Yorkton This Week’s editorial staff takes readers on an explorative journey around the Internet, searching out the best in videos, podcasts, webcomics, music and anything else that catches their collective eyes which might interest our readers.
Dark comedy
True crime podcasts seem to be in odd place in their development.
On the one hand, they’re a fairly new and novel way to tell stories, adopting the classic format of radio and melding it with the instant-gratification of smart phone content. There’s a lot of room for growth and experimentation.
But on the other hand, they’ve become incredibly overexposed, bloated, and tired. Every week it feels like there’s a new podcast detailing a tragic, gruesome, vaguely poignant case of a (typically) young person cut down in the prime of their life. Bonus points if the murder happened in rural America.
I’m not trying to trivialize the real-life tragedy of these cases, or the hundreds of hours of hard work that go into producing podcasts like “Serial,” “Someone Knows Something,” or other true crime tales. These are important stories that are usually told with gravity and professionalism.
But it’s all getting a tad played out. We need something to shake things up. And no group can overturn the apple cart quite like the Onion.
The satrical website has ruthlessly mocked all facets of politics, culture, business, and society. They knock everything down a peg, revealing the hilarious ridiculousness behind the humdrum banality of our lives. They’re experts in demolishing pretentions of self-seriousness. That attitude makes true crime podcasts their ideal target.
In February, the Onion released “A Very Fatal Murder” (AVFM), a savage and funny satire of the true crime genre. It’s the perfect antidote to our murder-case-saturated world. If you’ve been looking for a podcast to rip the genre to shreds, your prayers have been answered.
The show follows David Pascal, an amoral, snobbish journalist who’s searching for the perfect murder to report (and cash in on). He has a computer set up to study hundreds of murders and analyze them for gruesomeness, tragedy, and what they say about the death of the American Dream.
This demented Ahab find his Moby Dick in Hayley Price, a typical high-schooler who was murdered in such an over-the-top fashion I won’t spoil it here. As Pascal says, “Hayley excelled at being murdered.” He visits her hometown and starts searching for clues, asking two questions: “What happened to Hayley Price? And how can I get in on it?”
There are too many hilarious scenes and twists in AVFM to count. From Pascal’s open contempt for his interview subjects to the absurd questions that never get answered to a stunning plot twist, AVFM’s six episodes are funny from beginning to end. Their short length also make them very easy to binge.
The execution is perfect. It sounds and feels like a real true-crime podcast. Pascal is an excellent parody of the overeager journalist and he plays the role to the hilt.
AVFM is the podcast we all need in these dark times. It can be found wherever you download your podcasts.
— Sean Mott
The Trek continues
With the arrival of Star Trek Discovery on mainstream television last fall, a long hiatus from network broadcast ended for one of the most influential sci-fi series.
ST: Enterprise, which debuted in 2001 ended in 2005, creating a more than decade-long drought.
But the absence of Star Trek on mainstream TV did not mean new stories weren’t being told.
Fans picked up the slack with a number of groups launching online podcast shows for the love of Trek.
One of the best of the bunch is Star Trek: Outpost which debuted at Giant Gnome Productions in April 2009 with the airing of the first episode, ‘What Could Be So Bad?’ co-written and produced by Daniel McIntosh and Tony Raymond.
The team of McIntosh and Raymond are still at the helm of the ongoing show.
Star Trek: Outpost is an internet-based, fan-produced, serialized audio drama series. It follows the adventures of the crew of Deep Space 3 and the USS Chimera.
So a bit about the series from the website and the show’s opening lines; “In the darkest reaches of the United Federation of Planets, an isolated station stands sentinel over a neglected frontier. Commissioned long ago with high hopes,
its promise is now all but forgotten; a lonely outpost serving as the gateway to the vast expanse beyond, where discovery…and adventure…await.”
The website http://stexpanded.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Trek:_Outpost goes far more into depth on the background series that I recommend anyone interested in ST: Outpost check out.
“Some time after the USS Enterprise made contact with Balok, a citizen of the First Federation, Starfleet, officials worked diligently to establish diplomatic ties. While the formalization of relations took several years, trade agreements were quickly established. The United Federation of Planets wanted to establish a strong presence near the First Federation border and what was, at that time, uncharted space. Through the negotiations and agreements, Starfleet arranged to build a Spacedock-class starbase …
“While touted as being a new stepping off point, the station’s promise was almost forgotten... Once the isolationists had taken control, they closed the First Federation borders and forbade trade and traffic with outsiders. With no support from the First Federation in trade and traffic, Starfleet was faced with a decision - either finish the station in the hopes that diplomatic ties could be re-established, break down what had already been completed and move it elsewhere, or abandon the project altogether. Starfleet decided that a compromise between those three options was most feasible: Starfleet opted to minimally complete the station, sealing off unfinished areas and complete the minimum needed to make the station habitable. It was then staffed with a skeleton crew. Sections of the station that had been assembled but not yet installed were diverted to other projects within the Federation. In essence, DS3 was akin to a 19th century American west frontier town that had been bypassed by the railroad. One starship, an aging Oberth-class vessel, was permanently assigned to the station: the Oberth-class USS Chimera. The USS Chimera would primarily be responsible for policing the area around the station and servicing marker buoys marking established trade routes and borders.”
And from that almost forgotten element the story has unfolded over what is now near 80 episodes. That might seem daunting, but jump in on this one at www.giantgnome.com It is outstanding with a memorable crew and a unique part of the space frontier.
The series is still in production. In September of 2013, Star Trek: Outpost was the recipient of the Parsec award for Best Audio Drama Long Form.
— Calvin Daniels
