Escape Pod 1001: Death by Pink in the Lollipop Apocalypse

Escape Pod

Escape Artists Foundation

Fiction, Drama, Science Fiction

4.7 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 10 July 2025

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Death by Pink in the Lollipop Apocalypse By Ryan Cole In the dark of her bed, curled up in her sheets, Susie tried to hide from the next few days and the reckoning they’d bring: of prom and graduation and the dozens of goodbyes she’d have to force herself to say, wishing she could follow. No college escape. Her applications rejected. Not to mention that she’d been bragging for months—to Piper and all her other refugee friends—about the fake acceptance letter from Delaware State, and the phony full-ride, and the lie that she’d be rooming with Piper in the fall, just like they’d always wanted, two peas in a pod. Which made her want to run—like Dad always did. But she couldn’t be like him. Couldn’t leave when his only child needed him most. When the city they’d fled—along with half a million others—was buried in a thick layer of saccharine crust. A crust that devoured every street, every house, every skyscraper standing like a hollowed-out lollipop, that only kept spreading, kept crushing every straggler that lay in its path, as relentless as a river and impenetrable as stone.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	EA is now on Twitch.
0:03.0	Join us Wednesday nights when Alistair reads a bedtime story
0:06.3	and Sunday mornings for a few hours of chill, casual gaming.
0:10.7	Plus interviews, special guests, pick up streams, and more.
0:14.7	Visit twitch.tv slash EA podcasts and follow us to be notified when we go live, plus access VODs of past broadcasts. EscapeBOD, Episode 1001.
0:39.5	Death by Pink in the Lollipop Apocalypse.
0:41.6	By Ryan Cole. Hello and welcome to EscapePod, your weekly science fiction podcast.
1:13.2	I'm your host this week, Tina Connolly, and I'm here to bring you.
1:17.5	Death by Pink and the Lollipop Apocalypse by Ryan Cole.
1:22.9	This story is original to EscapePod.
1:26.7	Ryan Cole is a speculative fiction writer who lives in Virginia with his husband and
1:31.5	snugly pug child.
1:33.8	His work has appeared in Clark's World, Podcastle, Factor 4, and Voyage YA by Uncharted,
1:39.9	among others, and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize.
1:44.0	Find out more at Ryanyancolewrites.com,
1:47.8	or on Twitter or Blue Sky at Ryan Cole Wrights. Your narrator this week is Tatiana Gray.
1:57.7	Tatiana Gray is a critically acclaimed actress of stage, screen, and the audio booth.
2:01.6	She has been nominated for dozens of fancy awards but hasn't won a single Dand thing.
2:07.6	She lives in Brooklyn, New York.
2:10.6	See more about Tatiana at TatianaGray.com.
2:15.6	Your audio producer this week is Adam Perot.
2:20.3	So get ready to run from the sugar because it's story time.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Escape Artists Foundation, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Escape Artists Foundation and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.