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the-conversation-pod · 2 months ago

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Summer 2024 Lagniappe (A Minisode)

AND WE'RE BACK!

Summer didn’t give us a lot to say, but we ALWAYS got something to say. Ben, NiNi and Shan talk a highlight of the season, Twig reports from the field, and we award summer’s Girl Who Tried.

Timestamps

The timestamps will now correspond with chapters on Spotify for easier navigation.

00:00:00 - Welcome 00:01:15 - Introduction 00:02:21 - Twig’s Dispatch 00:14:24 - Spotlight: Tadaima, Okaeri 00:20:34 - Girl, You Tried 00:27:08 - Celebrating 50 Episodes

The Conversation Transcripts!

Thanks to the continued efforts of @lurkingshan as an editor and proofreader, we are able to bring you transcripts of the episodes.

We will endeavor to make the transcripts available when the episodes launch, and it is our goal to make them available for past episodes (Coming soon thanks to @wen-kexing-apologist). When transcripts are available, we will attach them to the episode post (like this one) and put the transcript behind a Read More cut to cut down on scrolling.

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00:00:00 - Welcome

NiNi

Welcome to The Conversation About BL, aka The Brown Liquor Podcast.

Ben

And there it is. I’m Ben.

NiNi

I’m NiNi.

Ben

And we’re you’re drunk Caribbean uncle and auntie here sitting on the porch in the rocking chairs.

NiNi

Four times a year we pop in to talk about what’s going on in the BL world.

Ben

We shoot the shit about stories and all the drama going into them. I review from a queer media lens.

NiNi

And I review from a romance and drama lens.

Ben

So if you like cracked-out takes and really intense emotional analysis…

NiNi

If you like talking about artistry, industry, and the discourse…

Ben

And if you generally just love simping…

NiNi

There is a lot of simping on this podcast…

Ben

We are the show for you!

00:01:15 Introduction and Summer Season Recap

Ben

And we're back. We have reached the end of the summer season. It is hot as hell and hurricane season is active, but we at least still have our shows to watch.

Shan

Wow, what a way to set the mood.

NiNi

That is [laughs] one way to start, for sure. [NiNi and Shan laugh]

Ben

Girl, I’m stressed! [laughs]

NiNi

I feel you. I feel you. I feel you. We are here. The summer has been… it's been a lot.

Let's just dive right into what we came here to discuss. Shan is here. Say hi, Shan.

Shan

Hi!

NiNi

We're going to talk a few things that we didn't talk through this season. Twig’s gonna come in and leave us her dispatch, and then we're gonna round it up and award the Girl, You Tried. There are a lot of girls who tried this season. [laughs]

00:02:20 Twig’s Dispatch

DISPATCH! Thank you for having me back. [music]

While folks were lamenting having nothing to watch this quarter, I was as busy as ever!

In the skip section: Sadly, Korea really dominated this category last season, starting with Blossom Campus. Honestly, this was the biggest disappointment this season for me. This was my–the Korean independent team Strongberry, who I normally love—they released a full length Kdrama that, I don’t understand how it went so wrong. The story is about a university transfer student who works at the library and ends up in a few interactions with a taekwondo major and they fall for each other. It was boring, the story didn’t really flow, the chemistry was flat.The only good thing I can say for it is that when they do kiss, they kiss well. But it was not worth watching to get there.This was the least queer Strongberry has ever felt, and to add insult to injury it ends on a cliffhanger. This is a pass from me, friends.

Love is Like a Cat. Mew of the newly public MewTul relationship stars in this hybrid Thai/Korean production that did not manage to retain the good qualities of either country. It is bad. And not even in a fun way. The premise is a famous Thai actor is blackmailed into doing a Korean reality series in which he has to work in a dog cafe, despite being afraid of dogs. That sounds like it would be cute and fun, and somehow it was neither. Poor acting, cinematography, chemistry, story, everything was mid. Also, content warning for animal death—way to alienate your target audience.

Gray Shelter was a Korean short series that barely felt like BL? Honestly, it was trying to walk a trauma narrative and BL line and I don’t think it did that successfully. The romance felt rushed and the trauma part felt like it was being sad for the sake of sad rather than having anything to actually say about trauma. Also had another cliffhanger ending. Not my fav.

Moving away from Korea, Lady Boy Friends is a show that has a high barrier to enjoyment, so judge for yourself. It’s a remake from 2015 and the premise is an ensemble show in an all boys high school in which a good percentage of the cast are actually trans girls in an all boys school. There is a lot of infighting amongst the trans women, they are extremely catty and mean and clique-y to each other. That part I honestly found kind of fun, and I did enjoy them banding together against a common enemy. Unfortunately that common enemy is another trans girl who is looked down on for transitioning “late” which calls her authenticity into question. This show also has sexual assault played as comedy which is honestly the main reason why it’s in this section; there was also a gay couple who got the bulk of the focus in the last few episodes, and while that storyline will likely be the most appealing to this audience, I didn’t particularly like that the trans characters got short shrift in their own show, so. I didn’t fully love it.

Kiseki Chapter 2. This was a production by 9NAA. They have a history of not paying and exploiting their actors, and they’ve done it too many times, so I didn’t watch this one. Pay your actors and hire intimacy coaches and then I’ll talk about your shows.

The last one in this section is actually a GL Thai channel that I wanted to shout out. It’s just not to my taste, but I don’t like gatekeeping GL ‘cause there’s so little of it and it’s so hard to find. So, if you’re a fan of the melodrama and older, toxic relationship type tropes, give these guys a try. Last quarter they put out “Friend with Benefits the series” and “Sea [as in S-E-A] you soon”, and my favorite of the three was “You Are My Star the series” which I enjoyed because it retread a lot of BL tropes so I watched it and played, sort of, spot the BL parallels. JPC Media Channel on YouTube.

Now onto the shows that you might actually want to consider. There were a few genre BLs this season that were varying degrees of hit or miss so I’ve grouped them together. I love genre stories, so I don’t want to be too harsh on shows that push the boundaries of the BL genre, but all of these had at least one fatal flaw that makes me not able to recommend them without caveats.

Memory in the Letter is a Thai BL sci-fi/fantasy in which a student falls in love with a stranger in the mirror. This is a short series that had real high highs and low lows for me, including some of the best chemistry across a pane of glass I’ve ever seen. But also, the ending was so poorly handled that I had to call poor Ben to watch with me just so that I’d have someone to share my psychic damage with. Without spoiling anything, this show involves an age gap with actors not age-appropriately cast to hide the fact that the age gap is so large? It also doesn’t treat the age gap seriously or engage with the very serious problems that it raises in its own plot, and I found that very frustrating. So. Make your own choices on that one.

1000 Years Old the series. This show is a Thai vampire show that spends the first three quarters being an extremely low stakes series in which a vampire owns a pork blood soup stand and a glorious umbrella collection, and is in love with a man obsessed with searching for alien life. It is exactly as silly as it sounds. But then the last few episodes everything turns into intense melodrama, and I’m going to spoil this because I don’t know how not to: We find out that the vampire stays friendly with another vampire who murdered his human lover across multiple lifetimes. I was vibing and then I was really not.

Two Worlds is another Thai series, and a MaxNat vehicle. The premise of this one is as it says on the tin: There are two parallel universes connected by a glowing body of water. Our protagonist loses his love interest and travels to the parallel universe accidentally while grieving, to realize he has the chance to save his boyfriend’s doppelganger in this new world. While he does that, he finds himself falling for someone else instead. This series is a relatively slow burn show. Whoever made this show, they did the most bewilderingly good job of undercutting every dramatic moment so that it had no stakes or impact that I’ve ever seen. This show was almost impressively boring considering how much was happening at any given moment. I liked that it seemed to be saying people weren’t interchangeable, but then in the end the show undermined its own message. Watching this show was informative for learning about pacing and how narrative tension works or doesn’t in shows.

Last in this section is The Spirealm. This is a chinese danmei adaptation that we almost didn’t get because of censorship; it was heavily adapted so that rather than magic, the core of the unnatural happenings are a Virtual Reality video game in which our leads have to puzzle through dangerous mysteries to figure out the secrets of each level. It’s fun in an “oh this does feel like a video game” kinda way, and I enjoyed puzzling through the mysteries alongside the leads. But the mysteries drag on too long and they’re repetitive, and the ending of the book is actually really undermined from the adaptation choices. Also, if you’re watching for romance subtext, this is a VERY tame story even for censored cdrama. They barely touch, the shipping moments are few and far between in a long series. So, be forewarned.

Moving away from the supernatural and back to more standard QL fare, A Secretly Love. This felt like a very old-school Thai series, a feeling that was helped by the horrifically bad subtitles; about an engineering student who has been in love with this senior for years and watched him fail miserably at romance over and over. This heavily relies on the viewer enjoying the lead pining over someone who treats him badly for most of the series. So, in order to enjoy this, you have to find someone showing affection by being grumpy, rude, jealous, and demanding cute. No judgment, just giving you the information you need to no. Worth watching if you’re nostalgic for 2020s Thai BL.

Please Teach Me This is a vertical-format microseries from Korea about an aspiring idol trying to attend college that you have to grind through ads in order to watch. Honestly the series was fine, very middle-of-the-road KBL, but the microseries format and the barriers to watching make it not worth sitting through, in my opinion.

Blank the Series is a Thai GL is in the same universe as GAP, so if you miss Sam and Mon the characters, they do appear, though portrayed by different actresses. The main couple in this story have a 16-year age gap and the romance starts when the younger one is in high school, though due to plot reasons she’s of age. I know that’s a barrier for some, so I wanted to mention it off the jump, especially because she acts young. That’s the part that I actually struggled with most. This story is very lakorn-like in terms of it being very high melodrama; it also, especially in part two, gets quite sexy. The height difference is also really something. It’s in two parts and both are complete, it does have a happy ending with a cute timeskip. So, you know, manage yourselves on that one.

Jazz For Two. High school Korean music BL in which the main couple really fell flat for me and the side couple were a bully-turned-love-interest that I also really did not enjoy. This show tried to incorporate internalized homophobia as part of its main storyline but didn’t engage with characters overcoming it, so everyone feels kind of like they suddenly switch from being in a drama to a romance and it was both jarring and honestly, a little offensive. Trigger warnings are also important for this one, so take care of yourselves if you’re deciding to watch it.

Boys Be Brave. Another KBL in which a man who can’t say no tries to get the person with a crush on him to ask him out, to no avail. This felt like it was trying to be a manic pixie dream boy meets an autistic-coded grump, but they didn’t quite calibrate either of those characters right. The side couple also ended up landing kind of badly in terms of class politics. But it was pretty, and they were cute. I actually had fun with this one despite everything I just said.

Deep Night is a Thai BL in which the son of a club owner is against the host/club business model until he falls for one of his mother’s hosts. He decides to start working there to get closer to him. You might imagine that a setup like that would involve class and power politics, but you would be wrong! That being said, this show has a lot to recommend it: The main couple has great chemistry and the side couple is a canonical throuple, and there is another side couple of older sapphics to enjoy, as well. It is also very prettily shot.

Lastly, Close Friend 3: Soju Bomb is a beautifully shot and cute friendship drama, another Thai/Korean joint series this time about Thai boys in a Korean band who go on a bender in Korea after their contract is canceled. Honestly, my only caveat about this show is that it is absolutely not a BL. There isn’t a romance subplot at all in this show. I spent the entire time it aired so confused waiting for the romance to appear! It does not. If it hadn’t been advertised as Close Friend 3–a series which was previously all BL shorts–I would have enjoyed this for what it was. As it stands, I hold a grudge for being misled. Go in knowing what you’re getting and you’ll be fine.

Finally, let’s get to the shows that you might have missed that I actually recommend. To Be Continued, a Thai second chance romance of a famous person and a doctor who were friends when they were in high school. This one tells a lot of the story in flashbacks that are poorly paced at the beginning, so the start of the show really drags. But the reveal for why they broke up was satisfying. The pacing is the barrier in this one–if you can power through the first few episodes it ends up being a good little show. They have great chemistry, the story holds together, and I had fun.

Gym Affairs is an absolutely bonkers but cute mainland China BL in which a guy gets a personal trainer and sparks fly. This show is a silly comedy that is also surprisingly earnest. It goes by extremely fast and I really enjoyed the ride. That one’s on YouTube.

Blue Boys/Lonely Girl. SUKFilm is a Korean YouTube channel putting out short series. Blue Boys was a little disappointing, the couple had too many issues that they cycled through so fast. The GL though, Lonely Girl, was much more focused with a single main problem between the couple and so it worked much better. And both are really beautifully shot and have some great kisses.

Fake Buddies is another YouTube miniseries. It’s a 7 episode Korean series about a girl and guy who are dating, ostensibly, but really both using the other as a beard because they’re both in a gay relationship. The first few episodes are very funny comedy as the two of them try to make the other realize what’s happening; and then we get prequel episodes for how the gay couple and the lesbian couple both came to be. It’s a fun use of 45 minutes on the guynextdoor YouTube channel if you’re bored.

To the X Who Hated Me is a Korean GL produced by Red Q. It’s a series of microseries, there’s two out so far with 2-3 episodes each. They’re both GL and solid short second chance romances that are very fun.

City of Stars is the last one I’ll be talking about. It’s, in my opinion, the best hidden gem QL from this quarter. A charming celebrity/regular guy romance that tackles shipping, toxic fans, and the unreasonable expectations on people in the spotlight. Acting is a little rough, and it’s not perfect, but it had some really good things to say and it very smartly sandwiches those things among some pretty good sex scenes. The two leads are my communication kings. And there’s some decent trans side rep as well. This show really uses BL as a vehicle for having something to say and I appreciate it. And the story really holds together in a way that’s a little refreshing in Thai BL, too, so I really liked it.

And that’s the dispatch for this quarter! Thanks again for having me.

00:14:25 Spotlight: Tadaima Okaeri

Ben

It's time to talk about my favorite show of the season that no one else watched except for Twig. [NiNi laughs] We're going to talk about an animated BL from Japan called Tadaima, Okaeri. It is the best show of the season and I'm begging you, please, to go watch this show.

Tadaima, Okaeri is a 12 episode BL from Studio Deen that aired on Crunchyroll. Studio Deen is actually fairly important in the BL space. Pretty much all of the BL anime that we're probably going to recommend to you offhand was produced by the studio. In this particular one, they're adapting a manga series about a gay couple in the omegaverse that is trying to raise their kid in the suburbs. Our protagonist's name Fujiyoshi Masaki, that is actually his name, and his husband, Hiromu. Masaki is an omega, his husband is an alpha, and they have a son named Hikari together. He is a little baby and they are living in the burbs away from everybody else because they had a very difficult time getting together.

The show was not so much about the difficulties these two had getting together, it's about them building a life that they love and are happy with after going through what they did. So, like, this is your favorite leads, married and trying to raise their family now and working on healing some of the relationships that were damaged over the course of them getting together. There's a great deal of healing and growth in this. There's healing between Hiromu and his dad, who was not keen on their romance in the first place. There's the fact that these two guys love each other and love being parents. I am very often amused by how much my dad is still obsessed with my mom. And I really liked seeing that in a gay couple here. It was really restorative in a lot of ways, ‘cause we don't ever really see dads in BL.

This show was so healing. This was such a peaceful experience of a show to watch. What I like the most out of fluffy shows like this is for there to be a nice arc about what life we’re building for our family and a strong thematic thrust of, we're not trying to get back at anybody who hurt us. We just want our kid to grow up in a world where he—and eventually their daughter too—are loved by the people around them. Each episode was about a specific sort of challenge that the family was facing, and some of them were really huge. Like, how are we going to reconcile with the kids’ grandfather who wants to be part of his grandson's life? Even if it's something as small as, Hikaru is getting older and he wants to run an errand. Okay, we're going to let him deliver a letter to his grandfather to the mailbox, and getting a two year old to deliver something [laughs] successfully to a mailbox was a production unto itself, because he kept getting distracted.

It was genuinely one of the most delightful and wholesome experiences I have ever had in the genre. I have said for a long time that I've wanted a married gay dads show. I was not expecting it to come from the omegaverse of all places, but this was everything I ever hoped it could be and honestly, so much more. If you can handle omegaverse nonsense, including mpreg and the alpha omega pheromone shit, and rutting behavior. This is one of the best shows I have ever seen.

Shan

Oof. [Ben laughs] You just said so many words that upset me.

Ben

I know. I know!

[all laugh]

NiNi

I was like, “if you can handle” I can handle none of those things. I'm sorry.

Ben

If you're gonna be in genre, you gotta take your shit seriously, and I think that's why it worked. This show was not embarrassed about being an omegaverse show. It's not like [funny voice] we're going to do this in omegaverse because we know the girls will fucking show up for it. It took the conceits of its own genre seriously and incorporated it into the emotional context of their characters.

And so like I totally get it, mpreg is not easy for a lot of people. The rutting behavior stuff, it's not easy for some people. The way that omegaverse is used to perpetuate some of the heteronormative kinds of misogyny that women face is not for everyone, truly and sincerely. When I say that these are caveats to watching this, I am not being funny. These are real things that are being dealt with in this show, but they're not half-assing it. These are not normally things I enjoy. Tell a good story and take your shit seriously and we can show up for it. And that's what happened for me here.

So, I wholeheartedly recommend this show, but I do think it's important to not downplay that this is very legitimately an omegaverse story.

Shan

I appreciate that.

Ben

It's a 10, baby! Perfect execution of its own premise, and genuinely, it's the kinda show that was so fun to watch with other people.

Shan

I have been so intrigued by the conversation around this show and I really regret that it has so many of my hard lines in it [laughs[ because I would like to see it. I don't think I'll be able to, but I have heard nothing but praise and love from the people who've watched it.

Ben

I love the show with my whole heart. I do not recommend it at all. [Ben and NiNi laugh] This show had really strong ideas and it wore its whole heart on its sleeves the whole time. Mm mm mm. What an experience. Great show.

00:20:32 Girl, You Tried

Ben

Let's hand out our favorite award on the show: Girl, You Tried.

NiNi

Our nominees this season for a Girl, You Tried are Unknown the series from Taiwan, Love is Better the Second Time Around from Japan, and Living With Him from Japan. Does anybody wanna do propaganda here?

Ben

Ooh…

Shan

Let's start with reminding folks how we think about Girl, You Tried.

Ben

The Girl, You Tried for me is meant to reflect on a production that missed the mark, but we felt like the core work and the intent was there to actually do something good, and for whatever reason stumbled.

Shan

There's different ways that shows can stumble. There are shows that can be very well told and very confident up to a point, and then a mistake is made that is hard to recover from. There are shows that never quite nailed what they were trying to do, but did clearly have aspirations. There are shows that have a solid idea of at least the beginning and endpoints and something in the middle just got messy. So, those are different categories of ways that shows can go sideways. And all of these different ways came up in this season.

For me, a show like Unknown is not a Girl, You Tried because they actually did succeed at what they were doing for the vast majority of their run. So I wouldn't call that a Girl, You Tried. They made a mistake right at the end—and it was a big mistake—but their level of execution was so good through most of the show that I can't really consider that a Girl, You Tried.

For our two Japanese BLs here, Love is Better was really solid through about the first four episodes, and then it kind of veered off in a very strange direction that I still don't really understand why that happened. Versus Living With Him had a solid start, had a pretty decent end point that it was trying to get towards, and then got kind of messed up along the way trying to stretch out the story.

So for me I think I would want to give the Girl, You Tried to Living With Him out of these three, because I do think they had the bones of a good story. They executed parts of it really well. But in their effort to stretch it out into a longer format than the story really supported, they kind of lost track of some of their threads and got a little confused in the way that they landed at the end. So for me that one makes more sense as a Girl, You Tried because I see what they were trying to do. And I think that they just made some execution errors that got in the way.

Ben

An interesting analysis; one I will be pondering. It feels mean to say that Unknown is a Girl, You Tried because they rushed to their sex scene. It ignores how good the family story was around all of that, but I am also torn now if I'm going to choose between Love is Better and Living With Him because I feel like my angst for Living With Him is it doesn't release the implied sexual tension that really irritated me more than anything else, which Love is Better absolutely did.

Man, this is hard.

Shan

Have we ever had a Girl, You Tried tie?

Ben

We have not.

NiNi

There's usually a fairly clear cut winner once we talk about it, but I think part of the problem is that Love is Better and Living With Him sort of failed in similar ways, so it's hard to choose.

Ben

If I have to choose between the two of them, Love is Better the Second Time Around knew exactly what it was doing and it made very bad choices, and there's a difference between making stupid choices and struggling against something you couldn't do, in my opinion. I will give it to Living With Him because there's so much hang time, it's overly reliant on actor charm to hold itself together, and I do like how well the cast was able to hold this flimsy project together.

I think weaker actors would have made this a more irritating experience than it was, as opposed to just being kind of disappointing. So if I'm backed into a corner and have to choose [Shan laughs], it's going to be Living With Him.

Shan

[laughs] You do. Good job.

NiNi

Oh no, I'm about to throw a spanner in the works because I'm going to go for Love Is Better. [laughs]

Shan

This is very exciting! This is Conversation pod history!

Ben

Go ahead, give us your reasoning.

NiNi

For me, the original premise of Girl, You Tried was always ‘a strong idea that failed in the execution,’ and I feel like the ideas from Love is Better were stronger to me than the ideas in Living With Him, just in terms of, A, what I was interested in seeing and, B, what they wanted to do. I feel like those ideas were stronger in Love is Better. So the failure of the execution part is not the part that I'm looking at in terms of comparing the two, but the strength of the premise part.

Ben

Because both of these shows had really strong gay themes in them that I was really compelled by, I am going to allow them to tie and both get a Girl, You Tried, because I think both these shows were trying to do something really cool. I think by episode 3 and 4 both of these shows, I was like, “This show's got something in it. This is a real contender!” And then it was like, “Oh no, what happened, girl? Come on.” [laughs]

NiNi

So our first ever Girl, You Tried tie! Girls, you both tried.

Ben

Congratulations to Japan for getting your first Girl, You Tried awards.

NiNi

Is it?

Shan

And the double at that! Japan, always overachieving.

[Ben and NiNi laugh]

00:27:02 Celebrating 50 Episodes

NiNi

I think we have exorcized the demon of the summer, so let's wrap this up. We are wrapping our summer lagniappe and wrapping our summer season. See you in dot-dot-dot weeks for our fall season beginning as soon as I can get my shit together and edit.

Shan

NiNi, should we shout out that this is the 50th episode of the podcast?

Ben

Oh shit!

NiNi

[gasp] Oh my God, we didn't even talk about that! Yes, congratulate us, guys. This is episode number 50 for The Conversation!

Ben

Oh my God. [air horn sound]

Shan

There ya go.

Ben

If you are one of our listeners who has listened to us talk for all 50 episodes, please—

Shan

Wow.

Ben

—shout us out on Tumblr. I would love to talk to you and see how you're feeling about what we're doing after all this time.

Shan

You're a trooper if you actually did that.

NiNi

[laughs] Please, please, please. If you love us and you're hearing this, we are 50 episodes old today. Send us a note. Either send us a note on Tumblr if you know how to do that, or send us something in the Spotify down below—whatever…answer the thing thing.

Ben

[laughs] In the doobly-doo.

NiNi

Listen, okay? Auntie's old, okay? She don't remember what things are called.

We out! Say bye to the people, Shan.

Shan

Bye, people!

NiNi

Ben, say bye to the people.

Ben

Peace.

23 notes · View notes

girlfriendsofthegalaxy · 11 months ago

Text

tuesdaypost year in review

this year brought to you by viewers like you. thank you! i still do not know how to thank everyone for their incredible generosity during the Late July/Early August Moving Catastrophe Badtimes and im still feelin some kinda way about it. thank you.

took eight weeks completely off, more than any other year so far

overnight traveled for work for the first time

moved cross country with Mack to face dangers untold and hardships unnumbered

bought an actual for-real couch and not a futon

got Phil

(unrelated to Phil) i got spayed after almost ten years of begging and pleading various medical professionals, (also unrelated) got covid and RSV back to back

listening

fallow weeks: 8. i almost always have a tuesdaysong bc i am almost always listening to something. all of the tuesdaysongs are here:

particular favorites were Peel Me A Grape (Anita O’Day), top spotify song of the year Yeah Yeah Yeah (Blood Orchid), Yeah Yeah Yeah’s Wolf remixed by Sextile, Father Finlee (Spence Hood), A Minha Menina (Os Mutantes).

the very last tuesdaysong of the year is Sugar Rum Cherry by Duke Ellington, one of the few christmas songs i tolerate.

special shoutout to the austin underscore walker universe of podcasts, bc i mainlined A More Civilized Age (clone wars/star wars rewatch) while packing, and devoured P/alisade (the newest scifi season of F/riends at the Table) this month.

reading

fallow weeks: 11. pleased that i am killing the invisible rules in my head and including more articles instead of feeling guilty about Not Reading A Real Book!!! every week when i sit down to write the tuesdaypost. read a fuckton earlier this year bc i was procrastinating moving prep, have not read much since i moved.

article sources:

inoreader (the best free RSS feed/app imo)

The Markup (gold standard usage of data to show how various technologies are being used to harm the public good: you may have heard of the recent American bills to equalize internet service and fix organ donation grift. that was them)

Web 3 Is Going Just Great (crypto disasters)

404 Media (technology reporting, internet culture, also break a lot of data/legal/privacy scandals)

Remap (formerly Vice's video games division Waypoint, more active on podcasts and twitch but do have great personal essays about gaming longreads)

Retraction Watch (an important academic service but platformed a particularly virulent transphobe and let the comments devolve into a free for all. yes im still mad about this)

Krebs on Security (~once a month extremely long and thoughtful infosec writeups)

Data Colada (cover academic data whoopsies, currently being sued for their journalism)

the two authors i spent the most time with this year were Alexis Hall (romance novels and novellas) and Raymond Chandler's noir detective novels. i read 90% of Raymond Chandler's work in march and went insane about yet another sad bisexual man. Philip Marlowe the cat is named after his pet detective, the human Philip Marlowe.

march was kind of a banger for this category bc in one of what i consider the best tuesdayposts this year, i tried to break down why i fucking hated Frank Miller's Sin City comics so much.

other comics, but ones i loved: Spy X Family, Berserk, weird noir DC miniseries The Human Target.

watching

fallow weeks: 10

notable stuff i watched for the first time (according to letterboxd) that will stick in my head for a bit. some (The Night of the Hunter) i am so glad i watched once but do not feel the need to revist. some (Slipstream) fascinate me with how good they could have been. some (Twilight. all of them) were fun bc of the people i watched them with. the two i went particularly deranged over are The Big Sleep and Day of Anger. still feel very normal about them.

very heavy on crime and courtroom films this year!

television: very excited for s2 of Blue Eye Samurai, Interview With The Vampire, Spy X Family.

youtube

i should loop back and finish Black Lagoon, Adventure Time (completely forgot i rewatched most of that this spring), and The Big O. that last one is throwing me a little bc (since i last checked) there is no freely available version with subtitles (i cannot find subtitles Period) and i'll be damned if i have to import a dvd. i can find the dub with subtitles but! i want to hear spike spiegel as mecha-batman :(

sort of lukewarm eh-i'll-get-around-to-it about s/tar wars shows. i have not watched a/hsoka At All or wrapped up the animated Resistance show. i'll pay attention when ando/r is airing again.

playing

fallow weeks: 10. way fewer than i would have guessed!

the trouble with this category is that it is exceptionally hard to find new good games (either ones i already own or ones that are free). it is almost completely prohibitively exhausting to trawl through the free category on steam. there's simply a lot of cruft out there. a very good thing (but also incredibly timeconsuming thing) i started this year was throwing games into various folders so the eight bajillion libraries i have are less overwhelming. i can safely ignore 80% of my epic games library, for example. the itch.io library is a whole separate weekend project i think.

got back into genshin for good or for ill, which took up most of the back half of the year.

youtube

go play ABZU. i am no longer asking.

i would like to go back and finish the RPG Gamedec, un-softblock myself in the RPG Weird West, and finish the visual novel Dead Man's Rest. i think i stalled out in Call of Juarez: Gunslinger bc there was a mexican standoff that my reflexes are simply not fast enough for/too much to pay attention to. i am excited to pick up that spooky fishing simulator DREDGE when i have fun money again.

completely forgot i spent most of jan/feb/march being annoyed at fallou/t 4 but having some fun in Far Harbor, also forgot i spent an entire month playing through Wolfenstein: The New Order but i am not compelled to play through it again. it was fun! but like many games after one playthrough my time with it is done!

making

fallow weeks: 17 (unsurprising, pretty low energy year as a whole as i recovered from covid rounds 1 and 2 and the frankly insane stress of moving).

wrote exactly one fic: some matters at the heart of cowboy western snap shirts: why they are so and some of the implications of their being so, i would like to write more next year but i don't really have the brainpower. i hope this changes soon.

the baby blanket i started last year is still not done but the baby is still under a year so i have a very narrow window of time.

dyed some couch covers im still very pleased with

wrote an extremely long but very well received gallery wall guide

recipes: 12. sort of shocked by this? i am becoming an incrementally better cook and slowly finding recipes i both like and can successfully execute. found the fortitude to caramelize onions, for example. quick pickled red onions, for another thing. big year for protein or greens on top of beans and rice. faves included: cuban-style pork shoulder, hellofresh peruvian chicken, red lentil soup, white bean/kale/rice bowls

i would like to be less terrified about cooking fish. i would like to eat more fish.

and of course, the biggest project of all, acquired Phil. here is my very favorite photo ive ever taken of a cat

#tuesday again #tuesday again no problem

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duchessofostergotlands · 14 days ago

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Have you thought about YouTube? If you get decent views the pay is quite good. You can just put the audio and maybe even add pictures about what you're talking about, no need to show yourselves. And you have a lot of following here, I've seen other channels do very well when they have a "wave" of followers/views at the beginning, it makes YouTube recommend the channel and so a snowball effect happens.

You really wouldn't believe the amount of followers and views the most ridiculous people get, they know close to nothing about royals and although the "market" about royal commentary is a bit flooded on YouTube right now, it would be fantastic to have someone like you guys adding real knowledgeable commentary there.

YouTube anon again, keep in mind that you already have more than a 100 episodes, you could slowly add them there and get some money from work you've already done. Also I think that if you get a good following going you could also set up a patreon and post behind the scenes content, or maybe more relaxed live streams, or bonus content you cut off for time reasons. It would be extra content for really invested people but you wouldn't have to put the podcast behind a paywall.

Hey :) Thank you for your suggestions and your kind words. They are all excellent but I think unfortunately fall under the "too much work" category because I am old and have no energy haha. I've looked into YouTube because someone recommended it before but you need 1000 subscribers and 4000 listener hours in a year before you even qualify for funds, which I think is steep (although adding old content slowly's a great suggestion!). Also it's surprisingly difficult to add pictures to the video because I'm totally self taught. We did one video episode and it was a nightmare haha. Plus I worry about the use of images because YouTube is hotter on copyright than other platforms, especially if you're monetising. So great suggestion and if I had the time or skill it is absolutely something I would do but I think it's just too much, unless someone else knows how to streamline it!

Patreon is something I've thought about. We can't do anything that requires too much extra work so more recording or prep work is out. But releasing extra content is a possibility, it's just that thing I mentioned in the post about not wanting to punish people arbitrary because they like longer form content. I also worry about excluding people just because they don't have the disposable income. I worry that it would lead to people dropping off if they happen to be a fan of the longer form stuff and can't access it. So I'm interested in people's views on that and how they'd feel.

Ko-Fi was recommended in the notes and I like that option because then it's up to the individual to decide if they want to "tip" us when they have money available. Have you used that or do you know about that? It would be great if we could do ads but we'll probably struggle to meet Spotify's requirements for automatic ads because our listeners are split across different platforms.

#on heir #on heir podcast #ask #anon #podcasting

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thepodcasthoard · 10 months ago

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The Ultimate Guide to Starting A Podcast [Checklist]

Part 1 l Part 2 l Part 3 l Part 4 l Part 5 l Part 6 l Part 7 l Part 8 l Part 9 l Part 10

The eleventh article Sydney gave me is an actionable list. The writer- Lestraundra Alfred- said she started a podcast in ten days by following it.

Determine your niche.

I know. Some of you who have been reading all the posts in this series are probably groaning right now at the repetition. I admit, as I was reading through them I was starting to almost be able to say the words in my head before I read them, like how I can quote movies I've seen a bunch of times.

But this is important- I mentioned before that it's better to be in the top ten of a smaller niche than top twenty of a broader one. But it's more than that- sites like spotify and apple podcasts use the niches you provide to categorize your show, and that categorization brings your podcast to those who are actually looking for similar things.

The article lists popular categories- comedy, news, TV shows and movies, and sports among them- so you can find inspiration in them and narrow your focus.

2. Identify your ideal listener

The article talks about going super specific with your listener avatar- age, job, education, income, other interests, hobbies, and where they live. This will let you think about what your perfect listener will think about your ideas and help you refine them.

3. Name your podcast and make a launch date

For the name, make sure you look it up a few times with variations so you don't accidentally use the same name as some other brand.

For the launch date, make sure to give yourself some time to do your preparations and recording, but not too much time that it's just procrastinating.

4. Format and schedule

There's a variety of formats, each with their own pros and cons. Interviews, co-hosts, and solo shows are just three.

The most common frequencies of publishing according to this article are weekly, bi-weekly (which I assume in this case means once every two weeks, not twice a week), and monthly. But the article also says consistency is key- don't do weekly for three weeks, and then not upload for two months.

5. Podcast host

Again, this is necessary because of internet jargon. An RSS feed is needed to upload to the actual directories where people can listen. The article lists a few via links which- as you all can probably guess by now- I won't add because I want to preserve their commissions. Plus, you'll probably want to read the article in its entirety to get all the details because I'm glossing over them to keep the big picture in sight.

6. Artwork

This article is linked, and it has a more in-depth guide on how to make artwork with examples. But this article recommends just browsing through your podcast listening site of choice and just looking at artwork, thinking about how yours will fit in.

7. Equipment

This article goes into the topic more in-depth, with specifics about what they personally recommend, but really a microphone, a computer, headphones, and recording and editing software are all you really need.

8. Create a trailer

Ah, finally, I can hear some of you think. A new step.

A trailer gives a new listener a chance to find out what your podcast is all about. So be sure to make it engaging and interesting.

9. Submit to directories

You'll be able to do this through your hosting site.

10. Start with three episodes

Another new step, yay! Not only does this give more content for listeners to really see if your podcast is a good fit for them, but it'll let your podcast get listens and other statistics more quickly. That means that the directory will read that and go 'oh! People really like this show. Let me move it to the front so more people can like it.' Your trailer shouldn't count in those three episodes.

11. Show notes

Yet another new step! Hooray! Show notes are basically really short blog posts that are under each episode and tailored to that specific episode. They're a good place for SEO (search engine optimization), and a way for avid listeners to follow the podcast on different sites, like your social media.

12. Get social media handles

Speaking of social media, you'll want these before you launch. This way you have them and can actually use them to promote yourself and the podcast. Domain names are included in this step.

13. Upload and schedule your three episodes

Once everything is edited and done, it's time to stick to your launch date you chose in step three and schedule through your hosting site to launch.

14. Market and celebrate

Now it's time to get the word out. You've worked so hard on this project, congratulations! An aside from me is to actually take time to celebrate. Don't rush right into more work, take the time to soak in your accomplishment, because it is an accomplishment.

#beginner podcaster #podcast help

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kaikamahine · 1 year ago

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@quensty did this meme and is v. v. good at making all her memes v. compelling, so I came onto Tumblr dot com and entered Text into the Text box like a person who does Posts on Tumblr.

Put your spotify ‘on repeat’ playlist on shuffle and list the first ten songs. I use spotify only under extreme duress, so you’re getting my all-purpose phone music library, bc i'm a caveman who still youtube-to-mp3s all her songs one-by-one.

🎙unholy (ft. kim petras) by sam smith. still waiting for someone to cover this song with the pronouns changed. i just think it’d be a more interesting song if it was daddy left at home with the kids while mommy got up to morally dubious alchemical shenanigans with kim petras in the body shop. the beat fucks too hard to be wasted on some man.

🎙watch me by the pom poms. there was a long stretch of 2022 when my phone playlist was nothing but jinx song after jinx song. a few have become True Loves with rent free residence. see also: headshot and she’s got a gun.

🎙vacation by vitamin c. maybe u just need to listen to vitamin c’s vacation from the critically acclaimed movie pokemon (the first movie) (1999) and then you’ll calm down.

🎙freaks (ft. savage) by timmy trumpet. complete and unironic banger. no i will not elaborate. yes you’ve heard it before.

🎙mafia by kelis. jilco rewrote my brain chemistry and now i’m a cooler, sexier person, that’s all ✌️

🎙undergang by heldom & danheim. while stuck doing warehousing a few years ago, i got SUPER into the shamanic proto-viking category on spotify, a love affair that came to a screeching halt when spotify’s next trick was to pull a neo-nazi podcast out of its algorithmical hat, but not before i got some good beats to take home like a boyfriend hoodie. yikes.

🎙run boy run by woodkid. yo! still!! fucking!!! slaps!!!!

🎙reload by m.i.a. not a break-up song but it’s a break-up song to ME, you feel. you got some nerve / talking shit about me! / well that’s okay / your shit’s tired anyway 👋

🎙what a man gotta do by the jonas brothers. what? sometimes a lesbian yearns. mind ur business.

🎙the blue whale by steven price. the single best piece of auditory artwork ever composed, and i do say this having listened to hans zimmer’s ‘coward.’ steven price did not have to put his whole ass prussy into a 2015 bbc nature documentary about predation tactics in wildlife, but he did it for me specifically, knowing i would listen to it and be transported five inches to the left of my body every time. wild.

You’re supposed to tag people, etc, etc, but those of you who like doing these memes know who you are and should consider yourselves tagged! go forth!! 💚💚

#look ma i did a post!#don't remember any of my tags tho so we just hurtle this into the void like men i guess

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nickgerlich · 1 year ago

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Word For Word

I have always been a reader. It started when I was a kid, and my parents started buying Hardy Boys mystery books for me. They captivated me, and although I did not know it at the time, planted a seed that grew into a voracious appetite for the written word.

One look at my house, and you will see the results. My library runneth over.

But even heavy readers run up against the constraints imposed by the modern world, which means there is never quite enough time to read as much as we would like. Audiobooks addressed that problem, because we could listen to someone reading the book to us while on the morning commute, while working out, and on long auto or airplane trips. It may not be the same experience of turning pages, smelling the ink, and falling asleep on the sofa with the book on your chest, but it gets the job done.

Amazon saw that future when it bought Audible in 2008. While audiobooks are forecast to reach 10% of the global publishing market in 2027, an admittedly small share of the market, it is still lucrative enough for anyone willing to chase it.

And that is exactly what Spotify did last year when it announced it would add audiobooks to its music and podcast menu. The only problem is the Apple Tax. In order to listen to an audiobook, users must actually purchase it, which is completely unlike how we listen to streaming music (we basically rent it). Apple takes 30% of every item purchased in-app, and is not fond of workarounds whereby purchasers are redirected to another site to leave their money. With that kind of tax, it didn’t leave much money for Spotify.

That was a sucker punch for them. As it stands, Spotify users must leave the app, fumble around on the Spotify website to buy the book, and then listen to it in the app. But users had to know all this.

Not one to take things lying down, Spotify just announced it is going to start rolling out a limited audiobook listening feature to its premium customers. Choice will be limited to 150,000 titles, and 15 hours a month. The service already launched in the UK and Australia, and will be in the US by the end of the year. Basically, they are teasing premium subscribers with a sample, a lot like those samples given away at Costco and Sam’s on the weekends.

Fifteen hours is probably not enough time to listen to a long book, and I’m not sure if Spotify goes by calendar months, or billing cycles. If the former, you could start a book late one month, and finish it early the next. If the latter, you have to pony up some money.

I seriously doubt that Apple will budge on their tax either, especially in the case of Spotify, who happens to be its biggest foe in the music streaming business. Spotify is betting that once listeners taste and see, that they will be happy to fork over even more money.As for Amazon, they should be nervous, because the Spotify app is about as common on smartphones as the weather. There are more than 100 million users in the US alone. About 40% of Spotify’s listeners are in the premium category.

While Audible has enjoyed many years in the sun as the dominant player, Spotify is a formidable foe. Just ask Amazon about how well they are doing in the music business. Even if both play by Apple’s rules and share a sizable chunk of their audiobook revenues, there is probably still enough left in the margins to make their efforts worthwhile. For comparison, printed books typically have a 40% margin off list price, but big sellers can sometimes muscle in and get even better margins. The beauty of audiobooks is that they do not have to be inventoried, so every title sold is pure overhead-free profit.

This is a brilliant tactic by Spotify to keep users more engaged with the app. Their foray into podcasts keeps me on Spotify for a minimum of two hours each day on my workouts, and more when I am on long trips. Whether I increase my listening because of the audiobooks remains to be seen, but it will certainly make my experience all the richer.

I’m blaming my parents.

Dr “By The Word” Gerlich

Audio Blog

#marketing #audiobooks #Spotify #streaming

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camplofi · 2 years ago

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Radio BSOTS show #177 - pause. (for Jason Mizell)

All comments, questions, and general feedback can be sent to [email protected]. Record a voice message and send it my way or leave one at the Speakpipe page!

You can subscribe to Radio BSOTS via the following options: RSS feed ||| Apple Podcasts ||| Spotify ||| Google Podcasts Amazon Music ||| Stitcher ||| TuneIn ||| iHeartRadio

Connect with Camp Lo-Fi via social media: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

this episode's track list (title / artist / source / license):

1. "Way Back When (Featuring Chuck D)" by Just Plain Ant [blocSonic] (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) 2. "30:5 / moonshine ft. chadah-hadassah" by Yashiyah [Bandcamp] (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) 3. "Larger Than Life" by Jazz One Beats [Dusted Wax Kingdom] (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) 4. "Jazzweek" by Arze Kareem [Jamendo] (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) 5. "Ignition" by Mute Speaker [Bandcamp] (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) 6. "91 NITES" by Tha Silent Partner [blocSonic] (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) 7. "Road Warriors" by The Impossebulls [blocSonic] (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) 8. "LoveSigns" by Makaih Beats [Free Music Archive] (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

For the past two decades, "pause" merely existed as long-form commentary on the BSOTS website. Roughly a week after Jam Master Jay's murder, the bile in my belly fueled a rant in my brain and it all came spilling out onto my computer keyboard. More emotional than logical, it wears my sarcasm and cynicism like spike-studded armor. I'm definitely in my "I said what I said" bag here, back when I had no problems taking an either/or approach when dividing music into rigid yet subjective categories like "commercial" vs. "alternative" and viewing hip-hop as if it were a sonic civil war with only two sides: "conscious" vs. "gangsta." I had one foot out the door of the culture and the music when I wrote this and it shows.

Creative Commons licensed tunes break up the commentary, featuring selections from netlabels like blocSonic and Dusted Wax Kingdom as well as cuts scattered across Bandcamp, Jamendo, and the Free Music Archive. The blocSonic cuts include guest verses from Chuck D of Public Enemy and Darryl "DMC" McDaniels of Run-DMC. The sound of dusty vinyl underneath certain parts of the commentary comes directly from a project entitled This Is The End, Beautiful Friend by File Under Toner. The description of this project on the Free Music Archive begins with the following question: "Are the hiss, crackles, and pops on records protected by copyrights?" All of the featured sounds are from the locked grooves at the end of various records, which get messed with using delay, reverb and other audio techniques. I thought that these works added just the right amount of tension at certain times, more than traditional background music would. The locked grooves running into themselves in this circumstance just sound so stark, like it's occupying the space where Jam Master Jay's cutting and scratching used to reside.

I live with me all the time, enough to know that the longer I hold on to this episode, the more that my own doubts and anxieties will keep me from releasing it into the podosphere, so I have to let it go. It's going to do whatever it does. Here's hoping that you will give this one a shot and consider it time well spent.

ID drop courtesy of Kahlief Adams. Theme music by Cy Tru (edited by Macedonia).

Background music: Charlie Dreaming - Soft Hypnotic qpe - milk Ezekiel Honig - Plastic Rumblings Vanity (Instrumental) by BADLUCK (CC BY 4.0).

Other key info: Macedonia on Mixcloud BSOTS on Bondfire Radio Queue Points Episodes 77 and 78 Hip-Hop Can Save America: Parents Just Don't Understand

Another BSOTS podcast episode for the people...

#BSOTS #podcasts #music #hip-hop #soul #funk #jazz #electronic

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just-axolotl-thoughts · 2 years ago

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Comparing my Spotify Wrapped from this year and last year

So I barely used Spotify this year, that much u can tell from my minutes alone

Truly sad. I don’t:t have comparison for minutes, but I used it a lot more last year I think

Well, onto genres!

Yikes, that’s sad. Especially compared to last year

And the top 5?

Y do 3/5 have pop in the name. Wut happened.

And last year?

Y is otacore in second place 2 years ina row

…

I looked it up, apparently CG5, Steven Universe, Derivakat, Set It Off, JT Music, and Ghost and Pals- all artists I listen to with some level of frequency r categorized as otacore by Spotify

I am still laughing at Dream SMP not only being a genre last year, but also 3rd on the list

Ok, well wut abt the top songs?

2022:

I don’t even kno wut to say abt this one actually…

2021:

So that’s how dsmp was such a high ranked genre

jk ik there was a lot more to it lol

Ok top 5 songs overall is probably the most consistently chaotic part of both years

2022:

Laughing screaming crying y is a Monster High song in 3rd place it’s a good song best one from that movie but y is it here y r the other 4 songs either depression or gay

2021:

Idek wut I had going on either here

Uhhhhh moving on! Artists! Top artist of this year:

I was apparently v gay this year

Yea that tracks

Last year:

Is this where the emo was coming from or was this counted toward the indie pop category oml

Shame it doesn’t say how long I spent listening to just them lmao

Transition!

Top five artists from this year:

If ur asking how Britney Spears got on there blame Quackity for inspiring people to make Las Nevadas playlists

I unfortunately don’t have a top 5 artists from last year, nor do I have a podcast section. I didn’t screenshot the podcast info from last year and didn’t listen to podcasts at all this year

Some people also apparently got some sort of musical mood section (one of my friends did) but I didn’t get that either

I do have this year’s listening personality:

My girlfriend got “The Nomad” and I think that would also fit but I do like to go to artist profiles and shuffle all their music

I also have a couple playlists that r just all of an artist’s music and i’ll shuffle those too

So “The Deep Diver” works too

That’s all I got, see u next year when I hopefully have smth far more chaotic to show off

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delivermytuneo6 · 2 days ago

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How to Enjoy Fiction Audiobooks on Spotify

Spotify has long been a platform synonymous with music, but in recent years, it has expanded to offer a vast range of other content, including podcasts and fiction audiobooks. Audiobooks are a fantastic way to dive into stories while on the go, whether you're commuting, exercising, or simply relaxing at home. In this article, we'll explore how you can make the most of Spotify’s audiobook offerings and immerse yourself in captivating tales.

Discovering Fiction Audiobooks on Spotify

Spotify has curated a diverse selection of fiction audiobooks that range from classic literature to contemporary bestsellers. Whether you're a fan of fantasy, science fiction, historical fiction, or mystery novels, you'll find an extensive range of genres to suit your taste. You can explore popular titles, listen to series from well-known authors, or even dive into lesser-known gems that might have slipped under your radar.

To find fiction audiobooks, simply search for the term "audiobooks" in the search bar or use Spotify’s curated playlists, such as "Fiction Audiobooks" or "Audiobook Recommendations." Spotify frequently updates these playlists to showcase new releases and timeless classics. Furthermore, audiobooks are often categorized by genre, so if you're interested in a particular type of book, you can filter through categories like fantasy, thriller, and romance to discover the perfect book for your mood.

Benefits of Listening to Fiction Audiobooks on Spotify

Spotify offers a number of advantages for audiobook lovers. One of the key benefits is the ease of access to a wide range of content without the need to purchase individual audiobooks. With a Spotify subscription, you get unlimited access to an expansive library of audiobooks, allowing you to listen to as many as you want. Additionally, you don’t have to worry about buying books upfront or dealing with the hassle of managing multiple audiobook platforms.

Another advantage of using Spotify is the convenience of listening while multitasking. Whether you’re cooking, cleaning, or commuting, audiobooks make it easy to immerse yourself in a story without interrupting your daily routine. Spotify's seamless integration with various devices—such as smartphones, tablets, and smart speakers—also means you can listen to your favorite stories anywhere, anytime.

How to Enjoy Audiobooks with Friends: Listening Together

One unique feature Spotify offers is the ability to share your listening experience with others. If you’re looking to enjoy a fiction audiobook with friends or family, Spotify makes it simple to sync up and listen together. This feature can be especially fun when you're sharing the experience of a thrilling mystery or an epic fantasy novel with others. You can connect with your loved ones by following the guide on how to listen songs together on spotify and syncing up your audiobooks in real-time.

By using Spotify’s Group Session feature, you and your friends can enjoy audiobooks together while staying connected, no matter where you are. Whether you're discussing plot twists or character development, listening together can create a deeper bond and make the experience even more enjoyable.

Personalizing Your Audiobook Experience

To get the most out of your fiction audiobooks, you can personalize your experience through various features on Spotify. For instance, you can create playlists of your favorite audiobooks or even save specific chapters that you want to revisit. Spotify also allows you to adjust playback speed, so if you prefer a faster pace or want to slow down a particularly intense scene, you have the flexibility to control the listening experience.

If you tend to listen to audiobooks while doing other tasks, you can take advantage of the “Sleep Timer” feature. This feature allows you to set a timer for your audiobook to stop playing after a certain period. It’s perfect for those nights when you want to listen to a chapter before bed without worrying about the audiobook continuing to play through the night.

Spotify Events: Connecting Audiobook Fans

For audiobook lovers, Spotify Events can be a great way to engage with the larger audiobook community. While Spotify Events typically focuses on live music performances and podcasts, there are often virtual events, book readings, or author interviews related to audiobooks. Participating in such events can give you exclusive insights into the books you're listening to, and even allow you to connect with fellow listeners or authors.

If you're a fan of a particular genre or author, keeping an eye on upcoming Spotify Events might lead to a live reading or discussion that enhances your audiobook experience. It’s a way to take your listening experience to the next level by participating in events that deepen your appreciation for the stories being told.

Getting the Most Out of Your Spotify Account

As you explore the world of fiction audiobooks on Spotify, it's important to have a solid understanding of your Spotify Account Overview to make the most of the platform. Whether you're managing your playlists, downloading audiobooks for offline listening, or customizing your recommendations, a quick review of your account settings can ensure that your audiobook experience is as enjoyable as possible.

Spotify’s recommendations are tailored to your listening habits, so the more you engage with the platform, the better it gets at suggesting new audiobooks you'll love. Keep track of your progress by using features like the "Recently Played" section, which will allow you to easily jump back into your current audiobook.

Conclusion

With its vast library of fiction audiobooks, easy-to-use features, and the ability to enjoy stories together with friends, Spotify has become a great platform for audiobook lovers. Whether you're a casual listener or a passionate audiobook enthusiast, Spotify provides everything you need to immerse yourself in captivating stories. From discovering new books to personalizing your listening experience, Spotify makes it easy to enjoy fiction audiobooks anywhere, anytime.

Don’t forget to explore the full potential of your Spotify Account Overview and take advantage of the unique features available to audiobook listeners. And if you want to make your audiobook experience even more interactive, be sure to check out Spotify Events for virtual book readings and author talks that bring your favorite books to life in new and exciting ways.

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lingthusiasm · 11 months ago

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Lingthusiasm Episode 87: If I were an irrealis episode

Language lets us talk about things that aren't, strictly speaking, entirely real. Sometimes that's an imaginative object (is a toy sword a real sword? how about Excalibur?). Other times, it's a hypothetical situation (such as "if it rains, we'll cancel the picnic" - but neither the picnic nor the rain have happened yet. And they might never happen. But also they might!). Languages have lots of different ways of talking about different kinds of speculative events, and together they're called the irrealis.

In this episode, your hosts Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne get enthusiastic about some of our favourite examples under the irrealis umbrella. We talk about various things that we can mean by "reality", such as how existing fictional concepts, like goblins playing Macbeth, differ from newly-constructed fictions, like our new creature the Frenumblinger. We also talk about hypothetical statements using "if" (including the delightfully-named "biscuit conditionals), and using the "if I were a rich man" (Fiddler on the Roof) to "if I was a rich girl" (Gwen Stefani) continuum to track the evolution of the English subjunctive. Finally, a few of our favourite additional types of irrealis categories: the hortative, used to urge or exhort (let's go!), the optative, to express wishes and hopes (if only...), the dubitative, for when you doubt something, and the desiderative (I wish...).

Click here for a link to this episode in your podcast player of choice or read the transcript here.

Announcements:

Thank you to everyone who shared Lingthusiasm with a friend or on social media for our seventh anniversary! It was great to see what you love about Lingthusiasm and which episodes you chose to share. We hope you enjoyed the warm fuzzies!

In this month’s bonus episode, Gretchen gets enthusiastic about swearing (including rude gestures) in fiction with science fiction and fantasy authors Jo Walton and Ada Palmer, authors of the Thessaly books and Terra Ignota series, both super interesting series we've ling-nerded out about before on the show. We talk about invented swear words like "frak" and "frell", sweary lexical gaps (why don't we swear with "toe jam!"), and interpreting the nuances of regional swear words like "bloody" in fiction.

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Here are the links mentioned in the episode:

'Irrealis' entry on Wikipedia

'How do you get someone to care about Shakespeare? Two words: Goblin Macbeth' on CBC

xkcd comic 'Conditionals'

'Pedantic about biscuit conditionals' post on Language Log

'The pragmatics of biscuit conditionals' by Michael Franke

Lingthusiasm episode 'This time it gets tense - The grammar of time'

'Realis and Irrealis: Forms and concepts of the grammaticalisation of reality' by Jennifer R. Elliott

'If all the raindrops' on YouTube

'If I Were a Rich Man (song)' entry on Wikipedia

'Rich Girl (Gwen Stefani song)' entry on Wikipedia

'Louchie Lou & Michie One' entry on Wikipedia

'Louchie Lou & Michie One - Rich Girl' on YouTube

'Semi-Toned - Rich Girl (acapella)' on YouTube

'Subjunctive mood' entry on Wikipedia

'Céline Dion - Pour que tu m'aimes encore' on YouTube

WALS entry for 'Feature 73A: The Optative'

Lingthusiasm bonus episode 'How we make Lingthusiasm transcripts - Interview with Sarah Dopierala'

Lingthusiasm episode 'Listen to the imperatives episode'

'Dubitative' entry on Wikipedia

'A grammatical overview of Yolmo (Tibeto-Burman)' entry on WikiJournal of Humanities

You can listen to this episode via Lingthusiasm.com, Soundcloud, RSS, Apple Podcasts/iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also download an mp3 via the Soundcloud page for offline listening.

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Lingthusiasm is on Bluesky, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Mastodon, and Tumblr. Email us at contact [at] lingthusiasm [dot] com

Gretchen is on Bluesky as @GretchenMcC and blogs at All Things Linguistic.

Lauren is on Bluesky as @superlinguo and blogs at Superlinguo.

Lingthusiasm is created by Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne. Our senior producer is Claire Gawne, our production editor is Sarah Dopierala, our production assistant is Martha Tsutsui Billins, and our editorial assistant is Jon Kruk. Our music is ‘Ancient City’ by The Triangles.

This episode of Lingthusiasm is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license (CC 4.0 BY-NC-SA).

#language #linguistics #lingthusiasm #episode 87 #podcasts #episodes #irrealis #morphology #syntax #semantics #mood #if I was a rich girl #if I were a rich man #SoundCloud

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the-conversation-pod · 10 months ago

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The VIIB Awards 2024: Immortal Technique!

Continuing with Part 3 of 5 of the Very Important Internet BL Awards, we are handing out our awards for everyone behind the scenes!

We will be awarding our Best OST Song, Best Music, Best Production, Best Writing, and Best Direction.

Join us today and for the rest of the week as we continue tomorrow with Top Tings. Tell us your winners in the notes!

Timestamps

The timestamps will now correspond with chapters on Spotify for easier navigation.

00:00 - Welcome 01:23 - Introduction 02:34 - Interlude: Making a movie, Eddie Mannix style - Hail, Caesar! (2016) 03:57 - Best OST Song 10:03 - Best Music 16:35 - Best Production 22:13 - Best Writing 27:17 - Best Direction 34:19 - Outro

The Conversation Transcripts!

Thanks to the continued efforts of @ginnymoonbeam as transcriber, and @lurkingshan as an editor and proofreader, we are able to bring you transcripts of the episodes.

Please send our volunteers your thanks!

00:00 - Welcome

NiNi

Welcome to The Conversation About BL, aka The Brown Liquor Podcast.

Ben

And there it is. I’m Ben.

NiNi

I’m NiNi.

Ben

And we’re you’re drunk Caribbean uncle and auntie here sitting on the porch in the rocking chairs.

NiNi

Four times a year we pop in to talk about what’s going on in the BL world.

Ben

We shoot the shit about stories and all the drama going into them. I review from a queer media lens.

NiNi

And I review from a romance and drama lens.

Ben

So if you like cracked-out takes and really intense emotional analysis…

NiNi

If you like talking about artistry, industry, and the discourse…

Ben

And if you generally just love simping…

NiNi

There is a lot of simping on this podcast…

Ben

We are the show for you!

[fanfare sound]

01:23 - Introduction

Ben

And we're back.

Today on part three of the VIIB Awards we will be awarding Immortal Technique, focusing on all of the production and other support roles that are not the people who are crying, or laughing, or screaming on our screens all the time.

NiNi, please review for the audience the categories we have and our processes.

NiNi

This is usually our favorite episode all year because we get to talk about all the behind the scenes stuff and all the behind the scenes people that make the shows truly great that just give them that extra dazzle and pizzazz that really sells us on the stories.

This is where we talk about, as Ben said, different aspects of production, we talk a little bit about writing and direction. We usually start out talking about music, and then we move into the rest of production, and we swing by writing—one of my favorite things, and then we usually end up on direction. So I think that's the trajectory we're gonna take.

02:34 - Interlude: Making a movie, Eddie Mannix style - Hail, Caesar! (2016)

Baird Whitlock

“…I mean, we may tell ourselves that we're creating something of artistic value or there's some sort of spiritual dimension to the picture business. But, what it really is, is this fat cat, Nick Skank, out in New York, running this factory, serving up these lollipops to the—what they used to call the bread and circuses for the…”

Eddie Mannix

[grabs Baird and slaps him] “Now, you listen to me, buster. Nick Skank and the Studio have been good to you and to everyone else who works here. If I ever hear you bad mouthing Mr. Skank again, it'll be the last thing you say before I have you tossed in jail for colluding in your own abduction.”

Baird Whitlock

“Eddie, I wouldn't, I would never do that!”

Eddie Mannix

[slaps Baird some more] “Shut up! You're gonna go out there and you're going to finish "Hail Caesar!" You're gonna give that speech at the feet of the penitent thief and you're gonna believe every word you say.”

[slaps Baird some more]

Eddie Mannix

“You're going to do it because you're an actor and that's what you do. Just like the director does what he does and the writer and the script girl and the guy who claps the slate. You're gonna do it because the picture has worth! And you have worth if you serve the picture and you're never gonna forget that again.”

Baird Whitlock

“I won't forget, Eddie.”

Eddie Mannix

“Damn right, you won't. Not as long as I run this dump.”

[Baird walks away]

“There, go out there and be a star.”

03:57 - Best OST Song

NiNi

We always start with music ‘cause as Ben reminded me in our little warm up, I care a lot more about this than he does. [laugh]

Ben

I would just award Boy Sompob every year like, “ooh, did Boy make a song? An award for my favorite boy!” [NiNi laughs] And he did this year. Twice!

NiNi

It wasn't even on my radar, bestie. I'm so sorry.

Ben

And he produced Nunew Chawarin, who we awarded last year.

NiNi

Boy Sompob is a staple and a legend. Unfortunately, he is not on our list this year.

Ben

He's on my list always. Don't worry, bestie.

NiNi

So Ben and I have very different musical tastes and as Ben would have mentioned to you guys, I think last year, I am very sensitive to music because I can hear pretty much close to perfect pitch. And it is physically painful for me when music is not good. So when I tell you that a song is good or that the music in a show is good, know that it is being filtered through that particular lens.

Our first award of the night is going to go to Best OST Song. This award is given for the song as recorded, so how the song is composed, how it's produced, and how it's performed. Whether the style of the song matches the show, how the song is used within the show, and honestly whether I will listen to the song every time or whether I'm going to fast forward it.

I will let Ben kick us off with the runner up for Best OST Song. Ben, what did you have on the list here?

Ben

The runner up for Best Original Soundtrack is ‘Plumeria’ from I Feel You Linger In The Air. [applause sound] performed by Cocktail, music by Thitiwat Rongthong and Ohm Cocktail, lyrics by Sichen Li, arranged by Korn Mahadamrongkul, Thitiwat Rongthong, and Cocktail.

‘Plumeria’ in I Feel You Linger In The Air has this really beautiful string component to it that I really enjoy. Of all of the songs we heard this year, it was the one I felt put me in the right mood as I was going into the show every week and I think about the song sometimes more than I do a lot of the songs that we've heard this year.

NiNi

It's a beautiful song, the orchestration is incredibly impressive. I am a person who loves to hear real instruments. I also love some electronic music, but there's something about real instruments and deep orchestration that puts me in a certain mental and emotional place and ‘Plumeria’ is a really beautiful song. Just thinking about it now I'm visualizing the elements within the story of I Feel You Linger In The Air. It's a very effective song for setting mood, like Ben said. So ‘Plumeria’ is our runner up.

The winner for Best OST Song is actually going to Japan this year, to ‘Futatabi’ from The End of the World With You [fanfare sound] performed by HIROBA and Otsuka Ai, music and lyrics by Otsuka Ai and Mizuno Yoshiki, arranged by Tsutaya Koichi.

I love the Immortal Technique episode because we just get to read out lists and lists of names of people who you have probably never heard of, but are really running shit.

Ben

If any of them or their friends or family hear this episode, I apologize if we butchered your names.

NiNi

I am doing my very best with Japanese pronunciation. I am trying extremely hard. I want to get it right. ‘Futatabi’ is the song that plays at the end of every episode of The End of the World With You. It penetrated my consciousness from the very beginning, but the episode where it really, really connected is the episode that ends with all of our heroes screaming at the meteor to go away. They want to live. There is something about it playing over that scene that just sends it into the stratosphere for me, and ever since that moment, every time I hear that song, it just makes me think of that sentiment, that “I want to live” sentiment. It has so much hope to it, so much desperate hope, so much absolute refusal to give up, and it's just a beautiful song.

So, Best OST Song goes to ‘Futatabi’ from The End of the World With You.

Ben

I'm really glad you talked about how you felt emotionally about that song because I just finished showing a friend the Pornographer series, which was made by a lot of the same people who made The End of the World With You. And I feel kind of the same way about the OST for that show as I do about The End of the World With You. There is a similar emotional component to it where the weight pressing down on you is so heavy, but you really don't want to give up and I feel like that team is really good at capturing that.

NiNi

The End of the World With You is a great, fantastic show and if you guys haven't watched it, you can go back to, I believe our spring series, listen to us talk about. Catch the show. We think it's incredible, and you'll get to hear ‘Futatabi’ in context and hopefully you'll agree with me.

10:03 - Best Music

NiNi

We're moving on from Best OST Song to Best Music. The Best Music award covers all the music that is used in a show, so the scoring, the music supervision, music editing, and use of music in the show.

Ben's going to come again here with the runner up for Best Music.

Ben

Ohh it's I Feel You Linger In The Air again. [applause sound] Congratulations to the team at Banana Sound Studio. You all were fantastic. I often feel like the mixing on Thai shows is too loud and I often feel like the musical choices can be really distracting. Even in this show, it's a little too loud for my taste, but there's a fullness and a richness to the way all of the sounds and music are really used that I don't find it distracting. I think it fits the overall tonality of the show, because this is the big swoony romance show of the year, and it's okay for things to be a little bit bigger.

I think I Feel You Linger In The Air is an excellent example of Thai music used really well in a very Thai production and I really wanna note how much I really enjoyed the use of traditional Thai music in a Thai historical show.

NiNi

I have to concur, the music all over I Feel You Linger In The Air and the way it was used were really fantastic, really helped sell the emotional weight of the story and particularly the decisions of where to use music and where to use silence, which I think is equally important. Great runner up.

The winner—and Ben’s going to shade me about this, because last year I told him that just because something's a musical, it doesn't automatically win Best Music—and I will maintain that. The winner of Best Music doesn't just win it this year because it's a musical, but because of how they use the music.

And the winner of Best Music this year is My School President. [fanfare sound] Composer Tong Atthaphol Rujiraprawat and Okomo P, music supervisor. The way that the music is used inMy School President, the way that it's constructed, where they use originals, where they use covers, where they use diegetic music, where they use non-diegetic music. For those who are not familiar with these terms, diegetic music is music that is occurring within the context of the story. So this is music that can be heard by the characters, basically, while non-diegetic music is not heard by the characters, so that's usually musical overlays, soundtracks, things like that.

My School President uses both. It uses original songs, it uses covers. It has very interesting scoring, I thought, aside from the jukebox musical feel of it and the jukebox musical elements themselves were also phenomenally used, I think. Basically somebody put a lot of effort into making the musical make sense as a story emotionally and through the characters. More than just making the music entertaining, it turned the music itself into a story. ‘Cause if you go through the songs in order of when they appear in the show, that trajectory, that path is also telling a story. I think that this was so well done. That is why it wins the Best Music of the year.

Ben

And now, audience, if you can imagine NiNi sitting in a brightly lit room. And suddenly the lights dim. [NiNi laughs] A moment of shade.

How dare you? [laughs] You shat on my favorite little musical from last year. You didn't even watch it!

NiNi

I did not. I started watching it—

Ben

You scoffed!

NiNi

—and I still intend to finish. I never scoffed. How dare you? [Ben laughs] I even said, I even said that the episodes that I did watch it I thoroughly enjoyed the music. I just haven't finished it yet.

Ben

I love that show.

NiNi

I'm not accepting that shade because I have never shaded Rainbow Prince. I liked Rainbow Prince. I just have not had time to finish it. I loved the music that I heard so far from Rainbow Prince. I did not shade it.

Ben

All right, back to the serious. I really enjoyed the music of My School President. I had a lot of fun with it. NiNi and I ended up selecting different songs that really stuck with us, but I really liked Let Me Tell You, that was still my favorite one. That one gets me, I think the most of all of the songs they did in that little show, a lot of fun.

NiNi

For me, my favorite song is the Palmy cover. It's the first song that they sing.

Ben

Unfortunately for them, I am a fan of Palmy, and while it was very cute to see these teenagers sing Palmy, they are not Palmy.

NiNi

Of course they're not Palmy. But that's the point. It's a cover.

Ben

It was fun. It was an okay cover.

NiNi

I especially like that when they do do the covers, so the Chinzhilla band in My School President, they call themselves a Brit pop band, which, mmm, debatable. However, all of the cover songs sound exactly like a high school band that thinks they're singing Brit Pop would sound, which I thought was really clever arranging and composing of the songs. I was definitely impressed that the song sounded like a high school garage band.

Ben

When I did relent to awarding My School President, it was because the music felt properly tuned to the characters themselves, and I thought that that was clever.

NiNi

It's well done, man. It really is well done. I don't think I've seen a use of music like that in BL, and hopefully it's not the last time we see a use of music like that, whether it's in a musical or not.

16:35 - Best Production

NiNi

Moving on from music, we're now moving into the rest of production. The Best Production award. This is the award for basically all the world building stuff. So this is production design and art direction, set design, costuming, hair, makeup, sound design, coloring—the aesthetic specificity. Basically all the things that contribute to what I like to call the vibe of the story.

The runner up for Best Production is If It's With You [applause sound] from Japan, the production house is MBS, the production designer is Sasuke Yamamoto, and the art director is Satoshi Nonogaki.

I love Japanese production and what I love about Japanese production is particularly Japanese set design. Japanese locations and sets I think are so well done, and they tell you so much about the characters and the environment that it's happening in. I always talk about how I love on screen, looking at a Japanese apartment, because a Japanese apartment is so specific, not just to Japan, but also to the characters. You learn so much about characters in a Japanese production just by looking at the environments they're being placed in.

When it comes to If It's With You, you get a sense from Amane's house what his life is like. You get a sense from Ryuji's house, ‘cause Ryuji lost his dad and he is working a lot to help his family. There's a little bit of a chaos to his house, but then there's the corner where his dad's shrine is, and that is perfectly maintained. It is clean and organized and everything. I love the production design on If It's With You.

Ben

If you're coming from American television and you primarily watch Thai BL, you're going to be paying way too much attention to faces when you watch Japanese media. And if you are only watching the faces of Japanese actors, you are likely missing 60% of the show. Space itself is such an important component in the way the Japanese construct their stories.

I talked about this in other episodes about how they very much believe in the foreground, middle ground, background, all having different elements of active storytelling. If It's With You is probably one of the better examples of this phenomenon this year, primarily because it's so short. MBS was able to spend their money in a really effective way. There's so much to observe in the way their hair is styled, the clothing, the lighting in the scene. Someone wrote about the way the light is used in the confession scene Amani has when he runs away.

You have to pay attention to more than just dialogue and the expression of strong emotion on an actor's face when you're going to watch Japanese media, or generally any media from a country other than your own, because you have to start learning that culture's film language. If It's With You it's a great one to go watch again if you've already watched it to look at these other elements: what the set design, what the costuming, what the hair and makeup, what the lighting, is trying to communicate to you along the way.

NiNi

We didn't really talk about the hair and makeup, particularly on Amane. I thought it was incredibly clever because Amane is kind of portraying this happy go lucky free spirit, and everything about the way his hair is styled, the way he dresses, it's all in service of him putting that face out to the outside. But he is masking. He is a sad boy masking as happy.

Ben

Ha! My favorite type of gay!

NiNi

Let's move on to the winner of the Best Production category.

Ben

Best Production this year again goes to a Thai team. It goes to Dee Hup House, production designer Takanta Kultrakarn and art director Le Phong Phu On for I Feel You Linger in the Air.

[fanfare sound]

I Feel You Linger in the Air, in totality, creates this beautiful vision of what Thailand looked like outside of Bangkok a century ago, and tries to imagine how those people might have used the spaces they existed in and moved around them. And there are a lot of really beautiful details, down to the type of cutlery that's used, the way they use the plates. Obviously, the costuming they wear, but even how they have people sit and move around, the way they create the illusion of space with their locations.

It's a really excellent piece on every level. It's so rich, and you can feel so much environmental storytelling going on with the location itself. And then there's interesting interplay with the house and the past and the present. It is just so excellently done. It is probably the most visceral show that we got to watch this year. The world that they create feels so believable that you almost feel like you could touch it.

It's really hard to do that. It is not easy. Congratulations to Dee Hup House, because goddamn.

NiNi

They put their foot in that, no lie.

22:13 - Best Writing

NiNi

Moving on to my main bitch: Best Writing. [laughs] When we're talking about the writing in the story, we're talking about the idea behind the story and setting up the characters; the story itself – that's the structure and the plot and character development. We're talking about screenplay, and then we're talking about script, dialogue, cadence, character voice. All these elements come into the best writing.

Ben

We actually had, like, a little spat [laughs] over awarding this category.

NiNi

Just a little one, not a big one. We ultimately agreed on who the top two were, but we couldn't agree on who was going to be the runner up and who was going to be the winner.

Ben

[laughs] I'll let you talk about the runner up.

NiNi

The runner up for Best Writing is La Pluie [applause sound] written by Fluke Teerapat Lohanan and Tanachot Prapasri. La Pluie is one of the best two, obviously, written stories of the entire year. There is no flab to that story. That story is written intensely. The way that they build out the world and the characters, the way that they set up the premise, the words that are put in the characters’ mouths, the way that the characters are developed, the fact that it allows characters to be wrong without being villains.

In terms of not just fiction, but genre fiction, which is incredibly hard to write, it is incredibly difficult to write genre fiction that does not feel…made-up. Of course, all fiction is made-up, but genre fiction there has to be an element of believability to it. You have to sell the idea in such a way that it feels real. It feels like something that could happen. The way that La Pluie sets up its world in the writing, the concept of this rain deafness phenomenon feels like a real thing that could happen in the world.

So you've set up the genre fiction side of it, and then onto that you add basically a retooling of the entire idea of romantic fiction. It's so cleverly done. It's like they looked at—and this is very clear, I mean it's even in the show—it's like they looked at Nora Roberts romance and said, “We're gonna take this to the next level. We're gonna show you what this would play out like if we did it in the real world, and then we're going to subvert that. We're going to twist it. We're going to turn it on its head. But it's still gonna be recognizable as romance.” It is some of the cleanest, deftest writing that I've seen in a while.

Ben

La Pluie is one of the best written shows of the year because you can refer to specific episodes, start talking about a couple of details, and the audience will be right back there. La Pluie has less than 15 seconds of recap going into each of their episodes. That's how strong the writing is in that show. Each episode is covering specific ground that they don't really need to do much other than remind you with a couple of shots where we left off, and you can go, “Oh, okay, yeah,” and we're right back in it.

I don't want to gush about La Pluie too much. I have much to say about La Pluie. I will not go on at length here.

The winner for Best Writing of this year goes to MAME, May Orawan Vichayawannakul for Wedding Plan. [fanfare sound] I was not expecting to be awarding MAME this year.

NiNi

Nobody was, bestie.

Ben

But I wanted to award Wedding Plan because I think MAME did a good job deconstructing and playing around with the types of dynamics she likes to put with her characters, and then telling a genuinely queer story within the structures of BL. I think that that is an incredibly impressive feat. It can't be overstated how complete Wedding Plan feels as a work. I have no lingering questions about the cast of characters in the show. This show was not being greedy with the audience's attention and hoping to milk us for more after the fact. They just sat down and told a really compelling story about what it means to try and work your way out of the closet in the least destructive way possible. Excellent job.

27:17 - Best Direction

NiNi

This is the Best Direction award. This is awarded for overall vision, filmmaking style, and visual impact, so photography, cinematography, shot selection, editing, directing, actor movement and expressions. These are all the elements that go into the best direction criteria.

Our runner up goes to Ishibashi Yuho, who directed Our Dining Table and Tokyo in April is…

[applause sound]

So the directing team here is Ishibashi Yuho, who is the main director on Our Dining Table. They directed along with Iizuka Kashou and Kamimura Naho, the DP or cinematographer is Hayasaka Shin. The editor is Takahashi Masakazu. On Tokyo in April is… Ishibashi Yuho, directed with Honda Daisuke and Kishida Masayoshi. The DP is Kato Taishi. The editor is Ohashi Masakazu.

Japanese direction is so specific. It comes from a very theatrical tradition, and sometimes I find that a little hard to digest depending on the strength of the actors, but generally I tend to like it. The theatricality to the direction, the fact that the set is seen sort of as a stage, and the actors enter and exit and move around in the space. It requires an understanding and awareness of space, both on the part of the actors and definitely on the part of the director because what you then put in front of the camera, because the camera, it moves, yes. But when you're talking about Japanese direction, camera is largely static, and everything else is moving within the frame.

Ben

You’re not really watching Japanese media until you start noticing that they're slowly zooming in on a character and that as a character is slowly excluded from the frame, they are not part of the current emotional beat that we're on.

NiNi

You're right, when the camera does move, it doesn't tend to be moving across the shot, but sort of in and out. So maybe the camera is zooming, or maybe there's some kind of dolly movement happening, but the dolly movement is going for depth into the scene rather than moving across the scene.

It is so fascinating, and I think that Ishibashi Yuho is sort of a master of it. Thinking about the direction at Our Dining Table, the way that she shoots the Ueda house. How you get an understanding of the space inside the Ueda house without the camera moving around very much, but where the camera is placed becomes important, and what the camera focuses in on becomes important. And then how those shots are pulled together become important.

Ben

I really hope we get to see her doing some more stuff in genre because I like where her priorities are. Not only is she really good at running a set and creating projects that are really easy to grok and connect to, she seems to care about the way gay men are presented in her work, and I really appreciate that.

NiNi

Congratulations to our runner up.

Ben, why don't you tell us who our winner is?

Ben

The winner for Best Direction this year goes to Baek Inu and Werner DuPlessis for The Eighth Sense. [fanfare sound] Director of Photography Yang Gyunsang, edited by Werner DuPlessis.

This project was a Korean and German team up, and it was unlike much of what we had watched from Korean BL in the last couple of years. They very much leaned into, like a—what’s the German term for their coming of age films?

NiNi

Bildungsroman.

Ben

It feels a whole lot like that, but it also feels like a moody Park Chan-wook film [laughs] the whole time, too. It was really fascinating watching these guys blend their styles together, and bring out these really strong performances and a lot of unknowns. There's a lot—like, I'm just sitting here. I'm thinking about the frenetic filming of episode 6. I'm thinking about the way they filmed Jae Won losing it and running to sock Tae Hyung, the way they used the framing of perspective when Ji Hyun sees whatever that nasty girl’s name was [laughs] kissing Jae Won in front of the bar. It's really good.

NiNi

I concur, it is really good, and the filmmaking...I mean, some of the things that they were able to do. I think there was an entire second unit that just handled the surfing scenes. And those scenes are truly impressive, the way that the water work was shot, it mimicked the sense of being on the waves—that feeling of never being entirely stable and occasionally getting knocked over. And it still captured the beauty of being in the sea.

And then, like you said, some of the frenetic filmmaking around Jae Won's mental state, and how that episode that you got so pissed [laughs] with everybody else about, about them saying that it wasn't real, but it felt dreamlike for a reason because Jae Won was probably, like, tits up out his mind on some kind of drugs, maybe, so it feels surreal. The way that the episode after the accident, when they come back to school and you don't know what exactly happened, and the whole thing is sort of tinged in this subdued, almost monochrome coloring until you find out what happens. And then the color slowly starts coming back to the show.

It's very, very well executed from a direction perspective, the way that the camera moves, the way that the actors are directed, the way that the show is edited together, just every aspect of the visual filmmaking. The overall vision for the show is coherent, it's cohesive, it's comprehensive, and it's damn good.

Best Direction 2023 VIIB award goes to The Eighth Sense. Baek Inu and Werner DuPlessis.

34:19 - Outro

NiNi

We have come to the end of our Immortal Technique VIIB Award segment. Next up tomorrow, if I have edited this correctly—always the caveat—we will be looking at our Top Tings. All of the top tops, the highest highs, of the BL for 2023.

So until then, we out. Say “bye” to the people, Ben.

Ben

Peace.

#podcast #lgbtq #the viib awards #thai bl #bl series #winter series #japanese bl #korean bl #the conversation #ben and nini's conversations #Spotify

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spotifypremiumsblog · 2 months ago

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Spotify's New Audiobook Subscription

Spotify, the music and podcast streaming giant, has recently ventured into a new arena: audiobooks. With the release of an audiobook-only subscription, Spotify is expanding its service offerings beyond music and podcasts, providing users with more ways to enjoy spoken-word content.

This move highlights the rising demand for audiobooks, catering to users who prefer to listen to books on the go.

The Rise of Audiobooks and Spotify’s New Offering

Over the last few years, audiobooks have grown rapidly in popularity. In 2023, the global audiobook market was valued at $4.2 billion, with a projected annual growth rate of 26.4% through 2030. As more consumers turn to audiobooks for convenience, it’s no surprise that Spotify, with its massive user base, is jumping on board to capture a share of this booming market.

Spotify’s audiobook-only subscribers can access a vast library of audiobooks for a monthly fee, similar to how Spotify Premium works for music. This strategic move allows Spotify to compete with other audiobook platforms like Audible, Google Play Books, and Apple Books.

Key Features of Spotify’s Audiobook-Only Subscription

Unlimited Access: Unlike the pay-per-title model, Spotify’s audiobook subscription offers unlimited access to thousands of audiobooks.

Personalized Recommendations: Leveraging Spotify’s advanced recommendation algorithms, users will receive tailored audiobook suggestions based on their listening habits.

Offline Listening: Just like its music service, the audiobook subscription allows users to download books and listen offline, perfect for long trips or commutes.

Ad-Free Experience: Subscribers can enjoy their audiobooks without interruptions, offering a seamless listening experience.

How to Maximize Your Spotify Audiobook Subscription?

Here are some tips to get the most out of Spotify’s audiobook service:

Explore Spotify’s Curated Lists: Spotify curates audiobook playlists and categories, from classics to trending new releases.

Use Offline Mode: Take advantage of Spotify’s offline feature to download audiobooks and listen to them when not connected to the internet.

Set Audiobook Goals: Track your listening time and set goals to finish more audiobooks.

Share Audiobooks with Friends: If you find a must-listen book, share it with friends via Spotify’s social features to engage in discussions.

However, if you want to know how to cancel Spotify Premium, simply:

Go to your account settings on the Spotify website.

Click “Subscriptions.”

Select “Cancel Premium” and follow the prompts.

Spotify’s Entry into Podcasts

Spotify's leap into audiobooks follows its successful podcast expansion. In 2019, Spotify purchased podcast companies like Gimlet Media and Anchor, making podcasts a core feature of the platform. As a result, by 2021, Spotify had become the #1 podcast platform in the U.S., surpassing even Apple Podcasts.

A Game Changer for Listeners

Spotify's audiobook-only subscription signals its ambition to become a one-stop audio platform for all types of content—music, podcasts, and now audiobooks. With features like personalized recommendations, offline listening, and an ad-free experience, this service has the potential to disrupt the audiobook industry.

Interested in audiobooks but still on Spotify Premium? If you're thinking about making the switch to an audiobook subscription, it’s easy.

Are you excited about Spotify's new audiobook subscription? Let us know in the comments below and share your favourite audiobooks!

#spotify #technology

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colinwilson11 · 3 months ago

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Australia Podcasting Market Will Grow At Highest Pace Owing To Rising Popularity Of On-Demand Audios

The podcasting market in Australia has witnessed impressive growth over the past few years owing to the increasing popularity of on-demand audios. Podcasting allows listeners to stream or download audio files on-demand for listening on various devices. Podcasts cover a wide range of genres including news, comedy, education, sports, and more. A major advantage of podcasts is that it provides updated information and knowledge that can be accessed anywhere and anytime as per one’s convenience. Meanwhile, podcasts are also gaining traction among advertisers as an effective medium for targeted advertising campaigns.

The Australia Podcasting Market is estimated to be valued at US$ 23.75 Bn in 2024 and is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 27% over the forecast period 2024-2031.

Key Takeaways

Key players operating in the Australia Podcasting Market are ARN (Australian Radio Network), SCA (Southern Cross Austereo), Nova Entertainment, Spotify, Apple Podcasts.

These companies collectively account for over 60% of the market share in Australia. Growing popularity of on-demand audio content and easy accessibility have boosted the consumption of podcasts in Australia. According to recent surveys, nearly 50% of Australians aged 12 and above listen to podcasts on a monthly basis. Various genres like comedy, news, and sports podcasts are the most popular categories.

Technological innovations have enabled simpler and personalized podcast discovery and listening experience. Major players are focusing on enhancements like customized recommender systems, offline listening, and integrated smart devices support to engage listeners better.

Market Trends

Increased time spent on mobile applications - Australians spend over 4 hours daily on their mobile devices providing scope for mobile podcast apps to gain more users.

Adoption of video podcasts - Launch of video podcasts by key players is expected to open new avenues of growth by leveraging the advantages of visual & interactive content.

Market Opportunities

Emerging genres - New and niche genres like educational, children, languages etc. podcasts are promising segments yet to be tapped fully.

Regional podcasts - Focusing podcast offerings for local/regional audiences can improve audience base in different states/regions beyond cities.

Impact Of Covid-19 On Australia Podcasting Market

The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the growth of Australia Podcasting Market. During the initial phases of the pandemic in 2020, the social restrictions and lockdowns led to increased podcast listening and production. As people were confined to their homes, podcast emerged as an engaging entertainment medium that could be accessed remotely. Podcast downloads and streams surged significantly. However, as the pandemic prolonged, challenges also emerged for the podcasting industry in Australia. Production of new podcast shows and episodes was hampered due to facility closures and lack of resources during lockdowns. Revenue generation through advertisements also declined as advertisers cut down spends amid economic uncertainties. The in-person events and meetups related to podcasting came to a halt, impacting networking opportunities.

Going forward, the podcast industry is expected to adapt to the evolving scenario with innovative strategies. Podcast producers are focusing on remote production techniques using digital tools to continue creating new content. They are placing enhanced emphasis on interactive elements and engaged conversations to boost listener experience. Live streaming of podcasts is gaining popularity. Monetization through sponsorships, tipping and subscriptions is being explored more aggressively compared to pre-COVID dependence on advertisements. Collaborations in the podcasting ecosystem have increased to sustain audience interest levels through combined talents and perspectives. The pandemic has accelerated digital transformation of the industry, boosting avenues for cross-platform discovery and distribution of podcasts.

In terms of geography, Sydney region accounts for the major share of the Australia Podcasting Market in terms of value. It is considered as the podcast capital of the country with highest number of podcasts produced and consumed. Availability of modern infrastructure, large creative talents pool and concentrated media industry provide growth advantage to Sydney. Melbourne follows Sydney as the second largest regional market owing to increasing youth population exhibiting high podcast affinity. Other high potential regions include Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide supported by rising awareness about podcast format among general public. Queensland is emerging as the fastest growing region for Australia Podcasting Market due to increasing number of local podcast productions covering diverse topics of regional relevance.

Get more insights on this topic: https://www.trendingwebwire.com/australia-podcasting-market-is-estimated-to-witness-high-growth-owing-to-growth-in-wireless-communication-technology/

Author Bio:

Money Singh is a seasoned content writer with over four years of experience in the market research sector. Her expertise spans various industries, including food and beverages, biotechnology, chemical and materials, defense and aerospace, consumer goods, etc. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/money-singh-590844163 )

What Are The Key Data Covered In This Australia Podcasting Market Report?

:- Market CAGR throughout the predicted period

:- Comprehensive information on the aspects that will drive the Australia Podcasting Market's growth between 2024 and 2031.

:- Accurate calculation of the size of the Australia Podcasting Market and its contribution to the market, with emphasis on the parent market

:- Realistic forecasts of future trends and changes in consumer behaviour

:- Australia Podcasting Market Industry Growth in North America, APAC, Europe, South America, the Middle East, and Africa

:- A complete examination of the market's competitive landscape, as well as extensive information on vendors

:- Detailed examination of the factors that will impede the expansion of Australia Podcasting Market vendors

FAQ’s

Q.1 What are the main factors influencing the Australia Podcasting Market?

Q.2 Which companies are the major sources in this industry?

Q.3 What are the market’s opportunities, risks, and general structure?

Q.4 Which of the top Australia Podcasting Market companies compare in terms of sales, revenue, and prices?

Q.5 Which businesses serve as the Australia Podcasting Market’s distributors, traders, and dealers?

Q.6 How are market types and applications and deals, revenue, and value explored?

Q.7 What does a business area’s assessment of agreements, income, and value implicate?

*Note: 1. Source: Coherent Market Insights, Public sources, Desk research 2. We have leveraged AI tools to mine information and compile it

#Australia Podcasting Market Trend #Australia Podcasting Market Size #Australia Podcasting Market Information #Australia Podcasting Market Analysis #Australia Podcasting Market Demand

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