"Blue sky and fair winds, like every day in the eye of a hurricane. Multicolored symbols circled and sparkled round. Invisible celestial machinery kept up its steady pulse." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: https://unsongbook.com/chapter-63-my-wrath-burns-to-the-top-of-heaven/ Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes twice-weekly. You'll get access to the Patreon feed in which you hea...
Oct 11, 2020•4 min•Season 3Ep. 94
"It was afternoon, and we met together in the command center. Me. Sarah. The four Cometspawn. Vihaan, the Comet King’s uncle, chief of staff, and self-proclaimed butler." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: https://unsongbook.com/chapter-62-that-the-wide-world-might-fly-from-its-hinges/ Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes twice-weekly. You'll get access to the Patreon feed in which ...
Oct 09, 2020•17 min•Season 3Ep. 93
"Midnight falls in the Garden of the Gods, and Robin West stands alone beneath the cold stars." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: https://unsongbook.com/chapter-61-and-ololon-said-let-us-descend-also-and-let-us-give-ourselves-to-death-in-ulro-among-the-transgressors/ Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes twice-weekly. You'll get access to the Patreon feed in which you hear episodes ...
Oct 01, 2020•10 min•Season 3Ep. 92
"It could have been that she was pretty once. Now her face was sunken, her head hairless. Her arm was hung in a cast, and she looked terribly frail. "You’re the ritual magician?" she asked." 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-60-o-rose-thou-art-sick/ Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes twice-weekly. You'll get access to the Patreon feed in which you he...
Sep 27, 2020•6 min•Season 3Ep. 91
"This is a reasonable approach for handling small problems, but it would be awkward if there were any that did understand, and seek God. — kingjamesprogramming.tumblr.com" 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-59-clothe-yourself-in-golden-arms/ Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes twice-weekly. You'll get access to the Patreon feed in which you hear episod...
Sep 24, 2020•18 min•Season 3Ep. 90
"Want to feel old? The span of time between Saddam Hussein’s death and now is longer than between now and when 1/3 of the sea becomes blood. — @GateOfHeavens" 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/interlude-%D7%AA-trump/ Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes twice-weekly. You'll get access to the Patreon feed in which you hear episodes a month early! https://www.pa...
Sep 20, 2020•13 min•Season 3Ep. 89
"The LORD is greater than or equal to the expression involving f(y) — kingjamesprogramming.tumblr.com" Now that I have posted all three of the Interludes that I missed, I'm changing their release dates so that they will appear in this podcast feed in the order they appear in the book. We now resume the book where we left off. 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-58-and-now-t...
Sep 17, 2020•19 min•Season 3Ep. 88
"The word of the LORD is a great deal of research activity in this area, and probabilistic algorithms have been fruitfully applied. — kingjamesprogramming.tumblr.com Sohu asked whether I wanted to help her with the error correction process. It was the highlight of my life thus far. It was like getting asked to debate philosophy with Aristotle, or play one-on-one against Michael Jordan. Did I want to study the kabbalah with Sohu West? My heart leapt at the thought." This is a serialized story nar...
Aug 30, 2020•13 min•Season 3Ep. 87
"In 2008 Dick Cheney declined to pursue a third term due to his failing health. A delegation of the nation’s civic and religious leaders entered the National Archives after several days’ fasting and purification and, after lifting the Shroud upon the Constitution, declared that the proper thing to do in this sort of situation was to hold an election." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongboo...
Aug 26, 2020•5 min•Season 3Ep. 86
"Given the need to keep up spirits, Robin decided the people needed whatever holidays they could get. August 1, the anniversary of Colorado’s statehood, was as good an opportunity as anything else. So she stood on a rock spire in the Garden of the Gods as crowds – disproportionately female since a million men were marching in Siberia – listened for the words of their Queen Regent." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original...
Aug 16, 2020•14 min•Season 3Ep. 85
"It was February 2002, and America tottered above a precipice. The Comet King was dead. The Other King was busy mopping up the shreds of resistance in the American West. Singer riots had several cities aflame. BOOJUM’s reign of terror continued unabated. And President Bush had been assassinated by his own teleprompter. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Rumors swirled around newly-sworn-in president Dick Cheney." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author,...
Aug 13, 2020•5 min•Season 3Ep. 84
"I’ve reserved this space as a safety zone for pouring my empty and vain wishes. — kingjamesprogramming.tumblr.com Overtly, the meaning of “king” is “a hereditary monarch”. Kabbalistically, the meaning of “king” is “one who fights for freedom”. This we derive from Martin Luther King, whose name was “king” in two ways: first in English via his surname, second in Hebrew via his initials. Likewise, he signifies fighting for freedom in two ways. First, through his name: “Martin” comes from Latin “ma...
Aug 10, 2020•19 min•Season 3Ep. 83
"So passed fifteen years. New factories rose up. New mines sunk beneath the earth. New roads crisscrossed the mountains. Laboratories, barracks, fortresses, granaries, airstrips. All preparation for the final crusade. Over the course of a generation, the Comet King’s war on Hell shifted gradually from metaphorical spiritual struggle to “we’re going to need a lot of guns”." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is ...
Jul 26, 2020•5 min•Season 3Ep. 82
"The clock struck inauguration day; unfortunately, no one had yet figured out whom to inaugurate. Absent a winner to step down in favor of, President Clinton continued to to govern. More and more grievances and countergrievances with the electoral process made their way before a ploddingly slow Supreme Court. The nation waited." 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/interlude-%D7%A7-...
Jul 20, 2020•12 min•Season 3Ep. 81
"Alvarez’s apartment was so packed with books, bomb-making supplies, and extra people that somebody had to sleep in the closet. Erica had volunteered. She figured the former Lord High Magician of the Midwest deserved the sofa more than she did. Any sacrifice for the Revolution." 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-53-lover-of-wild-rebellion/ Episode 80 Duration: 13:56...
Jul 12, 2020•14 min•Season 3Ep. 80
Another Uriel and Sohu episode. "Winter ended. Summer passed. Another and another. Uriel taught Sohu for eight more years after the eclipse, eight years without her aging a day. In 1993, Sohu used Kefitzat Haderech to join her family in Colorado for Hanukkah. Her father said nothing when she came unannounced, striking the table deep in her father’s bunker in the form of a lightning bolt, just smiled, and said she was welcome, and that he hoped this meant she would be visiting more often. In 1994...
Jul 05, 2020•22 min•Season 3Ep. 79
"“What can I do for you today?” Robin asked the Comet King. He was in his study, sitting at his big desk of Colorado pine. On the shelves he had gifts given him by various ambassadors and heads of state. A medieval orrery from the European Communion. A Faberge egg from the Cyrillic Union. An exquisite bonsai tree from the Harmonious Jade Dragon Empire. From Israel, a lovely turquoise sculpture with a microscopic listening device planted in it – which he usually covered with a piece of Scotch tap...
Jun 28, 2020•9 min•Season 3Ep. 78
"WASHINGTON DC – President Reagan is expected to make a full recovery after being shot in the head by an assassin while leaving the Washington Hilton." 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/interlude-%D7%A2%E2%80%8E-eighties-and-nineties/ Episode 77 Duration: 12:58
Jun 21, 2020•13 min•Season 3Ep. 77
"Praise the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a faster machine. — kingjamesprogramming.tumblr.com" 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-50-silent-as-despairing-love/ Episode 76 Duration: 10:44
Jun 17, 2020•20 min•Season 3Ep. 76
"In 1985, the Hellish Empire stretched from Moscow to Montreal, a sprawling stain over the northern quarter of the world. After the defeat at Silverthorne a tentative cease-fire had taken hold, backed by nuclear weapons on all sides. Multistan, the Cyrillic Union, the Untied States, and the Harmonious Jade Dragon Empire established their own ideas of borders, sometimes as mutually agreed treaties, other times as pragmatic lines of actual control. Miraculously, the borders held. The demons were w...
Jun 08, 2020•11 min•Season 3Ep. 75
"Right on cue, people noticed the sun speeding up. There were times when this would have been a cause for concern. As it was, the astronomical community just shrugged their shoulders and said “Uriel’s doing something again”, and there the matter rested." 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-49-terrors-of-the-sun-and-moon/ Episode 74 Duration: 15:19...
May 31, 2020•15 min•Season 3Ep. 74
“Today I will expound unto you the kabbalistic theory of the creation of the world,” said Ana. “It all starts with Leibniz…” 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/interlude-%d7%a1-binary/ Episode 75 Duration: 10:49
May 25, 2020•11 min•Season 3Ep. 73
"Rage in favor of the proposition that the machine is somehow important in a way that could be uncovered through dispassionate analysis. — Steven Kaas Morning, May 14, 2017 Caribbean Sea I. Unfurling four of its seven sails , the world’s fastest ship shot out of the Panama Canal. It rocketed through the Caribbean and wove in and out of the Cayman Islands." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unso...
May 17, 2020•21 min•Season 3Ep. 72
"February 1984 Citadel West “Evening,” the Comet King said from across the table, stifling a yawn. “Why don’t you tell me something about yourself and why I should marry you?"" 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-47-for-he-beheld-new-female-forms/ Episode 71 Duration: 9:48
May 10, 2020•10 min•Season 3Ep. 71
"Why some people think the self is a prison escapes me. — @GapOfGods Dawn, May 13, 2017 Ossining, NY Commenters say Song of Songs 4:12 describes the imprisonment of the divine presence in the material world. “A garden locked is my sister, my bride,” it begins. “A rock garden locked, a spring sealed up.” The most famous prison in the Eastern Untied States is called Sing Sing, and Mark McCarthy was serving four consecutive twelve-year sentences there. This is not a coincidence because nothing is e...
May 04, 2020•19 min•Season 3Ep. 70
"Praise the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a faster machine. - kingjamesprogramming.tumblr.com Evening, May 13, 2017 Citadel West During the Cold War, the United States had lived in uneasy peace with the Soviets on the mutual knowledge that if the Soviets nuked America, then America would nuke them back. This led some of the more paranoid military brass to ask: what if the Soviets nuked our Department Of Nuking Things Back first, then nuked the rest of us? Then where would we be? It was d...
Apr 27, 2020•16 min•Season 3Ep. 69
"The LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give unto all this evil that was come to the decisive step of mathematical abstraction — kingjamesprogramming.tumblr.com" A Sohu and Uriel chapter. 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-44-a-world-within-opening-its-gates/ Episode 68 Duration: 20:40 Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episode...
Apr 21, 2020•21 min•Season 3Ep. 68
"And Abraham said unto the LORD, “Will you not destroy the world if there are even a million righteous people in it?” And the LORD replied unto Abraham, “The world shall not be destroyed if there are even a thousand competent people in it. I don’t have anything to do with the process, mind, just making a prediction.” — Eliezer Yudkowsky Summer 1983 Washington, DC The overt meaning of salt is “sodium chloride”. The kabbalistic meaning of salt is “to try to escape destruction by heavenly fire”. Th...
Apr 17, 2020•18 min•Season 3Ep. 67
"They smote the city with the edge of the sword, and one of his main motivations was the high cost of proprietary software houses. — kingjamesprogramming.tumblr.com" "“Can I ask you something?” said Brian Young. “Busy,” said Dylan Alvarez. “And close the door.” He got up, closed it himself, locked it, bolted it, then sat back down at the table. It was a perfectly ordinary New York City apartment, located in a nice neighborhood in a building without any irregularities to excite a passing cop. The...
Apr 05, 2020•14 min•Season 3Ep. 66
"HERE IS A FINAL CHANGELOG FOR PATCH 5776.11: 1. HUMANS NO LONGER DEPLETE WILLPOWER WHEN ENGAGING IN DIFFICULT TASKS; GLUCOSE NO LONGER NECESSARY TO REPLENISH IT. 2. ROCKETS CAN NOW LAND ON PLATFORMS AND BE REUSED IF NEEDED. 3. USER FFUKUYAMA COMPLAINS THAT THE POLITICAL SYSTEM HAS BECOME BORING. IN ORDER TO MAKE THINGS MORE INTERESTING, FIRST WORLD COUNTRIES WILL OCCASIONALLY FLIRT WITH FAR-RIGHT NATIONALISM. 4. UK NO LONGER CONSIDERED PART OF EUROPE FOR PURPOSE OF ECONOMIC BONUSES." This is a ...
Mar 30, 2020•12 min•Season 3Ep. 65
