For those interested, the outro text (Which changed a little on air) is:
There are two elements of that story that fascinate me. The first is the idea of engagement being the price for immortality. Yes you can live forever but no, you can’t ever be public. It’s a compelling, very human response that speaks to compassion and fear in equal proportion. Compassion in the voluntary removal of yourself from a society that would forever be changed by your true nature being known, fear because of what that society might do when it discovered you. It’s the most grounded response to immortality I’ve seen in a long time, including Duncan Mcleod’s roaring trade as an antique collector. It’s also a hugely refreshing change from the sort of Vandal Savage/Xerxes esque decision to rule the world as a Godking just because you can’t be killed.
The second is the desire to leave something of yourself behind. The idea of adding to the cave art, of adding to history, is one that speaks to the core ideals of being creative. We want to be remembered. We want people after us to say ‘they were here’ and when that doesn’t work, it can break us in two. Being creative is immensely, soulcrushingly difficult, especially at the moment. Throw a rock at industry news for the last couple of weeks and you’ll see news of companies in trouble, books cancelled and lots of people scrabbling for not very much work. It’s tough out there, so if you get an opportunity to draw something on history, whether it’s a smiling face in an exploding warp core or a dancing deer near some cave paintings, do it. History is made by the people who make history, not the people who patiently wait for history to arrive so they can make an appointment.
Here’s to them. All of humanity contained in that glorious subversion of expectation, the thumb in the eye of fate. The smiley face. The Kilroy was here. The dancing deers of Clifford Simak’s mind. Thank you sir.
We’re doing some feed back! It’s back by popular demand! Come on Nathan won’t you strike up the band? Of feedback?
Okay, PSA time! Wooooo!
First off, let’s talk metacast. Don’t worry, we’re in great shape and that’s down to you. Seriously. You rock and we thank you for your continued support today, yesterday, and of course tomorrow. We’ve gotten amazing number new subscribers, but we’ve also run into a bit of a snag and have been getting notes from some of you wondering why your subscriptions have been cancelled.
The short version is this; we have absolutely no control over your subscriptions. We cannot change your subscription amount. We cannot change how often your subscription is paid, and we can not cancel your subscription. It’s not possible. The option does not exist and Paypal will not allow us to change your subscription in any way shape or form.
Now this means two things; firstly, if you do have issues with your subscription, that’s where PayPal comes in. Secondly, us not having that control is a good thing. Every element of the process is in your control and that’s just how it should be.
Now, PayPal. We know they’re the 800-pound gorilla and we know some people don’t like them for very good reason. Anyone who may need help with their subscription maintenance email us and Paul the magnificent accounting genius will send you out a how to, he’s put to-gether. It’s got photo shopped arrows and everything.
Now, other sources of donations. We’re actively looking at folding in new ways to donate because God forbid doors between us and donor money should ever be closed. If you don’t or can’t use PayPal but want to donate, please get in touch and we’ll see what can be sorted out. We’re hoping to have several new payment methods rolled out this year, none of which I’m going to name now because they’re not locked in. Once they are, you’ll know.
Dwolla’s already online and that brings me to my next point; A handful of you have started sending us donations via Dwolla. For that we thank you. Some of you have been sending monthly donations via Dwolla since the metacast and are still owed premium content. Here’s why: Dwolla REALLY values the privacy of its customers. That’s the good news. The bad news is that Dwolla really likes to maintain the privacy of it’s customers. Which means that the only things we get to see on our side is your name, your dwolla ID number and the amount you’ve donated. We can’t even get your E-mail address.
And without your E-mail address… we can’t put you on our premium content listing.
So… if the handful of you who do use Dwolla would be so kind as to send our accountant a quick E-mail with the subject line of “Dwolla Subscriber E-mail” and include your name and Dwolla ID# in the body of the E-mail, we’ll get you cross referenced and get content to you right away. You can reach him at Paul at Escape Artists dot Net.
So… there it is. Thank you all for your continued support. We apologize that these glitches are getting in the way of smooth operation but as we grow, we learn how to make next time better than the last time.
Now, all of that out of the way, let’s talk donations. Subscriptions work best for us and start at 2 bucks a month. Alternately you can donate any amount you want and that’s awesome but helps us a TEENY bit less than 2 bucks a month. In fact, let’s take that 2 bucks and add round it up to 5. What does that get you? Well, the 2 bucks gets you a subscription and the other 3?
Easy, pledge it to see Dead Girls put into print. Published by Terry Martin, the hardest work-ing man in genre fiction in the UK, Dead Girls is a cult classic cyberpunk graphic novel that William Gibson described as ‘Dark, edgy, and inflicted with just the right degree of lyricism.’
It’s crowdfunding right now and with ten days to go it needs a push. Please, if you can, go donate to them and us
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/dead-girls-the-graphic-novel/And that’s our show. Which as ever is a product of Escape Artists Incorporated and released under a creative commons attribution non commercial no derivatives license. Our closing quote this week comes from, of course, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
If you were to destroy the belief in immortality in mankind, not only love but every living force on which the continuation of all life in the world depended, would dry up at once.
Fyodor Dostoevsky