Escape Pod 801: Hard Mother, Spider Mother, Soft Mother

Escape Pod

Escape Artists Foundation

Science Fiction, Fiction, Drama

4.7 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 9 September 2021

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Hard Mother, Spider Mother, Soft Mother By Hal Y. Zhang “Did you see the report on the spy from Aberdeen? The game is a-foot.” I mumbled something like “No, sounds interesting.” All I remember is my usual annoyance at her ability to pronounce hyphens where they don’t belong. We must have been in the living room, her on a rare break from gardening and me trying to divine the future with my seeing stone of a computer. Either I had non-personal coffee in my hand, or my brain decided to add that detail on a later traverse. Why does it only fixate on the useless details—the weird green vase in the corner, the ugly plastic pitcher centerpiece on the table, both overflowing with fresh bleeding roses—that have nothing to do with the plot? Our next interaction occurred during my viewing of a video reporting the formation of a new island in the Pacific. How uncannily the uncontrollable underwater caustic flow matched my job search situation, I thought idly in the crook of my elbow. Expert in esoteric studies, puzzles, and internal monologues seeking just about any position, really. Inquire within. “All going as planned,” she mumbled behind me.

Transcript

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0:00.0	A skateboard episode 801.
0:11.5	Heart Mother, Spider Mother, Soft Mother.
0:14.9	Bye, how are you, Jen?
0:39.9	Hello and welcome to a skateboard.
0:42.8	This story first appeared as part of the future's chatbook series, published by Radix Media.
1:03.8	How Why Jon was a lapsed physicist who splits her time between the east coast of the United
1:08.4	States and the internet, where she writes at howwidejohn.com.
1:13.4	Her speculative fiction and poetry is an uncanny magazine, strangerisings, fireside, and future tense.
1:21.4	Her women with sharp face collection, Goddess Bandit of the Thousand Arms, was published by Aquaduct Press.
1:32.4	Your narrator this week is SK Nash.
1:35.4	SK Nash is a writer, editor, and occasional narrator.
1:39.4	Raised by a cabal of university professors, anthropologists, and irritated librarians,
1:44.4	she holds two degrees as magical words to protect her from being hauled back into the ivory tower.
1:49.4	Her short fiction is appeared in several anthologies, including Roadkill, Texas Horror by Texas writers, Voluntary.
1:57.4	She lives in Texas with a mad scientist and a peaceful contingent of cats and dogs.
2:01.4	You can find her on Twitter at Nash.
2:07.4	Your audio producer this week is Adam Grant, so get ready to record what you know is true,
2:15.4	because it's story time.
2:27.4	Hard Mother, Spider Mother, Soft Mother, by Hal Y. Jong.
2:38.4	Narrated by SK Nash.
2:43.4	Did you see the report on the spy from Aberdeen? The game is a foot.
2:48.4	I mumbled something like, no, sounds interesting.
	...

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