The Sonic Society
The Society of Audio Addicts

Returning to the Society another great fan favourite- The Red Panda. The Red Panda's new adventures can be heard regularly through Podcast at the Radio Memories Network or through Decoder Ring Theatre's website. I love the Red Panda because Gregg Taylor's humour and alacrity knows exactly how much cheese we want on our meal, and how much meat. Too many turns at the heroic wheel have produced silly stories or super serious ones. The original Red Panda series has just the right mixture. In his new series, Mr. Taylor takes the Red Panda and produces an instant golden age classic to be found in the honoured halls of other greats like The Shadow and The Green Hornet. Canada's premiere super-hero of the past, has many more adventures waiting for him in the future.

After, part two of our interview with Andrew Dorfman of The Sonic Society and a peek at what is coming up for our listeners next season.
We end our meeting with a special treat for our podcasting audience, another hero stemming from the North side of the US/Canadian border. Sonic Society proudly presents the first episode of Biff Straker and Spaceways!

Many of us in the Sonic Society thrill at the very thought of a radio hero from World War II. My first remembrances of audio cinema were in listening to The Shadow, Buck Rogers, and The Green Hornet. The good folks from Decoder Ring Theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada have uncovered a gem of a hero, one who has finally received the acolaydes he deserves for his part in the war effort. This week on the Sonic Society, we're proud to present the first two episodes of Canada's premiere super-hero, "The Red Panda".

Later we'll continue our conversation with the creator of the Red Panda, Gregg Taylor, and of course we'll listen to the hillarious serial- Robots of the Company by DreamRealm Enterprises.

Set out your decoder rings and spell Adventure with "The Red Panda" here, on the Sonic Society.

This week our Society meeting looks at Texas Radio Theatre. Our good friend and Society member in good stead Richard Frolick has been writing and creating radio drama for many years now. One of his favourite productions is yet another famous Jack- and that being a hardnosed or rather hardcastled detective.

Jack Hardcastle is a delightful romp in the style that Texas Radio Theatre has become best known for- loving tributes with a wink to the past and an eye to the future. Winners of the Ogle Awards and mentioned honourably by the Mark Time awards for their productions, Texas Radio Theatre produces live performances nearly as often as it works in the studio. Tireless, Mr. Frolick and his theatre players provide a wide variety of fantasy, comedy, drama and suspense in their lineup.

After, we'll have an interview with myself and Andrew Dorfman from the Sonic Society to talk about how it all began, and where we see the Society going in the future.

This week in the Society we return to a fan favourite, "The Soul Patrol" by David Koenigsberg. Our heroes of the Soul Patrol investigate the kinds of terrible crimes only humans could commit upon each other. They explore the psyche's of villains that most likely go undetected by mere mortal law enforcement, and that brings some interesting questions to mind.

There's some long abiding principles that have run out of favour in our society today. The idea of "sinning in thought" is not considered nearly as important compared to sinning in deed. In the past, even horrendous villainous thoughts had far reaching consequences- in the Soul Patrol they are footprints of crimes to be committed- as much as eyes are the windows to the soul. Writing celestial characters can have real power in stories. They give us the opportunity to look at metaphors and archetypes to shine the lamp of truth upon who we are and where we're going. Stand by as we go soaring off into another Soul Patrol adventure.

After, an interview with Jonithan Patrick Russell of Dream Realm Enterprises.

The idea in most science fiction is that it's not science fiction. That is to say, the stories may be set in the near or distant future, but they are about us as people today. Even if the people are future people, their sentiments, their concerns, their lives reflect our sentiments, our concerns, and our lives. Whether the characters are aliens or robots, they represent humanity and all our foibles and hopes.

Great Northern Audio's "Martian Trombones" takes a page from the classic view of martians as folks just like us. While we recognise this may be entirely flights of fantasy and humour, it is also important to see that no matter what planet you're from, the same issues remain.

After, an interview with Dr. Kerric Harvey on writing and creating radio drama.

As we look into a New Year here in the Society, one has to spend a little time in the past. But becareful where you step, because the past can be a rabbit hole of traps that loops again and again. Crazy Dog Audio Theatre has a propensity in their timeless and powerful tales to look at society in its most naked absurdity. This week's foray into the Universe requires only that you press #3.

Later we'll take a week's hiatus from our serial and enjoy some laughter from Third Coast Live.

This week we return once again to the next exciting installment of the Arbiter Chronicles from Prometheus Theater. One of the enduring ideas of space that has been explored so readily in television shows like Star Trek, Firefly, Space Above and Beyond, and Babylon 5 among others is the concept of isolation. Like great adventurers of the past, heroes in space will not have the opportunity to turn to the powerful resources of a city, country, or empire to solve problems that arise. This leaves room for the ingenious, the clever, and the wiley. Surviving in space requires a quick understanding of a situation when it arises and the best solution with the least amount of depleted resources in the task. The best Captains in space are those who inspire courage in their fellows and answers to the most complex solutions. Whether they are Kirk, Adama, Reynolds or Atal.

After our feature in this meeting we'll listen to a segment from Crazy Dog Audio on the process of writing radio drama, and of course end with the second last episode of Dream Realm Enterprise's Robots of the Company.

Music has a powerful draw in all our lives, and its importance seems to grow as the years pass. We purchase CD's of the music of movies as readily as the DVD's of the movies themselves. No less is the importance of music in radio drama. While there have been very successful series that have not utilized music, for the most part, modern radio drama depends upon it to cover the skeletal structure of an audio performance and make each contour seamless... beautiful. In this week's feature, music is very much the magic that enchants and beguiles the characters in our story. Texas Radio Theatre's live show of "Dragon Song" begins in a moment.

Also included in our meeting this week is an interview with Richard Frohlich architect and creator of The Texas Radio Theatre group, another shout out for all those interested in writing your own audio cinema scripts, and we begin to wrap up our run of Robots of the Company by DreamRealm Enterprises.

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This week, in a special podcasting issue, of the Sonic Society, we offer the Shadowlands Theatre radio noir spectacular premiere episode of "Graves Shift- Episode #1- Open for Business". Phillipa Graves was my first full feature as an audio script writer. Immediately when I was considering doing a private jane, Phillipa's personality came to me in a flash. I'm absolutely certain she's always been waiting to come out, and if I didn't write her, she'd throttle someone else's Muse until she could take form. Later we'll listen in on our conversation with Jerry Robbins from Colonial Radio Theatre, and check in to see what the machines are doing in our weekly serial- Robots of the Company.