Vampire Squids, Shoebill Storks, and Moonbows
Hello and welcome to this month’s edition of the Brazen newsletter, where we send you updates about everything our team is working on. I’m Arnav, an associate producer at Brazen.
First up, I’d like to tell you about a Brazen's latest project, an exciting new podcast called Wonder. It’s all about otherworldly natural phenomena, and each episode guides you through its own intricately designed soundscape. The first few episodes are about vampire squids, moonbows, and shoebill storks. Listen here.
Wonder, a brand-new podcast from Brazen
For more about the show, I spoke to Leo Richards, one of the hosts of Wonder. Leo is a science communicator who runs a YouTube channel, Natural World Facts, where he creates and publishes award-winning wildlife documentaries.
Leo, how did you become a wildlife content creator?
“I’ve always felt a strong connection to the natural world. For as far back as I can remember, my passion for wildlife was there, due in no small part to the likes of David Attenborough, whose films opened my eyes (and many others, I’m sure) to the weird and wild curiosities that call Earth home. His on-screen passion ignited a deep-rooted desire in me to pursue a life and career centered around science communication. So, 12 years ago, at age 9, I put out my very first wildlife film on my YouTube channel Natural World Facts, and I have continued ever since, creating hundreds of films on a variety of topics.”
What has been your favorite Wonder episode so far?
“My favorite Wonder topic will come as no surprise to anyone familiar with my other projects. The vampire squid, the focus of episode 1, is an oddity that has enchanted me for decades. This devilish-looking cephalopod, uncharacteristically sweet-natured, and strangely neither squid nor bloodsucker, is a deep-water marvel that needs no embellishment!”
What was the experience of narrating Wonder like?
“Narrating Wonder has been indescribably fulfilling! It’s not often that a podcast comes along that so seamlessly blends meaningful science communication with relaxation and mindfulness, but the team have hit the nail on the head here. Everything, from the poeticism in Elizabeth Friend’s scripts, to the tailor-made textures of Andrija Klaric’s brilliant scoring, creates an irresistible sonic landscape where listeners can truly catch their breath while learning something they might never otherwise seek to explore! The narration gig itself has been a tremendous learning experience — how else would I have found out about the “indigo flames” of the Kawah Ijen volcano, or the mechanisms behind the frosty brilliance of Moonbows as they arc over Victoria Falls?”
What can the audience expect when listening to this show?
“The show has something for anyone and everyone. For those who love to learn and expand their knowledge, it’s a feast of natural history information! For those who simply want to unwind, it’s a calming space to do so, where the soft tones of voice and delicately curated soundscapes bear you along on a relaxing journey. One thing I think is great about the show’s design is that you can tune in and out of what’s actually being said, as you please, and at your own pace! There’s no pressure, no requirement to engage the mind throughout if you don’t wish to. And for when you do, you’ll find yourself transported to someplace wild and beautiful where the strange will of nature summons forth something unexpected.”
How has the soundscape shaped your vision of the show and your delivery?
“Distilled within each five-minute session is a greater sense of calm than I’ve experienced in nearly any other media to date. The textures are so carefully crafted that the soundscapes transform each wild vignette into so much more than just a “fact file!” It’s escapism that slots effortlessly into daily life, no matter how busy the day’s agenda! Hearing those fabulous soundscapes changed my whole approach to voicing the episodes — keen to do justice to their beauty, the sounds reminded me to approach every word with an almost-sacred sense of respect and awe. The way a great many of us see and enjoy nature is by being present and through gazing in admiration of its beauty, whether its mechanisms are understood or not. It’s a feeling, and an experience.”
What else are you working on at the moment?
“My current focus is a five-part cinematic documentary series on the otherworldly creatures of the little-known deep ocean, across several distinct and alien environments. It is titled Worlds of the Deep, featuring real-life 4K footage of (sometimes never-before-seen) obscurities from throughout the ocean depths, filmed on location thousands of meters deep by the fantastic Schmidt Ocean Institute’s underwater robot.”
A Furry Takeover of Fur & Loathing
Last month, we introduced you to Fur & Loathing, our investigation into a chemical attack on a Chicago-area furry convention in 2014. If you haven’t already, you can listen to the first four episodes here. This week, we recorded a special bonus episode featuring a Q&A between host Nicky Woolf and furry journalist Patch O’Furr at Brazen Studios in London.
In other exciting news, we just launched a merch store for Fur & Loathing! If you’ve enjoyed the first four episodes and would like to show your support for the show, why not check out our merch here? Readers of this newsletter also get a special discount — use the code FURRY10 to get 10% off Fur & Loathing merch and everything else on the Brazen store. Tune in next Monday, June 10, for the penultimate episode, when our investigation takes a shocking turn...
Best of the Weekender
Every weekend, we send readers of our Whale Hunting newsletter a curated list of the best things to read, watch, and listen to. Here are some of my favorites from the past month. To get our recommendations in your inbox each Saturday, as well as all of our reporting into the secret worlds of money and power, subscribe to Whale Hunting here.
📖 What we've been reading
Anatomy of an Absolutely Wild 1970s Hijacking You’ve Never Heard Of. This recommendation comes from Charlie, a reporter at Brazen, who called this story one of the most gripping reads he’s come across lately. Here’s what he had to say: “I've always been a fan of air travel: the self-contained space, the big views, the temporary independence from time zones. But in one simple image, this article by Seth Lorinczi made me reconsider. You're 10,000 feet up in the air, and a gun battle has erupted. A hijacker is killed next to you, and he drops a grenade as he crumples. It's live. And you have seven seconds to react. The British bird watchers across the aisle are frozen. What do you do? I won't tell you what happens next, but it's well worth your time finding out. Especially given Lorinczi's insights into the restive historical relationship between Ethiopia and Eritrea, whose fragile peace with Tigray is wavering as tensions escalate in the Horn of Africa.”
📺 What we've been watching
La Chimera. Brazen producer Megan writes: “At the start of the showing I went to, director Alice Rohrwacher popped up on screen to wish me buona visione and share a glimpse of how she views her film. She compared it to an archaeological dig, where you unearth various artifacts and use them to build your own story about what once happened at the site. Post-viewing, I understand what she was getting at. La Chimera gives you pieces of a story — many beautiful pieces, in fact — but never the whole thing. That, you create yourself. Interpretive stuff aside, the film is mesmerising. Set in crumbling 1980s Tuscany, it follows Arthur, leader of ragtag group of tombaroli, or grave-robbers. As the gang dodge police and pillage Etruscan burial sites, we learn that Arthur is also searching for someone who has passed beyond — his lost love, Beniamina. Josh O'Connor is excellent as Arthur, both heartbroken and compelled by his search, and the Tuscan world Rohrwacher transports you to feels entirely alive.”
🎧 What we’ve been listening to
Lessons from a Mass Shooter’s Mother. In May 2014, a college student went on a misogynistic killing rampage in a small town in southern California, killing six people and injuring 13 others. The shooter was an incel — he described himself as the “ideal magnificent gentleman,” and was infuriated by the fact that women did not want to have sex with him. He specifically targeted a sorority at his college campus that he believed was the “hottest.” He also killed his three male roommates and a student walking out of a nearby grocery store at random. Ten years later, his mother, Chin Rodger, is speaking publicly about what happened for the first time. You rarely see the family of a mass shooter speak out — and doing so must take incredible courage. This story and accompanying podcast episode from Mother Jones and Reveal — the culmination of two years of interviews between reporter Mark Follman and Rodger — shows how crucial her voice is. It’s a difficult listen, but it’s well worth it.
