RiR 100

Celebrates 100 Episodes of Re-Imagined Radio

Written and produced by

John F. Barber

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International
©2025 Re-Imagined Radio. All rights reserved (except those granted by the Creative Commons license)

Re-Imagined Radio
Season 14, Episode 08

Final draft

RiR 100

Celebrates 100 Episodes of Re-Imagined Radio

Re-Imagined Radio
Season 14, Episode 100
Final Draft

Premier broadcast: Aug. 17, 2026

Synopsis
Episode 100 of Re-Imagined Radio. Samples several episodes 2013 to present. Highlights and milestones. Commentary and testimonials too.

Keywords
radio, sample, episode, story, stories, storytelling, hundred, 100, listening, broadcast, drama, tribute

Credits
Noted throughout.

Color Code
Yellow highlighted text = sound effect(s), either pre-recorded or live.

text example = text that could be deleted as needed.

Magenta highlighted text with strike through = text deleted for episode timing

MUSIC = pre-recorded

MUSIC = bespoke, created for this episode

COLD OPEN
MUSIC: QUIRKY, DUCK AND CONTINUE UNDER.
VOICE
The 100-yard dash.
The 100-meter hurdles.
The 100-lap race.
100 Years of Cooking/Gardening/Advertising/Horse Racing ... You name the subject.
The 100 Best Songs/Movies/Stories/Photographs/Et cetera in History ... the World ... again, you name the subject.
The Billboard Hot 100.
100 Years of Solitude.
The Hundred Schools of Thought.
The first one hundred days.
The 100.
100-Year Floods.
A History of the World in 100 Objects.
"Keeping it 100."
MUSIC: QUIRKY, OUT.
HOST
One hundred more examples are possible. But you get the idea. The number, and word, "one hundred," has many associations. Including Re-Imagined Radio. This, is our episode one hundred.
SFX: TOM VANDEL TESTIMONIAL
VANDEL
"Wow, 100 episodes! That is just flat-out amazing."
HOST
Yes, one hundred episodes for Re-Imagined Radio. One hundred times previously the announcer's voice has traveled through the curving air to say ...
MUSIC: FADE IN RIR THEME
ANNOUNCER
Welcome to Re-Imagined Radio, a program about sound-based storytelling. With each episode we explore how dialogue, sound effects, and music can engage your listening imagination and promote storytelling. Here to tell you about THIS episode is John Barber, producer and host.
HOST OPEN
HOST
Hello everyone. Welcome to "RiR 100," the 100th episode of Re-Imagined Radio.
One hundred episodes where we've explored different genres and themes, and conducted some experiments. There's not enough time to review them all. But I'll share some in this episode.
It's an interesting story arc. Stay tuned for its telling. And please visit our website, reimaginedradio dot fm slash "Episodes," where you'll find lots more information and samples.
SFX: "RIR 100 SOUND MARK." FEATURES RADIO STATIC, THE CRACKLE OF SHORTWAVE FADING IN AND OUT, AND, IN BACKGROUND, RICHARD HOLETON SAYING, "ONE HUNDRED EPISODES."
THE AGE OF CURATION BY RE-CREATION
HOST
It's useful to divide Re-Imagined Radio History into "Ages" represented by a common theme. The first is "The Age of Curation by Re-Creation," 2013 to 2017.
SFX: "RIR 100 SOUND MARK."
2013: YEAR OF ORIGIN
HOST
Our first episode is a re-enactment of the famous 1938 "War of the Worlds" broadcast.
SFX: RIR-100.01-S09E10-WOTW-2021. 1:00 SAMPLE FROM WOTW 2021.
Vancouver! Vancouver, this is it! This is the end now! Smoke comes out! Black smoke drifting over the city! People in the streets see it now! People trying to run away from it, but it's no use! They're falling like flies! The smoke's surrounding the base of Smith Tower, rising ... 100 yards ... away ... 50 feet.
(AMBIENT SOUNDS CROSS FADE TO RADIO TUNING)
2X2L calling CQ. 2X2L, come in please. 2X2L calling CQ. Is there anyone on the air?
HOST
Willamette Radio Workshop, a group of Portland-based radio enthusiasts and educators, founded and directed by Sam A. Mowry, provides the performance.
The venue is Vancouver's historic Kiggins Theatre. More than three hundred people are in the audience.
Emboldened by the remarkable attendance of our performance, Re-Imagined Radio, Willamette Radio Workshop, and Kiggins Theatre agree to offer another episode, "A Christmas Carol," in December. Re-Imagined Radio begins curating classic radio programs as live literary-media art and performance. Unfortunately, few recordings of our earliest episodes survive.
SFX: "RIR 100 SOUND MARK."
2015: YEAR OF FIRST RECORDING
HOST
We did record "The Case Files of Dr. Moreau," in April 2015. This is an original adaptation from the 1896 H.G. Wells novel, The Island of Dr. Moreau, written by Portland, Oregon-based playwright William S. Gregory. It's Re-Imagined Radio's first guest-written episode.
Here's a sample from the performance. Sam Mowry voices "Wolf" and Amy Gray is Cat.
SFX: RIR-100.02-MOREAU.MP3. 1:04 SAMPLE FROM "THE CASE FILES OF DR. MOREAU" APRIL 2015
Wolf: Have you been watching in the leaves and laughing all this time?
Cat: I am watching you, and sometimes I am laughing. Oh, wolf, wolf, wolf, be careful; I am seeing in the dark of your soul the betrayal.
Wolf: No, nature. I am not a natural servant like that idiot dog.
Cat: Dog is sweet. He is following me like the puppy, and I laugh at him too.
Wolf: Join me. We are alike. We are not domesticated.
Cat: Join you? Be part of your pack?
Wolf: Mm-hm.
Cat: No, no, no. My freedom, it is too sweet to me. The father understands. He is knowing my nature.
Wolf: Nature turns. Winter catches the unwary in her fangs. Be careful, princess. With the first hint of chill, Moreau will lock you away like a beast, without that precious freedom of yours.
Cat: (Laughs)
2016: YEAR OF FIRST TRIBUTE
SFX: "RIR 100 SOUND MARK."
HOST
In March 2016, Re-Imagined Radio offers its first tribute to Women's History Month and Lucille Fletcher as one of the best women writers in radio drama history.
We offer two radio dramas by Fletcher, "The Hitchhiker" and "Sorry, Wrong Number."
In "The Hitchhiker," Ronald Adams, while driving from New York to California, becomes obsessed with a strange man seen hitchhiking at multiple places along the route. Here's a sample starring Sam Mowry as Ronald Adams.
SFX: RIR-100.03-LUCILLE-FLETCHER-HITCHHIKER.MP3. :51 SAMPLE FROM "LUCILLE FLETCHER TRIBUTE" MARCH 2016.
Ronald Adams: It was a perfectly airless, dry day. The red clay of Oklahoma was baking under the southwestern sun, yet there were spots of fresh rain on his shoulders. I couldn't stand that. Without thinking, blindly, I started the car across the tracks. He didn't even look up at me. He was staring at the ground.
I stepped on the gas hard, veering the wheel sharply toward him. I could hear the train in the distance now, but I didn't care. Then something went wrong with the car. It stalled right on the tracks. The train was coming closer. I could hear its bell, its cry, its whistle crying. Still, he stood there.
Now I knew that he was beckoning me, beckoning me to my death.
HOST
Fletcher established herself as THE writer for radio with "Sorry, Wrong Number," a story about a bedridden woman who depends on the telephone for a lifeline to the outside world. Mistakenly connected to a telephone call between men she suspects are plotting a murder, the woman is drawn deeper and deeper into the story's intrigue. Here's a sample from our re-creation starring Pat Blem.
SFX: 100.04-LUCILLE-FLETCHER-WRONG-NUMBER.MP3. :17 SAMPLE FROM "SORRY WRONG NUMBER," "LUCILLE FLETCHER TRIBUTE" MARCH 2022.
Woman: Hello? Hello! Stop ringing me, do you hear? Answer me, who is this? Do you realize you're driving me crazy? Who's calling me? What are you doing it for? Now stop it! Stop it! Stop it!
SFX: "RIR 100 SOUND MARK."
THE AGE OF CURATION BY COLLABORATION
2018: YEAR OF CHANGING AGES
HOST
The Age of Curation by Re-Creation ends in 2017, when Willamette Radio Workshop, wanting to focus on creating original material in their studio, withdraws as our performance partner.
Re-Imagined Radio finds a new partner in Metropolitan Performing Arts, a Vancouver-based performing arts school.
"The Lone Ranger" is our first performance of 2018. We re-imagine The Lone Ranger origin story, that of the powerful white stallion, Silver, and women empowerment on a wagon train bound for the Oregon Territory.
In this sample, The Lone Ranger meets with the women of the wagon train. The Lone Ranger is voiced by Kristin Heller. One of the women is Anne McEnerny-Ogle, Mayor of Vancouver. Talk about community radio storytelling.
SFX: 100.06-LONE-RANGER.MP3. :54 SAMPLE FROM APR. 2018
Maggie: Oh, here comes the masked man.
Lone Ranger: Maggie, Cora, Jean, good evening.
Maggie: You gave me such a start.
Lone Ranger: I would like to talk to you.
Maggie: I'll get Grant, if you'll just wait a minute.
Lone Ranger: I do not want to talk to Grant. Just you women. Do you want to return to the East?
Woman: Of course we don't. Why, we were saying that when you came up.
Woman: All of us women want to keep on.
Lone Ranger: Would you women be willing to do something that might persuade the men to continue?
Woman: But what?
Lone Ranger: I think I have a plan.
Woman: If only you had.
Lone Ranger: I will need your help.
Maggie: Stranger, we women came out here so as we could have the kind of homes we always wanted. Maybe you don't know it, but when a woman's got her heart set on something, she'd wade through wildcats to get it.
Lone Ranger: I do have some sense of that desire. It is good to hear you say it.
HOST
Our second episode for 2018 is "Dracula." Here's a sample, taken from the scene where Dracula dies. Ian Hanley voices Dracula. Greg Shilling is Jonathan Harker. Kristen Heller is Mina Harker.
SFX: 100.07-DRACULA.MP3. 1:07 SAMPLE FROM APR. 2018
Jonathan Harker: As I looked down at Dracula, I saw the sinking sun reflected in his eyes. The hate in them turned to triumph.
Dracula: Flesh of my flesh, come to me, my love. Come into the night and the darkness. You have served me well, my love, my bride, my ...
SFX: Wooden stake driven through Dracula's heart.
Mina Harker: I hit the stake again and again, driving it through his heart, through his body, and into the dirt. As I did so, I felt his infection leaving my body; my mind cleared, the wound at my throat closed and healed. He was gone from our lives.
HOST
In November, we begin a three-part saga about a man known only as D.B. Cooper, written by Dan Wyatt, owner of the historic Kiggins Theatre.
If you're not familiar with the D.B. Cooper legend, you can learn more at our website, reimagined Radio [dot] FM slash "Episodes."
Subtitled "Hijacker '71," Dan's first script explores efforts to resolve a tense situation, keep citizens safe, and uphold the law.
Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle--Remember her from "The Lone Ranger"?--voices Dan's mother. Yeah, that's right, mother. It's complicated, but very interesting. Learn more at our website.
In December, we offer another performance of "A Christmas Carol." Once again, Vancouver Mayor Anne is on the cast list, this time as Ghost of Christmas Present. Steve Becker, then President of Downtown Vancouver Association, voices the Ghost of Marley.
SFX: "RIR 100 SOUND MARK."
2019: THE YEAR OF STRETCHING
HOST
2019 is a Year of Stretching for Re-Imagined Radio. While our format remains live performance, we experiment with new storytelling genres and approaches.
In February, for Valentine's, we offer "Affairs of the Heart," five short stories about love. Here's a sample from "Blood Thirsty Kate," a story I like for its combination of humor and romance, and its focus on the fact that even pirates need love. Captain Blackton is voiced by local actor Larry Taylor. Bloodthirsty Kate is Arianna Dorenbosch.
SFX: RIR-100.08-S09E02-AFFAIRS-OF-HEART.MP3. 1:15 SAMPLE FROM FEB. 2021.
Blackton: Ahoy Bloodthirsty Kate, you knock-kneed old daughter of a grampus, I'll slice you into herring food.
Kate: Who are you?
Blackton: I'm Captain Blackton, that's who.
Kate: So you're the sniveling fop-doodle who's come poaching in me ocean, eh? I'll teach you how to muck about with Bloodthirsty Kate. Have at you!
Blackton: Haha, correct.
Voice: Yes! Come on!
Blackton: I've beat them, and I've loved them, but I never thought I'd have the pleasure of carving up a woman.
Kate: You greasy bit of blubber, I'll use your head as a mop to swab the decks when I'm finished with you.
Bandinage: Mon Capitaine. We have won the day ... the ship is ours ... your orders?
Kate: Hold on till I finish with the pig dog here.
Bandinage: Oui, mon Capitaine.
Kate: I'll say this for you, fat toad: no man's ever stood up before Bloodthirsty Kate for this long in mortal combat, and live to tell it.
Blackton: I never had no mortal combat with a woman before. You rancid old saddle of mutton. But there's not been a man fought against me as well, nor as long.
HOST
Our "SciFi, SciFacts" episode samples "The Junkyard" by science fiction writer Clifford Simack, to provide context for two talks by Washington State University Vancouver scientists. One about alien intelligence. The other about climate change.
HOST
In November we present Part 2 of our D.B. Cooper saga. Called "In Flight with D.B. Cooper," again written by Dan Wyatt, this installment considers the conversations Cooper and Flight Attendant Tina Mucklow might have had during the hijacking experience.
LISTENING BREAK #1
MUSIC: LISTENING BREAK THEME
HOST
This is John Barber. Thanks for listening to "RiR 100." The one hundredth episode of Re-Imagined Radio. Learn more at our website, reimaginedradio dot FM slash "Episodes."
*** KAAD tag
Special thanks if you're listening on KAAD-LP, 103.5 FM, Sonora, California, streaming at KAAD-LP.org.
*** KNOM tag
Special thanks if you're listening on KNOM, 780 AM, Nome, Alaska, Yours for Western Alaska.
*** KXRW tag
Special thanks if you're listening on KXRW-FM, 99.9, Vancouver, Washington. Vancouver's Community Radio, streaming at KXRW.fm
*** KXRY tag
Special thanks if you're listening on KXRY-FM, 99.1 and 107.1, Portland, Oregon, streaming at XRAY.fm
*** Galloway's Star 24 tag
Special thanks if you're listening on Galloway's Star 24 Community Radio, Galloway, New Jersey, streaming at gallowaystar24.com
SFX: "RIR 100 SOUND MARK."
2020: THE YEAR OF COVID
HOST
Our first live performance of 2020 is the classic hard-boiled private eye mystery story "The Maltese Falcon," in January.
Metropolitan Performing Arts brings the characters Sam Spade, Brigid O'Shaughnessy, Joel Cairo, and Casper Gutman to life, with just enough noir around their edges.
In this sample, Spade avenges the killing of his partner, Miles Archer. Larry Taylor is Sam Spade. Barbara Richardson voices Brigid O'Shaughnessy.
SFX: RIR-100.10-S08E01-MALTESE FALCON.MP3. :57 SAMPLE FROM JAN. 2020.
Brigid O'Shaughnessy: Look at me, Sam. You know I'm not all bad, don't you? You can see that, can't you? And can't you trust me just a little?
Sam Spade: You know, that's good. Because if you actually were as innocent as you pretend to be, we'd never get anywhere.
O'Shaughnessy: You know deep down in your heart, you know that in spite of anything I've done, I love you.
Spade: I don't care who loves who. I'm not going to play the sucker. I won't walk in Thursby's and I don't know how many others' footsteps. When a man's partner is killed, he's supposed to do something about it. It doesn't make any difference what you thought of him. He was your partner, and you're supposed to do something about it. And it happens I'm in the detective business. Well, when one of my organization gets killed, it's bad business to let the killer get away with it. Bad all around. Bad for every detective everywhere. You killed Miles, and you're going over for it.
SFX: Knock at door.
O'Shaughnessy: Sam ...
Spade: That's the cops.
O'Shaughnessy: Don't let them in, please.
Spade: Sit tight, honey.
O'Shaughnessy: Sam!
HOST
In March, the COVID pandemic brings restrictions on public gatherings and social distancing guidelines.
Following both, we record and produce Part 3 of Dan Wyatt's D.B. Cooper saga, "The Skyjacker," remotely in November. The storyline follows highlights from Part 1, "The D.B. Cooper Transmissions" and Part 2, "In Flight with D.B. Cooper." Here's a sample. Arianna Dorenbosch is Tina Mucklow. Rob Bertrand voices Cooper.
SFX: RIR-100.11-S08E02-SKYJACKER.MP3. :55 SAMPLE FROM NOV. 2020.
Tina Mucklow: Captain wants to know if we should park away from the terminal with it being so dark.
D.B. Cooper: Let's keep our distance and have a view from both sides of the plane.
Mucklow: Captain, he says park away from the terminal, being in the dark is fine.
Cooper: You smoke?
Mucklow: No. Especially not on duty. They're starting to say smoking will kill you eventually. Even took commercials off of TV because of it.
Cooper: There's more hazardous things than smoking. Don't worry. So, want one? That a girl. Here. Light this for me.
Mucklow: It's easier to light it yourself if you don't have your hand in that briefcase.
Cooper: Just an insurance policy.
SFX: Airplane landing.
HOST
This is our first episode produced specifically for radio broadcast. Community radio stations KXRW-FM and KXRY-FM both offer hour-long slots in their broadcast schedule.
And so, Re-Imagined Radio evolves from live public performances to recorded episodes produced for radio broadcast and streaming.
SFX: "RIR 100 SOUND MARK."
AGE OF CURATION BY CONVERSATION
2021: THE YEAR OF CONVERSATION
HOST
I think of 2021 as beginning the "Age of Curation By Conversation," which continues until 2026.
In April we offer, with Metropolitan Performing Arts, "The Immortal Sherlock Holmes." Recording remotely, everyone adapting from a stage play by William Gillette, itself adapted from one by Arthur Conan Doyle, we celebrate the greatest detective who never lived, yet will always be immortal, the detective's detective, Sherlock Holmes. Here's a sample. William Johnson voices Sherlock Holmes.
SFX: EPISODE-100.12-S09E04-SHERLOCK-HOLMES.MP3. :54 SAMPLE FROM APR. 2021.
Sherlock Holmes: Ah. Good evening. My name is Sherlock Holmes.
Chetwood: Whom did you wish to see, Mr. Holmes?
Holmes: Oh, thank you so much, Mr. Chetwood. I'm here to see Miss Faulkner. Will you please hand this card to Miss Faulkner and say that I ...
Chetwood: I beg your pardon, Mr. Holmes, but it's quite useless, really.
Holmes: Oh. I'm so sorry to hear it.
Chetwood: Do you know, Mr. Holmes, you interest me very much. I have heard of the astonishing manner in which you gain information from the most trifling details. Now, I dare say, in this brief moment or two, you've discovered any number of things about me.
Holmes: Oh, nothing of consequence, Mr. Chetwood. I hardly more than asked myself why you were so distressed to see me at this particular moment, and what there could possibly be about that safe in the lower part of that desk to cause you such painful anxiety.
Chetwood: Heh. Very good. Very good indeed.
HOST
Recording and producing remotely for radio broadcast means an additional challenge for sound design and post-production. Marc Rose agrees to help, and has remained our sound designer, music composer, and post-production artist ever since. His time and effort are a really big step forward for Re-Imagined Radio.
In August 2021, Rose is guest producer, when Re-Imagined Radio offers "Nirvana & Gehenna," an "interdimensional narrative" by Rose and Jerrel McQuen. In their story, the Multiverse is a helix. Major events ripple up and down the helix, and parallel events are born. It's heady writing by McQuen, accompanied by "cinematic sound" from Rose. Here's a sample, with Rose voicing Professor Thedgar Rhedlington.
SFX: EPISODE-100.13-S09E08-NIRVANA-GEHENNA.MP3. :50 SAMPLE FROM AUG 2021.
Rhedlington: Well, they're connected somehow. This Earth and our Eradam, vis-a-vis Farwan, you could see it as a golden thread. Something's going on in both worlds and they evidently need each other to survive.
Woman: You mean they're communicating?
Rhedlington: Um, well, not directly. Earth's current culture is too young, at least this last phase of it. It's on a quarantine list in its own galaxy.
Woman: Then how?
Rhedlington: I'm not sure. All I know is that things are bad in both places, and getting worse, and if things don't straighten out, they're both heading for Armageddon, as the propaganda boys called it back in the war I was drafted into, what, oh, three, four wars back now? I can't keep track.
HOST
Re-Imagined Radio produces other episodes written and produced by McQuen and Rose. "Asezhia" (2023). "Night of the Eclipsoid Man, Parts 1 and 2" (2024). And "Frequency 43" (2025). Check them out at our website, reimaginedradio dot FM slash "Episodes."
Marc Rose wears many hats. He's a three-time Emmy-award-winning sound designer, a music composer, a genius at audio editing, and a collaborator with Re-Imagined Radio since 2010. He's also quite kind, as you'll hear in this testimonial he provides for "RiR 100."
SFX: MARC ROSE TESTIMONIAL.
Rose: Our collaboration with Re-Imagined Radio started many, many years back, probably 2010, when John Barber first approached Jerrel and I with an opportunity to produce a program for what was then called Radio Zero, an international showcase of radio productions from all over the world that would be broadcast live over the course of this festival-like event that was held in Portugal.
We thought it would be a great opportunity indeed. However, the deadline was rapidly approaching and we didn't really have anything in mind that we could do quick enough to meet the looming deadline for submissions to that thing. But then we thought, hey, why not take all these concepts and shows that we've been working on and syndicating through public radio over the years and string them all together in a kind of interdimensional NPR documentary, which is what we did.
And that was called "Nirvana and Gehenna". It's also available on the RIR website for your dancing and dining enjoyment.
It's been and continues to be a thrill working with John Barber and all of the talented folks who contribute to what has become a significant landing spot for new and old radio drama and audio documentary offerings. And here, friends, is to the next 100 episodes.
HOST
Indeed Marc, and again, thanks for your time and effort and many contributions to Re-Imagined Radio.
Like this reboot of the classic "The War of the Worlds." The original 1938 performance of this radio drama is an unofficial benchmark. Any radio drama troop wanting to make a name re-enacts the original broadcast.
More than re-enacting, I want to reset the mark. With Marc's collaboration we add new content, and characters, including The Martians. Move the locations from Grovers Mill, New Jersey, to the area around Vancouver, Washington. Use local landmarks and characters. Introduce new plot twists and perspectives. And incorporate cinematic sound effects and ambiences. The idea is to put listeners in the middle of the action. You heard this sample earlier, at the beginning of our program. Lawrence Overmire voices the Radio Reporter. Stephanie Crowley is the voice calling "CQ."
SFX: EPISODE-100.01-S09E10-WOTW-2021.MP3. 1:00 SAMPLE FROM AUG 2021.
News Reporter: Vancouver! Vancouver, this is it! This is the end now! Smoke comes out! Black smoke drifting over the city! People in the streets see it now! People trying to run away from it, but it's no use! They're falling like flies! The smoke's surrounding the base of Smith Tower, rising ... 100 yards away. That's 50 feet.
SFX: Microphone falling to rooftop. Radio tuning and static
Radio Operator: 2X2L calling CQ. 2X2L, come in please. 2X2L calling CQ. Is there anyone on the air?
HOST
There are amazing bits throughout the entire episode. Marc voicing a Martian, for one. But this scene, the end of Act 1, signifying defeat but also hope with that unidentified radio operator seeking to connect with other survivors is a powerful combination of voice and sound effects. CQ. CQ. Is anyone listening?
SFX: "RIR 100 SOUND MARK."
2022: THE YEAR OF COLLABORATION
HOST
There are other interesting challenges as well. 2022 is the 20th anniversary for Figurski at Findhorn on Acid, the award-winning comedic hypertext novel by Richard Holeton, published Fall 2021 on CD ROM by Eastgate Systems using Storyspace software.
As a pioneering work of electronic literature, Figurski is only available as computer screens of text, each featuring multiple "hyperlinks," words or phrases that when clicked or tapped transport readers to connecting or new information. And, not incidentally, providing multiple pathways for readers to engage with the story.
As you'll hear in just a moment, Figurski is a sprawling story, with larger than life characters, exotic locales, realistic dialogue, great opportunities for sound effects, and two alleged mechanical pigs. Why not adapt it for radio? It will be a first.
Frank Figurski, The No-Hands Cup Flipper, and Fatima Michelle Vieuchanger converge at Findhorn, Scotland, seeking one-- perhaps two! --mechanical pigs of incalculable value while stewing in Spam, acid—yes, THAT acid, and wit-slathered repartee.
Three characters plus Two mechanical pigs should equal One legendary radio story.
Here's Sam A. Mowry as Frank Figurski, Patricia Blem as Fatima Michelle Vieuchanger, and Heath Hyun Houghton as The No-Hands Cup Flipper.
SFX: RIR-100.14. SAMPLE FROM "FIGURSKI AT FINDHORN ON ACID."
Figurski: So, we agree to fully disassemble Rossellini's 1737 Mechanical Pig, and Van Geldershot's skillful 1884 forgery, divide the parts equally among ourselves, take them away, and then, after the heat dies down, to rendezvous, in November 2000, the hind-most shank of the millennium, here at Findhorn, Scotland.
Vieuchanger: Right. From a total of 147 for each pig that's 49 per pig times 2 equals 98 parts. Let's be careful not to mix them up.
Cup Flipper: If we are mixing them up on purpose to randomize the reconstruction, what difference does it make?
Figurski: Quick, does everybody have your one third of the algorithm down, pat? Speak now, or forever literally hold your pieces. We can't risk jumbling the codes when we put Humpty Dumpty back together again.
Vieuchanger: Would anyone really say that? It sounds like you are explaining the plot to some imaginary audience sitting at home listening to their radios.
SFX: RICHARD HOLETON TESTIMONIAL
RICHARD HOLETON
Congratulations, John Barber and Re-Imagined Radio. You are amazing. From what I've seen, the range of content and form and formal innovation over those hundred episodes is incredible.
My name's Richard Holeton and my collaboration with Re-Imagined Radio was ... a radio play adaptation of my novel, Figurski at Findhorn on Acid.
Talk about innovative radio and audio! My novel is a comic, postmodern hypertext novel with one hundred and forty seven possible combinations of three quirky characters, often fueled by hallucinogens, plus three artifacts (one of which is the canned meat product SPAM), plus three locations ... over three time periods.
So, with its about four hundred text spaces and two thousand hyperlinks, according to our top-of-the-line AI friends, the number of possible paths that ... for a reader to follow in this work is "astronomically large" and "near-infinite."
...
Well John embraced this creative challenge head on, ... working to develop a representative script that would give a flavor of the novel — including its hypertextuality, its multi-linearity, its LSD and virtual reality fueled characters — while creating a coherent narrative line to entertain listeners as opposed to readers.
John brought in sound design genius Marc Rose and their cast of professional voice actors, including the late great Sam A. Mowry starring as Frank Figurski .... I had a small part in the episode too, and I can tell you that working with John and Marc Rose in Marc's professional sound studio is a high pressure but high reward experience I won't forget ....
The result of all this is more than an adaptation of a novel, of my novel. It's a unique and new and different work, an unprecedented work, in a different medium, created by John and Marc and Re-Imagined Radio, and it's a living work offered now in tandem with my novel online, where you can choose to read or listen to the radio play from the opening page.
So I want to thank John and all his collaborators — our collaborators — for having a vision and taking on this project, and for making such a beautiful piece of audio art.
LISTENING BREAK #2
SFX: "RIR 100 SOUND MARK."
HOST
This is Re-Imagined Radio. You're listening to "RiR 100," our one hundredth episode. I'm John Barber.
For more information about Re-Imagined Radio, and listening opportunities, including our podcast and YouTube channel, visit our website, reimaginedradio DOT fm slash "Listen."
SFX: "RIR 100 SOUND MARK."
2023: THE YEAR OF DOCUMENTARIES
HOST
2023 is a Year of Documentaries for Re-Imagined Radio. We begin in February with "A Mighty Span," our original dramatization of the opening of the Interstate Bridge linking Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington, across the Columbia River, February 14, 1917.
There were no radio records for this event, but plenty of newspaper and historical documents on which to base this dramatization. It was interesting to imagine what might have been heard on and around the Interstate Bridge on opening day. Listen to this sample, where radio announcer Eric Newsome describes the scene.
SFX: RIR-100.15. SAMPLE FROM "MIGHTY SPAN," FEB. 2025.
Announcer: This is your announcer on the Interstate Bridge. Today, Wednesday, 14 February, 1917, this new bridge will be officially open. This will close the final gap in the Pacific Highway, running from British Columbia, through Washington and Oregon, and then onward through California, ending at the Mexican border. Construction on the Interstate Bridge began in 1915, with bond monies approved by voters of Multnomah County in Oregon, and Clark County on the opposite shore in Washington. Today, less than two years later, the bridge is finished, at a cost of $1,700,000, including the approaches, lights, fences, and other features.
HOST
In April we sample actual broadcast recordings to consider Edward R. Murrow’s efforts to help American listeners understand "The Blitz," fifty-seven consecutive days of German air force bombing of London during World War II. With keen observation, vivid verbal descriptions, and attention to sounds, Murrow gave listeners a first-hand experience. A sense of what was happening. What could be observed. This unmatched immediacy, "the proximity effect," prompted a new form of radio storytelling.
SFX: SAMPLE, MURROW REPORTING FROM LONDON.
Murrow: This is Trafalgar Square. The noise that you hear at the moment is the sound of the air raid siren. I'm standing here just on the steps of St. Martin's in the Fields. A searchlight just burst into action off in the distance. One single beam sweeping the sky above me now. People are walking along quite quietly. We're just at the entrance of an air-raid shelter here, and I must move this cable over just a bit so people can walk in. One of the strangest sounds one can hear in London these days, or rather these dark nights, just the sound of footsteps walking along the street, like ghosts shod with steel shoes.
HOST
In July we offer "WRW Retrospective." A wide-ranging visit with Sam A. Mowry, founder and director of Willamette Radio Workshop, based in Portland, Oregon, and active in the Pacific Northwest since 2001. Sam reflects on two decades of radio storytelling and is very kind about working with Re-Imagined Radio.
SFX: RIR-100.16. SAMPLE FROM "WRW RETROSPECTIVE, JULY 2023.
... and that's what I love about working with you John, you always inspire us to do more and different and outside of our comfort zone and ahh finding exciting ways to ahh work for new new new adventures in audio. And I thank you for that.
You've done an amazing job and you really are the the lightning rod for audio drama in the Pacific Northwest and I think around the world.
HOST
Kind words from Sam Mowry, who, unfortunately, died within a year of this episode. We offer a tribute, "WRW Retrospective, Redux" to document Sam's stage and voice acting career.
In August, to celebrate the famous "I Have A Dream" speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we offer documentary-style stories about its origin, context, delivery, and reception. My research uncovers recordings of Dr. King working through iterations of his famous speech in earlier presentations. Listen to this sample, recorded in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, just days before Dr. King delivered his famous speech in Washington, D.C.
SFX: RIR-100.17. SAMPLE FROM "I HAVE A DREAM," AUG. 2023.
I have a dream tonight.
It is a dream rooted deeply in the American Dream.
I have a dream that one day down in Sasser County, Georgia, where they burned two churches down a few days ago because Negroes wanted to register and vote. One day right down there little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and little white girls and walk the streets as brothers and sisters.
I have a dream ... that one day right here in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will meet at the table of brotherhood, knowing that out of one blood God made all men to dwell upon the face of the Earth.
I have a dream ... that one day men all over this nation will recognize that all men were created equal and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights.
I have a dream tonight.
HOST
In September, we offer "9/11 Radio Stories." Using samples from recorded radio and telephone calls between civilian, federal, and military air traffic controllers, we provide a moment-by-moment description as four passenger airplanes are hijacked and turned into terrorist weapons, September 11, 2001. We document what happened behind the images you saw on television. Here's a sample.
SFX: RIR-100.18. SAMPLE FROM "9/11 RADIO STORIES."
American Dispatch, Jim O'Connell.
This is the Indianapolis Center. Trying to get a hold of American 76-7.
OK.
On frequency 120.27.
120?
.27
We were talking to him and all of a sudden, it's just ...
OK. All right, we'll get a hold of him for you.
All right.
Host: At 9:02 Indianapolis Center again calls American Airlines dispatch.
American Dispatch, Jim O'Connell.
Yeah, this is Indianapolis Center. We, uh, I don't know if I talked to the same guy about American 77?
Yeah. I cell called him but I didn't get a reply back from him.
We, uh, we lost track control of the guys in Coast Track. So we don't really know where this target is and we can't get a hold of him. You guys tried them and no response?
No response.
Yeah, we have no radar contact and no communications with them. So if you guys could try them again.
We're doing it.
All right, thanks a lot.
We're doing it. Thank you.
SFX: "RIR 100 SOUND MARK."
2025: THE YEAR OF CONVERSATION
HOST
2025 is the Year of Conversation. I use the term "conversation" following Jack J. Ward's example, which you'll hear shortly.
Ward is a Canadian award-winning writer, director, actor, and producer. He's shared seven of his audio dramas with Re-Imagined Radio.
"A Chaste Kiss Goodbye" is a good example as it evolves from Ward's fascination with [QUOTE] "artificially conscious human creations" [UNQUOTE]. Would they be happy with their original programing? Or would they want to control their own futures?
In this sample, Cassidy, a human, is living her last day. But, what will happen to her robotic husband-companion Paris, when he goes back to the Reclamation Center following her death? Jessica Kinney voices Cassidy and Peter Sauber is Paris.
SFX: RIR-100.19. :50 SAMPLE FROM "A CHASTE KISS GOODBYE."
Music: Piano in background
Cassidy: Give me your hand ... Well, if there was an afterlife, it wouldn't have you, would it?
Paris: No. I don't think robots have souls.
Cassidy: I would agree. All the books and video plays that come from the wall screens throughout the years never talked about God or souls.
Paris: It was decided that such discussions were wasted time. I am, however, considering things now, as time grows short.
Cassidy: If we're going to Oblivion, there's some comfort that we'll meet there together, I think.
Paris: Yes, I see the poetic nature of such a thought. Thank you love.
SFX: JACK WARD TESTIMONIAL
JACK J. WARD
You know, it's a funny thing hearing your own work come back to you, but it's even more rare, as a teacher, to hear another educator and audio drama commentator like John Barber provide context, insight, and deft analysis along the way.
I was one of those people who began as a fan of Re-Imagined Radio, and when John and I first connected, and I honestly can't remember who reached out to whom, I knew I found another rare individual who didn't just understand this medium I love, but shared the same passion for its past giants as well as its future light keepers.
Each month John and his team take you on a voyage of discovery using genre, theme, and an artist's eye to guide you through the experience.
I've had a number of my pieces featured on reimagined Radio. "A Chaste Kiss Goodbye." "Chrysalis." "Galaxy Master vs. the Varn." "Alien Invasion Cancelled" And even a remarkable fusion of Archibald McLeish's "The Fall of the City" with my own unproduced "Great Day for a War," and every time, I have a moment of recognition, followed very quickly by surprise.
Because suddenly, the stories breathe in new ways, for a different audience, in a different place. And as a writer, that's everything you could hope for. The chance for your work to reach new listeners through someone who can act as your guide through the theater of the mind.
That's a rare gift. One of the things I admire most about Re-Imagined Radio is its willingness to play at the edges of the medium, to blend, to re-interpret, to take risks. There's a deep respect for the source material, but never a fear of transformation, and that's where audio drama is at its most alive. It's not preservation. It's conversation.
So being part of this journey and hearing my work woven into that larger tapestry has been both humbling and inspiring. It reminds me that once a story is released into the world, it's never really finished. It just keeps finding new voices, and I'm very grateful that Re-Imagined Radio has been one of those voices.
Congratulations, John. What a wonderful achievement. I'm Jack Ward.
HOST
Thanks for those kind words, Jack. And, I might point out that our conversation with radio drama takes on new dimensions in 2025. We add podcasts and a YouTube channel, increasing our audience reach local to global.
In March, Re-Imagined Radio presents two original crime fictions by Cindy Brown for Women's History Month. "Retribution" is a story we want to believe ends righteously. "Restitution" is a story we want to believe is achievable." Here's a sample. Mark Homayoun voices Wiley. Mary Thomas is Melanie.
SFX: RIR-100.20. :58 SAMPLE FROM "RETRIBUTION-RESTITUTION," MAR. 2025.
Wiley: It's like I'm in some sort of fog. I keep catching myself shaking my head with my mouth open. Melanie must think I've developed a tic in prison.
Melanie: Dad died a few years back. The money that was left after you ... left.
Wiley: After I stole it, is what she doesn't say.
Melanie: It all went to medical bills. His and Christian's.
Wiley: Melanie gets a little worry crease on her forehead. I look at the kid who's sitting on a rug trying to get the wheel back on his broken truck. He's little for six.
Melanie: He's got heart problems.
SFX: Tapping on window glass.
Melanie: Would you look at that? A crow's tapping on the window.
Wiley: Christian runs to the window on the other side of the single-wide. Joe the crow clings to the outside of the rim of the aluminum window, looking at me with those black eyes. Christian presses his hands against the glass. Joe doesn't move.
HOST
June 6, 2025 is the anniversary of D-Day, the 1944 invasion of Europe by Allied forces to repel German invaders and end World War II. Re-Imagined Radio pays tribute to the Allies and the news correspondents who went with them to tell the rest of us what they saw and heard.
SFX: SAMPLE, D-DAY STORIES
Reporter: Five minutes will always be vivid in my mind. Shells were falling on the beaches, mines still exploding, the whole beach covered with small craft, men at work organizing the beaches already, bulldozers widening the exits and laying the wire carpet, ammunition and tanks and supplies and vehicles and guns coming ashore as far as the eye could see.
British Soldier: I was approaching' the barge. Sergeant shouted, "Okay this is it." So I jumped up, grabbed my gear, jumped into the water. It was a long way from the shore, further than I thought it would have been, about 200 yards. Jumped into the water. It was deeper than I thought. I started to swim. We eventually made the seawall. Just as we get alongside the tank barrow, we thought we were pretty good then, the Jerry 88mm gun hit our tank and blew us the hell out of it.
Another British Soldier: When we actually beached, we were lucky enough to go between two of the mines which the Germans had put on stakes as one of the beach defenses.
HOST
Martin John Gallagher, an independent composer and sound designer based in Portland, Oregon, shares three stories in 2025, each framed by music. The first, "Waters and Ruins," in April, is a two-part episode. The first part, "And the Waters Were Music," recounts his composing a musical memoriam for William S. Gregory, a Portland playwright who died in 2024.
Gallagher's second story, "Ruins of Mariupol," digs into the premiere performance of a three-movement string quartet by Vancouver, Washington, composer Daniel Truschov.
In September, Gallagher brings us "My Hands Are Different," a deeply poignant story about his search for his birth father.
SFX: RIR-100.22. :55 SAMPLE FROM "MY HANDS ARE DIFFERENT," 2024.
Harrison: It's five minutes into the occurrence, whatever it is.
Gallagher: You've just heard a recording made by my birth father, John Harrison, who I never met. I received this recording three years after he died. Who was this man who helped give me life? Why did he have an audio recorder next to his bed, at 1:28 in the morning? What makes him want to document this stroke in such detail? And who is this recording for? He was a mystery to me, and I am only now learning about him and what I have inherited from him purely through sound recordings.
Harrison: Who knows, this may be my last will and testament (LAUGHS) ha ha ha ha.
HOST
In November, Re-Imagined Radio revisits the legend of D.B. Cooper by adapting a short story by Portland-based writer Tom Vandel called "The Last Interview," to address the question of what happens to Cooper after he parachutes from the airplane. If you follow the D.B. Cooper saga, "D.B. Cooper's Last Interview" is a really interesting episode.
This sample gives an idea of the story's layers. Listen to the entire episode, and follow along with the script if you like, at our website: reimagined Radio DOT FM slash "Episodes." Gregory Wilson is reporter Nick Frick. Eric Newsome is Carl Yurko.
SFX: RIR-100.23. SAMPLE FROM "D.B. COOPER'S LAST INTERVIEW."
Nick Frick: What's the story?
Carl Yurko: Well it started with Danny. Dan Coogan was his real name but our Platoon Leader kept calling him Cooper by mistake. It was Dan Cooper. It was "Cooper get on point." "Cooper get on down that tunnel." This and that. (LAUGHS) He just ... (LAUGHS). So we ... We just started calling him Cooper and it stuck. Ah, he was Cooper from then on. (LAUGHS)
Frick: Dan Cooper? That was the name the hijacker gave on the plane before the press called him D.B. by mistake.
Yurko: Well, his mother would say, "Duh," but he wasn't the man who did it.
Frick: Dan Coogan, you mean.
Yurko: Well, Coogan, Cooper, same guy, he did NOT hijack the plane, but it was his idea.
Frick: Go on. I think I'm following.
Yurko: Well, Danny used to tell us he wanted to hijack a plane and get a ransom and bail out with the money and get away. He said it a lot, to us anyway. He said it could be done, too. He said he used to parachute off of crop duster planes for fun in Montana.
Frick: Were you paratroopers in Vietnam?
Yurko: No, just grunts, earthworms, tunnel rats. No, we never got up in the air unless we stepped on a landmine (LAUGHS).
SFX: TOM VANDEL TESTIMONIAL
TOM VANDEL
I'm Tom Vandel, author of the story "DB Cooper’s Last Interview." When I heard my story adapted and produced by Re-Imagined Radio with professional actors, it pretty much blew my mind.
You all brought the story to life, with voices that seemed spot-on. It captured the spirit far beyond what I expected. The sound effects and music really added to it. And the documentary lead-in about D.B. Cooper set the stage for the story. I learned a few things about the Cooper saga I didn’t know.
So, congratulations to Re-Imagined Radio, John Barber, the producers, staff, and actors all involved in this meaningful endeavor. Your work is vital these days -- oral stories bring history (and fiction) alive. They light the way forward. Like a flaming stick taken from a campfire that we all sit around.
Keep re-imagining and producing great stories, John, and everyone else. Let's hear one hundred more.
SFX: "RIR 100 SOUND MARK."
2026: THE YEAR OF TRANSFORMATIONS
AGE OF TRANSFORMATIVE FREQUENCIES 
HOST
Re-Imagined Radio enters the "Age of Transformative Frequencies" in 2026. By "transformative" I follow the suggestions of Jack Ward: respect for the source material. But interest in transformation. Creating something in the likeness of the original. But different. With new voices. And then holding up the two for comparison and context. In that transformation, something new is created. Or at least made possible.
In March we pay tribute to Women's History Month with an episode focused on Mae West, whose bawdy banter made her an international inspiration, and contributed to her banning from radio appearances. We sample from her early stage and screen career, a radio dramatization of a robbery of her trademark diamond jewelry, and two rare radio appearances to present perhaps an unknown side of "Diamond Lil."
In April, our focus is on "The Black Museum," a collection of ordinary objects, each associated with crime and murder, and the telling of their stories by four radio series, "Secrets of Scotland Yard," "The Black Museum," "Whitehall 1212," and "Fabian of the Yard."
In May, we showcase the quiet, slow, suspenseful, and engaging storytelling for which Quiet, Please is noted.
In June, it's our "Lights Out Tribute." We sample three episodes by Wyllis Cooper and Arch Oboler for which the series is known, "The State Executioner," "Chicken Heart," and "The Man in the Middle."
HOST
In July, Re-Imagined Radio launches its new "RiR Workshop" series, a laboratory for sound-based storytelling. Here's the trailer.
SFX: TRAILER, "DAWN BIRDS, LIGHT TRAFFIC, MELODIC MACHINES."
This episode is "Dawn Birds, Light Traffic, Melodic Machines." It's part of a series called "Re-Imagined Radio Workshop."
Soundscapes, recordings of sounds heard at specific places and times, are systematically stolen by a secret cabal, while daring liberators find and return them!
HOST
Offered alternate months, future episodes will include soundscapes, sound walks, sound spas, sound-based narratives, and experimental radio theatre. All designed to encourage active listening to sounds around us and imagining stories in what we hear.
SFX: "RIR 100 SOUND MARK."
HOST CREDITS
HOST
So, that's it. Re-Imagined Radio's 100th episode. A look back. And forward.
HOST
THANKS to
Marc Rose, sound design, original music, and post-production.
Holly Slocum, creative management.
Caitlyn Kruger-L'Esperance, programs management.
Claire Leyden, motion graphics designer.
Rylan Eisenhauer, YouTube channel production and management, and announcing.
I'm John Barber, producer and host. Thanks for listening.
MUSIC: RIR THEME UP, THEN DUCK UNDER THE FOLLOWING
ANNOUNCER CLOSE
ANNOUNCER
This is a production of Re-Imagined Radio. To learn more, visit our website, reimaginedradio (all one word, no punctuation) DOT fm. 
Please join us for another episode of Re-Imagined Radio as we continue our exploration of sound-based storytelling.
MUSIC: RIR THEME UP, AND TO END.