Episode 6: Sage Council

COLD OPEN—INTERVIEW CLIP

Female Interview 2
Well, yeah, if it’s like, affordable, right? And then, like, you know you do want to make sure the busses and trains’re on time, because, like, you really depend on that. Time management is so important, and making sure you can actually pay your rent without being so stressed out. I feel like that’s really important to, especially when you’re getting to be an adult.

[Charlie on the MTA begins]

And that, you know, you got work to go to, or you got an appointment, or whatever the case may be. Yeah, like, it doesn’t sound too bad.

Female Interview 3
Now, if you’re talking about the train itself…I don’t know if those cars are nice enough to warrant their own country, or city or whatever.

PREVIOUSLY IN GREATER BOSTON

James Capobianco
Previously, in Greater Boston:

Louisa Alvarez—Julia Propp
His calendar went on like this every day. Every little piece of his life was planned out.

Gemma Linzer-Coolidge—Lydia Anderson
Pandabear edits Financial Futures. And no, before you ask, “Pandabear” is not his real name.

The Mayor of the Red Line—James Capobianco
Our time is coming, fellow riders of the Red Line! The time of secession! The time of incorporation!

Charlotte Linzer-Coolidge—Summer Unsinn
I was in animation. Background art. But then, you know…the economy. And the arts.

The Mayor of the Red Line
And you’re the sort of person who needs to be doing something. You need to be in motion.

TITLE SEQUENCE

Multiple Voices
Braintree
Arlington
Peabody
Haverhill
Lowell
Alright.
Fall River
Cambridge
Quincy
I can’t say that one without a ridiculous accent, it’s just impossible
Arlington
Framingham
Newton
Lynn
Worcester
This is
Framingham
Waltham
Quincy
Arlington
Revere
Waltham
Somerville
Arlington
Leominster
This is
Haverhill
Medford
Brookline
Somerville
Cambridge
This is
This is
This is
Greater Boston

EPISODE CONTENTS

Narrator—Alexander Danner
This Week in ‘Greater Boston.’

We get a glimpse into Leon’s mind in “Highlights from Leon’s Calendar.” Pandabear Poletti sends a letter to human resources in “On the Advice of Mary Wollstonecraft.” And Charlotte does the best work of her life in “The Background Artist.”

[Charlie on the MTA fades out.]

In Episode 6: Sage Council.

CHAPTER 1: HIGHLIGHTS FROM LEON’S CALANDER, PART 1

[Tick-tock drums fade in]

[Om Chanting begins]

Leon Stamatis—Braden Lamb
Sunday, September 1, 8:00 to 8:30 AM
Attempt to open Dimitri’s Puzzle Box.

Tuesday, September 3, 5:00 — 5:15 PM.
Evening commute—lessons on railroad history with The Mayor of the Red Line. Inquire about impact of the Westinghouse air brake on scheduling processes.

Thursday, September 5, 6:00 to 6:30 PM
Call Nica. Try to convince her to come with me to visit Mom on Sunday. Remind her that she always spends a week feeling guilty and ungrateful after skipping Mom’s birthday. Invite her to lunch after. Thai food. Pineapple fried rice. Her favorite.

Thursday, September 5, 7:00 to 8:00 PM
Write cover letter for ThirdSight Media job application. Address skepticism directly, but stress appreciation for prognosticatory philosophies. Apply for associate editor position.

Friday, September 6, 7:00 to 10:00 PM
Date with Louisa. Dinner at Il Posto—tortellini with braised short rib. Dancing & drinks to follow.

Friday, September 6, 10:00 to 12:15 PM
Sex with Louisa (anticipated). Suggest “spontaneous” role-play scenario: naughty masseuse w/possible light bondage & blindfold. Strive for lighthearted, but relaxing tone.

(10:45 PM Update to previous item: Event cancelled due to sinus congestion.)

Saturday, September 7, 1:00 to 1:10 PM
Call Nica. Try (again) to convince her to come with me to visit Mom. Offer to pick her up on the way. Argue briefly before accepting her refusal.

Saturday, September 7, 2:00 to 3:30 PM
Grocery shopping with Michael. (See Wunderlist app for details.) Encourage Michael to redouble his job-seeking efforts by reminding him of the cost of food and other household necessities. Be gentle—motivate, don’t shame. Point out free classifieds leaflets in newspaper boxes.

[Chanting fades out]

[Tick-tock drumming fades out]

CHAPTER 2: ON THE ADVICE OF MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT

Pandabear Poletti—James Capobianco
To: Tyrell Fredericks (Dept. Of Human Resources)
From: Pandabear Poletti
Re: Workplace Hostility

Tyrell,

I am very sorry to have to contact you once again regarding concerns I have about the working environment in the ThirdSight Media office. As you are aware, past incidents have required formal conflict resolutions between myself and my supervisor, Gemma Linzer-Coolidge on two previous occasions:

First, in April of last year, as you know, I changed my name from Gerald Poletti to Earthman Poletti in accordance with my growing concerns for the natural state of our world.

[Chicken dance drumming fades in]

My choice was made based on advice given to me by my personal spiritual advisor, Mary Wollstonecraft, as conveyed through a Parker Bros. Brand talking board. Most of the office was respectful and understanding of my concerns and political statement.

The notable exception at that time was Gemma, who derided my earnest efforts as “impractical” and “inconsequential” and “attention-seeking.”

[Air raid sfx fade in]

She also accused me of debasing the memory of Mary Wollstonecraft, denying that such a significant and admirable woman would, quote: “squander her afterlife on doling out idiotic advice to idiotic men.”

I considered this then, as now, an insult to Ms. Wollstonecraft as much as to myself. After all, it was Gemma who called Ms. Wollstonecraft’s advice idiotic.

[Bombs drop]

What’s more, her suggestion that Ms. Wollstonecraft would deliberately withhold her wisdom according to some elitist hierarchy is a foul slander that I simply could not abide.

It was at that time that I filed my first formal complaint. Your subsequent intervention with her was productive; despite her obvious reluctance, she began honoring my request to be called Earthman. However, she did not apologize for her insults to Mary Wollstonecraft.

In February of this year, I consulted with Ms. Wollstonecraft once more, regarding my feeling that the impact of my name statement had diminished over time. She informed me that this sort of effort requires routine evolution. Taking the name Earthman Poletti had been a first step in the process, but the time had come for stage two: Ms. Wollstonecraft instructed me then to take my current name of Pandabear Poletti, in expression of my deepening understanding of the permanent consequences of human environmental irresponsibility.

[Air raid sfx fade out]

This was a very positive moment for me, as it represented both an advancement of my environmental advocacy, as well as symbolic bonding with a magnificent creature that I have long identified with.

[Air raid resumes]

Gemma, however, was not content to let me enjoy this happy occasion. She once again accused me of trivializing Mary Wollstonecraft, but then went on further to speak hatefully of the panda itself!

[Bombing]

She said, and I am quoting: “Pandas are an evolutionary mistake and not worthy of our efforts to save them.” Can you imagine! The woman wants to see pandas dead! And why? Because they are frequently disinterested in sexual reproduction without human intervention. Because their offspring are unusually tiny, and frequently suffocated by parents rolling over in their sleep. And because pandas have unnaturally limited diets, and are poorly adapted to digesting the one food they are willing to eat.

While some of this true, is it the panda’s fault? Should we blame the panda for the size of its babies or the soundness of its sleep? Should we blame the regal panda for not living down to the human standard of constant brain-addling libido? Should we blame the pandas for the inefficiency of their digestion or the refinement of their palette?

I put these questions to Gemma at the time. And do you recall how she responded?

She said “yeah, sure. Why not?” As though foisting the guilt of extinction onto the shoulders of the panda were some trivial thing!

I once again filed a formal complaint, this time on behalf of myself, Mary Wollstonecraft, and the entire panda species. And again, she toned down her comments, and began calling me by my proper name. But she never quit her obvious disdain for pandas.

[Chicken Dance drumming fades out]

This week, she has embarked upon an entirely new campaign of harassment against me.

[Bombs drop]

Until recently, there has been a vacant desk in my office, previously occupied by the managing editor of Political Prognostication. However, since our Journal of Phrenological Psychiatry ceased publication, and the associated staff were released, there is an empty office just up the hall. There is no reason why Political Prognostication could not be housed in that office, allowing that journal and my own Financial Futures to function independently, or at least with some degree of personal privacy. However, Gemma has very deliberately assigned the new managing editor of Political Prognostication to continue sharing my office space.

This might not be untenable, save that the new employee, Michael Tate, is profoundly unsuited to employment at ThirdSight Media. His aura alone should have signaled his instability to anyone remotely versed in auramancy, as Gemma claims to be. It is a hideous storm of grief and failure, tinged with recent binge drinking—a fact that even if missed in his aura, should still have been obvious from his aroma.

[Chicken Dance drums resume]

When I first met him on arriving at work on Monday, he was attempting a tarot reading of the most bumbling incompetence I’ve seen outside the typical Hollywood misrepresentation of our science. He was oblivious to the role of the minor arcana in his reading, and seemed to have only the most perfunctory familiarity with the major arcana. I even had to remind him of the significance of inversion!And these observations are restricted to the few times I’ve seen him attempt to do real work. He typically spends most of his time playing Minesweeper on his office computer.

On Wednesday, I found him attempting to work up a numerological profile of Professor Paul Montgomery Chelmsworth, the so-called “Mayor of the Red Line,” based on woefully insufficient data, despite clearly having perfectly good data from which to work up an Astrological chart. I did my best to direct his efforts in that direction—to his credit, Michael was both receptive to and appreciative of advice. But one must wonder what malignant impulse motivated Gemma to hire someone in need of such remedial advice, and to then impose that person on me. I can only conclude that it is her hope to drive me from the office, as she has never tolerated my statements of conscience.

Finally, as I am contacting you anyway, I would like to take this opportunity to update you regarding the name to use in in my official paperwork and in interpersonal exchanges. On the advice of Mary Wollstonecraft, I have decided to take on a new name, and from now on should be referred to by the name ExtinctionEvent, in homage to the coming pandemic that will result from the great Panda’s absence from the ecosystem. Until now, the pivotal role of the Panda has gone unremarked, but it will be only a matter of months now before the essential role of the Panda in the survival of the human race is made clear.

[Air raid ends.]

Thank you for your attention to these matters.

Regards,
ExtinctionEvent Poletti
Formerly Pandabear Poletti
Formerly Earthman Poletti
Formerly Gerald Poletti.

[Chicken Dance drumming fades out]

AD: CAMBRIDGE CENTRAL SQUARE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

CCSCC Pitch Woman—Sam Musher
[90s-style tech school commercial music fades in]

Thinking of joining the military? Don’t! Find your future at Cambridge Central Square Community College!

Looking for a degree that you can fit into your busy schedule of band scouting and beard cultivation? CCSCC conveniently offers all classes during standard business hours—guaranteed not to conflict with your fixie community night rides.

Cambridge Central Square Community College: There’s finally a college in Cambridge—just for you!

Why pay top dollar for an esoteric degree that only prepares you to sit home philosophizing to your cat? CCSCC specializes in practical skills-based degrees, such as Homecraft Fashion, MakerSpace Engineering, and FroYo Business Management.

What does the future hold for you? Find out today at Cambridge Central Square Community College!

Conveniently located in the former home of TT the Bear’s.

[Tech school music ends]

HIGHLIGHTS FROM LEON’S CALANDER, PART 2

[Tick-tock drumming fades in]

[Om chanting begins.]

Leon Stamatis—Braden Lamb
Sunday, September 8, 8:00 to 8:30 AM
Attempt to open Dimitri’s Puzzle Box.

Sunday, September 8, 10:30 to 10:45 PM
Florist. Select bouquet for Mom. Daffodils if available.

Sunday, September 8, 11:00 to 11:10 AM
(Note: Extend to 11:20 if Nica comes)
Mom’s birthday. Visit Mom. Reminisce, as appropriate. Examine headstone for maintenance issues, and report if necessary.

Sunday, September 8, 12:00 to 2:00 PM
Lunch with Nica. Pickup Thai food. Chicken satay. Crab rangoon. Pineapple Fried Rice. Suggest that I was “in the area” and “thought I’d drop by.” Don’t mention Mom’s birthday Inquire about Nica’s latest open mic performances. Invite her to test some new material. Offer encouraging feedback.

Monday, September 9, 9:00 to 10:15 PM
Sex with Louisa (anticipated). Likely to be final romantic encounter. Keep it uncomplicated. Be generous. Offer varied compliments on appearance & technique.

Tuesday, September 10, 5:00 — 5:15 PM.
Evening commute—lessons on railroad history with The Mayor of the Red Line. Inquire about introduction of refrigerated cars & impact on agricultural shipping timelines.

Tuesday, September 10, 6:30 to 7:00 PM
Clean refrigerator, with particular emphasis on emptying and washing crisper drawers. Smell check all dairy products. Dispose of any leftovers more than one week old. Move meats to be cooked this week from freezer to fridge. (Chicken for Thursday dinner with Michael.)

Tuesday, September 10, 6:45 to 7:30 PM (Schedule overlap noted)
Argument with Louisa, regarding completion of scheduled chores, vs. going dancing. Louisa argues for spontaneity. Also, for more frequent dancing.

Tuesday, September 10, 7:00 to 9:00 PM (Schedule overlap noted)
Complete scheduled chores.

Tuesday, September 10, 9:00 — 9:30 PM
End relationship with Louisa. (Tentative, anticipated.)

(9:45 PM Update to previous item: Event Cancelled)

(11:30 PM Update to previous item: Event Rescheduled to September 11)

Wednesday, September 11, 7:00 — 7:45 PM
Resume argument of previous day with Louisa. End relationship

Thursday, September 12, 5:30 to 7:30 PM
Dinner with Michael. Fry chicken. Mash potatoes. Mix salad. Discuss end of relationship with Louisa. Reassure him of my equanimity. Promise to “get back out there.” Ask Michael to clean the dishes.

Thursday, September 12, 7:30 to 9:00 PM
Call Nica. Discuss end of relationship with Louisa. Offer assurances of my well-being. Agree to one ostentatious outing with Nica to “take my mind off the break-up.”

Friday, September 13, 7:00 to 8:00
Nica performs at the Someday Cafe.

[Drumming and chanting fade out]

CHAPTER 3: THE BACKROUND ARTIST

[Upbeat concertina music begins]

[Sound of pencil scratching on paper]

Narrator—Alexander Danner
More than anything else, Charlotte was glad to be drawing again. She should have been drawing all along. Just because she was out of work was no reason to leave behind the one occupation that meant more to her than anything else. But after the studio closed, she had been hit so strongly by the conviction that she would never work again, that she couldn’t even pick up a pencil without crumpling in despair.

Well, not a pencil actually, but a stylus. She lived in the modern world, after all. Pencil and paper were for students and hobbyists these days. If you wanted to get paid, if you wanted to keep up the kind of pace demanded by the modern production process, then you had to go digital, where her art could be easily manipulated and corrected, without the slow marring of erasure or whiteout or correction tape.

She had made that change a decade past. She still kept pencils around of course. For doodling. For hand-drawn gifts. But not for work. Not for anything that suggested a career. To pick up a pencil would have been to admit defeat. To admit to hobbyism.

Charlotte was a professional.

Charlottes was still a professional.

Being out of work didn’t change that. Having this writhing creature growing in her gut didn’t change that.

But she still needed to do something about it.

She needed to be doing something.

And so she was making posters. The Red Line of the Future.

If there was one thing Charlotte knew, it was how to craft an image of setting. An image of place. That’s what a background artist does, after all. And that’s what The Mayor needed now. Not just a set of arguments for why the Red Line should secede, a list of complaints and objections. He needed an image of what could be. Of the city The Red Line would become once it was freed from its tether.

Clean, modernized cars dominated Charlotte’s images, with warm lighting and wide comfortable seats. Happy commuters enjoyed round-the-clock service, with amenities provided by local businesses run by self-employed residents. Train-board concessions, hot coffee, breakfast, juice bar.

She converted the terminal stations into housing. Her concept for Alewife Station revealed colorful entryways to dozens of new condos, (all deeply subsidized for municipal employees and their families, according to the accompanying text).

[Drawing stops]

[Pencil drops on table]

Train operators would have the easiest commute of all, with elevators to take them directly from their front door to the platform below.

This was the first poster she brought him.

[Red Line doors chime]

He wasn’t expecting it. She hadn’t asked him, hadn’t warned him. She wasn’t going to give him the option of saying “no.”

Charlotte Linzer-Coolidge—Summer Unsinn
You need someone. You’re the face of your mission. Charismatic. Convincing. But you need someone behind the scenes, to help the people see what you see. To give shape to your message, to give an image to your vision, to tell the story of what Red Line will be.

[Red Line trains pulls out]

I know how to create that scene, that sense of place, that complete narrative in a single perfectly realized location.

That’s what I do. I’m a background artist.

You need me.

Narrator
Next came South Station, which naturally became a dining hub. She added tiers of seating, spiral staircases winding around trunk-like towers of tables and chairs, ending in a wrought-iron canopy of elevated night life, drinks and dancing among the rafters. She put people in the scene. Happy people, people on dates, women in dresses, men in jackets, raising a glass of wine to their lips, or a bite of pasta, leaning in close.

The Mayor loved it. He radiated approval like an excited cartoon character. Not just approval. Awe.

[Music fades]

[Sound of rustling posters]

Like he was looking at the very spirit of everything he’d been working toward.

The Mayor of the Red Line—James Capobianco
This is perfect. This is…my god.

Charlotte. This is a very big thing you’ve done for me. But what you’re suggesting is even bigger still. Are you certain you want to be a part of this? People think I’m making a fool of myself. Chasing an impossibility. And they might be right. I know that. But if you’re joining this campaign, then I need to know that you know that as well. We might succeed. We might come to the end of this course as co-founders of a brand new city. But we might not. We might just end up making fools of ourselves. But we’d be making fools of ourselves together. United in the grandest of follies.

Can you live with that?

[Train fades]

Narrator
She could live with that.

[Music resumes]

[Drawing resumes]

So now she was working on the southern leg of the Red Line. It was more difficult. She knew so little of it. Even when she was riding lines just to occupy her mind, she had only sought the calm of meditative motion. She hadn’t bothered to get out and look around.

Her first step seemed obvious—do with the southern terminals what she did with Alewife, create housing for conductors and crew. But Braintree was smaller, less enclosed than Alewife, unsuitable for residential structures. And which was the terminus along the second branch, was it Ashmont or was it Mattapan?

[Drawing stops]

[Pencil drops]

She had never traveled that branch at all. What happened at that little spot where the Red Line seemed to hiccup, with a tiny black bar joining two red circles on the map? She had no idea. JFK/UMass looked more promising. It was a major junction, situated at the point where the Red Line split toward its two southern terminals. Perhaps it made more sense to locate housing there, with shuttles to get crew to their service origin points?

This was insane, Charlotte realized. This wasn’t art she was doing. It was urban planning. It was transit management. If this was going to work, she needed to know what she was talking about. She was going to have to get back on the train and go exploring. But that could wait. For now, she would work with what she knew.

[Drawing resumes]

She would redesign Downtown Crossing as a retail hub. She would design the emergency medical station at Charles/MGH, the classrooms at Porter Square, the art installation and performance space at Harvard Square.

She realized her solutions were just speculative, images of one possible future, to be adjusted and reconsidered in the unlikely event of success. Most of these decisions were probably moot. She hardly expected the referendum to pass. How could it? What did they really have in their favor? General discontent with funding allocations and transit management? Sure, of course. But that’s not the kind of thing that gets people excited to go out and vote.

Anyway, it didn’t matter. It wasn’t up to her, really. It was on The Mayor to make the argument, to be charismatic, to convince the people.

In the meantime, she worked.

She worked hard.

She did the best work of her life.

[Music fades]

[Drawing fades]

AD: VOTE YES ON QUESTION 2

[Chaotic drumming begins]

Marck Harmon
It’s Monday morning in the freezing winter and you’re running late for work.

Sam Musher
The red line trains are delayed and crowded beyond belief.

Mike Linden
You have an important meeting at 9am sharp.

Jeff Van Dreason
It’s 8:35 and the red line cars are so crowded you can’t squeeze into a train to save your life.

Jim Johanson
Sound familiar?

Sam Musher
Sound too familiar?

Marck Harmon

What if we could change your commute?

Jim Johanson

What if we could change

[Drumming cuts out]

All voices
everything?

[Insipid political music tamborine loop begins]

Sam Musher
What if we could take part of a terrible transit totality and turn it into something more?

Marck Harmon
Something sensational?

Mike Linden
We’re not proposing a utopia. We don’t believe in perfection and we’re especially not going to find it on the red line.

[Insipid political music acoustic strum loop begins]

Jeff Van Dreason
We’re not naive.

Sam Musher
But we do believe in progress.

Marck Harmon
We believe in change.

Jim Johanson
We believe the trains can run on time.

Sam Musher
We believe you should meet more of your neighbors and fellow commuters.

[Insipid political music synth loop begins]

Marck Harmon
We believe in affordable homes for everyone.

Mike Linden
We believe we’re the answer for Boston’s housing crisis.

Sam Musher
Question #2 proposes not only to fix the rancid red line issues, it proposes a radical new community focused on people’s needs based on one simple principal.

Jeff Van Dreason
Our need to connect as directly as possible.

Jim Johanson
Connect with your career. Connect with home. Connect with your family.

Marck Harmon
Connect with your community, all in one place. Vote

All voices
yes

Marck Harmon
on question 2.

Sam Musher
Because if you lived here, you’d be home by now.

[Insipid political music ends]

Mike Linden
Paid for by Future Citizens of Red Line.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM LEON’S CALANDER, PART 3.

[Tick-tock drumming begins]

Leon Stamatis—Braden Lamb
Sunday, September 15, 8:00 to 8:30 AM
Attempt to open Dimitri’s Puzzle Box.

[Om chanting begins]

Sunday, September 15 (All day)
Post-relationship outing with Nica to Wonderland Amusement Park. Use outing as opportunity to discuss Nica’s career prospects. Suggest audio book recording as possible career path. Bring information regarding local producers seeking volunteers: Perkins School & Learning Ally. Also, inquire whether she has heard from Dimitri. Postcards stopped after he reached Oregon, six months ago.

Tuesday, September 17 (Time unspecified)
Receive interview request from ThirdSight Media. (Anticipated) Clear schedule for interview preparations: select, launder, & iron interview clothes. Print extra resume, & directions to office. Prepare list of questions. Review ThirdSight Publications & study relevant topics: divination, astrology, new age spiritualism.

Tuesday, September 18, 5:00 — 5:15 PM
Evening commute—lessons on railroad history with The Mayor of the Red Line. Inquire about Westinghouse’s impact on our evolving cultural perception of time and time management.

Wednesday, September 18 (Time unspecified)
Interview at ThirdSight Media. (Anticipated) Speak confidently. Remember to make eye-contact, but not excessively. Mind speaking pace. Ask questions. Impress interviewer.

Friday, September 20, 4:00 to 4:10 PM
Give two weeks’ notice at Moebius Highway Productions. Be appreciative of past opportunities. Leave positively, while paving way for replacement. Refer Michael as replacement, & provide resume. Offer to train.

Saturday, September 21, 3:00 to 3:15 PM
Retrieve belongings from Louisa’s apartment: spare clothes, toiletries, books. (Mystic River. The Name of the Rose. Collected Sherlock Holmes.) Briefly review recent decisions in discussion with Louisa. Reassure each other that we are essentially incompatible, and have made the correct choice.

Sunday, September 22, 8:00 to 8:30 AM
Attempt to open Dimitri’s Puzzle Box.

Sunday, September 22, 3:00 to 4:00 PM
Update OKCupid profile. Stress importance of time-management skills.

Thursday, September 26, 5:30 — 7:30 PM
Help Michael prepare for new position. Offer practical congratulatory gifts. Agenda book. Desk supplies. Travel-size French press coffee maker. Help Michael set up a digital calendar. Show him how to use it. Update his contacts list. Introduce him to digital to-do list applications with cross-platform integration. Get him organized.

Saturday, September 28 (All day)
Catch up on reading.

Sunday September 29, 8:00 to 8:30 AM
Attempt to open Dimitri’s Puzzle Box.

Monday, May 31, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Michael’s first day at Moebius Highway Productions. (Anticipated.) Provide orientation & training. Prepare him as my replacement.

[Drumming and chanting fade out]

CREDITS

[Upbeat concertina music returns]

Narrator-Alexander Danner
Greater Boston is written and produced by Alexander Danner and Jeff Van Dreason with recording and technical assistance from Marc Harmon.

In order of appearance, this episode featured:

• Braden Lamb as Leon Stamatis (he/him)
• James Capobianco as Pandabear Poletti (he/him) and The Mayor of the Red Line (he/him)
• Sam Musher as the CCSCC pitch woman
• Alexander Danner as The Narrator (he/him)
• Summer Unsinn as Charlotte Linzer Coolidge (she/her)

Also featuring Marck Harmon, Sam Musher, Mike Linden, Jeff Van Dreason, and Jim Johanson as Future Citizens of Red Line.

Charlie on the MTA is performed by Emily Peterson and Dirk Tiede. Drum tracks by Jim Johanson. The Community College theme is by Dave Fernandez. Train Jam is performed by Adrienne Howard and Emily Peterson. Some sound effects used from public domain and creative commons sources.

Episode transcripts will be posted online at GreaterBostonShow.com.

If you enjoy Greater Boston, please consider donating to our Patreon campaign, and help spread the word by leaving us a review on iTunes or social media.

Greater Boston is written in part at The Writers’ Room of Boston, a non-profit workspace for Boston-area writers. Find out more at WritersRoomofBoston.org.

COOKIE

Female Interview 7
They should not form their own…towns. [laughs]

Interviewer
Why do you think that would be a bad idea?

Female Interview 7
Who’s on them? Are the trains running themselves or are there people living there? This doesn’t make any sense. This is a little…crazy. Trains taking over? They live in their own towns? Thomas the train? I don’t even…[laughs].

No. Sounds a little wild.