Author Topic: EP064: Head of State  (Read 7715 times)

Russell Nash

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on: May 13, 2008, 12:40:39 PM
EP064: Head of State

By Ed W. Marsh.
 Read and Produced by Wichita Rutherford (of 5 Minutes With Wichita).

“There’s a reason we don’t use nano to cut the President-Chairman’s hair. You know about the assassination attempt three years ago?”

Everyone did. “I thought he was fully recovered.”

“What’s left of him. Yes. All of that civilian nano would interfere with crucial signals sent and received by the nano in use by the MedTechs. Can’t risk it. That bomb was nasty. What I’m telling you is classified, obviously. We have no intention of presenting Arrington to the world as less than the man he deserves to be.”


Rated PG. Contains implications of violence, heavy politics, and split ends.


Referenced Sites:
Worldcon: Anaheim, CA, August 23–27
Bring Sigler’s Ancestor to Sci Fi!
Wil Wheaton
EP036: Connie, Maybe
EP061: I Look Forward To Remembering You
EP055: Down Memory Lane



Listen to this week’s Escape Pod!



Russell Nash

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Reply #1 on: May 13, 2008, 12:42:23 PM
This Episode Comments thread was posted because of statements made about "highly-produced" episodes.



Planish

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Reply #2 on: May 13, 2008, 12:45:21 PM
... because of statements made about "highly-produced" episodes.
Whatever. I thought it was great.
Love the reader's voice too.

I feed The Pod.
("planish" rhymes with "vanish")


Boggled Coriander

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Reply #3 on: May 13, 2008, 01:04:19 PM
I was another person who really enjoyed it.  It was quite atypical for Escape Pod, not just because of Wichita's reading style, but because of the music and sound effects.  Obviously this style wouldn't work for every EP story, but something about the story this time made it a good fit.

Heck, I wouldn't mind if Wichita came back to read another story for EP.  I never would have heard of him if not for EP, and if I had, it would never in a million years have occurred to me that he would make a decent EP reader.  But something about his style just... works.

"The meteor formed a crater, vampires crawling out of the crater." -  The Lyttle Lytton contest


mavjop

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Reply #4 on: May 13, 2008, 04:55:06 PM
I guess perhaps I'm in the minority. I made all my points in the thread Russell linked to (thanks, Russell), so I won't repeat stuff here. I suppose if Wichita Rutherford is asked to read another story, I'll just grin and bear it. You can't please everybody every time. After all, next week there will be different words in a different order, and very likely with a different reader. :)

Regards,
Stephen


tpi

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Reply #5 on: May 21, 2008, 05:54:19 AM
 I also hated this episode. This is one of three Escape Pod episodes I have given up so far. (others are that Cory Doctorow's story and A Small Room on Koboldtown)


Holden

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Reply #6 on: May 21, 2008, 02:30:44 PM
I'd love to hear more stories read by Wichita Rutherford.



El Barto

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Reply #7 on: September 09, 2009, 07:09:53 PM
This story was a wonderful surprise.  5 stars.  When I first heard the narrator's voice I was worried it would get in the way, but he brought the story to life in a wonderful way.  I very much appreciated the "production effects" as well.  And the story was so well done.  I felt myself simultaneously empathizing with the barber, the leader, and the military guys.   Also, it is fun to think about how complicated it is to "run" the brain of a human and manage all the neurotransmitters and endorphins and hormones.  In many ways, that is what courting and romance are about -- finding ways to stimulate the good parts of someone's brain, but without having direct access to the neurotransmitters.



Unblinking

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Reply #8 on: February 04, 2010, 06:14:39 PM
I like Wichita's voice, but it just wasn't well-suited for this story.  The main character, I might believe sounding like that, but when the president and guards talked, it was too accented to be believable.  Since he has such an over-the-top style, I liked him better in a story that suited it:  he was perfect for Connie, Maybe.

I liked some of the production, like the sound effects, and the altered voice of the President, but sometimes the music was just too loud--telling me "you should be excited right now" like a laugh line on a sitcom. 

The story itself, I liked very much, about the nano haircuts, and the preserved puppet president head, and the ending was very well done.