A number of people have asked why it's been so long since I've posted anything, and whether or not I've stopped the podcast all together. The answer is no, in fact, the only reason it's taking me so long is because I've been making a feature length animated film, which as you can imagine is quite time consuming. As a result, I suspect that posts will be pretty sparse at least for awhile, but in the meantime, I figured I'd give you a little taste. Here's the first 3 minutes of "IMMUNE!: The Origin of Ryan Scammell, Superhero (approximately 72% nonfiction)."

Because this is a much longer piece than I normally produce, and because in writing it, it naturally broke down into seven distinct parts, I wanted to give the listener the option of listening to the piece as a whole or to each section individually. So I created an enhanced podcast, which allows you to interact with it the same way you do a CD. You can jump forward to the next track or back to one you want to hear again. Also each track has it’s own chapter title and individual artwork. The only downside is that not every portable music player can handle an enhanced podcast (sorry) so I had to make two separate ones.

This project started because I was interested in the hundreds of towns around America that have been evacuated and then purposely flooded in order to make reservoirs. In many cases, the streets, the buildings, still exist underwater. When droughts happen, these town resurface and the people who lived in these towns often come back to see what’s left of their old homes. To me, this was a very powerful image. I saw it as such a perfect example of the idea that “you can never go home again.” As I started researching I kept finding all these different parallels between water and memory, between water and time, in mythology, psychology, physiology, in the great floods, and icebergs, in swimming pools, and ancient rivers. It began to feel like maybe the reason water kept appearing as a metaphor for these things, was because it spoke to a basic human connection between the two. That maybe somewhere in the nature of water itself, we could find the nature of the human mind. (((NOTE: This piece is a slight departure from my earlier work. The piece is written less as a monologue and more like a transom of ideas set to music that I've written for it. It’s separated into 7 different sections, like tracks on a record, each with a different perspective on the relationship between water and memory. So to that extent it should be listened to more like a music album with narration instead of lyrics.)))

THE VOICES YOU HEARD IN BENEATH THE SURFACE INCLUDE: Nell Haynes (Voice 1 & 7), Elaine Kanak (Voice 2) Lauren Fath (Voice 3), Abe Ingle (Voice 5), Joanne Colonna (Voice 6), and others. SPECIAL THANKS TO: Charlie Scammell, Joshua Zavin, Sam Neuman, Dave Riemenschneider, Sean Gannet, Kolter Campbell for calling and contributing their thoughts on memory. Also Ryan Good, Cara Francis, Jessica Solce, Renee Erikson-Farr for performing a section of the piece that I ultimately and heartlessly cut.

I mean, seriously... The piece is 3 1/2 minutes. With a title like that, do I really have to write a description to convince you to listen to it? (Non-fiction?)

Ryan Scammell finds some pages from a young girls' diary (?) in the closet in his apartment building. He reads us something she had written about the deaf man who lived across the street from her and what happened when she finally tried to talk to him. (Fiction)

When a woman finds the wind-chimes she made in 8th grade shop class, she calls an old friend to talk about the thing they did and why she still can't forgive herself. If you're interested, please visit the website for information about the origins of this piece.

This piece is 100% fiction. The woman's voice is performed by Jessica Solce who's a wonderful actress in New York City.

As a special Thanksgiving episode, this is a story about fathers, sons, the woods, and the never-ending quest to figure out what it means to be a man. (Non-fiction)

One of a series of short-short pieces about things lost and things found. A couple receives a letter from a friend who has been dead for almost a year. (Fiction)

We like to believe that we have control on our lives. That we can sculpt perfect moments around us. That if we put ourselves in the right setting with the right people everything can be everything we want it to be. A few weeks ago, two of my best friends, Nell and Pete, came in from out of town for what started as a perfect weekend. But as the weekend got closer to the end, and as we tried to hold on to that perfect moment, things spun out of our control when the forces of nature and of life changed everything. (Non-fiction)

Or: How not to commune with foreign cultures. -- I lived in Australia for seven months in 2003 and 2004, almost half of which I spent travelling in a car with my friend Dave and a german girl named Susanne. This is a story about an experience I had at a beautiful place in Litchfield National Park called The Buley Rock Pools. That's actually a picture of Dave at the Buley Rock Pools to the right. This piece was originally published in a literary journal called Storyscape at www.storyscapejournal.com. (Non-fiction)

What it means to be 20 years old. (Non-fiction)

This is not a radio piece. It's actually the last film that I made. (Which means if you don't have a video ipod you may want to watch this online at ryanscammell.com) For the last two years, it's been sitting in a drawer being watched only by dust-bunnies. For some reason, though I spent about half a year working on it, I showed to almost no one after I completed it. I watched it again last night and was surprised by how much I liked it. For all the time I spent in college exploring these themes in my films, I never really quite got out whatever it was that I was trying to reach. I don't know if this film succeeded in doing that or not, but ever since I made this film, I've felt this kind of catharsis with certain issues in my life. Watching it again last night reminded me how much it said about who I am and how I think. So I figured I'd share it with you all now. The piece talks about the space between people and how so often we are incredibly close to people who in time will be incredibly important to us, and yet we never know. I should also say, I made the film with the intention of it being slightly interactive. There is a lot written on the images of the film that is too much to take in while listening to the narration. If you feel so inclined, go ahead and rewind to the sections that have writing that you might have missed. -- Ryan Scammell (About 50% Fiction)

There's a million ways to fall in love, and a million ways to fall apart. Sometimes all it takes is an email. (Non-fiction)

Liza Minnelli is downing red wine in her tour bus. The stagehands all together look like a Judas Priest cover band. Coney Island is a Ferris Wheel slowing to a stop. Andy Warhol! Incubated babies! Lawsuits! Lions in flames! It all comes together at a Liza concert in 2005. (Non-fiction)

Everyone's got different ways they like to explore new things. Some people hate trails and maps, and just prefer to wander out into the woods (like me) and see what they find, but some people like a little bit of guidance on where to start. So... if this is your first time here and you'd like a little direction, here are my recommendations: My piece "The Rabbi" is definitely my favorite, with "How to Be a Man... (sort of)" and "Stories of Lost & Found #4" coming in second and third. I know other people have others that they like more for this or that reason, but personally I think that those are the best work I've done. So if you're just coming across Phonography, and want to start with the very best, start with those. Otherwise, feel free to venture off into the woods and see what you find out there.

For now, while there's still not so many of you fans out there, anyone who wants to write to me and send me their address, I'll burn them a free CD. It won't have fancy artwork, and in fact I might steal the case from another CD in my collection (say Pearl Jam's "Ten"). But on the upside it won't have any of that annoying plastic wrap that's impossible to open. My email address is ryan_scammell@hotmail.com.

Yeah. So this is me. Ryan Scammell. This is my podcast.

I used to be a filmmaker. I used to be the lighting designer for a jam band. I used to pick fruit, and make coffee, and pop popcorn, and hustle stereo speakers out of the back of an unmarked white van. I’ve written and produced audio pieces for Weekend America on NPR, Storyscape Literary Journal, Storylifepodcast.org and I used to intern over at WNYC’s Radio Lab. My films have played in Ninth Letter, and have received various grands and awards. I’ve written fiction for Flashquake Magazine and, back in the day, articles for NUComment.