Welcome to Night Mind: Night Vale Explained (At Last)

[Music] why give informed feedback to an author after reading their entire novel when you can judge them harshly based on a single paragraph on page one how dare they read a book in the first place scorn them scorn them without attempting to read their whole works naughty naughty criminal bookmakers welcome to Knight mine [Music] listeners as many of you know being frequent users of devices that distance you from other humans so it's not to be overcome with the pain of physical proximity social interaction is a complex labyrinth of awkward exchanges and moments of crippling self-doubt it is a dance would be proverbial two left feet in a ballroom that has been recently waxed and while attempting to look cool performing modern dance it weighs on the minds of all potential dancers that reaching out to steady oneself on a partner by say grabbing a shoulder is a big unforgivable faux pas because of that whole embarrassing physical proximity thing one tool of navigation in the social communication realm is Li comparison you know similes metaphors phrases like oh hey you remind me of somebody that I used to know like that one song from a few summers ago made by a guy that we used to know but now nobody remembers the name of comparisons are common they're useful but like all components of social interaction they can be exceedingly painful and incredibly annoying sigh if one were to say we constantly compared to a certain fictional community radio host for instance every single month since they first appeared online that might get very irritating it would be like receiving the same piece of junk mail in the mail barrel placed outside one's house each day assuming you're in compliance with newly updated city regulations and replaced your old inefficient mailbox with the much dirtier more voluminous mail barrel it's like a flyer for a bookstore chain that sends you its monthly deals even though you yourself are the owner of a quaint local bookstore and have as such never shopped outside your own inventory so no you never signed up for mail from that bookstore chain you've never even heard of them you keep pretty much to yourself and your store but because we both sell books consider it Pierce decided hey let's send our friend the local independent bookstore owner flyers about books he can buy from the big chain store he'll love that he sells books they sell books it's perfect and so every month multiple fliers arrive for the same national bookstore send by those who have shopped at your own local bookstore and while the sentiment of your customer base is nice I guess it begins to dawn on you that you will never escape how they mentally see you as so extremely similar to this other bigger older more popular bookstore you know because you arrange your books kind of the same and your coffee shop corners both have black leather everything with a guy behind the counter it's a lip piercings just under the lower lip that looks like that one rock stars so you have similar aesthetics and style you know so have you heard of this other big bookstore you might like them they're pretty super here have another flyer on top of the ten other flyers your customers sent you about the same place and that's the thing about comparisons they build and build and stack up until one day while attempting to carry your mail barrel inside the weight on your back finally becomes too much and your spine breaks halfway to the front or like a flimsy paper flyer you fold into dropping to your knees and there you break finally succumbing to the weight that has been piling up on you and I suppose that is what brings us together in the talk this evening I have seen your fliers you have filled my mail barrel full of the same kind of junk mail you have come to my home and broken my spine and in retaliation I have decided to drag all of your well-meaning junk mail to the fire pit out back for a big beautiful bonfire as a sacrifice to the vampire bat commune that lives in the out trees just at the edge of the property welcome to night Vale covered by night minds like the bright smooth scalp of cecil baldwin i am now completely barren of any natural defense against the elements that attack me i tore all my hair out getting to this point you will welcome although i win in the end because you know a shape-shift grows back everything they want to so huh yeah I'll be fine also my spine is really intact please do not contact emergency services I do not mean them maybe if I start shirking on the mail this whole thing but we should be fine although I must warn you all before we begin that there have been some technical difficulties today you see listeners a very dark ominous cloud has rolled over the area that's giving me quite a bit of concern you may be wondering why exactly I can see a dark ominous cloud in the middle of the night well this cloud appears to have a sort of luminescence to it that clouds usually don't have it's kind of green and purple and then kind of like a weird time time plan between the two all around the edges so you see the glow which lights it up against the night sky and then you see how dark the cloud is so yeah very dark and ominous there have been these green powerful rolls of thunder happening for about an hour now and the air smells very much like rain I've seen big arcing flashes of white in the cloud and the lights down here have started to flicker if I suddenly go off the air assume I have been struck by lightning at that point yes do call emergency services for me please I am nine pervious to electrical shock I would say it's a pretty fortunate occurrence that such an odd bit of weather has occurred for our discussion about night Vale the weirdest town to ever exist they have their very own glow cloudy now it's a big powerful oppressive rain washing cloud that also happens to be president of the PTA it might be an evil overlord but it cares more about your children's education than those teachers do I tell you lies evil overlords and night Vale happened to care a lot more about the way of life for everyday citizens and the citizens themselves actually they care very very much ranging from the secret police to the vague yet menacing government agencies and the mysterious hooded figures who are allowed to do pretty much whatever they want at any time we City Council while also being a vague yet menacing entity the likes of which only HP Lovecraft could properly describe for you doesn't really seem to care nearly as much as non-government parties do but hey isn't that like every is really ah ah yeah you know what I'm talking about I know you're smiling it's okay ah but that's really the only smile that you and I can share during this discussion listeners I have done my research on welcome to night Vale I have listened to the entire podcast from that blog to present day I have heard the voice of Joseph Inc speaking for entirely too long in his episode introduction so many times now that he may as well just write himself in as a character because he'll if you're going to hug up that much air time Joseph and leaves do something with it that makes it entertaining for me to hear you speak and actually it's right around the time now in this video that one of his intros would end and the episode would actually start so at least I know that my parody is on track yes kids after opening my channel and being bombarded it with comparisons to Cecil Baldwin and messages about and I fail I have heard of night Vale I have listened to night Vale I am ready to talk about night Vale you want to compare me to your precious cinnamon roll Cecil Palmer so much you are about to find out just how unlike your darling community review host I am the video is here you wanted my opinion you in the whole damn desert town are gonna get it this is night mind on night Vale [Music] you know I don't think there's a better way to finish off cabin fever dreams a celebration of the really absurd internet creations than with welcome to night Vale we've seen a few items that have been pretty crazy but made a point they were art and they illustrate their views very well even if it was hard for the average person to interpret what was being said but night Vale oh boy oh boy I fell I feel laughs and I fell are you familiar with the idea of a character catchphrase what's up doc did I do that bazinga it's something that a character says once in a while as a joke but often enough that it sticks in your memory they won't say it in every episode of a TV show but maybe once every three it's a very old recurring joke like a running gag plenty of shows have running gags there is no creation in the history of things I've seen that has a worse understanding of how to use a running gag than welcome to night Vale a running gag is a lot like an actual runner it works if you let the runner stay on his feet and run around the track because it goes by you see him and you laugh then he goes away in a little while later whoop here he comes again what a funny guy you've forgotten about him for a little bit because he was out of sight but then he comes back and you remember him and you laugh and you light a runner it's like a running joke and just like our runner the running joke also stops being funny when you decide you like him so much that you piledrive that man into the ground when he passes by just so you can make sure that he stays exactly where you can see him so you can laugh and point at him and laugh and point him him and keep on doing that stupid cycle but then the running joke tries to get up and go on his natural course so you grab them by the back of his shirt choke him a little bit and then you slam his face into the turret no yours big right where everybody can see you mr. funny man you're so funny everybody look how funny he is never mind I eat just lost a few piece Arius look out except that you don't understand a running joke is meant to keep running you introduce it you let it disappear and then it comes back in the cycle repeats you don't beat the hell out of it and force it to stay in sight the entire time because then we're just getting an earful of the same exact joke for 27 minutes twice a month it stops being funny and just becomes sad when I start seeing all the different ways in which you can injure that poor man you have trapped on the ground gasping for air this is the first massive problem I have with night Vale and it became my own personal running joke when I first began listening to the series dear unholy glow cloud above this is the most repetitive unfunny recurring joke style of writing I've ever suffered through the town is weird weird things happen nobody really panics and we all have gallery more about it oh the dog gets attacked threatened or destroyed by something evil and everything is fixed up during the weather segment ah these live reports on something quirky and weird oh how funny people don't understand how science or aspects of human society work every character speaks in a light positive tone about something absolutely horrible oh boy ain't a funny one and it's every single episode repeat that cycle again and again just keep doing the same exact thing while using different nouns and locations make sure it's quirky and grow in something supernatural bonus points if it's relatable in the same way that a mean that came from tumblr tries to be play a game of mad libs night mail edition and try to express that you don't expect to live past your 20s while you fill in the blanks without actually letting your friends know look up how to write in a formula and you can make your very own welcome to night Vale episode I live analyzing media that tells a story in a secret way or has deep artistic layers I am very familiar with episodic storytelling and sometimes night Vale does tell a story it tells quite a few stories actually the issue is that almost all of these stories are plagued by formula whether it's a story contained inside one episode or it's a tale that spans a few months being weighed down by the running joke getting beaten up on the side of the track night Vale suffers when it tries to tell a story because it can't is gave from its own self-indulgent wackiness it is in love with that one single joke guys it's like peanut butter to them they'll go and put peanut butter on every single thing they eat sometimes they put it on bread and that works sometimes it's ice cream and yeah not many people do that straight up with peanut butter but that also works and then they'll go and put it on pizza they'll put it on steak they'll put it on macaroni and frigging cheese night Vale is weird that's the running joke that's the peanut butter and there's peanut butter everywhere if you are allergic to peanut you will got all it is the disease that cripples everything it tries to do none of their jokes work on me because I've heard the joke so many times already with tiny variations that don't make it unique it's the same knock-knock joke issue that fatal farm product put-down car filled with lasagna cats knock knock who's there night Vale night Vale who night Vale is weird oh no that's always the punchline night Vale is weird night Vale is quirky sometimes it's weird in a scary way sometimes in the quirky way but whether it's dealing with an invasion of pitchfork wielding worms actually killing innocent people or a holiday where everybody walks around in soaking wet clothing it's trying to take on the same humor using the same approach and it's all the time non-stop I kept on telling myself it was going to be okay eventually the art was going to reveal itself it was going to become intelligent there would be a real story the writers began showing they were capable of writing stories so they must have been working their way up to do something smart right but I've sat there listening to cecil palmer talk about the next crazy thing so nonchalantly and report on how people didn't actually react or they reacted in a quirky irrational manner and it never stopped nothing got better when it came to this formula approach over and over again it was the same old repetitive all [Laughter] fresh new and exciting series oh I've been so excited to talk about this I almost didn't make it through the week listeners I really have discovered something amazing but I'm getting ahead of myself here I'm so excited I skipped over the intro I mean it's not like we have terribly many new listeners but if any of you out there are hearing me for the first time welcome I'm David iron and you're listening to day brain the one-stop shop for hearing about all the most inspiring and wonderful new creations online if it makes you smile warms your heart and get you all ready to take on the day I'll find it for you now anyone who knows me and again I'm pretty sure most of you do you lovely people know that I'm a sucker for a good amusing anecdote that brings a sense of gentle familiarity even to the strangest thing it's like curling up with a good book you've read long before or watching a beloved cartoon from your youth you haven't seen in years somewhere in that incredible noggin of yours you've absorbed the feeling of those things even if your memory of them is a little fuzzy on the exact details it might be a bit weirder than you recall but the warm fuzzy feeling is still there greeting you like an old friend for example let's say ah there's this funny-looking cloud over the studio right now and it's been acting mighty odd all day I didn't hear anything in the forecast about a black cloud against a perfectly blue afternoon one that seems to pull the light around it and and every so often just let out a black bolt of lightning but hey Who am I to judge right I think it's interesting to say the least can't enjoy the sunshine without a little rain am i right but onto the subject at hand welcome to night Vale good golly where do I begin with how ingeniously clever the writing and planning of the series is this has got to that feeling in spades friends it's got this really cute premise to boot a desert town full of regular people living their lives only to be constantly menaced by forces they scarcely understand yet blindly accept as normal factors of everyday life and it's all told through the lens of the towns community radio station specifically its quirky host Cecil Gershwin Palmer usually each episode follows a specific pattern Cecil presents the major news story of the day which updates throughout the program and builds over time Cecil will present other items on the show between updates traffic words respond sir minor news stories anecdotes and fun facts you name it before the main news grows out of hand it looks like some great disaster is about to befall the town Cecil moves us to the weather always a musical segment from an independent artist before returning to the studio where the main news story was somehow resolved during the weather break Cecil has some parting foxx before he bits the town a charming good night it sounds simple enough right well the beauty of night Vale as a whole comes through it's consistent dedication to its core theme this is a town where the weird and unusual are so commonplace they're just glossed over and the writing and the way the jokes are presented is meant to evoke just that a blase window of a town stuck in its waves where some might find recurring gags repetitive the instead of oak that familiarity with the town and culture making you the listener feel like a citizen yourself you know what to expect you chuckle knowingly at the oddness and you feel connected with the universe in night Vale just another day in this little town but where the show really shines is how it hides little detail to those paying attention with awareness of the tropes you also become familiar with some of the seemingly one-off weird things that are mentioned you get so in tune with the happenings of night Vale you might disregard a simple piece of information as some strange bit of nonsense done for a lark but that's how it gets you suddenly a small detail from a long time ago pops up and it just tickles your fancy they were building up to something meaningful the whole kibe there was deliberate careful thought put into what's happening behind the abstract weirdness it leaves you guessing wondering what the knowledge chuckle worthy thing is going to factor into the ultimate fate of night Vale in citizens a dark planet lit by no Sun a strange masked army in a blinking light upon the mountain if mountains really do exist set of plastic lawn flamingos that may or may not have been planted by a vague yet menacing government agency the rival town of desert Bluffs with its belief in corporate RC and a smiling god I could go on listeners but I worry my smile might start hurting my face got to be careful it's not always laugh out loud funny but I don't think it was meant to be night Vale is about building a sense of community and with all the listeners knowing the tropes and the patterns knowing what drives night Vale does not help people feel more like a part of night Vale citizenry it's comforting having that sense of oneness in a world with so many scary uncertainties and variables oh but of course I couldn't talk about night Vale proper without talking about the real meat of the story and that's its myriad cast of colorful delightful characters just as oddball and wacky is the town they come from I mean where do I even start there's Cecil of course and Carlos and mayor Cardenal and John Peters you know the farmer and the man in the tan jacket and the woman the woman the woman from Italy but besides the humour night Vale not working most of the time characters are another aspect of the series that really makes it hard to get on board in order to have people care about a story that you're telling you need to provide them with characters that they can care about the characters need to be more than just their jobs and a few adjectives they need to make a human connection you need to be able to empathize with them night Vale really doesn't give you characters you can attach yourself to your Cecil who you're always with and uh well there's Cecil that's who you have you have Cecil the only person you can truly build a relationship with is Cecil even with all of the other characters that do come on the air it feels like the only one who shows any sort of true depth and roundness is Cecil Carlos his boyfriend is a pretty celebrated character in the series the most likely character to be mentioned after Cecil but if you stop to think about Carlos and really examine him as a writer you see quite a lot of empty space where genuine effort should have gone who is Carlos Carlos is a scientist Carlos has perfect hair and is said to have teeth like a military cemetery which is another way of saying that he also has perfect teeth so perfect teeth and perfect hair Carlos is Cecil Palmer's boyfriend and usually that's one of the only things that he's capable of talking about when he's not talking about his love for Cecil he's talking about his love for science in the round about I don't actually understand this literally nobody does or can kind of way that plagues night rail carlos is constantly described as a dreamy boyfriend when he's not talking about science in that painfully quirky novel manner he is unable to stop mentioning how he is of course Cecil Palmer's boyfriend have I mentioned that Carlos or Cecil Palmer's boyfriend I've told you that right because they're together you know Carlos and Cecil their boyfriends together they're together they're couple Carlos and Cecil Cecil and Carlos how does it feel the kid being told that over and over and over and over and over again when you have an opportunity to actually learn things about a character who might be interesting doesn't feel that good right kind of feels like you're getting kicked around kind of feels like a writer is avoiding his responsibilities to you feels kind of like a song with only one now right yeah anything Carlos has to say besides enjoying science and being cecil's boyfriend is quirky commentary on whatever weird things happening in night Vale and mundane small talk that is legitimately all there is to Carlos as a character and it brings into light such a major major problem with night vales character writing the only reason that I believe so many listeners who love night Vale skip around the issue of Carlos being a majorly underdeveloped character is because he's a lover of Cecil who is of course their darling and the treatment of the relationship and the sexualities of these two men is something that you never ever see and well pretty much anything ever night Vale is actually extremely unique when it comes to this it's like the series is running a marathon of not stating the obvious that you expect is going to break at some point but it never actually does you see the relationship between Carlos and Cecil is handled with such a major amount of respect and acceptance that even though it is quite obviously a gay relationship you never even hear the terms gay homosexual or anything like that throughout the entire series Cecil and Carlos aren't described as anything other than Cecil and Carlos who happen to be together the nature of the sky being blue in this case is you might say a seriously obvious fact but nobody here needs to mention up the skies blue we all know the skies blue we can see the skies blue it's been blue the weather in the sky is more important because the sun might get interrupted by storm clouds and that can ruin all outdoor plans for the day and everybody will be unhappy listeners of night Vale seem to have a major appreciation of the treatment for Carlos and Cecil's relationship they appreciate and revere it so much in fact that they seem to be greatly overlooking how shallow the relationship actually is and how underwritten Carlos comes across an important character in a story who is the love interest of the main character should never ever just be the lover of the main character who also has one or two defining traits what are the defining traits of Carlos he's beautiful and he's a proud scientist that's it that's it man that is all there is to Carlos besides being with Cecil and whether it's male and female relationships male and male female and female non-binary pairings or any sort of romantic pairings at all you can't have the partner who isn't the story focus just be a badge on the jacket of the main character you cannot just delegate them to the role of accessory they need to have just as much depth focus and solid writing whenever they get the spotlight people love Carlos but I'm thinking they love him only because he's an accessory to sea salt and it's a relationship that is treated like nothing else in any form of media he and so many others in night Vale need to be a hell of a lot more important and relatable than that this huge glaring issue of so many characters being just an accessory to Cecil runs rampant throughout night Vale everyone is there most commonly stated or expressed adjectives John Peters you know the farmer is a farmer the mayor is an insane woman who holds press conferences every day for silly things the local news reporter has a grudge against bloggers so she's always trying to kill them even old woman Josie who lives with angels used to be just old woman Josie who hangs out with angels until recently when we actually began exploring who she is but dear God was it a long time coming to find out anything about old woman Josie besides living with angels being on the bowling league with Cecil and enjoying Opera even Tamika Flynn we only character in night Vale that I genuinely admire is still just Tamika Flynn the teenage warrior who leads an armed militia of young people who have had enough of the other insanity that rules over night Vale she's mature Stern disciplined brave as all hell and when she speaks ah oh my god she lets a town she lets me down for the same reason that every other character whose voice I hear on the program lets me down I can't get excited about Cecil talking about a new character anymore or mentioning somebody new who gets on the microphone because the performance is always like every other I have no idea what issue the voice director for night Vale has whoever it is but there seems to be a major major effort to make sure that every actor no matter who their character is delivers their lines and precisely the same tone a same tone and pacing as every every other character and they all sound like they share the same vocabulary and manner of speech I began to notice this during the time that Dana Cardinal the former radio station intern of Cecil began calling in from the desert Otherworld she ended up entering everybody sounds like sound a little bit like Cecil there's barely any variation and it so boring to listen to we only character the only character who sounds unique is Steve Carlsberg who was often regarded with scorn as being the only normal person in night Vale Steve Carlsberg is honestly the prey death comes before she brings you to your knees the woman from Italy darkens your door and will stay in your nightmares forevermore oh uh where was I I'm sorry everyone I think my train of thought two rails for a second hmm I was on characters yes characters at night feels sure is a lot of them we only really get to spend a lot of time with Cecil but I think a good example of what I'm getting at here is ah Steve Carlsberg like I said earlier night Ville has this funny habit of sometimes evolving it's weird gags and is something much much bigger as Steve Carlsberg is one such gag the most hated man in night Vale was initially just a name thrown around by the normally affable Cecil who until that point only really rag Don desert Bluffs and yet here is Cecil groaning Lee talking about how frustrating this Steve Carlsberg character is no other details just one of the many recurring foibles and Cecil's repertoire but Steve has become something more than that as the show has gone on we learned over time that Steve Carlton is Cecil's brother-in-law a patient family man and honestly a pretty nice guy he works for the night Vale PTA and is an active member of the community so why is he so loathed by Cecil and indeed much of the town is the fact that Steve unlike anyone else in night Vale sees things for what they are in a fascinating character study Steve Carlsberg only recognizes the absurdity of the town in its conditions he questions the role of the City Council he points out the members of the vague yet menacing government agencies the education given to everyone in town just didn't take with them so he says and he could see strange arrows symbols and lines in the sky that no one else can showing him the connection of all things he is called out on his beliefs and statements by the rest of the town is heretical and forbidden and yet Steve shares these facts in a non-confrontational earnest way poor Steve is just trying to help people recognize how ludicrous everything is I adore this because it's silly and surreal as night Vale is it needs a character like Steve Carlsberg he is a foil a point of self-awareness in the series that evolved naturally through the show's progression but he is also lovable and you feel for him in his plight the one sane man in an insane world he is even more so than Cecil a voice for the audience he's just as aware that something as wrong as you are and today I mentioned he's played by voice actor and podcaster how Loveland say what you want about some of the other voices only good things I'm sure but house performances Steve really nailed the beleaguered Carlsberg and it's quite possibly an influence on how the character is written how best known work is on the thrilling adventure hour a live audio drama podcast so he has the talent to back up the complexities of skews Carlsberg burg oh it's just delightful how this well-roundedness lad has paper show is a petri dish characters are when it comes to night Vale seriously people like Steve Carlsberg and Tamika Flynn are the only ones who give me hope and listening to the series because not only do they express something different from every single nose to the ground hands over ears person in town they actually dare to try doing something about all of the issues whether it's a smallest Steve talking to characters he thinks might be open to hearing the truth or as big as to make a plain killing a monster that children have been sacrificed to for years and she'd help but even all the things that people like Steve Carlsberg and Tamika Flynn are against those weird groups and beings that threaten night Vale which are meant to be interesting genuinely bug me the vague yet menacing government agency the secret police the City Council station management those theories edit figures the glowcloud aren't all of these things essentially the same kind of crooked enemy and the same type of joke everyone is spying on the private citizen and prying into their business everyone is some kind of monster whether cosmic horror or human evil all of them are Mystere yes try to hide their intentions while still being extremely obvious and have complete control and authority over the people they abuse none of these groups really differ from each other they all come across in the same way through Cecil incompetent in their maid function but extremely efficient in doing their best to undermine your privacy happiness and sense of safety and free well likely endless running joke about how nine vail is weird haha this one about being abused by some subject of a nutjob conspiracy theory performs the same song and dance it just uses different costumes whenever it comes onstage how many times in a row can a person sit and hear the same tired repetitive jokes using the same flat characters all speaking in similar tones how many times can we put up with this game of haha quirky weird mad lives how ah wait a minute I think I'm getting some interference the storm is really starting to open up now outside getting some weird echo and static on the line hold on everyone I'm going to see how well we're holding up let me run a system check real quick here I don't know how they keep coming up with such unique plots but I know I can keep listening forever every episode is just so different so unique and these characters keep me so entertained I just oh hold on listeners I think the storm clouds getting a little angry out there and our station is picking up errant signals let me just take a quick little moment to make sure everything is fine I'll just there oh wait no no no I I heard another echo oh but no now I'm not hearing it okay maybe we're good hello who is this oh wait what hello hello hi yes it's me I'm here oh okay um who are you who am i ha ha ha why you must not be a listener that's ok though I love new friends I'm David iron I run a little community radio station from morning to afternoon called a brain who might you be this is a joke right they brain what did my patreon members put you up to this oh no no I've been doing this for quite a long time I actually ought to be asking you who you are I'm in the middle of a broadcast and we're having some technical difficulties with a voice coming in and out and you're the only voice that matches uh well that's actually the case over here as well I'm running a show I'm broadcasting right now and experiencing a similar situation whoo what your show about I'm a Nick Nocturne I host the show called my mind ha that's so cute it's supposed to be creepy and McCobb it's pretty serious not um it's not cute Oh like a Halloween thing but all the time you're dedicated I have an audience you know I'll be - I love my audience they're so fun oh but they might call in or send emails about the intrusion making them unhappy I'm sorry but I think I should get back to broadcasting mr. Knight nice to meet you goodbye sorry about that listeners now where was I I believe I was just speaking about all the intriguing groups and plot lines they take part in for the series hey hey I'm sorry to jump in like this but I can still hear you are you sure that you're on mic did you disconnect from whatever was just hooked up or turned on oh wow I heard you is if you were right here on mic - in my studio yes I'm live right now how are you still with me not sure but I've got the same deal you're writing my headphones and I'm definitely still broadcasting I can see all the lights on I don't some I don't see an option to like turn you off either so our wires must have gotten crossed up I think it's all this crazy glowing storm business we have here isn't messing with our equipment and must have picked you up just patched you in crazy crawling star wait what like a like a big dog sort of clown hanging out on the sky right now is that it yeah do you have one of those - is it all bright and sort of ominous at the same time clunk why didn't I expect this from the start turn the show into one of those episode Chronicle things did in it ah hey be careful the FCC will quite literally give you 40 lashes if they catch you slipping up like that again sir hey uh hey David quick what were you talking about on the air why thanks for asking I love when people ask about the show today we're talking about something you might actually enjoy mr. Knight mind it's my favorite new podcast series welcome to night Vale no oh damn it this is it huh this is the sandstorm episode we're in the sandstone episode right now that's why we had to go oh my smiling God you do know night Vale I love the sandstorm episode I love when Cecil meets new people even though Kevin was a little bit super creepy but like I really nice and kind of lovable super creepy you know well no um not at all I'm sorry man but I I can tell already we are not about to fund that we're on the same page here maybe in the same book definitely not on the same page that's not fortunate and also very sudden why do you say that you were talking about welcome to night Vale right you said it was what your favorite new podcast yes welcome to night Vale is ingenious and gives off an array of good feelings for listeners it's got such a cute premise original stories and it's funny in this quirky offbeat kind of way that I can't help but fall for every time um well I guess it's nice that you feel that way but you're wrong I'm sorry your feelings and literally everything you just said wrong you are incorrect sir I don't understand well lucky for you I do see there's always a reason behind the artistic expression of things that I look into so I understand when weird things occur and clearly the reason that you and I got trapped on this radio signal together is so I can defeat my demons in that once and for all I can shut down overly enthusiastic night bail preachers and reformed them into thinking intelligent individuals who don't admire so quirky tumbler humor over actual effort I am clearly here for your rehabilitation I'm sorry mister night guy but but that's just rude there I said it I said the R word I'm sorry listeners what makes you think someone who enjoys night Vale isn't right to feel that way what makes you think that you're listening to something where they appraise are you being forced into preaching the Word of Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor by the secret police no I like it really I think it has a lot of merit and it's genuinely wonderful and well written and the characters are very unique and it's been oh my god he said unique characters night Vale has unique characters yeah everybody who jumps on the boat with Cecil talking the same voice and being flat underdeveloped as hell and all using the same quirky oblivious humor they are so unique I'll have you know that night deals characters to be very unique and different actually just because it can't always show it through the podcast doesn't mean their writing is empty have you even read the novel are you aware there is a full novel yes as a matter of fact I am I have a copy sitting on my desk it makes an excellent coaster from my coffee mug and so it's currently doing right now have you read it at all or did you buy it and decide to not even give it a chance well it ended up as my coffee mug coaster so early into my reading that it just can't even no then stayed like that but it's not like I actually have to read this whole thing I went through the first few pages it's all the same stupid repetitive humor and prose I hear from Cecil during every episode of night Vale it's like they didn't even try that's not true you did not give it a real chance I know that books are legal an extremely dangerous a night Vale but if you'd open your mind and give it a chance you might find it's worth breaking the law and risking your life you're going to tell me that this book written by the same guys who made night Vale which opens precisely like any regular episode in terms of solid writing it's somehow so spectacular that it fixes the problems with the series night Vale doesn't have problems night Vale is wonderful Wow no night Vale has huge massive problems that drag its quality way down I don't care how big of a fan you are you cannot lie to me and say that it doesn't have issues this thing is flawed I'm I'm well I'm open to considering that there are issues I don't think there are very many but if you have a genuinely convincing argument I would actually be willing to hear you out Cecil Palmer certainly listens when others have negative opinions in that case I can send my broadcast back to the beginning so you'll be able to hear everything I said I'll play it right over the mic for you it's nice to know that I won't have to repeat myself I will only do it on the condition that you read the novel though there's no point in debating if you aren't well-informed I'll hear out everything you have to say but you really should finish the book oh so you're going to make me suffer to hit the goal then huh all right I can manage I can do that sure why not have you had a weather break yet no not yet I was actually going to have it a few minutes after I had to stop to check out what went wrong with our equipment so I'm right on schedule for it now perfect I haven't had the weather report yet either we'll turn on the weather power through our sign material and then reconvene five minutes is uh five minutes is enough time to fish this novel right oh absolutely okay cool I'll Renton listeners in that case I now bring you the weather [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so we're back I am back and so is this man David brought to us by giant glowing cloud and possibly one or two satellites now where uh our research is completed our brains have been stimulated and I think I'm seeing things in a new light yeah exactly everything I had been saying is some not precisely adequate anymore most of it not even accurate anymore I think I have feelings and thoughts and these thoughts and feelings must be exercised I feel similarly but I'm still trying to organize my opinions why don't you start I probably should hey I've um listeners I think I owe you an apology welcome to night Vale is indeed a very silly very quirky very weird series it is filled with characters who count urban age Titans of horror and evil who are oppressed and abused by the government and groups that have sworn to help them and are constantly being attacked annihilated enslaved and terrorized but night Vale for all it's repetition all of its time spent beating a dead horse when it comes to running jokes all of its quirkiness and offbeat humor is making a point and is despite initial appearances at work of are listening to night Vale makes it tough to see what it's all about David was absolutely right about that one if you want to gain a sense of what angle Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor are going for here the novel is necessary it still has all the hallmarks of a night Vale writing that annoyed me but with so much power to play around use of the space given to them an opportunity to provide analysis on the emotions and thoughts of night vales people the writers paints a much clearer picture of what the world is and what it means you even begin to understand what the running joke won't get a chance to disappear for a bit before coming up again there is in fact a reason night Vale is a microcosm of the United States it is a dark cynical and sardonic metaphor that shows us ourselves but it also lets us laugh about it make a bit of fun to relieve stress and survive another day the people of night Vale our group that lives with knowledge that they're being ruled by an oppressive abusive and corrupt conglomerate of terrible powers they all have Stockholm Syndrome though they become so used to being abused and manipulated terrorized and tormented that it has turned into their definition of normal when the government is evil or neglectful that's expected City Council is always out of town for a vacation when everything goes to hell and when they're in town we know that despite whatever benevolent things they do to make us think they're all right taking just one look inside City Hall lets us know that they are literally causal cars that mean you harm well everybody knows that so whatever will survive like we always have the secret police who are invading your privacy in the most obvious ways and not being secret at all I both intrusive dystopian forces and also painfully incompetent when it comes to helping citizens deal with the real crimes and issues ridiculous stupid and overreaching laws you don't know are enforced procedures entirely screwed up and laws that are often spoken about are not enforced even though everybody is aware that a certain action is illegal like owning a writing utensil or reading a book the mysterious hooded figures those creeps whose intentions code and purpose are unknown are an aspect of society that easily represents the powerful and mysterious people who make things happen outside of public knowledge you can find a more public nuisance that works in a similar way through the vague and menacing government agency nobody knows what they want and no they aren't regulated but just go along with it okay they're here for your protection sometimes a giant ominous glow cloud rolls into town turns people into slaves and makes it sole president of the PTA no worries about that big powerful thing that just force itself on everybody right huh now of course not get mean us any harm the people of night Vale have come to accept evil in their town as a permanent fixture it is a normal tariff occurrence that they live with they have been subdued by their oppressors and made to accept them it is normal for them to have evil around it's actually best said in a quote by Cecil during the episode Fashion Week about aliens will be invading in the very near future sunday will be the day that Tamika Flynn and the beings who claim to be angels team up to lead a dramatic attack against the occupying force with the help of every night Vale citizen driving away our new masters and reinstating our old masters who are brutal and awful but who at least are a brutal and awful that we know and understand the people of night Vale are not oblivious to how incredibly messed up their town is base design used to it they have reconciled themselves to living with this even cease all who should have a better attitude than this has come to accept that nearly every teenager who in turn swarm at the radio station will die horribly or disappear forever whenever an intern dies he does express a bit of sadness but never serious remorse he knows this has happened before and it's going to continue but he's above thinking about it he doesn't concern himself with it he'd rather focus on Carlos and attending bullying lage that honestly is what gave me so much agony over characters when it comes to night Vale even before the novel I could sense that this town wasn't just making jokes about their situation they were accepting victims who knew precisely what was going on and that they were submitting Cecil especially was part of the problem he is so observant so informed he knows that things are not right in town and that the people deserve better but he doesn't push back or use his voice nearly as much as he ought to he's willing to help Tamika Flynn the true hero of night Vale who does fight for the people against the evil that surrounds them but he's not a real fighter himself Cecil in my eyes has always been too accepting of things and acts far too passively I couldn't imagine what his problem was or what any of these characters problem was but once you pick up the novel and you walk around with these characters once you begin to look at their setting and know the situation hear their thoughts understand their feelings you find out that they don't know any other way they were born in the clutches of evil and corrupts of government they have been raised in it and they will die in it well that's a pretty bleak way to look at things but I'm glad you see where I'm coming from here mind if I interject a moment yeah go right ahead thanks 7 million buddy based on what you just said this is one of those other points where night Vale has thrown another interesting narrative curveball at us and that's the issue of the Angels of night Vale tall winged and beings all named Erica who do random odd jobs for old woman Josie the Angels do not legally exist in night Vale everyone knows they're there and most have seen them but to acknowledge their existence as angels is apparently a crime in the city why why does such a dumb law exist what does the City Council stand to gain or lose by this and why do those people follow the law anyway because it's like everything else in night Vale and like you said Mick it's just the way it is fear paranoia and silent obedience to absurd asinine laws are the order of the day I'm pretty sure even they know how stupid the law is especially considering how helpful the Erika's are even helping the town fight off and ultimately defeat strexcorp during the takeover the public's attitude about angels understandably benign at best and if the powers that be in night Vale have anything to fear from their acknowledgment of angels it's probably because they see it as a threat to their control they could represent a positive force for change in night Vale which is the worst thing to any sort of being bent on subverting and manipulating opinions to keep the masses in line but then again the angels can be just as bumbling and incompetent as those who want to see their name stricken from the town so it's kind of a moot point right that's a very fair observation see pride only a little you've read deeper into this than I expected although I maybe wasn't reading deep enough I have my small moments when you think about it the angels are kind of slowly subverting public perception of things to the point where they've got people like Cecil on their side and now working towards being legally recognized as existing call them what you will but the City Council at least begrudgingly is letting this happen so they're not entirely as evil as some other forces out there right I mean if the people of night Vale are content with their oppression then those who have tried to see the town are the worst kind of evil to them night Vale is a town that honestly hates change and it's people have been born and bred to feel that way they greet visitors by pointing at them and growling into Loper after all night Vale is also a hard city to enter and even harder to leave the people don't know much about the world outside of their town so when something from outside comes in and makes things change you can bet your bottom dollar that the normally docile populace will rise up and do something about it why look at strexcorp I do agree on that point people in night Vale may be a serious representation of human beings that simply ignore evil among them and submit to it but there's also the underlying human flaw of being afraid of change it's not just that they're under Stockholm Syndrome they don't want to be warped into accepting or falling under anything else including strict scorp who promise to fix their issues Strix Corp even recognized the angels which people knew about but couldn't mention wait wait the Angels yeah the Angels want to make God wanted it occur to me everywhere the Africa's who Cecil has begun directly showing support for on the radio recently who fought against Rex Corp which was an outsider evil that attempted to choked it down into submission I I think I'm seeing pieces fall into place now when it seems as if nothing else would save them the angels United with Tamika Flynn and her militia opened up the path for dana cardinal and the warriors of the desert of the world to come through and eliminated the enemy it said in that event during oak old doors Part B that Cecil knows the town is an absolute mess while talking to Kevin who actually states all the points we made about how night Vale is overrun with evil Cecil is not oblivious he's aware their town is awful it is terrible but it's their town and they won't let strexcorp pass it even if the company does promise them reform at first it did seem like Strix might have been able to fix things but they are an outsider reactions of insiders like Tamika Flynn her militia the Angels Dana they're all characters who could fix Tyrells problems even when half of them are considered enemies or banned from recognition they really only push out strexcorp of the invader but lately well lately in night Vale the insiders of the town have begun to recognize that their job doesn't end with keeping outside enemies away true evil must also be fought from within even if it's an evil they've come to accept you have to get involved in the obvious danger you've been ignoring that you always knew was there you have to be like to make a flynn and take a chair from the City Council get into a place where change can actually begin it's not enough to push out evil corporations or demon puppies or mysterious men wearing tan jackets like we deal with in the novel in fact the novel really underlines with the situation with night Vale actually is and the way goes about its story really opened my eyes to what the series is about spoilers for the night Vale novel now of course be sure to submerge your head fully into a bucket of water to avoid hearing secrets beyond your ability to accept them until the time listed on the screen please unless you already know the secrets seriously guys it's that good don't ruin it for yourself are you still dry good we can continue welcome to night Vale the novel presented something to me that none of the podcasts ever foods ever could a satisfying step-by-step story of conflict problem-solving and resolution the man in the tan jacket shows up advertising King City with his notes the characters try to deal with another mystery man who appears everywhere named Troy while attempting to find King City and when they arrive they discover town that has been poisoned by one of night vales problems I got loose before Troy the multiplying man got to King City it was extremely normal it was functional but true I came from knife al he was one of the broken weird things from a place where time and reality has been corrupted and infected King City turning it into bizarre wasteland town that unlike night Vale and no fun or quirky qualities to it at all it was downright scary not simply scary and people were suffering without humor it was only by taking charge and confronting the issue at hand for the characters talking to Troy the multiplying man who infected King City and also happened to be a runaway ex-boyfriend and deadbeat father to our main characters that things were taken care of people who live in night Vale don't deal with the issues in their own home the weather happens and things just go back to being the regular horrible normal that they're used to but in the novel characters go out of their way to confront something that escaped from the town also hurt them deeply and they said something bad about night Vale from night Vale was actually confronted and solved and in the act of solving the problem we see something kind of incredible that is the real message at play here Jackie Farrow and Diane told the man in the tan jacket The Forgotten mayor of King City that he's partly at fault for allowing the evil that destroyed King said he did take it down and make him a forgotten man he should have fought for the place he loves and his the mayor of he's only forgotten because he chose to let it happen and kept looking for outside help to fix it and that help didn't come until he found people directly affected by the Troy situation King City was saved by night Vale because it was night vales problem that got loose but we only find out well after King City was ruined right up to the point of solution the mayor is told that he should have been fighting against an evil that by all the ways you could look at it beforehand was an issue with King City itself true genuine change happens from within it does not come from outsider interference you can always help someone who's been hurt by something that you did because the problem came from you but outsiders can't solve issues you had before they showed up night Vale is trying to teach us this and because the town of night Vale is a metaphorical microcosm of the United States the statement becomes clear at last our society is a functional dystopia and a terrifying world there will always be threats and monsters on the outside and they've always been threats and monsters inside we push away in conquer invaders defeat enemies that try to overtake us in our way of life but when we get rid of them we're back to being as cecil has said under the rule of our old masters who are brutal and awful but who at least are brutal and awful we know and understand and like the people of night Vale we sit fully aware of the abuses around us and how we've been controlled manipulated and terrorized by domestic evil making jokes at our expense that acknowledge that we're in deep trouble so Lenny roll off our shoulders making fun of how existence is painful everything is horrible death is always coming and hope is a human construct but it shouldn't be that way it can't be that way if we want to be happy it's not enough to define the monsters on the outside trying to force their way in we have to be brave enough to face the ones we've already come to accept as a way of life acknowledge that they are in fact a problem that does need to be dealt with and they are the enemy who brings us down and yes it is painful to change it is terrifying to break the status quo and shatter Stockholm Syndrome when you've been raised from birth by your abusers but actual change can only happen from within King City didn't fight its invader and it was only saved because people from night Vale affected by problem they had to begin with chose to finally confront it head-on and say enough was enough the Angels who saved the town from Strix Corp who have saved the town several times for something awful and continued to help but have been outlawed are finally getting the recognition they deserve Cecil Palmer used to be a problem as a character he was fully aware of how much power he had and how broken nightmare wise but he didn't do nearly enough to fix the problems within now he's at the point where he's been so personally affected by the love he had for old woman Josie and the angels that he's calling them by name and he doesn't care that he's breaking the law he's done putting up with something evil inside of night Vale that's been there the whole time Cecil Palmer is finally graduating to the level of Tamika Flynn the teenager who killed a librarian and has fought for night vales freedom ever since in Steve Carlsberg don't forget Steve Carlsberg I don't think that he's quite in the same level as Steve Carlsberg cognizant of the complexities and harsh truths of their reality but I'll admit that he is getting their true character development continues and you know what night Vale might seem like a lost cause already considering how in the novel itself on page 193 we read the tourism boards new brochures that read on the front a town full of hidden evils and they're secretly malevolent but there are things worth fighting for in the midst of welcome to night Vale is constant depiction of human beings as hopeless ever suffering loss holes with no true sense of purpose identity or salvation we do find pockets of reasons to keep fighting it goes beyond Tamika Flynn it goes in fact there's something I was criticizing very heavily at the beginning of this broadcast oh yes I did hear that part the long and storied burgeoning romance between Cecil and Carlos begun in the very first episode as nothing more than a and crush and its growth over the course of the show until their recent marriage 100 episodes in oh we have seen these two characters go through a lot together and through it all they have found comfort and solace in the other even when separated by time space and old oak doors to a desert Otherworld it is pushed Ixchel to find answers as much as it is pushed Carlos to do the same their success rate is dubious but the struggle as I say is real and so is their love and trust in each other night Vale maybe a psychical bizarre loop of recursion a string of familiar jokes and tropes that draw you in but at the heart of night Vale are the small struggles and triumphs the little details of lives connections and relationships that cosmic forces and unnatural cataclysms cannot overshadow it's the friendship between Cecil and old woman Josie bowling league buddies until their passing which is mourned by the town and lamented by her angels its Cecil warming up I'll be it slowly - Steve Carlsberg and finding some rare common ground with a man who is married to his sister it's the noble actions of the violent head of Hiram McDaniels the faceless old woman who secretly lives in your home's concern for Chad the resolve and Dana as she goes from stalwart radio intern to mayor and her steadfast welcoming of the displaced desert Bluffs into night Vale defying the norm it's the camaraderie between Jacquie Fierro and Diane Creighton and Diane's relationship with her son Josh this and so much more makes up the human element the punctuating moments of quiet and personal growth under the hodgepodge of insanity that gives welcome to night Vale its core concept even in the darkest most outlandish places amongst insurmountable Horrors hope springs eternal these more than any other creepy kooky nonsense in the show are those things listeners remember and hold on to cherishing beyond the initial listening and it's these things that keep the people of night Vale going bringing meaning to their lives reason to continue and something to protect why worry about the circumstances beyond their control like the very way their town is run when your family friends and neighbors are all you have I feel is about the community and you can't spell that without unity and that's what it really all comes down to people in a community doing something together to make the world live even through the fear and the horror and the ever-present sense of impending demise there are things that remind humans that yes it is painful and scary to exist and your existence can end at any moment but it does have its good points a lot of good points and even though it's terribly frightening to make changes at home when you've grown comfortable with even the most evil of abusers it's not impossible King City as ruined as it was did come back to life Cecil as wayward as I used to believe him to be has publicly acknowledged angels on multiple occasions and give them courage to fight for their rights to exist in public with city council Tamika Flynn has taken the fight directly to the City Council itself and Dana Carr doll who has already survived a truly insane adventure has no problem sitting at a table with a literal five headed dragon and standing her ground against unreasonable enemies night Vale has flaws it really really does and even my cohort for this broadcast would agree I think absolutely it's not the best series and the silliness can get repetitive I don't think there's anything wrong with loving the series for what it is but to say it's perfect or flawless is a matter of opinion even going into this I knew that but maybe I just wanted to gush about the things I like you know nothing wrong with that I just don't think the things that are Q about it or me nearly as much I honestly like the run-on jokes and the mimetic nature of the wink nod humor in the show but hey that's an opinion not a fact we dive deeper into the material because it is worth doing so if you can look past the hype and spend entirely too much time picking the show apart behind the surface level presentation mm you might start to appreciate the artistic endeavor of night Vale right but in the end knife Vale is art it's overhyped as all hell I mean there god is this overhyped but it's definitely good and it's definitely art it's very silly very quirky abuses its humor too often takes too long to make me invested in a new story arc need to present characters better very of the foes actor you might want to stop right there you could end up in a rants again oh right right sorry I'm still going to be a little bit critical of night Vale it's not perfect but wow it has merit the jokes are just kept running on and on do have their meaning pretty much all of them say something about society or people and the reactions of those in towns say something as well there's a lot to appreciate about this microcosm of America and I think that welcome to night Vale has a bright exciting and certainly engaging future you know I'm actually glad I cover this back when I first began listening I was convinced I would have been making just a roast review lamb fasting this podcast series as hard as I could but as the episodes grew in number night Vale began to win points with me and when I completed the novel I saw its heart the novel was like the cipher key and everything just clicked after that finishing it around the time of night vales current story arc makes everything even more clear now do I forgive everybody who bugged me every month to cover night Vale no no I don't but I do love you am I ever pestering that Vale loving viewers who wouldn't shut up about it to save your lives you guys were right like half right maybe like 75% right it's still overrated I will maintain that position but it was totally worth my time I like night Vale I really do I think night Vale is good I think night Vale is art and I think that night Vale is evaluable I'm really glad we got to have this time together Nick I learned a little bit more about being critical and you learned how to piece the layer of a new form of media for your studies I did I'm glad we came together somehow too my only hope is that anybody who began listening to my broadcast that's like a night Vale superfan didn't shut me off and start sending angry messages five minutes into an hour-long broadcaster so they never would have heard the miraculous turnaround that revealed my final real opinion after the weather oh boy yeah that would have been really silly of them if they didn't listen all the way through yeah it would be pretty embarrassing huh just jumping the gun and everything based on like one comment or two but it's not like anybody would actually do that right no probably not people are smarter than that I feel oh sorry that was more Twitter ooh who is it that's just my friend Mason he runs a YouTube channel called Knicks fears he says um he says big trouble what oh oh Oh be careful of the sec oh I got a notification to and it's a mention about you what's this about pictures wait what do you mean you got a notification about me well that's my intern mckaela she's been listening in and doing extensive research on your social media to figure out if you're too problematic to be on the air with me in which case I'd have to cut the broadcast short and she says that yes you just became a problem your snapchats are disgusting Mike no that's not not impossible by what someone named CP revenge from Nevada on Twitter is leaking your snapchats apparently looks like they were listening to the broadcast and boy are they not happy let's see your half of the show CP says root cats get put on blast and yeah wow these are filthy we are not going to be friends after all I'm sorry this is very unfortunate wait wait what no one was supposed to know what's their Twitter handle I need to report this give me their Twitter handle sorry Nikki but you're on your own I really should go now this is I cannot associate myself with you I apologize who is this who the hell is CP revenge who do they think they are but a fine image there's that operators sort of hook [Music] [Music] [Music] Oh [Music] [Music] cabin fever dreams is a production of night my presents is written by Nick Nocturne and David King and produced by Nick Nocturne the voice of night mine is Nick Nocturne the voice of David iron is David King this episode's weather was delay today indefinitely by a business find out more at vis need man camp calm or on youtube.com slash bismi common questions leave them below and feel free to check out David's midnight marinara podcast at Ben view network.com slash midnight marinara or on YouTube links will be in the description and while your I consider becoming a patron of either or both of these guys that'd be cool view today's proffered pasta is only as creepy as you make it but roast beef sandwiches always invoke Niall ism [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Night Mind

Views: 200,705

Rating: 4.784193 out of 5

Keywords: night mind, nightmind, night vale, welcome to night vale, wtnv, cecil palmer, nightvale, midnight marinara, the artist tree, cabin fever dreams

Id: G-KSUoTpZMo

Length: 78min 23sec (4703 seconds)

Published: Mon May 08 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/melanomma]

I agree with most of what he said, roasting /and/ praise. I think one of the main issues that slows character development is their self-imposed format of community radio (which is important to the show), which limits the scope a bit. They have still found ways to circumvent it and keep the show relatively fresh.

The episodes really are formulaic, but I personally don't mind because I think I'm kind of used to most media being a bit formulaic or predictable. The comment about the writing and the tone was on point. It happens to many writers and musicians (it's the "all their songs sound the same" phenomenon). But I think character voices (not literal voices but their words and actions) have diversified over the course of the story. And even when they sound the same, I found that I like Fink and Cranor's writing enough to accept it. WTNV is pretty cool when you don't want it to be perfect (because it's not, and that's okay) (and it becomes perfect when you learn to accept it for what it is, obligatory reference because <3 )

ETA: It's kind of surprising how people always talk about the various allegories that NV shows here and there but never in a structured manner. The microcosm comment was great. I wonder if there's an article out that lists all these references (the DB connection, the angels, everything about 107 points out to the way US citizens handle war, all of that)

[u/OmegaX123]

I was so close to making the silly mistake Nick (Night Mind guy, for the uninitiated) mentioned, quitting the video after the first five minutes because it was clearly biased 'I hate Night Vale because everyone always mentions it to me and compares me to Cecil' stuff. I'm glad I stayed long enough to notice the audio glitches and catch the other broadcast that cut in, which kept my attention long enough that I actually stayed for the whole hour-plus video and the somewhat more favorable conclusion (and the repetitive and lyric-less, but still fairly catchy, weather segment).

[u/sentient8]

The criticism is generally valid, especially talking about Carlos. We have a little backstory, but barely any personality to work with. He's written like a made-up significant other that your friend in high school totally insists is real.

[u/oncenightvaler]

for some reason I tried watching this twice and I thought it kept cutting out after the first 2 mins.