Imaginary Worlds - Brain Chemistry

Episode Date: January 11, 2018

For the past year, I've been working with The Truth, an audio drama collective that makes "movies for your ears." In the second story that I wrote with them, a cryogenically-frozen man is revived over a century from now to find himself in a world that's not quite what he expected. How do you forge ahead in a future that considers you a relic? Featuring Scott Adsit (30 Rock), Amy Warren (Boardwalk Empire), Billy Griffin Jr. (Black Mirror) and Ed Herbstman (The Big Sick). Produced and directed by Jonathan Mitchell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A special message from your family jewels brought to you by Old Spice Total Body. Hey, it stinks down here. Why do armpits get all of the attention? We're down here all day with no odor protection. Wait, what's that? Mmm, vanilla and shea. That's Old Spice Total Body deodorant. 24-7 freshness from pits to privates with daily use. It's so gentle. We've never smelled so good. Shop Old Spice Total Body Deodorant now.

This episode is brought to you by Secret. Secret deodorant gives you 72 hours of clinically proven odor protection free of aluminum, parabens, dyes, talc, and baking soda. It's made with pH balancing minerals and crafted with skin conditioning oils. Hey everybody, the new season of Imaginary Worlds will begin in two weeks with a three-part series about a world-famous character whose name is still a mystery. Who are you?

The Doctor. Doctor who? That's the Doctor. Doctor who? Doctor who? Doctor who? Doctor who? That is?

You're never going to stop asking. Doctor who? Doctor who? That is, you're never going to stop asking. But for this week, I want to play you the second story that I wrote with The Truth. I've been working with The Truth for over a year. They're a group that writes and produces audio dramas. I first mentioned them last spring in my episode, Do the Voice, where I interviewed the group's founder, Jonathan Mitchell, about how he uses the tools that he learned in public radio to make audio dramas sound really modern.

Now, I'm really proud of the way this particular story came out. It's called Brain Chemistry, and it was initially inspired by an episode of Imaginary Worlds from 2016 called Humans, New and Improved. In that episode, I looked at a movement called transhumanism, where people augment their bodies with technology so they can live beyond their natural lifespan. It's a real movement that's inspired by science fiction,

and a lot of sci-fi has been written about it. And in that episode, the Australian journalist Elmo Keep started riffing on this idea, where she imagined all these people being cryogenically defrosted centuries from now, expecting this wonderful future where they get to live forever with all this new technology in their bodies, and then deciding they made a mistake.

I think that there would be a great sci-fi film in the cryogenics actually working somehow in like hundreds or maybe millennia from now. And then the nanobots do over time become self-intelligent enough to survive, but it takes them like millennia to get to the point where they can then reconstitute the bodies. And so these five people wake up alone

and them like actually wanting to die, be like, but they can't because they keep getting reconstituted by these. It's like a vision of hell, really. I feel like if you could actually live forever, it would just be horrible. And that image that she just created on the spot stuck with me for years. And it was the first scene that I wrote for this audio drama, Brain Chemistry. Now, if you're thinking, wait, wait, wait, spoilers. Don't worry. That is no longer the first scene. In fact, it's not even in the story at all anymore.

Working with the truth is a very collaborative process. Every week you bring in a new draft, you assign parts, everybody reads it out loud, and then the group kind of tears apart your script, questioning every choice that you've made. But you end up with a story that's vastly better than what you started with. But you end up with a story that's vastly better than what you started with. And eventually, through this process, I realized that what interested me was this idea of what happens if you wake up in the future and you're considered a relic. I mean, what if you don't get the latest nanobot technology? What if the people in the future think you're just like a lost cause and they give you some outdated tech that just keeps you alive? How alive would you really feel? And what would you do with your life now that you have all this extra time?

We're really excited that we got Scott Adsit to play the main character. He's best known for playing the character Pete Hornberger on the show 30 Rock. Look at my life, Jack. My father was a congressman. I was valedictorian at St. Andrews, an Olympic archer, fourth guitarist in Loverboy. As a teenager, it's almost unbelievable. If it weren't all true, I'd say it doesn't even make sense. Now look at me. But before moving on, I want to do a little pledge drive. Now, the advertisements allow me to spend my time making imaginary worlds, but I'm still a one-man band. I would love to keep growing the show this year so I can hire more contributors

who can help me tell stories outside my personal experience and expertise, like I did with fan fiction and Avatar The Last Airbender. And the best way you could help me do that is by donating. I have a page set up on Patreon, which is for monthly donations.

Even a dollar a month can really help. But if you're really generous and you donate $10 a month, you get access to a Dropbox folder with raw interviews of all my episodes going back for about a year and a half. A few people have asked if they could just do one-time donations, so I've also added a GoFundMe button to my site, which is at imaginaryworldspodcast.org. But whether you've donated or not, I just want to thank you so much for listening in 2017 and supporting the show. Your tweets and your Facebook posts telling me how much you like Imaginary Worlds and encouraging other people to check it out. Whenever I see those, it seriously

makes my day. So thank you so much. And after the break, I'll play Brain Chemistry. Welcome back. And here is the story that I wrote with the truth, which was produced and directed by Jonathan Mitchell. Happy birthday to you. That's my son, Milo. Very good. Thank you. He. Very good. Thank you. He was turning 50.

Thank you. And thanks to my mom. She put this whole thing together. That's my wife, Stephanie. And Dad, you're the best. I don't remember kids calling their stepfather's dad, but that guy stepped in and took over after I died. I don't think anyone mentioned me that day. They hadn't mentioned me in a long time.

But that was my father, always talking about the good old days. That's not my funeral. It's Milo's. Apparently that's my granddaughter, Sadie. I should stop watching these things. But I don't know what else to do with my time. And this lovely specimen over here is Richard Varner.

Welcome to the San Francisco Museum of Technology. If you look to the right and double blink, you can see his obituary on the Neuronet. At the beginning of cryogenics, people like Richard froze their heads and sometimes their entire bodies. But scientists are still only able to reanimate brains. Very few of the brains from his era remained viable for more than a year. So, our friend here is quite unique. A hundred years on ice and no freezer burn. Scientists created a voice based on his digital archive. I wanted to sound like James Earl Jones, but they said no.

James Earl Jones? Does anyone have any questions for Richard? Why did you freeze yourself? I wanted to see the future. But you don't have eyes. They have me hooked up to video cameras. Richard was born before genetic womb design was perfected, but scientists were able to give his brain electronic enhancements,

so he can partly access the neural net. Not a bad upgrade, right, Richard? Well... Are there any other questions? When are we going to eat? Follow me. That was pretty typical. They never really ask about me or my life.

Anyway, back to videos. I love this one. Hey, Zandy, it's Auntie Artemis. Merry Christmas. I wish I could be there, but I'm 40,000 kilometers above the Earth. How about that? That's my great-great-granddaughter. She's actually talking to her girlfriend's niece. Your auntie is building a bubble around the planet so it won't get so hot anymore and you'll be able to play outside in the middle of the day.

Artemis was the last of my descendants. She died a few months later. It wasn't even in space. She was hit by a speedboat in Boston, which has flooded like Venice. She's only 38. At first, it was amazing to watch hundreds of years of news and TV and movies, but after Artemis died, I lost interest. Now I feel like an old man who doesn't understand these crazy kids today.

Richard, hello. I told you not to call me at home. I know, but when I call the office, it's just the chatbot, and I want to talk to you. Well, that's why I created the chatbot, so you can have an interface with me that doesn't involve you calling me at home. Is this about the space bubble? Yes, it is. Well, I did hear back from them. What'd they say? Your request was denied. I'm sorry. Again?

What about Artemis? I've got a family legacy up there. They're not going to give a sophisticated job like that to a brain created in the 20th century. Born. I was born. See? That's what I'm saying. No one says born anymore. You should listen to yourself. You sound like a caveman. Okay, what about building seawalls? That can't be complicated. You want to supervise 25 million nanobots. Anything would be more interesting than sitting here and talking to people who don't give a damn about me. Richard, you're alive, okay? Have some gratitude for... Hold on, I'm talking to one of the cryos.

I'll be there in 22 seconds. Why'd you play with the cat? Zurich. Sorry, what's it? Count how many hairs are on his head. Zurich. Well, then count how many hairs are on his whole body, sweetie. Every single hair, don't skip his feet.

Zurich, I have a different request. What do you... What? I want to be refrozen. Are you serious? I think it's a great idea, because maybe you wake me up and people have learned how to grow our bodies back. Or maybe the Earth has been fixed and no one resents us for ruining it anymore. Maybe they'll be able to enhance my brain so I can do something else other than nothing in a museum.

All right, I'll look into it. Really? Yes. You will? Is that all? Yep, that's it. Thank you. You're welcome. All right, so having a caseworker isn't completely useless.

And in the meantime, I've still got my videos. You're okay. You can do it. Okay? Go. Milo's first bike. Yay! Yeah! Good! Yeah! Milo, go! Wait, what happened?

What the hell? They're gone! Hello, Richard. How may I be of assistance? Jasper, my social media feed is gone. Completely wiped out. Social media was a narcissistic phase of human development, which allowed people to ignore the looming climate crisis so they could slander each other over trivial matters and take pictures of their faces. Jasper, I need my videos back. Do you need them or do you want them? There's a difference.

Oh, my God. Can I talk to a person? I am a person under the law. Yes, I'm sorry. I know. Is there anyone else I can talk to? I know I'm not supposed to talk to a person? I am a person under the law. Yes, I'm sorry, I know. Is there anyone else I can talk to? I know I'm not supposed to talk to Zurich after hours, but if I could... Connecting you to biological material. Thank you. This is Casey. How may I help you?

Are you a person? Not exactly, but I used to be. What does that mean? I'm a cryo. Oh, you're a cryo? Yeah. I thought I knew all the cryos. No, just three months off the ice, so.

Well, my social media feed has disappeared. Oh, that's awful. Exactly. Thank you. Jasper gave me a freaking lecture. Oh, no, no, no, no. Let me see what's going on here. Hold on.

Thank you. Let's see that. And what do you do, Richard? I'm a freak show in a museum. Oh, a museum. You talk to real people. I hardly ever get to talk to people today. Yeah, but why'd they even defrost us? What's the point? Because they could. And then some scientist got some big prize for it or whatever.

Right. What do we get? Nothing. Big nothing. Oh, I see your problem. They are reorganizing all the historic materials. That's what we get. Can you fix it? I just need to change your access point, so I'm going to need a few minutes, if that's okay. Yeah, take your time. I've got nothing but time. I was so thrilled when I realized I could watch my grandson grow up. I got to watch his wedding and the weddings of my great-grandkids. Yeah, my wife got remarried.

My son called him Dad. I'm sure you were always in his heart. I don't know. He was only six when I died. Oh, my goodness. For a while, my wife did the anniversary of my death posts in honor of me, you know? There was this awful picture that she knew I hated, and she put it up every year, and every year I hated it. And then she met Jeff, and I was like, hey, where'd my picture go?

What did you expect them to do? Jump into a cryotank right after your funeral? I'm sorry. That was rude. I don't even know you. No, it's okay. No, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. No, no, don't worry about it.

I hear a lot of stories like that. It's okay. So did you have a partner? I did. I had a husband. He died a few years after me. He was the one who was into this cryogenic stuff. I never thought it would work.

And what does he think of the future now? Well, they weren't able to revive him. Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah. I'm here now, right? Right. That's right. Were you big into cryogenics? It was big in Silicon Valley. Oh, so you were a tech mogul.

No, I ran a chain of rock climbing gyms. Yeah, but my clients sold me on this thing. They told me it was the future and we'd have replaceable limbs and merge our brains with computers. I thought at least they'd be able to save our heads. I know. So I used to be a yoga instructor. Oh, I did Bikram yoga twice a week. Oh, nice. Yeah, I taught vinyasa. Anyway, I just never wanted to be one of those people who was all head, you know? I know what you mean. I'm sick of my brain now. Now the only way I can move is if I command this stupid mechanical walker.

Oh, the walker. You know, that's outdated tech now. None of this new stuff is compatible with our brains. I told that thing to walk me around the museum once. Saw myself in the mirror and got creeped out. Oh, no. Really. I felt like I should be me around the museum once. Saw myself in the mirror and got creeped out. Oh, no. Really. I felt like I should be assembling a car or something.

You're funny. Well, thank you very much. You have a nice laugh. Thank you. So what did you do when you were alive the first time? Rock climbing gyms. Oh, right. I'm sorry.

Are you sure you're not AI? No, no. Sometimes I kind of have brain freeze. Well, a few minutes of microwave will solve that. But, you know, we're never going to be whole again. That's all right. I think I solved your problem. Oh, I doubt it. Your social media problem. Oh, I see.

Why don't you try it out? Okay. Thank you. Let's see. You're okay. Oh. Oh, thank you very much. See? Easy peasy. Yeah, good. Is that your son?

Yeah. My little girl. Oh, look at him go. Oh, my. Oh, no. You're okay. Oh, no. You're going to be okay.

He's all right? Yeah. God, we are so lucky to have these. I used to have like 100 years of Tar Heels games to catch up on. Oh, you went to North Carolina. Did you? Duke. You, no.

That's right. You're kidding me. You're my arch enemy. I'm going to hang up right now. Hey, were you at the game in 95? I mean, 1995. Yeah, well, that was a little after my time. Oh, excuse me.

When did you graduate? Before you. Oh, I'm sorry. No, I'm not supposed to ask that, right? No, it's time. Oh, excuse me. When did you graduate? Before you. Oh, I'm sorry. No, I'm not supposed to ask that, right? No, it's okay. I graduated in 77. I bet you didn't think you were talking to an old lady.

Oh, with your voice, I really thought you were under 400. I mean, my brain is just as wrinkled as yours. Well, it has been really fun. Yeah, I really thought I was sunk. I thought I had a bad attitude. No, no, you're sweet. Aw, thank you. I should get going.

Yeah. Although, I'm not at work tomorrow night. I can send you my private number. You're welcome to give me a call. Oh, really? No, I mean, unless I'm being too forward. Oh, no, no, no, sure. I'd be happy to talk. Great.

How about 8 o'clock? Oh, everyone uses international time now. Oh, no, no, no. Sure. I'd be happy to talk. Great. How about 8 o'clock? Everyone uses international time now. Oh, yeah. Right. Is it 20 o'clock or something? 20 o'clock, yeah. Okay. I'll talk to you at 20 o'clock then.

It's nice to have met you, Richard. Well, you too, Casey. Thank you very much. And thank you for the help. And bye. Okay. Bye. I've got a date tomorrow night.

I mean, I think I've got a date. Is it a date? Yeah, well, we'll find out. I'll call it a date. Over here we have a unique specimen, Richard Varner. If you roll your eyes to the right and double blink, you can read his obituary on the neural net. Or you can just roll your eyes.

He can answer any questions you have. Why did you freeze yourself? I always dreamed of being an exhibit in a museum. That was a joke. Did you know Michael Jackson? For some reason, I never ran into him. Funny story, though. When I was in junior high, I did the moonwalk at a talent show when two other kids did the same bit to the same song. He can answer any question you have about external devices used in his time. Yep, I had them all. Now I am one.

No more questions for Richard? No. Let's move to the next phase of human development. You're all going to be brains in jars one day. Zurich. Hello, Richard. I looked into your request, and the company would be willing to put you back into cryogenic slumber. Are you serious?

Yeah. That is what you wanted. No, yes, of course. Okay, good. We'll be there tonight after closing hours. Tonight? Wait. Take you back to the lab.

Why tonight? Does it have to be tonight? I thought you were eager to go. Yeah, I am. I just, I was gonna, I just, this is earlier than I expected. I need to know what you want your reanimation date set to. Whenever they're able to make me whole again. You know, I want to be able to climb a mountain in my own body,

and however long it takes them to figure that out, I guess. Usually people just give the date, but I'm noting that. I'll see you tonight. Oh, no. I gotta cancel with Casey. I'm making too much out of that anyway. It doesn't... I don't even know her. I'll let it go. Maybe I should call her.

I'm not gonna call her. I'll call her. Hello? Hey, Casey, it's Richard. Oh, I thought you were calling later. Sorry. Yeah, I was. Um, were you sleeping? No, no, no. You sound like you were sleeping. No, I'm just resting. What's up? Are you canceling on me? Did another brain in a jar hit on you this morning? No, I actually, geez, I put a request in to be put back in cryo. What? And it was approved. When did you do that? Before we met. They're gonna, they're gonna refreeze me tonight. Wow, you hate the world that much, huh?

Yeah, well, you know, the world, it's, I know you're new here, but the future. No, it's not what I expected, but there are no guarantees about the future. You of all people should know that. Yeah, and I, you know, I tried it once, and it's not working out, so I just, I'm going to try again. But we don't even know if there are going to be people left in the future. And if there's nothing to eat or drink, they may all be brains in jars. Can I ask you something? What? We don't really know each other yet, but I mean, we hit it off, right? I thought so. So what was going to happen tonight? I guess, I don't know. I thought we'd talk. Right. And that would be great. But then what? Well, we could talk some more, you know, a lot more.

Right, right. And we'd get to know each other. Right. I don't know. We could do stuff with our minds. Okay, it's not the same as a physical relationship, but you know what? It can be very nice. You've done that with other cryos? Just one other. You've only been with other cryos? Just one other. You've only been defrosted a couple of months.

Are you slut-shaming me? No, no, no, I'm not. I'm just... This is going so badly. You think? You are the first person I've connected with since I woke up, and that means a lot. But I need more. Yeah, I get you. You just better make sure you're doing this for the right reasons. It's not you Yeah, I get you.

You just better make sure you're doing this for the right reasons. It's not you. It's not you. I mean, it's just times we're in. In the future, I think we can both have a... I have a headache. I'm so sorry. Okay, I'm sorry. I gotta go. Oh, oh.

Damn it. Richard, can you see us? Yes. Okay, this is Amari. Hello. Hello. Put that down over there. Okay.

Amari's setting up your cryo chamber. This is just for transport. Your tank's being prepped at the lab. Okay, okay. Okay, once we detach you from the mainframe, everything's going to go dark and you won't feel a thing. And if all goes well, you'll, you know, wake up sometime in the future, so. Hey.

Yay. Okay, we do have, we do have longer lifespans than in your time, but it is unlikely that you and I will ever meet again. So I just wanted to say, I hope you find what you're looking for. Wait, stop. I need to think for a moment. What's going on? We need to be back in 19 minutes. I'm aware of that. Richard's chamber is only viable for a limited period. I need to make a call.

Okay. Call. Who are you calling, Richard? Casey O'Reilly. Your assistant. I'll handle this. Richard, you remember most brains don't stay animated for very long, right? You're a rare exception. That's why you're in a museum.

Okay. Casey was only animated for a few months, and I'm sorry to tell you this, it didn't take. What do you mean? She became inanimate today. Earlier at 1522 hours. She died? We don't use that word anymore, but to some extent, yes. I just...

We were just talking this morning. I know. She was helping you with your social media problem. We, um... We had a date tonight. Oh. 16 minutes. Okay. There is a chance that people will be able to revive Casey in the future,

and we could amend your request so they don't revive you until they have the means to revive her. But there are no guarantees about the future. I know that better than anyone. Yeah, I suppose you do. I'm actually going to stay put. Um, you don't want to go through with this? No, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry to waste your time. Sorry. Sorry. That's... All right. If you That's... All right. If you need anything, call me. Even at home. Oh, thank you. Okay.

Good night. Good night. Good night. Search videos for Casey O'Reilly? We'll start today's practice with a few moments of meditation. Listen to your breath. Be present in your body. Let go of the past andst century, Richard Varner. If you roll your eyes to the

right and double blink, you can access his full biography. Does anyone have any questions for Richard? Why did you freeze yourself? That is a good question. I guess I wanted to see the future, but to be honest, ever since they woke me up, I haven't really gone out and taken a good look. I know a lot about the past. But why don't you tell me about you? I have a robot for a pet. There's a machine that can make anything you want. The airplanes can fly with a bunch of elephants on them now.

When we play basketball, everybody can dunk because we have jumping shoes. Every junk food is now healthy. They have the teleportation machines that you can use whenever you want. You can buy a satellite everywhere now. We now have robots that can do anything. I have robots that can do anything. Scott Adsit played Richard. Amy Warren as Casey.

Billy Griffith Jr. as Jasper. And Ed Herbsman played Zurich. You can find more stories in The Truth's archives at their site, thetruthpodcast.org. Imaginary Worlds is part of the Panoply Network. You can like the show on Facebook, I tweet at Emalinski, and my website is imaginaryworldspodcast.org. Thank you.