06 – Stolen Valor & Sentient Toaster

Thank you for downloading episode six of the Short Story Cast, a podcast for people who love short stories. This is the sixth episode and, as with episode five, features a guest narrator on one of the stories. I hope you enjoy it and please get in touch if you’ve got anything you’d like to say.

Stolen Valor

What happens when you pretend to be a US Marine so you can get a discount at a restaurant? Well, firstly, you might get a discount but the deal gets a lot less sweet if people work out that you’re faking. This story explores the idea of “stolen valor” and looks at the consequences that come from this kind of behaviour.

As I mention in the podcast, impersonating military personnel is a really bad thing to do and I don’t even slightly endorse it. In fact, I think you’re a bit odd if that’s the kind of thing you enjoy doing. It’s fine to admire people serving in the military but it’s not OK to pretend you’ve served when you haven’t.

This story mentions a book called House to House by David Bellavia. I’d recommend it if you’d like to know what it was like to fight in Iraq. Here’s a link to get it on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

A note on spelling – I’ve deliberately used the American spelling of valour for this story despite being English because “stolen valor” seems to be more of an American issue. So it’s not a mistake but a deliberate choice, even though it feels strange to deliberately spell something incorrectly.

Written by James Winterbottom

Performed by Ashe Russell

Sentient Toaster

As technology advances, we’re going to see more and more technology become smart. The “internet of things” means that every possible appliance in your house could eventually get online and gain access to immense processing power. Is it such a stretch of the imagination to think those appliances could start to think for themselves?

This story looks at what would happen if a toaster become sentient and we get a glimpse at the frustrations that come from being able to write beautiful poetry when all people want from you is a perfectly toasted piece of bread.

This story was partly inspired by reading the book The Impossible by Kevin Kelly. Here’s a link to get it on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

Written and performed by James Winterbottom

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Ashe Russell for contributing his considerable vocal talents to the narration of Stolen Valor. If you’d like to hire Ashe to narrate any of your projects then you should contact him by sending an email to voodoojones@hotmail.co.uk

Contribute a future episode of Short Story Cast

If you’d like to get involved with a future episode by either writing or performing a story then please get in touch with us. It would be excellent to showcase aspiring or experienced writers and performers on the podcast. There isn’t currently any money to share around but I’m happy for contributors to plug whatever projects they’d like to promote on the show.

Thanks for downloading, goodbye!

04 – Optimised & The Banker

Hello! After a short break we’re back with another couple of short stories to keep you entertained. This episode features a story set in the not-to-distant future where robots are taking all the work away from humans, and another story about an unlikely CEO of an investment bank. Enjoy!

Optimised

When robots take over all the human work we have to find new ways to find meaning in our lives. That’s the basic issue at the centre of this story where our hero is “optimised” out of the workforce and has to make sense of the new world he lives in. It may sound far-fetched at first but there’s increasing chatter about the potential for technology to make a lot of jobs obsolete in the next fifty years.

This is the story of the humans left behind when the robots take over. It asks the question, “Can compassion be outsourced to robots?” Listen to the story to find out the answer.

The Banker

Inadvertently inspired by Trading Places and The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perin, this story covers the unlikely success of a CEO for an investment bank that was plucked out of the unemployment line. Despite being set up to fail, he finds a way to succeed in a world completely hostile to him, with the help of his charming personality and a nasty incident involving a stapler.

Music credits

Thanks to Nikolai Heidlas for the background music, called Pacific Sun. You can find more of his work on Soundcloud.

Want to contribute?

I hope to feature a wide range of authors on the podcast in the future. If you’re interested in reading out a short story on a future episode then please visit the contribute page of the website to find out more.

02 – Keep Breathing & The Troll

Thank you for downloading the second episode of the Short Story Cast, a podcast that showcases great short stories.

This episode features:

Keep Breathing

A guided meditation that goes a bit wrong. The relaxing background music is there, the soothing tones are too but the words aren’t what you might expect. Inspired by the Calm meditation app.

The Troll

A dip into the murky world of online trolls. Melanie lets her ambition get the better of her and it leads to disastrous consequences for her. If you enjoy this story you’ll probably also like the TV show Mr Robot.

Music credits

Thanks to IPREB205 for the background song, called Ukelele 30. You can find more of their work on Soundcloud.

Want to contribute?

I hope to feature a wide range of authors on the podcast in the future. If you’re interested in reading out a short story on a future episode then please visit the contribute page of the website to find out more.

01 – No more heroes & Dominating the digital space

Welcome to the first episode of the Short Story Cast, a podcast that showcases great short stories.

This episode features:

No more heroes

Written and performed by James Winterbottom

A story about a superhero that has been stripped of his powers and forced to look for work.

Dominating the digital space

Written and performed by James Winterbottom

This story is told by a reluctant start up founder, giving a talk about becoming a digital success. The talk doesn’t go exactly the plan and you find out more about him as his talk begins to unravel.

Here’s a link to the script of the Anton Chekhov short play[PDF] that “Dominating the digital space” is based upon and also a YouTube performance.

Music credits

Thanks to Nicolai Heidlas for the background song, called Banjo background music. You can find his work on Soundcloud.

How to make your own podcast

Also thank you to Ian Robinson at Freedom Podcasting  His Udemy course on how to create your own podcast  was essential to getting this podcast made. I’d strongly recommend his course if you’re interested in making a podcast.