#I listen to a lot of podcast episodes they go on

[ghostsandmermaids]

Fandom Manifesto: Hello From The Hallowoods

(Originally written for the Fandomanifesto community on Pillowfort.)

Here's a (mostly spoiler-free) fandom manifesto for my favorite podcast, Hello From The Hallowoods. (Please try to keep the comments on this post spoiler-free as well.)

What is a fandom manifesto?

Inspired by ship manifestos, a fandom manifesto is an essay meant to introduce people to a fandom and promote it by explaining its appeal. It's a really fun tradition that I would love to keep going.

What is Hello From The Hallowoods?

Darker than your dreams, and farther North than you remember, there is a forest where life and death meet…

Hello From The Hallowoods is a queer horror podcast written and produced by William A. Wellman (they/them). This is the official description (taken from Spotify):

Come walk between the black pines! In this award-winning queer fiction podcast, a cosmic narrator follows the increasingly connected residents of the forest at the end of the world. It's a bittersweet story that explores queer identity, horror genre tropes, and finding hope in humanity's last moments.

It's set in a forest in northern Canada (the Hallowoods) in a post-apocalyptic world plagued by the black rains. The story follows the inhabitants of the Hallowoods—only some of whom are alive and human—as their lives become increasingly interconnected. 

The podcast is narrated by Nikignik (he/they), also known as One Hundred Eyes in the Dark, an eldritch god who speaks directly to the listener via their nightmares. He begins to tell these stories because he's grieving his partner, another god called Marolmar (he/him), and humans were the last thing Marolmar created. Over time, Nikignik changes from a more passive narrator to an active character in the story.

There are a lot of characters, including but not limited to:

a nonbinary Frankenstein's creature piercing together their identity

a trans ghost dealing with his occultist father

an invisible man finding love at first sight

a genderfluid storm witch trying to prove themself

a retired rockstar and her punk butch lesbian daughter

a floral-suit-wearing demon on a celestial audit of earth

a starwolf on a mission to kill said demon

a killer robot skull and his pet dead seagull

an unkindness of ravens (yes, they are one character)

… and many, many more.

How scary is it?

It's a horror podcast, so there are some scary moments, but for me, the story feels very comforting and bittersweet as it explores horror tropes in a really unique way. According to the website:

It's been described as a show that helps you sleep easier, rather than one that keeps you up at night.

The story also explores themes like religious trauma, isolation, death, grief, and queerphobia, so please check the content warnings at the end of each episode description or at the start of each episode transcript. Transcripts are available on the website.

Why should I listen to it?

If the description above didn't convince you, here are some more reasons why you should listen to Hello From The Hallowoods. 

There is so much content! I often complain about books being almost always standalones or duologies lately and TV seasons only being 8-10 episodes. If I really like something, I want to spend as much time with it as possible!

With HFTH, I don't have that problem because there is so much to listen to! There are currently (almost) 150 episodes available (plus a few live shows and bonus episodes), and new episodes come out every Wednesday. There are also weekly 100-word bonus stories on Patreon, and a tie-in novel called One Hundred Eyes In The Dark is currently in the works, so if you're looking for a story you can get really invested in (or if you're angry that all your favorite shows have been canceled), HFTH is perfect for you!

There are so many queer characters, disabled characters, and characters of color! If you're looking for a really diverse show, you will love HFTH. (I cried when I heard a character describe herself as aromantic.) But even aside from the diversity, the characters are just amazing. I mean, "What if Frankenstein's creature got love and support and was an absolute cinnamon roll?" is the perfect character concept. The villains are also really compelling and well-written. 

It's a great introduction to podcasts, especially for book lovers, because it often feels like a very immersive audiobook! The voice acting and music are incredible, and even though there are a lot of characters, you can tell them apart very easily by their voices. If you like fantasy and horror books, this could be your introduction to the world of audio dramas. 

That being said, if you have listened to other horror podcasts before, you will still love this one! It sometimes reminds me of Welcome To Night Vale, but the setting and characters are very unique, and the writing is so, so beautiful. 

It's also a great introduction to horror! I used to avoid horror media because I get scared very easily, but horror podcasts (and especially Hello From The Hallowoods) made me discover how much I actually enjoy horror. HFTH explores horror tropes in such a kind, unique, and hopeful way, and as sappy as that sounds, listening to it makes the horrors of everyday life a little easier to deal with. 

If you like Malevolent (another really great horror podcast), Harlan Guthrie has a guest role in HFTH! You might also recognize Mx. Wellman's voice from other podcasts like WOE.BEGONE, The Silt Verses or Old Gods of Appalachia. 

The fandom is amazing! Everyone is so kind and talented, and we always have a lot of fun theorizing about what will happen next. There's even a fan-run Discord server!

We also have a fan wiki, and in addition to the official information, we also have a "fun gender" for each character. Here are some of my favorites:

Tumblr Sexyman (Official)

Eye-Affiliated Podcast Host

Deer that will fuck you up

Whatever the hell was going on with the guy from Shape Of Water

Nightmare Personality

Hot Topic Goth

Dilf Automobile

How do I listen to it?

You can listen to Hello From The Hallowoods on the podcatcher of your choice. Here are some suggestions from the Hallowoods website:

Spotify

Apple Podcasts

Podbean

YouTube

Google Podcasts

It's not an anthology, so please listen to it from the beginning to see how the different characters and plot threads come together. 

The show is entirely ad-free and sponsor-free, so if you like it and want to financially support it, please consider joining the show’s Patreon.

And that's it! There are many things I didn't include for spoiler reasons, but this should give you a basic idea of what HFTH is about and why I love it so much. 

I hope I convinced you to listen to Hello From The Hallowoods, and maybe you will love it as much as I do!

#hello from the hallowoods #hfth #fandom manifesto #podcast recs #podcast recommendations #horror podcasts #long post

[thedailyplatypics]

A Future Return For O.W.C.A. Files? (Discussion):

A frame from the OWCA Files theme song sequence.

O.W.C.A Files is a 1 hour special that premiered on Disney XD November 9, 2015 a while after Phineas And Ferb’s “final” episode.

It was one of the possible spin-offs the creators thought about doing, but it didn’t really go anywhere. It followed the B-plot characters post Doofenshmirtz turning good which is a smart idea for a spin-off since most people tended to like the B-part of the story better while more were bored with the A-plot.

However, among the fanbase it is a pretty controversial episode. Some complaints are that Doofenshmirtz is too annoying in the episode, the character design isn’t great, animation is mediocre, the pacing isn’t good, and the existence of the “Bits of All Of Us” song which some found very pre-school-like.

It definitely could have used Norm or Vanessa to balance out the absence of another talking being while also toning down Doof’s annoying-ness over the course of a series, but I still think it was a pretty solid episode with other Phineas And Ferb level songs and shows the Doof n’ Perry action packed secret agent show spin-off that could have been.

Other spin-offs like a Fireside Girls one and Doof 101 were also contemplated, but out of many different show pitches, Milo Murphy’s Law would ultimately become the next show Dan and Swampy would work on instead, as well as the next Dwampyverse show.

But could O.W.C.A. Files still be?

Before the revival was announced the creators have always talked about how they might one day revisit the show in “the next summer”.

Since it’s starting to look more and more like the Phineas And Ferb Revival will take place in the next summer while also visiting other episodes of the characters in the future it is possible that we could see an O.W.C.A. Files like B-Plot in a future episode once again, especially since Doofenshmirtz might likely be good after he turned good in the Season 4 Finale and after the events of Milo Murphy’s Law.

Frame from Happy New Year (left) and Christmas Vacation (right)

Doof does return to evil in the timeline though.

When it comes to the episodes that Doof is still evil in, but take place after the events of the Summer, (the Christmas and New Years specials/ etc.), Co-Creator Dan Povenmire’s explanation was that sometime after the events of Doof 101 (the fall after the summer) and before or after OWCA Files (I forget) Doof relapsed to an evil phase again which is believable, but after the events of Milo Murphy’s Law where his new, less evil, destiny is revealed it is less likely the creators will want to make him evil again unless they decide to switch of the Dwampyverse timeline once again🫠.

Frame from Primal Perry (left) and Road to Danville (right)

Milo Murphy’s Law and O.W.C.A. files both proved the B-Plot does not rely on Doofenshmirtz to be evil for entertainment. Not to mention some of the most memorable moments of the B-plot in the series have Doof being pretty tame and actually working together with Perry to accomplish a task.

However, it still seems unclear whether the crew or executives will decide to make him evil again or not in order to capture the same charm of the original show. We’ll just have to wait for the next announcement of new details soon.

Overall, it’s probably about a 50/50 chance whether the B-Plot will be an O.W.C.A. Files like Doof n Perry duo fighting evil, or not.

Even if nothing like that appears in the revival, Povenmire did sign a deal with Disney to make additional shows for the Disney Channel, including properties for the Dwampyverse, which means something like O.W.C.A. Files could still be on the table as a future show.

How do you think they will handle the show?

Also, feel free to point out any details in the essay that should be changed.

#Phineas and Ferb #Blog #Essay #Opinion Essay #o.w.c.a. files #owca files #I listen to a lot of podcast episodes they go on #Phineas And Ferb revival #cartoons #disney channel #perry the platypus #Doofenshmirtz #fan article

[mintmentos]

Things in Sherlock and co that make me get weird looks on the tube because I can’t contain myself

Lots of love, Sherlock Holmes

Who is called Jonk??

No shit Sherlock

The bag for life debacle

“Lestrade has very kindly sent these on. What she lacks in intelligence and any discernable talent required to be an officer, she’d makes up for in kindness” “She sent these to you for your birthday” “I suspect for two reasons. First, the case makes very little sense to Scotland Yard which isn’t surprising, and second, yes, for my birthday”

John losing it over the cardboard box title

The horse is the fucking masked singer!

According to Watson’s geographical breakdown I live in the bumcheeks of the uk

#I think lots of love is when I fell in love with this podcast the combination of the crescendoed classical music and absolute a* pettiness #in sherlocks voice was a winning combination #for some reason it’s giving pink glitter pen with kisses underneath and I’m so here for this image #also I don’t think the present thing translates well but the absolute relish when he says ‘yes for my birthday’ is incredible #anyway I binged this in a week and now have to wait a weeks between episodes and I have no clue what I’m going to listen to when I want to #knit my sock rip #sherlock and co #sherlock & co

[moregraceful]

what jersey did you purchase today??

THEY GOT ME WITH THE GAME WORN CRISCUOLO JERSEY MAN 😭 IT WAS SO EXPENSIVE AND IT'S NOT EVEN SIGNED 😭😭

shit won't even fit i bet, that man was the size of a grain of rice and weighed less than my dog. this org has my balls in a fucking vice

#you guys know how i only wear the john leonard jersey to sharks games bc it was such an ill-advised purchase? me with this crisco jersey #the cuda should be paying ME money. i MAKE them money. by POSTING #i'm sure i make some equally normal purchase of a cvf jersey i can't wear anywhere later this week too. i'm so sure 😭 tf is wrong with me #which btw. downloading every single podcast on the face of the planet for this roadtrip knowing full well what's gonna happen is #i am gonna listen to 5 minutes of a locked on sharks episode and get ripshit mad at jdy and spend the next 7.25 hours listening to #spotify's tropical house playlist while carefully crafting the most dumbass notfic about environmental conservation #which is what always happens when i have to drive by myself for long periods of time #AND BTW. RE: CRISCO JERSEY. THIS ONLY HAPPENED BECAUSE I WAS MAD AT ONE JOB AND THEN RECEIVED A VERY ANNOYING TEXT MESSAGE FROM ANOTHER JOB #AND THEN THE ORG EMAILED. STEF GOT ME IN A VULNERABLE MOMENT. I WAS DYSREGULATED!!! I WAS NOT MYSELF!!!! #the best part is the sharks proshop called me this morning like hey your simmer jersey is ready. i was like oh yay :) <3 UNKNOWING......... #all three of my jobs made me so exhausted today guys it just never ends #but then it's like well. if i didn't have three jobs. i couldn't make insanely stupid purchases either #so even though i burned out so hard i feel dead inside a lot of the time. at least i can create THE most baffling sharkuda jersey collectio #where was i going with this. oh right. mackblack win tn schedule that selena gomez lockdown starting NOW #cage replies #tausendsorgen #LESA

[personnotfound]

I've decided that if my little brain thought about possibly hearing a clip from the previous series in protocol as an indication of the web or whatever comes true, the clip (or one of the clips) has to be Binary. For fun.

#the magnus pod #the magnus archives #tma #tma podcast #jonathan sims #tmagp #tmagp theory #the magnus protocol spoilers #Okay but what if #Probably some web episode too #I'll listen to today's episode eventually #I just have a lot of noise going on #And my broken headphones don't block jack shit

[braintapes]

ooooughh h with the new New Crew episode it seems the Concierge is the MOST human-like out of any of the staff....his fantasy at the beginning...his ideal sanctuary being this fancy library (his lounge) with the perfect fire and the wine ....also thinking about how sensory-focused he is - how everything Needs to be Just So, how he hones in on details like taste and smell and appearance, and even the way he can 'read' the guests...

He has, I'd argue, the strangest way of Seeing of the Hotel out of any of the staff - not Nothing, like the Auditor, and not a bunch of meat and guts like the Bellhop, but the hazy starlight and cosmos etc etc. But then he has such heightened sense for the things they presumably do not. He has so much more earthly connection, but to what end? He'll never get to be there in the fancy library and taste the wine and feel the comforting yet not burning warmth of the fire, no matter how perfectly he can imagine it.

The temptations to be drawn into that more earthly, more human realm are there, if highly idealized (but then, who is the Concierge if not a man of standards so high they reach the cosmos itself?). But he sacrifices those wants and desires for the sake of proving himself, his loyalty and his duty to the Hotel...I wonder how long he can hold onto his refined composure for if that continues on?

#the hotel podcast #my first impressions reading the new crew transcript. still need to Listen #noticing an interesting trend w/ the new crew where theyre #on the whole much more satisfied and happy w/ what they do #where the old crew experience basically ONLY misery and pain and suffering etc #hop gets so GLEEFUL to watch the guests die. is so genuinely thrilled by watching them expire n her part in it #aud even with her whole. um. situation. still takes pleasure in the job she has. she seems quite happy to Be and perform her duties #and here we see the concierge as a character that deeply savors and relishes too in his own way #my train of thought is kinda going all over the place but yeah. i like this episode a lot

[moghedien]

there was apparently almost a full calendar year between filming the pilot and even going into the writers room for the rest of the season, which i guess does explain why Maybelle/Molly got extremely pregnant so quickly in the season when definitely not showing in the first episode

#i listened to Abbi Jacobson on Queery #and the episode aired on Nov 2020 and she said they were about to go back into the writing room in a few days #and they had filmed the pilot in February #considering the podcast episode was almost two years ago #she does kinda talk a lot about aloto up top #like apparently they had written and entire season as a 30 min per episode comedy #and then they got asked to just make a pilot and make it an hour long and that’s when they started making it more dramatic #and getting deeper into the queer stuff #it’s kinda interesting what she says about it’s development arc #a league of their own

[iliveinprocrasti-nationn]

the thing about podcasts for me is that i actually have a really hard time listening to them and have tried to get into at least 20 if not double that over the past few years but have never been able to get through more than a few episodes and that’s usually after forcing myself. this is true for all except one podcast. because i have only ever been able to listen to and enjoy that single podcast, i listen to it on repeat and have been since 2020. i have been informed recently that this is not something that happens with other people

#informed my boss abt this and he was kinda disturbed #‘you just catch up and then start it over again? and then finish it and start it over again?’ yes #old gods of appalachia podcast of all time. genuinely. #if you go into the tag you might find my posts from years ago #one of my posts that i posted about episode 25 still gets likes occasionally #this podcast has gotten me through some really tough times when horrible things have happened in my life and it was a massive component of #my starting to heal a little after my dad passed #and now i listen to it on repeat at my job while i do lab work #old gods of appalachia #ogoa #it was also what helped me become more accepting of my southern accent. bc i moved to the south young and i tend to be a bit of an accent #chameleon so i picked it up easy and then it became how i speak. but i used to suppress it constantly (and still sometimes find myself doing #it) but hearing people who sounded similar just. helped. and i could relate a lot to details in the podcast and suddenly my accent wasn’t #just the thing they use on tv to indicate someone isn’t intelligent or is a bigot #i could write essays on this podcast and how it helped me tbh #and now it doesn’t have to help me through anything necessarily and i just get to listen to it for fun. i love it

[danceintheskies]

GRANT IS GAY BIG WIN FOR THE "GAYMERS WHO DON'T DO ANYTHING" CROWD

#im listening through dndads. no spoilers #my posts #i like him a lot. he's my favourite kid so far #ron and terry's reunion made me teary though... #i will say im surprised the pace is going this fast we're on the last kid and theres like what. 50 episodes left? #in this campaign anyway #but yeah anyways he's great. i love that his type is just 'dudes with eyepatches permanently fused to skateboards'. i hope they don't #kill him and eat his skin. #I've decided to become 5% more normal and spend my hours on bus rides listening to podcasts instead of staring aimlessly at nothing #it's fun. im glad i wear a mask on public transit because it'd be weird if people saw me grinning for no reason on the bus gjdgdkfbdjfs #but yeah that's what ive been up to mainly. between shifts and classes and decomposing #decomposing mostly.

[hephaestuscrew]

Some thoughts about Michael and Nica on the drive back from Wonderland:

I think we can be pretty certain that Michael wanted to have a drink the second he saw Leon's death on the news. He's a recovering alcoholic who had just heard probably the worst news of his life, who had just lost the primary figure of support in his recovery. And we know that he did get drunk that very evening. But he stayed sober long enough to drive to pick Nica up from Wonderland. His desire to help Nica was stronger than his self-destructive impulses.

Nica said at Leon's funeral "I don’t even know [Michael] that well". He was just her brother's roommate and she was just his best friend's sister. I interpret them as being friendly acquaintances, if that. Most of what they knew about each other was probably what Leon had told them. The only thing that bonded them was the person they had just lost. The biggest thing they had in common that day was the grief they were both grappling with.

Michael drove them back from Wonderland, and the two people in that car were the two people in the world most devastated by Leon Stamatis' death. (Dmitri's feelings weren't in the picture yet because he didn't know.) They didn't talk the whole way. The air must have felt full of their grief and shock and guilt. But they heard a old song (one where the lyrics are incidentally about not feeling alone anymore) and something in it made them laugh. And so for a moment, they shared laughter as well as grief.

It was unpredictable, unexpected moment, a moment that was out of place on that awful day. In it's strange spontaneity, that moment of laughter seems un-Leon-like. It was Michael and Nica's own moment.

It didn't fix anything. Michael still went home and got drunk. Nica still spiralled into self-blame. But I still think that moment mattered. Nica remembered it at Leon's funeral (or at least, she talked about Michael picking her up from Wonderland). Michael remembered it as he was dying. It mattered that on that terrible day, they found a moment of lightness - a moment of togetherness.

#Greater Boston #I'm kinda embarrassed to post this #because it means that the last 3 posts in the Greater Boston tag that aren't by the official blog will all be mine #I just have a lot of feelings about this 8 minute episode okay #and all my followers who don't listen to Greater Boston are going to have to hear them #Greater Boston spoilers #Michael Tate #Nica Stamatis #Greater Boston podcast

[the-fear]

Okay I dont know much about your liked ships so uhh your favorite podcast ship for the shipping bingo!

To be honest, I haven’t really been listening to any new podcasts for ages (Malevolent was really the last one that I picked up, about a year ago), so I don’t have many podcast ships much less a favourite one.

However, I’ll go with a classic (Jonmartin from TMA, because they were my first big podcast ship).

(“I used to like it” is highlighted not because I don’t like them anymore, but because in terms of ships it’s kind of a low-level one for me. I still enjoy it, but I’ve kind of moved on from them as a main-focus ship in my mind.)

[ID: A shipping bingo template with the sections “comfort ship”, “I used to like it”, “guilty pleasure ship”, “literally perfect, no notes”, and “they should go to therapy together. heart emoji” highlighted in green. /End ID]

#ask answered! #ask game answers #felixcosm!tag #I’ve been meaning to catch up with some podcasts I started but didn’t finish #but I haven’t really had the right mindset up until now #so hopefully now I go on the bus a lot more I can listen to podcasts on the journey #And in fact my biggest ship at the moment is from RD but I tend to interact with that stuff more on my sideblog #and since you’ve just started it I don’t really want to spoil you for later episodes :| #id #id in alt text

[dragons-and-yellow-roses]

Woo I did some writing!!

#I'm trying to write a fiction podcast #I'm in love with it so far #years ago i tried to write it as a novel but i kind of gave up on the project. as one does #then i started listening to a shit ton of fiction podcasts and i realized #holy shit this story would work so much better as a podcast #and at first i thought 'oh i don't know how to write a podcast it'll be so hard' #but then i did a little research and just started writing #i have the story in my heart. i just need to get it out. and it's coming out so well #I'm in the process of writing the second episode and editing the first #i like the second a lot more. which i need to change. because the first episode is going to need to catch the attention of listeners #I'm just having some trouble because it's a lot more sad than the second #the second episode brightens up a lot. the first episode just can't be as bright. but i need to make it more attention catching #tonight i wrote like two pages of the second episode and I'm really proud of it #i can't wait until i can hear other people's voices and acting. hear it really come to life #it's exciting

[petrichorvoices]

we finally caught up on WTNV

#this is the first and only time we've ever been caught up on it. we've been listening since 2019 or so #most of how we caught up starting from 203 was by reading the transcripts and listening to portions of audio #we weren't able to handle doing the full audio episodes #it's. uh. i need some time to think about things. since we've started engaging more in fandom spaces #even if all we're doing is reblogging fanart and all that #i've been having a harder time openly being a fictive. and i always feel strange talking to singlets that are fans of my source #i feel scared that my presence is going to make them uncomfortable to engage in media. that i'm doing something wrong by existing nearby #i don't want to deprive anyone of anything they enjoy. i don't want people to feel awkward talking to me because. well. #i'm blorbo from their podcasts or whatever. i want to be recognized as a person. just a person who happens to also be a fictional character #i feel bad reblogging things from people who are into my source and tagging it as Cecil's tag even if its unrelated to WTNV #because i don't want them to feel like i'm imposing myself and my strangeness on them. and i don't want to give them the same media issues #that we deal with. a lot of our media issues comes from psychosis yes but a part of it is also from being fictives and knowing about them #like i know so fully well that i'm extremely weird and not in the good way. that most people don't and won't believe me about myself #and i don't want to weird them out. i'm terrified TERRIFIED of accidentally letting a WTNV fanartist find out that i'm Cecil and #getting blocked for being some crazy weirdo or whatever. i just. it's a big worry i guess is what there is to say #i want to talk to people and i want to be myself but i think on some level i wish that my self was something else #like. i don't want people to feel like they can't treat fiction as fiction just because i exist #i don't want them to shy away from discussing character's traumas or putting them in weird AUs or whatever #do whatever the hell you want with it my presence shouldn't scare you off from it #i'm kind of repeating myself at this point so i'm gonna stop so. yeah #if you read this full thing we'd appreciate a like on this if that's okay just for paranoia reasons #rambling #Cecil's tag

[leavesandsweaters]

(season 2 episode 23 spoilers in the tags kinda)

you know you have problems when the people you relate to the most in dungeons and daddies are Grant, the doodler, and Lark.

#i spent last night crying and listening to dungeons and daddies #i would call that a good night #but like the doodler is so relatable #i feel like i hurt everyone i love too #and the part where linc asks grant if he loves himself #and he just like yeets off the bus like me too grant me too #and then when he's like “do i deserve to die? eughgeh yes?” #and lark honestly i feel like im going insane so yeah i relate to lark #but grants character breaks my heart and his like of killing is a very interesting thing #it makes you think because a lot of psychopaths and stuff feel that its like self harm addiction but different #grant just feels so relatable but i don't want to kill people he's just relatable in his offhanded mentions of how he feels he's terrible #im not having a good week at all and I have to wait for the next episode #my dungeons and daddies hyperfixation is very very intense right now #but im happy so who cares?? #well im not happy but im happy with my hyperfixation #i was screaming when the og daddies came on and the teens could be come them and stuff like AHHHHHH XD #IT WAS SUCH A GOOD EPISODE LIKE I WAS CRYING I MISSED THE OG DADDIES SO MUCH #THE NOSTALGIA FOR ME FROM SEASON 1 IS SO SO SO INTENSE #I LISTENED TO IT ON CAR RIDES AND WHEN I WAS SAD AND OMG THE NEW EPISODE JUST BROUGHT UP SO MANY EMOTIONS #this podcast is my only source of seratonin and dopamine istg #mentally fucked #sad #dndads #dungeons and daddies #dndaddies #dndaddies s2 #dndads s2 #the doodler #grant wilson #lark oak

[calamitys-child]

Listening to a podcast discussing conspiracy theories and deconstructing the ideas behind them and it's reminded me of the coolest practical lessons in critical thinking I ever got, both in high school, both from the same teacher. One was a month long project on who killed jfk in which we could basically present any theory as long as we cited all our reasons and it got us really excited about research and interpretation, but it was the follow up that I liked best.

Our next project she brought us into class and showed us a documentary claiming the moon landing was faked. Gave us worksheets to do that sided with that stance. And at the end of class a bunch of us were like miss wait this doesn't seem right?? and she said okay, we'll discuss that next week. The next lesson, she showed us a mythbusters episode countering all the claims of the original documentary and gave us worksheets for that, and another bunch of people went wait miss you can't teach us two opposing things, which one is right? What do we put on the exam??

So she split the class in two and told us each to present a case based on each side, and to explain why our source was or wasn't the more reliable of the two. Got us to debate each other directly and use additional sources to back us up and explain why those sources were reliable and should be believed. And because they were randomly assigned there was no guarantee you'd agree with the stance you were presenting, but you had to present it like you did. At the end of the project she asked us all which stance we found more convincing and why, and the majority of us basically said "we think that the moon landing is real because most of the arguments against it seem like someone reacted to a confusing thing without testing it, but when you test it and ask the person running the test to explain the science it makes sense once you have more information. Also, one documentary was made with the help of scientists with qualifications and experience and the other was made by people who don't have that but like to write mystery books, which looks like a less reliable way to get an answer. But we still dont understand why you showed us both if one is wrong."

And she was like excellent. You've done exactly what you should do. At high school level, we as teachers are expected to filter for the reliable sources for you, so you know to repeat that to pass an exam, but if you want to be historians on your own, I won't be your teacher any more once you graduate. Lots of people have opinions and theories and research about times in history, and it's your job to learn how to look at them and decide who you want to trust. This won't be on the exam, but I need you all to know it. You all did a great job following the school's instructions to repeat information you were given, but for some of you, that information wasn't on a reliable foundation. I know you all know how to pass an exam. You're smart and you've been trained to follow these instructions. What you deserve to be taught is how to use all this once you don't have to do exams any more.

And then as a reward for us doing a good job at figuring out the value of checking your sources' sources she let us watch Bush get hit in the face with a shoe before we had to go to maths. Shoutout to you Ms Hannah you were a good'un I hope you're doing well ten years on from that class

[alveolion-alt]

why must i be a productive member of society. is it not enough to have my entire mind be consumed by critical role for 16 hours a day

#i am on episode 14 of campaign 2 and i would already kill for every single one of these characters #i am never going to run out of content at least. theres literally over 1100 hours of podcast to listen to #i listen to it a lot at work and it is very hard trying not to laugh and/or cry in front of my coworkers #but anyway. nott mollymauk and jester are my current favorites cause theyre very good at making me have big feelings #i am not tagging this for exposure cause i am vaguely trying to avoid spoilers #i love tags. 6 unrelated thoughts in a row bay bee