Horror Pod DEMOCRACY JONES Podcast (DJP) is excited to share that episode AIE9 – Run For Your Life has obliterated all previous records for downloads. We have also received a number of media and interview requests, though I’m a little hesitant about such things. Instead, I offer direct links to the episode and some information about the show for its growing listeners.
Recommended: listen to AIE9 – Run For Your Life, then go to the beginning of the podcast.
On the surface, DJP is a Horror fiction pod, and a character-driven audio drama with ambient, scary music. Some have compared it to Mad Max, Blade Runner, Neuromancer, Handmaid’s Tale and The Walking Dead. It’s a Psychological Thriller with heavy doses of Horror & Science Fiction.
For a detailed look at the characters and important backstory elements, go to this page: DJP Characters & More
If you’re interested in the nerdy, deeper-level aspects of DJP (most people aren’t), well, here we go:
DJP is speculative fiction that utilizes cross-cultural, Political and Socio-Cultural Anthropology to compare the Late Republic period of Rome and near-future American politics. Content Warning: it’s very scary with plenty of cursing.
Inspiration: Basically, here’s what happened. On Jan. 6, 2021, I was as shocked as everyone else to see political violence in America. But there are many historical precedents. Namely, the Late Republic period in Rome (133-27BCE). Particularly, the time period between the Social War and Sulla’s death (91-78 BCE).
The political violence we witnessed on Jan. 6 was a wake up call. In Rome during the Late Republic period, political arguments became as polemic as our current politics. But when the Conservative Senate refused to give in to the progressive/populist political demands of the increasingly powerful Liberal Tribunes, it got ugly. So ugly that the Senate essentially had gang-like followers murder the leaders of the Tribunes (see Gracchi Brothers) in the streets. This caused the Liberal Tribunes to step up their rhetorical and physical threats through the military general, Gaius Marius, whose populist power increased the tension since he had half the military supporting him. Then the Conservative military general Lucius Cornelius Sulla, who had the other half of the military on his side, then came to power, and Rome was essentially split in two militant sides.
On Jan. 6, the similarities to Late Republic Rome struck me as dangerous and threatening. There is no horror movie, novel or television series scarier than a real-life coup, so I decided to write a realistic horror. In a whirlwind of inspiration, I completed a 60-page pilot script six days later.
Around that time, Marc Eliot Stein, a good friend, talked me into starting a podcast after I had, over the years, five novels and a book of poetry published. I thought I’d give it a try since I could incorporate my music as well as some of the voiceover tricks I learned reading my books and poetry in front of large crowds.
On an even deeper level, DJP is a critique of Rhetoric. Structural Anthropology teaches us that there are deep, cross-cultural similarities among all human species. It welcomes us to see ourselves as similar to other cultures, rather than different. We can learn about ourselves and predict the future through historical research and forecasted probabilities. Rhetoric, during the Late Republic period in Roman, was a weapon politicians like Cicero used to convince followers that the opposing side was evil. When both sides use Rhetoric, the result is increasingly volatile anger and violence that grows from a simple argument to name-calling to fist fighting to gang fights and eventually, such as in Rome, entire armies fighting against each other in civil war.
I don’t want that for America’s future. DJP is a warning that Rhetoric is more dangerous than any thermo-nuclear weapon.
Episode AIE9 – Run for Your Life. It’s actually a great place to start. Afterward, I suggest going to the beginning and listen to “Teaser,” then “Opening Crawl” then AIE1, AIE2 etc. in order by the release dates, since this is a serial podcast.
Episode Description: De’ontay runs for his life as he is being hunt down in the Everglades by Zeke, a tracker. In the horror, Abra’s emotions become displaced and she blames her father for everything, then runs away only to find herself in the warzone of Chatham Projects Town. Captain Dick and the BATAs celebrate victory in downtown Ellington when something mystical and unexpected changes everything.
Eamon Loingsigh (sounds like Lynch) is a critically acclaimed author of five novels and a book of poetry. He has been shortlisted for the Langum Prize and was featured in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times among many others.
contact: artofneed@gmail.com
