotine. And we already have perfume sprayers in some department stores who spray passers-by. ]
Remember that all advertising pushes boundaries to get noticed. Giant billboards did not immediately pop up once print advertising was invented. The first push is "Greeters" soaked in the stuff to get you to smell it.
Then surfaces (counters, clothing hangers, etc.) are coated with it - as direct absorbtion is more potent.
All we need now is some slick attorney to make makes the arguement that billboards and giant tv screens (think Times Square, etc) already invade personal space, that the precedents above show that customers are accepting of the practice, and show that the darts themselves are harmless. First the darters "hunt" in the malls only, then in the parking lots outside, and pretty sure they are all over public places.
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I disagree. The idealist is... not truly an idealist. She has idealist tendencies, yes. But she greatly admires the man for his entrepeneureal spirit, and is relatively happy in knuckling under to the order. There's a tongue-in-cheek presentation of the whole thing, yes. But it's not presenting a straight-forward adventure; there's a suggestion that all the characters have to navigate their particular situations in ways that are morally ambiguous.
You're right that the main character is between her college friend and her corporate boyfriend. She comes to learn something about herself and her relationship with these people. I know we were told that she actually liked Mr. Corporate, but I never really felt it. I didn't think she was all that conflicted when she sent that email, and her objection to it was based on fear of getting caught, not that it was a lie (as I recall. I've listened to a few stories since this one). But it's the same ol' same ol' anti-corporate tone of the story that I found uninteresting. If her friend had given her a dart to shoot Mr. Corporate, or started a campaign of darting people with an antidote, or a charity started using the darts for good I think it would have been more interesting.
If we went directly to darts, I would agree, but imagine for a moment the little steps it might have taken to get there:
I would believe a gas or addictive additives before darts. I don't think anyone would go to a mall is there was a risk of getting shot with anything. Note that I'm not arguing that corporations have the public good at heart, I'm arguing that the public is not powerless. The mind control gas, like tobacco additives, would only work if it was secret.
There is also the government. It doesn't have the public good at heart either, but it pretends to and probably thinks it really does. Alcohol advertising on TV is heavily restricted (In the US. It's been a while, but as I recall you can't show someone actually drinking alcohol in an ad). Tobacco advertising on TV is forbidden, and they can't even put a billboard in a stadium in case it might appear on TV.
At this point I know I'm overthinking this story. For me the conversation has shifted from discussing the story to discussing the actual possibility of these darts. We are continuing the discussion of that the story started, which in a sense makes the story a success!
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Or think of all the handbills that are handed out on the strip in Los Vegas, LA, New York, etc. I think this is even closer to invasive advertisement. It is easier to just grab one and throw it away then to decline the offer with most of these guys. I doubt there will ever be darts per se, but I think the author was just using an extreme to point out what is starting to become common practice.
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I doubt there will ever be darts per se, but I think the author was just using an extreme to point out what is starting to become common practice.
On the other hand, they use to have people in the mall who would spray you with perfume when you walked by.
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I loved the story, but agree that the intro was too long. And I'm used to it being Steve. I think a guest comment would go better after the story. But I'm not so much into non-story content anyway. I don't think I've listened to a single voicemail on EP all the way through, and they are kept short here (Scott Sigler, on the other hand, has whole shows full of calls).
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I really enjoyed this one, and maybe it's just me, but the reading seemed a little dry. I know, I know, first I complain about the excess of emotion in Job Qualifications, and now I'm complaining about the lack of emotion, but there is a very delicate balance that can make or break a story. When this balance is made, though, it really brings out the full potential of a story. For the story itself, at the rate things are going today, this future does not seem far off.
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Excellent story. I can honestly image corporations taking up this technology the nanoseconds it's available... which is why it's so scary.
The story moved along at a good pace and the introduction of the technology through the hit in the forehead served as both a hook for the reader AND as a reminder for the character.
The ending, while poetic and amusing, lacked something. I'm not sure what. But I was taken from a confrontation of the main character, where she faced not only her enemy and lover but also her morals, to an average morning years away in which I can only assume there was no further conflict. I would loved to have seen a little more fight... the way she tried to fight the french fry cravings.
But otherwise, excellent work.
PS. I want to hear more stories read by the Whore. Beautiful voice.
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I really loved this story. Excellent satire, great reading.
As for believability, here's how the neuroendocrine research stands today:
There's quite a few chemical messengers that the gastrointestinal nervous system uses to communicate to the central nervous system: orexin, cholecystokinin (CCK), pentagastrin, and some others. If these hormones could be combined with a few biochemical tricks, you could come up with a chemical that would cause the recipient to feel hungry for, say, a food with high fat content and high sodium. Making it specific for McDonald's french fries as opposed to your grandma's potato latkes isn't possible with normal foods.
One way it could be done, however, is by incorporating some antidote into the McD's food that would neutralize a modified non-degrading and super-active form of one of the above hormones. An affected consumer would then eat all salty-fatty food she could get her hand on until she hit on the McDonald's french fries. Presumably, the next time, she would know just to head straight to the McDonald's to get the antidote.
As for behavior modification darts, you could use a synthetic form of oxytocin. Oxytocin increases following mating in a monogamous vole species and is needed in these for the formation of a pair bond (i.e. after injecting oxytocin into the brain of a female vole, she will tend to prefer the company of the male she was with when she received the infusion). A similar effect in males is seen with vasopressin. Problems are
1) This hasn't been replicated in humans, so it may not apply to love
2) Oxytocin and vasopressin are released during orgasm in both voles and humans. Since people don't always fall irrevocably in love after one sexual encounter, whatever chemical was in the love-dart would have had to cause a much greater effect than what normal oxytocin would induce (And no, I don't think it's just a question of upping the binding to the oxytocin receptor. Just like pushing a button really hard doesn't make the elevator arrive any faster, increasing the binding of a synthetic form of oxytocin wouldn't always make the effect greater.)
3) Oxytocin and vasopressin have different effects outside the brain compared to inside the brain and the two are seperated by the blood-brain-barrier (BBB). To make a centrally active form of oxytocin, you'd have to figure out some trick to cross the BBB, which is not easily done with such large peptides.
I'm not sure how you'd cause someone to desire something as hideous as a SUV, but the wake-up dart is easy: caffine.
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i'm a relatively new Escape Pod listener and a very new forum member. i just wanted to say that i absuloutely loved this story. i think it would have worked for Pseudopod, too.
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Hey, FiveYearWinter... Nice avatar ;)
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New to Escape Pod, so just discovered this story.
Absolutely loved it!
Interested in your comments, but think that some of you are just 'overthinking' it as you commented. We just have to accept that crave darts exist to get on with the story. You could rewrite the whole thing with explanations aplenty which would IMO spoil this lovely short 'pop' tounge in cheek story.
The Word Whore was a brilliant choice for narator.
Looking forward to catching up with the rest now, as well as more by Heather Lindsley.
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I enjoyed this story, but I felt a little dirty afterwards. Mind control stories are often like that for me; they might be funny or exciting or whatever, but the horror of the actual implications creeps up on me later. The fact that the corporate guy was actually able to so thoroughly reprogram the protagonist that she became his wife, the mother of his child, and an avid user of the very b-mod devices she used to abhor is downright insidious. Yes, the story is presented in a light, fun, and entertaining way, and tWW does a great job reading it -- but what happened to the protag is a fate worse than death. Of course, I'm libertarian, so I take my freedom of thought extremely seriously; changing someone against their will goes against everything I believe in.
As black humor, the story works for me. But, to me, it's a heck of a lot blacker than a lot of people here are saying...
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I'm not sure which I loved more, the story or the reading. 5 stars.
Who is this Word Whore, and how can I find more stories she's narrated?
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Who is this Word Whore, and how can I find more stories she's narrated?
Whenever we have a site we link to it from the initial post. The Word Whore co-hosts a podcast called Air out my Shorts. It seems to be a 'cast you either love or hate. I hate it. Others here love it.
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Thanks. What I meant, though, was "which other Escape Pod stories and/or other books on tape might she have narrated."
Typing "Word Whore" in the search box on the Escape Pod blog page suggests she's the narrator of EP111, EP098, EP052, and EP038.
Does anyone know if she's narrated any books?
I will check out the "Air my Shorts" Podcast.
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The Word Whore was amazing, as always. Seriously, I've got to meet her someday to get autograph. Although that would lack the voice, so something new may be called for--an audiograph?
And, even though I could happily listen to her reading the manual for my answering machine, it's an added bonus that she was reading a story that I enjoyed. The crave dart idea is insidious enough without the addition of the b-mod darts. Scary! And for those who questioned it's plausibility, consider this: the b-mod darts have been in development for even longer than the story suggests! They've only recently reached consumer-level manufacturing standards, but they've been in strategic use for years now, since before the crave darts were fully deployed. A few doses to influential politicians at strategic times and voila! Legality. Even if it's a short-lived effect, what are they going to do after the law is passed "Um, oops, we changed our minds on that one law."
That's the trick with b-mod is that everyone's motives can be questioned, in this case including the legislators.