Episode 39 Investigating Now

Thanks for Hitting Play and then listening to Hit Play. This episode: factories, elections, popsicles!

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, start your own podcast where you scream into a pillow for each episode, and share it with us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.

1:30 - A Mindless Task by Michaela Farrell

4:40 - Before Biden announces his VP pick... (OR some questions that have oscillating answers depending on if I'm on or off the clock) by Anooj Bhandari

7:12 - The Woman and the Popsicles: a not-so fictional fictional investigative podcast within a podcast Season 1 Episode 1 by Robin Virginie featuring Gilda Virginie and Michaela Farrell

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 39 Investigating Now

Show Intro

Wooshy electronic instrumental music plays underneath.

Julia: 39. Investigating Now. Hi I’m Julia—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 babybird food into your mouth. If you're into that. If this is totally new to you—welcome to it!

We make art 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. Sound of wind. So if we tell you we're recording while riding our bike, we’re really recording while riding on our bike. Like I am right now. 

Bike bell dings!

Julia: And now, Robin will Run the Numbers!

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

In this episode we’re bringing you 3 plays. The first is by Michaela Farrell. The second by Anooj Bhandari, and the last is by me, Robin Virginie, featuring Gilda Virginie and Michaela Farrell. 

That brings us to 151  audio experiments on Hit Play. Enjoy!

Music winds down.

Play 1: A Mindless Task (1:30)

Michaela: A Mindless Task. GO!

Background noise of machines and music playing

Michaela: Peel stick thread thread 

Peel stick thread thread

Peel stick --

What is your definition of a mindless task?

Is it something you can do in your sleep?

Is it a motion that empties your brain?

A job that saves your thoughts for another day?

Is it what “clear headed” means?

I work in a factory,

We make face shields for hospitals

Two words. Face-Shields.

I sit at the stick and thread station

I peel the foam from the paper, I stick the foam on the plastic and thread the elastic on both sides

Peel stick thread thread

It’s simple, it’s easy- which at the beginning made me think it would be A mindless task.

But it is not.

When I complete this motion over and over again 

The last thing I feel is mindless

Or empty

My thoughts can go all around the world from my chair.

They enter secret passageways I’ve forgotten

They remember feelings I’ve never registered

They climb mountains that I’ve never seen

This is clear. This is what a clear head is.

What is your definition of a mind full task?

Two words. Mind full.

Is it when you think too hard about what you are doing,

And you fall from the clear?

Is it when you mess up 

When you thread before sticking and it's all wrong?

And for that moment--

You’re thrown off the mountain

The secret passageway disappears

You remember what you’re actually doing 

And who you are doing it for

When your thoughts can’t go all around the world

When they exist on the floor of a factory

You’re just in the chair

And it's right after your day of work, it's 5:30 pm. 

And you made 840 face shields that day. 

And you wonder how you got here.

Wondering where your work will end up

Wondering if it will help someone.

If it's enough

And all you want is for your thoughts to be clear.

--thread

Peel stick thread thread

Background music fades out

Play 2: Before Biden announces his VP pick (4:40)

Anook: Before Biden announces his VP pick... (OR some questions that I have oscillating answers depending on if I'm on or off the clock). GO!

Funky chill underscore

Anooj: What if voting isn’t actually the most direct path to change? 

Does society sit within politics or does politics sit within society today? 

Are we supposed to feel a type of way if we have come to a place where we are not sure? 

Are we supposed to feel a type of way if we have come to a place where our neighbor isn’t sure? 

What if the power of politics is false?

What if you are way more powerful than it?  

What if it’s a power that’s only true because we come from a complicit history of letting it be?

What if there's no such thing as anti-racist action within a political system? And, 

What if politicians don’t care about that? 

Is all intervention strategy actually coated racism? 

Is community the most resounding form of truth? 

What if letting somebody just do their own thing could be synonymous with being in community with them? 

Is political polarization just an extension of racism? 

Is presidential power, at best, a way to buy time for people doing the work on the grounds? 

What would happen if behavior didn't show that some people think 45 created racism? 

Have you thought about the ongoing impact of the 1994 crime bill and Biden’s participation in it? 

What if Biden announces a Black Woman as a running-mate and it ends up weaponizing Black Women even more within the political system? 

Is voting power, at best, a way to buy time for you to be in community with others without political distraction? 

What if you spent all of your time fighting the system, loving your people into survival, instead? 

Where is the space shared between those things?

Can a policy change your relationship with your neighbor? 

Can you change your relationship with your neighbor?

What if when you vote, but remember that you are more, teeming at the brim with potential, than a ballet box?  

Just wondering.

Music fades out

Play 3: The woman and the Popsicles (7:12)

Robin: The Woman and the Popsicles: a not-so fictional fictional investigative podcast within a podcast Season 1 Episode 1. GO!

Gentle piano/electronic underscore

Robin: A woman

Popsicles

And a cover up

Things can seem so straightforward at first. But, as Selena Gomez sings in the Disney Channel’s The Wizards of Waverly Place theme song: Everything is not what it seems.

Hi there. I’m Robin Virginie. Thank you for joining me. Let’s dive in. 

Music fades out 

Nine years ago I moved to New York City, from Holland, Europe.

A couple weeks ago, I found out through Instagram that one of my favorite types of licorice, Krijtdrop, had been turned into a popsicle. Krijtdrop is a chewy black licorice covered by a crunchy, minty shell.

I know what you’re thinking, black minty licorice as a popsicle? Those were my thoughts exactly. My favorite candy turned into a confusing, summery treat, I simply had to try it. 

Given the fact that it’s nearly impossible to ship a packet of frozen popsicles overseas, I had resorted to asking someone in my family to buy a pack and facetime me while they would unwrap and eat one.

This is when things started to get, (dramatic percussion) fishy.

When I posed this question in the groupchat between my mom, my sister, my aunt and I, I didn’t hear from them for hours. One might say this was because I messaged them when it was nighttime in Holland, but that, as you are about to find out, is beside the point.

When they finally did reply, the answers were as follows:

My sister laughed and said she hadn’t seen them in stores, my mom said they looked disgusting and that she refused to buy them, my aunt said she would keep an eye out for me. 

Weeks went by and nothing happened.

For some inexplicable reason, someone did not want me to learn more about these popsicles. 

This didn’t just smell fishy, (dramatic percussion) this smelled like a cover up.

After a couple weeks I called my aunt to ask if there were any updates. With her permission, here is part of that conversation:

Phone recording of Robin speaking Dutch with her aunt and giggling. 

If you don’t speak Dutch, what it comes down to is that she hadn’t seen the popsicles anywhere and she checked multiple stores. We laughed about it, but I couldn’t help but wonder why this wasn’t a priority to the family. As I was circling this mystery, I decided to call my friend Michaela and ask for her thoughts:

Michaela: (Distant-sounding, phone recording) ‘Have you considered that this obsession with these popsicles might be stemming from the constant anxiety and anger you’ve been feeling along with the rest of America, and that carrying all of that, in combination with not being sure realistically when you will see your family in person again has resulted in this all-consuming need to see these popsicles in order to regain some sense of control over your life?’

Sound of phone clicking off

Robin: It became clear to me that Michaela was in on the cover up. Who else is involved? At this point, the only person I can trust is me. 

Piano theme music is back as underscore

On the next episode of The woman and the popsicles:

Well, to be honest with you, who knows what will come next. As I dig deeper, I might find things meant to stay hidden. I might dig too deep. I will keep trying though.

Music fades out

Because, dear listener, while these popsicles are frozen, to me, this case is far from cold.

Dramatic music rushes in and fades out

Show Outro

Swooshy 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, start your own podcast where you scream into a pillow for each episode, and share it with us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.

This episode featured work by: Michaela Farrell, Anooj Bhandari, and Robin Virginie featuring Gilda Virginie and Michaela Farrell. 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 plays out!