Never Prepared For: How i Died

How i Died — it's stylized like that by the way — is an audio drama that focus on the life of a newly chosen forensic pathologist of Springfield, Jon Spacer. Appropriately enough with his profession, Jon has the ability of talking with the ghost of the cadavers — a gift that either makes his job easier, or worse. To make matters tougher, he has to deal daily with Sheriff Crowley, whose attitude to Jon couldn't be less trusting.

The fictional podcast is made by AudiOhm Media. Vincent Dajani is the writer as well as the voice of dubious Jon Spacer, and Shaina Waring acted as the no-nonsense Sheriff Crowley.

In the beginning, I thought the story is close to a slice-of-life type, like the television serial Pushing Daisies — only with less pie and more emotional baggage. But in the end of episode one, I found out that it is implied the story would be a piece in a bigger story line.

As an addition to the pleasant surprise, the criminal cases depicted in the podcast are actually based on true events, with details on information are changed to protect the victims. It is a nice touch, I think (in a creative sense, of course. crime is bad, kids); some kind of a delve into the premise of the "what-if" or the otherside-ness of a story. Although sometimes, a hundred percent of truth might not be the only purpose of telling and hearing the story.  

At time this first-sound review is made, How i Died is just started. But even though with only two episodes being released, it is an audio drama that absolutely worth more attention. It is well produced, with great voice actors, exemplary sound design and editing, and a clearly nifty writing. It's more than highly recommended, and I'm excited of what comes next from the story idea.

Note:

• How i Died is in the AudiOhm Media website, Apple Podcast, Libsyn, and your existing podcatchers.
• recommended for: great voice acting, non-imposing drama, great horror mystery with enough thrill
• caution for: death, accidents, violence, abuse, mental illness, graphic depiction of crime victims.

Indian Noir Podcast [Review]

In an ancient society with complex social and cultural problems, noir genre has more than a natural place in Indian story telling. This podcast would perfectly prove my point. 

Indian Noir Podcast is a semi-anthology audio drama with currently two sets of stories: His Night Begins and Fear. His Night Begins is a disturbing avenge story of a hit man, set in the midst of a sex-trafficking industry. While Fear is heavier on the horror side, the story of an Indian demon and a tale involving a tired software engineer and his inevitable fight with his past.

  

Episodes on each story are fairly short, most of it are only under 10 minutes and the longest are barely 20 minutes. The episode release is scheduled weekly, but in the beginning, earlier episodes for different stories was a little bit dispersed. Therefore, for new listeners that want to catch up, I highly recommend a custom playlist for a better listening experience. 

Indian Noir is one man show, with the creator Nikesh Murali multi-tasking as the main narrator, as well as voicing every other characters on the story. And dear lord...he is impeccable. He is the scornful man, laden with guilt and devoid of hope, and a couple minutes later, he is the 14 year old girl chained and trapped, he is the hitman's mistress, he is the ex-wife, the corrupt police, the crook, the mad priest.

There to be said, Indian Noir is really not an easy story to listen. I binged the entire His Story Begins in one day, and oh how I wish I didn't do it, I need hours of cat videos therapy after that. It is dark, gritty, and the depiction of violence and abuse can be something that is not all people could handle. For me personally, as a woman living in a country that has similar socio-cultural issue, it is a really tough story to listen. 

Still, I have to say that it is an amazing experience. 

It is hard not to get sucked into this podcast when you have someone like Nikesh Murali as your storyteller. He proves that sometimes you don't really need a high-tech sound engineering to be an immersive podcast.


Note:

• Indian Noir Podcast could be found in their official website, Apple Podcast, Audioboom, and your usual buddy podcatcher.
• Caution for: boy this be a lot... rape, kidnapping, domestic abuse, emotional abuse, sexual assault, sexual violence, non-sexual violence, hotdamnsomany violence, very strong language, sexual contents, drugging, incest, torture, hostage situation, presence of weapons, guns and explosions, alcoholism, drugs addiction, depression, divorce, religion issue, corrupt police, stressful situations, adulthood crisis, suicidal thoughts, blood, body horror