"For a moment I was totally disoriented by the scene before me. Then vast, dark shapes began to take form. Shelves. Shelves full of books, all the way up, from the immacuately polished marble floor to a ceiling that was too high to see clearly." Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly: https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.c...
Jul 15, 2019•35 min•Season 2Ep. 33
"In a dimly-lit chamber two thousand feet underground, quiet as death, seven people sat at a table. Seven seder plates. Seven cups of wine. The Comet King spoke first, barely above a whisper. "Why are we doing this?"" Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly: https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-17-that-the-child...
Jul 07, 2019•18 min•Season 2Ep. 32
""Mr. Alvarez," asked Brian Young, "why are we celebrating Passover? I don't think any of us are Jews." "In a sense," said Dylan, "we are all Jews. The Jews of..." "In a sense," said Clark Deas, "every time Dylan says 'in a sense' I mentally replace it with 'not at all'."" Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly: https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text ...
Jun 30, 2019•9 min•Season 2Ep. 31
""Why are we celebrating Passover?" asked Bill. "Are any of us even Jewish?" "My father was Jewish," I answered. "Doesn't count," said Bill." Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly: https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-17-that-the-children-of-jerusalem-may-be-saved-from-slavery/ Chapter 18 is another one of tho...
Jun 24, 2019•15 min•Season 2Ep. 30
Here begins Book 2. Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly: https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook The original text of this Book's introductory verse is here: http://unsongbook.com/book-2-exodus/ The original text for Chapter 17 is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-18-no-earthly-parents-i-confess/ The URL says "18", and the chapter title says "17", for kabbalistic reasons. Episode 30 Duration: 8:04...
Jun 17, 2019•8 min•Season 2Ep. 29
"They say that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. March 1969 had been more like one of those Biblical angels with four lion heads and four lamb heads and a couple dragon heads for good measure, all spinning within a gigantic flaming wheel, and if you met its gaze for too long then you died." Here ends Book 1. This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly: htt...
Jun 10, 2019•23 min•Season 1Ep. 28
"Runes of glowing fire troubled Sohu’s dreams, and she woke up the next morning to find them inscribed upon her skin in big dark welts. She ran out of her cottage, almost fell off the edge of the cloud." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly: https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-16-if-perchance-with-iron-power...
Jun 02, 2019•21 min•Season 1Ep. 27
"There wasn’t anything that looked like a secret detention facility, although she supposed that was what made it a secret detention facility. But it was already dark, and she didn’t fancy looking. She also didn’t fancy waiting until morning; she wasn’t really an expert in infiltrating secret facilities, but night seemed like potentially the best time, even if you could turn invisible." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The orig...
May 26, 2019•11 min•Season 1Ep. 26
"Something was horribly wrong. Gradually it came back to me. I’d tried to fight UNSONG and failed miserably." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. Here is the website on which he is publishing the text: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-14-cruelty-has-a-human-heart/ Episode 25 Duration: 20:52
May 21, 2019•21 min•Season 1Ep. 25
""Good morning," said Sohu as she stepped out of her cottage. Technically it was already afternoon. She hadn’t slept late, but she’d stayed inside, studying, dreading to open the door. Uriel had no concept of small talk, and precious little concept of scheduling." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. Here is the website on which he is publishing the text: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-13-the-image-of-eternal-death/ Episode 24 Dura...
May 12, 2019•26 min•Season 1Ep. 24
"You’ve probably heard the old children’s song. "There’s a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza."" Returning from a long hiatus due to having received donations. Thank you! This audiobook is about to have a Patreon, in order to continue to have more episodes that are not a year apart. After Patreon reviews it, the link will appear in the show notes for the next episode. In the meantime, the discussion about the Patreon is taking place in the Reddit thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/unsong/comm...
Mar 26, 2019•14 min•Season 1Ep. 23
"Sitting in bed with her computer on her lap, Erica Lowry watched the sun rise and writing the news." If you'd like to help make episodes appear more often, please use my tip jar at: https://cash.me/$MattArnold A serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. Here is the website on which he is publishing the text: https://unsongbook.com/chapter-12-borne-on-angels-wings/ Episode 22 Duration: 16:44
Mar 08, 2017•17 min•Season 1Ep. 22
"LSD became illegal in California in 1966, two years before the real world got so hallucinatory that it became redundant." If you'd like to help make episodes appear more often, please use my tip jar at: https://cash.me/$MattArnold A serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. Here is the website on which he is publishing the text: https://unsongbook.com/interlude-%D7%94-the-right-hand-of-god/ Episode 21 Duration: 03:29...
Feb 26, 2017•4 min•Season 1Ep. 21
"Time and chance, according to the Book of Ecclesiastes, happeneth to us all. Ana had planned to sleep in, but it so happeneth that she woke up hungry and found herself out of milk. She threw on an old t-shirt – one she had gotten at a theodicy conference a few years ago, with the motto WHO WATCHES THE WATCHMAKER? on the front – grabbed a shopping bag, and headed out to the 7-11 on the corner." Sorry for the delay between episodes. As a freelancer, my financial situation is quite feast-and-famin...
Dec 01, 2016•14 min•Season 1Ep. 20
"The shortest effective Name of God is the Tetragrammaton. This was the Name recorded in the Bible, the one the High Priests of Israel would speak in the Temple of Solomon. The rabbis said it was so holy that God would smite any impure person who said it. Some of them went on wild flights of raptures about the holiness of this Name, said it was the Shem haMephorash, the holiest Name of all. In these more enlightened times, we know better. We call it the Mortal Name, and it just so happens to be ...
Aug 27, 2016•10 min•Season 1Ep. 19
"Campus library hadn’t changed much since I got expelled. I checked out three big books without even so much as a "You don’t look like an Ana Thurmond," let alone UNSONG goons hauling me off somewhere. Thank goodness for automatic card reader machines." A serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. Here is the website on which he is publishing the text: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-10-bring-the-swift-arrows-of-light/ Episode 18 Duration 09:09 Tip...
Aug 09, 2016•9 min•Season 1Ep. 18
"WE SAY THAT MAN WAS MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD," said Uriel. "BUT GOD IS INEFFABLE AND WITHOUT PHYSICAL FORM. RESOLVE THE PARADOX." "I'm hungry," said Sohu." A serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. Here is the website on which he is publishing the text: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-9-with-art-celestial/ Episode 17 Duration 16:16 Tip jar: https://cash.me/$MattArnold
Jun 28, 2016•16 min•Season 1Ep. 17
"Love is the law, but it is poorly enforced. — Reverend Raymond Stevens, "Singers In The Hands Of An Angry God"" A serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. Here is the website on which he is publishing the text: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-8-laughing-to-scorn-thy-laws-and-terrors/ Episode 16 Duration 31:45 Tip jar: https://cash.me/$MattArnold
Jun 14, 2016•32 min•Season 1Ep. 16
"My watch read 5 AM. Bill Dodd lived an hour’s walk away, close to the weird morass of swamps and mud flats that passed for the San Francisco Bay in this area. He woke up around six and left at seven for some tutoring job up in the North Bay. I figured by the time I got to his home, it would be just about morning and I could catch him while he was getting ready." A serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. Here is the website on which he is publ...
Jun 12, 2016•23 min•Season 1Ep. 15
"The computer whirred and chattered: the speaker producing Names faster than the ear could follow. I stared at the screen. I already knew I wouldn’t sleep tonight." A serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. Here is the website on which he is publishing the text: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-6-till-we-have-built-jerusalem/ Episode 14 Duration 21:54 Tip jar: https://cash.me/$MattArnold
Jun 06, 2016•22 min•Season 1Ep. 14
"Those who speak the Names of God aloud are called cantors and singers. Like everything, these terms have both overt and kabbalistic meanings." A serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. Here is the website on which he is publishing the text: http://unsongbook.com/interlude-%D7%92-cantors-and-singers/ Episode 13 Duration 8:36
Jun 05, 2016•9 min•Season 1Ep. 13
"And I remember the day Ana and I got married." A serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. Here is the website on which he is publishing the text: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-5-never-seek-to-tell-thy-love/ Chapter 5 is 10 times as long as most chapters. Its 5 sections were recorded as individual episodes, of which this is the fifth. Episode 12 Duration 9:46 Tip jar: https://cash.me/$MattArnold
Jun 01, 2016•10 min•Season 1Ep. 12
"I remember the day I asked Ana on a date." A serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. Here is the website on which he is publishing the text: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-5-never-seek-to-tell-thy-love/ Chapter 5 is 10 times as long as most chapters. Its 5 sections will be recorded as individual episodes, of which this is the fourth. Episode 11 Duration 5:17 Tip jar: https://cash.me/$MattArnold
May 29, 2016•5 min•Season 1Ep. 11
"I remember the day I first saw Ana in her element." Here is a personal note to explain the unannounced hiatus which this podcast experienced over the last two months. Thank you to those who asked after me. There's a happy reason and a sad reason. Let's get the sad out of the way. I no longer have access to the laptop which I was using to record this. It had several more episodes recorded on it, which I had not yet published, and which must now be re-recorded. That audio was the rest of Chapter ...
May 26, 2016•30 min•Season 1Ep. 10
"I remember my first morning there, the morning it all came together. The girls finally dragged me out of bed and insisted on making me breakfast." A serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. Here is the website on which he is publishing the text: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-5-never-seek-to-tell-thy-love/ Chapter 5 is 10 times as long as most chapters. Its 5 sections will be recorded as individual episodes, of which this is the second. Episode...
Mar 23, 2016•16 min•Season 1Ep. 9
"I remember the first time I met Ana Thurmond." A serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. Here is the website on which he is publishing the text: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-5-never-seek-to-tell-thy-love/ Chapter 5 is 10 times as long as most chapters. Its 5 sections will be recorded as individual episodes. Episode 8 Duration 11:14
Mar 17, 2016•11 min•Season 1Ep. 8
"Even before Erica finished formally adjourning the meeting, I wove my way through the crowd of garrulous people and up the stairs into my bedroom. I grabbed my laptop from the desk, then knocked on Ana’s door. She was there waiting for me." A serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. Here is the website on which he is publishing the text: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-4-tools-were-made-and-born-were-hands/ Episode 7 Duration 9:00...
Mar 10, 2016•9 min•Season 1Ep. 7
"Ever since the sky cracked there has been a hurricane off the coast of Louisiana that never moves or decays. In its eye stands the Archangel Uriel." A serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. Here is the website on which he is publishing the text: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-3-on-a-cloud-i-saw-a-child/ Episode 6 Duration 15:25
Mar 04, 2016•15 min•Season 1Ep. 6
""The Code Of The World", by Aaron Smith-Teller, Published in the March 2017 issue of the Stevensite Standard The Talmud says that God created the Torah nine hundred seventy-four generations before He created the world. Generations of who, I don’t know. The Talmud is kind of crazy." A serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. Here is the website on which he is publishing the text: http://unsongbook.com/interlude-%D7%91-the-code-of-the-world/ Epi...
Feb 29, 2016•12 min•Season 1Ep. 5
"Right down the road from Berryessa Station there’s a big house with a hidden basement. The people who live there – usually six to eight of us, rarely the same from one month to the next – are the sort of artsy college students and aimless twenty-somethings who think that houses should have names. We call it Ithaca." A serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. Here is the website on which he is publishing the text: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-...
Feb 28, 2016•21 min•Season 1Ep. 4
