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Hello, and welcome to EscapePod, your weekly science fiction podcast. I'm Divya, your host

for this episode. A couple of bits of news before we get into today's story. It's less

than two weeks to the release of my first novel, Machine Hood, a science fiction thriller

about AI, sentience, gig-economies, and family ties. Those of you who are regular listeners

know that I have strong feelings about AI, so I'm really excited to share a 400-page

novel that encapsulates my thoughts on the subject. You can buy the book in Hardcover, eBook,

or audio wherever books are sold, but I encourage you to support your local independent book

store. It's also a warts nomination season. All of us here at EscapePod would love for

you to consider our work from 2020 for the Nebula and Hugo Awards. All of our original

fiction is eligible in the short story category, and you can find a full list of them on our

website. EscapePod itself is eligible for the best semi-prozine category in the Hugo's,

and more on die are eligible for best editor of short fiction. We were deeply honored

to make the Hugo Ballet last year, and we thank you so much for your votes and your support.

Now, onto our story this week, A Wild Patience by Gwen Garfinkle. This was first published

by Giga Notosaurus in March 2020. This is episode one of three parts. If you don't like

to break up your stories across episodes, join us again on March 5th and binge all three

in a row. Gwen Garfinkle lives in Los Angeles. Her collection of short fiction and poetry,

People Change, was published in 2018 by Aqueduct Press. Her work has appeared in such publications

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