Episode 31 Historical Futures

Thanks for Hitting Play and then listening to Hit Play. This week: taxes, survival, friendship!

Some of the plays in this episode may contain sensitive topics. For more specific content warnings, check out the timecodes below.

If you like what you hear and want to support the New York Neo-Futurists, subscribe to the show, consider making a donation at nynf.org, and join our Patreon. Patreon membership gives you access to bonus content like video plays! We’d really appreciate any support in these difficult times. Contributing to our Patreon helps us continue to pay our artists. 

Take care of yourself, make a fort out of pillows and sheets, and share it with us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.

1:40 - a rhetorical spiral inspired by paying taxes by Michaela Farrell featuring Kyra Sims, Michael John Improta, and Katie Kay Chelena

2:40 [CW: listing of violent historical events] - Gen X SurvivalList: How We're Able To Do This by Yolanda K. Wilkinson featuring Rob Neill and Christopher Borg

7:44 - In which Michael solicits future hugs Hit Play edition part 2 by Michael John Improta featuring Greg Lakhan

Our logo was designed by Shelton Lindsay

Our sound is designed by Anthony Sertel Dean

Hit Play is produced by Anthony Sertel Dean, Julia Melfi, and Léah Miller

Take Care!

Transcript 

Episode 31 Historical Futures

Show Intro

Swoopy spooky electronic instrumental music plays underneath.

Julia: 31. Historical Futures. I’m Julia Melfi—a New York Neo-Futurist. While our on-going, ever-changing, late-night show, The Infinite Wrench, is on hold for the foreseeable future, we wanted a place to keep making art for you. And so we made this podcast!  

If you’re already a fan of The New York Neo-Futurists, or any of our sibling companies, hello! We can’t wait to mosh with you at a punk show. If this is totally new to you—welcome to it!

We play by four rules: We are who we are, we’re doing what we’re doing, we are where we are, and the time is now. Simply put: we tell stories, and those stories are our own. Everything that you hear is actually happening. 

Julia sounds farther away and slightly out of breath

So if we tell you we're recording this part while doing jumping jacks, we’re really recording this part while doing jumping jacks. Like I am right now. 

Some of the plays in this episode may contain sensitive topics. For more specific content warnings, check the timecodes in the show notes.

Julia: And now, Yolanda will Run the Numbers!

Yolanda: Hey, I’m Yolanda, a New York Neo-Futurist Alumna. 

In this episode we’re bringing you 3 plays. The first one is by Michaela Farrell, featuring Kyra Sims, Michael John Improta, and Katie Kay Chelena. The second is by me, Yolanda K. Wilkinson, featuring Rob Neill and Christopher Borg. And the last is by Michael John Improta, featuring Greg Lakhan.

That brings us to 124 audio experiments on Hit Play. Enjoy!

Music winds down.

Play 1: a rhetorical spiral inspired by paying taxes (1:40)

Michaela: a rhetorical spiral inspired by paying taxes. GO!

Sound of fireworks

Michaela: Do you have a job right now?

Michael: Do you make enough money to pay your rent right now?

Kyra: Does your neighbor?

Katie: Do you have a full time job right now?

All: (Mix of yes and no as they all answer)

Michaela: Are you happy?

Sound of fireworks

Michaela: Are you on food stamps?

Michael: Did you get a stimulus check?

Kyra: Are you getting unemployment?

Katie: Are you comfortable?

Michaela: Is your community comfortable?

Michael: Are your neighbors comfortable?

Kyra: Have you asked them?

Katie: Have you met them?

Sound of fireworks

Michaela: Is the CARES Act going to end July 31st?

Michael: Are you going to be able to pay your rent in September?

Kyra: How about October?

Katie: Will you have a job by then?

Michaela: Who will you work for? 

Michael: What will you work for?

Kyra: What parts of yourself will you bargain?

Katie: The last time I was-

All:  The last time I was happy like really really happy was-

Staticky noise, all four Neos layered describing when and where they were last really happy--unintelligibly corrupted

Michaela: you’re breaking up

Michael: I’m breaking up

Kyra: I’m breaking

Katie: I’m breaking

Out of range beeps

Michaela: I know you hear the fireworks but have you seen them?

Play 2: Gen X SurvivalList: How We’re Able To Do This (2:40)

Yolanda: Gen X SurvivalList: How We’re Able To Do This. GO!

All: We were born into a world that killed MLK and RFK that soon filled up with riots. Born during an illegal, years-long, unwinnable war. Born into a world where a crooked president resigned before he was impeached. 

Yolanda: A world where a madman served cyanide kool-aid to hundreds in Jonestown

A world where Americans are taken hostage 

A world with a Reagan Era

All: A world where a teacher on her way to the stars fell out of the sky taking astronauts and hopes with her.

Yolanda and Borg: "Gay Cancer" was named AIDS so people would stop calling it G-d's plague.

Yolanda: Terrorists blasted hundreds of students out of the air over Lockerbie Scotland.

The Exxon Valdez landed a staggering blow for destroying the environment for profit

All: A world where Mandela goes free

Yolanda: And Thatcher leaves

A world where there’s no justice for Rodney King and no peace for Los Angeles

The world where OJ Simpson definitely did it

And Rwandans hacked up their neighbors

Yolanda and Borg: White Nationalist terrorism blew up the Murrah building

Yolanda: FOXNews is transmitted

Apartheid ended

All: Princess Diana is killed

Yolanda: A world where Jonestown became Heaven’s Gate

And Euros were better than dollars

All We lived in the world that tied Mathew Shepard to a fence and executed him

And Columbine was the first school shooting

Yolanda and Rob: Al Gore won the popular vote but Bush became President

Yolanda: Then NINE ELEVEN drove people crazy

We learned the Catholic Church moves molesting priests from parrish to parrish

While a sniper in DC used I-95 motorists as targets

All: A world where a Tsunami killed 200,000 in Asia and Katrina was racistly mismanaged

Yolanda: Then some Danish guy drew a picture of Muhammad and all hell broke loose

Yolanda and Borg: World economy crashed

Yolanda: Bernie Madoff robbed the rich

Michael Jackson died

Yolanda and Rob: A Chilean earthquake changed the world by shortening the day

BP spilled the oil

All: Justice Scalia made companies people

Yolanda: The Arab Spring sprang into existence

Osama Bin Laden killed

Wall St Occupied

Sandy Hook revealed us

Yolanda and Borg: A world where Obama could be elected and re-elected

Yolanda: But tries to kill Obamacare

ALL: Trayvon Martin is murdered

Black Lives Matter is born

Yolanda: Then the God Particle found

Gay Marriage is legal in all 50 states

Terrorists bombed the Boston Marathon

Robin Williams committed suicide

ALL: Michael Brown is murdered by police

Eric Garner murdered by police

Rob and Borg continue to read a list* of Black deaths caused by the police under Yolanda’s text -- see list below

Yolanda: Terrorists attack Paris

In church a terrorist massacred nine African-Americans 

No exit for Brexit 

Russia meddled in the U.S. elections

Fucking 45 lost the popular vote but won the Electoral College

Michigan Governor poisoned the people of Flint

A terrorist cuts off the PULSE in Florida

DAVID BOWIE DIED

PRINCE DIED

Alton Sterling murdered by police

Philando Castile murdered by police

Neo-Nazis in Charlottesville murdered Heather Heyer

Millions of women around the world take to the streets against Cheeto Mussolini.

Hundreds of thousands marched in DC for Our Lives

#METOO is cleaning house

The Blue Wave is crashing on the nation

Brown immigrants on the border are put in concentration camps

ARETHA FRANKLIN DIED

A terrorist massacred Mexicans in an El Paso mall

Notre Dame burned to the ground

We saw the black hole in our galaxy

Wildfires destroy the Amazon for profit

Jeffrey Epstein is finally dead.

Ghislaine Maxwell will not have committed suicide.

COVID-19 freezes the world and kills half a million people by cutting off their air so they can't breathe.

ALL: George Floyd is murdered by police who cut off his air so he can't breathe.

People all over the world march and riot, protesting police brutality and murderous cops.

The marches are still happening.

The protests are still happening.

The numbers are growing.

We were born into a world filled with riots and protests.

Black Lives Matter.

All Black Lives Matter. 

*List of Black deaths caused by the police (not in chronological order)

Dominique Fells

Alton Sterling 

Tamir Rice

Oscar Grant

Philando Castile 

Aura Rosser

Albert Joseph David

Michelle Cusseaux

Kendrick Johnson

Samuel Dubose 

Sandra Bland

Terrence Crutcher

Walter Scott

Tony McDade

Freddie Gray

Korryn Gaines 

Ahmaud Aubrey

Christian Cooper

Botham Jean

Atatiana Jefferson 

Johnathan Ferrell 

Domonique Clayton

Paul O’Neill

Renisha McBride 

Jordan Davis

Elijah McClain 

Aiyana Jones 

Tanisha Anderson

Breonna Taylor

George Floyd

Play 3: In which Michael solicits future hugs (7:44)

Michael: In which Michael solicits future hugs Hit Play edition part 2. GO!

Michael: Recently I got on my bike and I biked 40 miles to go visit a bunch of my friends and talk about hugs. Specifically when the last time we had had a hug was and what it would feel like to be able to hug again. I made a video of that and that video is available for our Patreon subscribers at the New York Neo-Futurists Patreon. But today, we're giving you a full recording of just one of those conversations. This is a conversation I had with Greg Lakhan. Enjoy. 

Background noise from outside recording. Greg sounds 9 feet away from the mic.

Michael: Alright. 

Sound of tape measure being pulled out and rattling. 

Michael: Alright. 

Sound of tape measure retracting

Michael: Hi Greg!

Greg: Hey! 

They laugh

Michael: So, guess how far away from each other we are?

Greg: I wanna say, 9 feet?

Michael: Yeah! Correct. You got it. You had a little bit of help, you know with the previous iteration, but so far you're the only person to get it right. So this is what 9 feet feels like. That's cool. 

Greg: Yeah. 

Michael: Do you remember when the last time you hugged somebody was?

Greg: Um, I'm pretty sure it might have been a week and a half ago. I hugged one of my best friends on my birthday. 

Michael: Oh that's great! 

Greg: Yeah. 

Michael: Can you tell me about a memorable hug that you remember? It doesn't have to be the most memorable. It could be that one! 

Greg: Actually, the most memorable hugs, like in my life, so I was 16, I was still in high school. I had just gotten dumped by my girlfriend. It was like the day after and uh, I was late to class and I got in trouble, but then after that, my best friend gave me a hug and I remember it just because like, it was the first time a hug has ever actually solved my problems 

Greg giggles

Michael: Yeah. 

Greg: So that's probably my most memorable. 

Michael: Fuck yeah, hugs are drugs!

Greg: yeah dude, and they help. 

Michael: Speaking of, I'm doing this play, this video, because I really miss hugging my friends. I wish I could hug you right now. So do you think maybe we could schedule a hug for like when this is over and we're allowed to? Can we pencil that in? 

Greg: You're damn skippy we can hug. 

Michael: Hell yeah! 

They laugh

Michael: Great! Would you tell me what that might look like in your imagination?

Greg: Probably, um, very strong, but I don't know. I feel like you give good hugs. You look like you give really good hugs, so like, I'm looking forward to that. 

Michael: Thanks man. Deal! 

Greg: Deal. 

Show Outro

Spooky swoopy electronic instrumental music plays underneath.

Julia: Thanks for Hitting Play and then listening to Hit Play. If you liked what you heard, subscribe to the show and tell a friend! If you want to support the New York Neo-Futurists in other ways, consider making a donation at nynf.org, or joining our Patreon–Patreon.com/NYNF. Patreon membership gives you access to bonus content like video plays and livestreams. And if this episode gets over 1,000 downloads, we'll order one of our Patreon supporters a pizza on us. We’d really appreciate any support in these difficult times. Contributing to our Patreon helps us continue to pay our artists. 

Take care of yourself, make a fort out of pillows and sheets, and share it with us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.

This episode featured work by: Michaela Farrell, featuring Kyra Sims, Michael John Improta, and Katie Kay Chelena; Yolanda K. Wilkinson, featuring Rob Neill and Christopher Borg; and Michael John Improta, featuring Greg Lakhan. Our logo was designed by Shelton Lindsay. And our sound is designed by Anthony Sertel Dean. Hit Play is produced by Anthony Sertel Dean, Léah Miller, and me, Julia Melfi. Take Care!

Music fades out!