This Planet Needs a Name – Details, episodes & analysis

In Episode Six, “Until We’ve Discovered Joy,” we look in on each of the Nameless Crew now that they’ve settled into their lives planetside. Zei deals with the aftermath of her frightening encounter with the native lifeforms and James has a small personal revelation. Lunch is eaten. Some questions are finally answered. 

Content Notes: As always, a few people swear. There are kissing sounds briefly (see the transcript for details).

The transcript is available at https://tinyurl.com/tpnan106. We’re using google docs for transcripts; if you run into any accessibility issues please let us know! You can always contact us at needsanamepod@gmail.com. 

This is a collaborative, ensemble project. Many of the character decisions are made by the actors as part of the story and script development process. Please check out their work: 

• Caroline Mincks creates and voices Zahava
• Evan Tess Murray creates all of them and voices Zei
• Alexander Doddy creates and voices James
• Alexander Endymion Hernández Díaz creates and voices Cyrus
• Anjali Kunapaneni creates and voices Devi
• Dominic Mendez creates and voices Ángel
• Robin Howell creates and voices Nessa
• Sawyer Greene creates and voices Quill
• Trace Callahan creates and voices Kolian
• Trevor Bean creates and voices Mandry

This episode also introduced Brigitte Paulus, the final member of the Nameless Cast, who has been waiting in the wings until now. Brigitte is a dancer, choreographer, and all-around delightful person who has been stepping into voice acting. She's also a founding member of Vivid Motion, a dance company in Portland, Maine that opens dance performance to anyone. Check them out at vividmotion.org.

Our podcast art was created by Katy Schifferer. Check out her work!

You can learn more about Wabanaki sovereignty at https://www.lwvme.org/Wabanaki. 

We tell a story about another world, but we're not giving up on this one. 

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In this prequel episode, “On Earth: Zahava,” we get a glimpse of Zahava's life long before she assembled the Nameless Crew. 

Content Notes: none. 

The transcript is available. If the transcript link is broken please email needsanamepod@gmail.com and we’ll get it to you as soon as we can. We’ve changed to google docs for our transcripts for accessibility - please let us know if anything isn’t working! 

This episode, the first in its series, was written and directed by Evan Tess Murray. Original composition, sound design, and audio engineering were by Trace Callahan. We're also excited to welcome two guest voices into the crew for this episode! Check out the links for more of their work: 

• Caroline Mincks as Zahava
• Khalila Roney as Akila
• Darin Earl as Terence

Our podcast art was created by Katy Schifferer. Check out her work!

Please, if you can, donate to Wabanaki Reach at mainewabanakireach.org. 

We tell a story about another world, but we're not giving up on this one. 

Support the Show.

You asked, and she delivered!  Trace Callahan, as Kolian, singing the full version of their song from the prologue. This was entirely Trace's work - lyrics, music, sound design, performance, engineering, all of it. Lyrics below! 

We haven't given it a name
We haven't even seen its face
But this place is the center of our lives
It's still a million miles away
And we're still hurtling through space
The human race is counting on us to survive

And who knows what we will find
The first adventure of its kind
When we land, will there be sand, will there be air?
(well, I can make air)
We have a leader not a boss (just ask her)
We have a doctor who is bored
We have so much cheese, all these formers, too much time

Our pilot woke us one by one
He made a point of being kind
We have so much algae, giant vats of useful slime
How I wound up here with Zei
Chasing yet another sky
Who knows why? Will there be goats? Will there be trees?

We're making room for all our feet
We're planting seeds and growing sky
That's our plan, that's how we hope that this will be
I really hope there will be rocks
If there's just lava tell me why
We brought so many sleeping people here to see

And who knows how long it'll take
Is it all a big mistake
Will there be stars? Will there be soil? Will there be rain?
Or unimaginable animals 
On a planet's surface that's unplannable
Filled with unimaginable animals, mmm hmmmmm 

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Our third episode is deep in production, the fourth is being written...  in the meantime, here's the final crew interview, and we think it's been well worth waiting for.  Quill, everyone's favorite soft flower boi, answers questions as part of his interview for this job.  Ever wonder what would send our agricultural specialist on a one-way mission to the stars? 

This was written by Evan Tess Murray and Sawyer Greene, performed by Sawyer Greene, and engineered by Trace Callahan, and the transcript is available.

We did these interviews as character development exercises; they're partially scripted and partially improvised. In this case, because he waited so long to do it, Sawyer and Evan have had a lot of time to build Quill's story and talk about what Earth was like for him; his improvisation in this piece is building our world.  Anyone interested in learning more about our collaborative process is welcome to email us, get in touch on twitter, or join us on the friendliest corner of the internet to talk about it. 

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Hey everyone.  This isn't a bonus episode, not really. It's a note from the Nameless Crew to everyone out there listening, because we're thinking of you, and there are a few things we want to say.

People are frightened right now. We're facing uncertainty at best. People in some parts of the world are dealing with grief and loss. Many of us are afraid and alone.  And we, here, happen to be telling a story of hope in a hard world - it's what we very deliberately do. And now we're hearing that some of you are finding solace in these people we've created and their stories. 

We want to give you a little more than fiction. All we have are words, so we're going to try to find some good ones. But we aren't going to offer you empty promises that everything will be all right. You'd know they were meaningless.  We don't know any more than you do.

Instead, what we have to offer is this:  please, in this uncertain time, when things are hard, look out for each other. Look after yourself. Let yourself be afraid, and know that even in hard times, moments of joy matter. 

We, every one of us, contain multitudes - we can find beauty in between our fears. We can look hard at the things we cannot control, and still create art that connects us to each other and the world.  We can struggle to trust that the future has meaning, but choose to act as though our choices matter. 

We can let ourselves be human and fallible, and also the best of what humanity is - a clever, creative, social ape that has invented stories. We are the animal that makes meaning.  We do it urgently; we need our stories the way we need air to breathe, the way the touch of a gentle hand reminds us we're alive, the way we let ourselves sleep at night, trusting that the morning will come.

We can be fierce in our defiance of despair.  We can let ourselves cry when we need to cry, and we can still choose, again and again, to hope. 

That's what we have to give you, right now. From the Nameless Crew to all of you: please, if you can, choose kindness, love, art, beauty, joy, wonder.  Please, if you can, choose hope.

-with much love, from Alex, Caro, Endy, Evan, Nerys, Sawyer, Trace, and Trevor

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In Episode Two, “Access to the Biological Specimens,” Zahava and Zei head out for a day at the beach, and James investigates the local wildlife. Mandry comes downstairs for a visit; we find out who can bake, who can braid, and what those black seas look like up close. Calendars are invented; wildlife encountered; Saccharomyces Cerevisiae rehydrated.

The transcript is available.

Content Note:  this episode is free from sensitive content other than some mild swearing, still mainly but not entirely James.

The showrunner and lead writer for this project is Evan Tess Murray. The sound designer, audio engineer, and composer is Trace Callahan. Sounds and music are her original creations, sometimes with the assistance of others who remain Nameless.  This episode guest starred the North Atlantic as the black ocean of the Nameless Planet.

This is a collaborative ensemble project. Many of the character decisions are made by the actors as part of the story and script development process. Please check out the links below for more of their work:

Presenting the Nameless Crew

• Trevor Bean creates and voices Mandry
• Trace Callahan creates and voices Kolian
• Alexander Endymion Hernández Díaz creates and voices Cyrus
• Alexander Doddy creates and voices James
• Sawyer Greene creates and voices Quill
• Anjali Kunapaneni creates and voices Devi
• Dominic Mendez creates and voices Ángel
• Caroline Mincks creates and voices Zahava
• Evan Tess Murray creates and voices Zei

They're also just a ton of fun to hang out with. Our corner of the internet is very friendly, and you're welcome to come say hello. We'd also love you to join the Ground Crew by supporting us on Patreon, if you can.

The promo at the end of this episode is for Diary of a Space Archivist, a delightful show about space, family, and chocolate by Becky Stirrup. 

This story is being told by people in various parts of the world. Every episode, we'll give a bit of space in the shownotes to an effort by indigenous people that could use some support.  Inspired by Endymion's connection to the Guanches, we decided to ask you to support Native Land, a community mapping project to help us all understand the people who have gone before us.

Our podcast art was created by Katy Schifferer. Check out her work!

A great deal of this episode was written and edited at Candy’s, an LGBTQ+ community space in Portland, Maine. Check them out at http://candyslovesyou.space.

We tell a story about another world, but we're not giving up on this one. 

Support the Show.

Now that our first episode is live, we're working on the second one - and the third!  And in the meantime, we have a few more of these bonuses for you.  Here, James answers a questionnaire as part of his job interview to head toward the nameless planet.  Warning: James is fond of some words sometimes considered taboo. If you don't want to hear a bit of gentle cursing, give this one a miss.

This is written by Evan Tess Murray and Alexander Doddy, performed by Alexander Doddy, and engineered by Trace Callahan, and the transcript is available.

We did these interviews as character development exercises; they're partially scripted and partially improvised. In this case, mostly improvised! Anyone interested in learning more about our collaborative process is welcome to email us, get in touch on twitter, or join us on the friendliest corner of the internet to talk about it. 

Support the Show.

Now that our first episode is live, we're working on the second one - and the third!  And in the meantime, we have a few more of these bonuses for you.  Here, Mandry answers a questionnaire as part of his job interview to head toward the nameless planet.

This is written by Evan Tess Murray and Trevor Bean, performed by Trevor Bean, and engineered by Trace Callahan, and the transcript is available.

We did these interviews as character development exercises; they're partially scripted and partially improvised. Anyone interested in learning more about our collaborative process is welcome to email us, get in touch on twitter, or join us on the friendliest corner of the internet to talk about it. 

Support the Show.

Hi everyone! This is Evan, here to make a quick announcement. We know a lot of you love the music Trace creates for our episodes. Well, as of today, you can own that music!  She’s made several parts of the score for everything we’ve released so far into full pieces, and they’re available as the first installment of The Nameless Songs collection. 

The Nameless Songs: Landing is available to all our patrons at the $3 tier or higher, or you can buy it for a few dollars on Trace’s bandcamp page. 

This includes the fully scored version of the lullaby Zahava sings in her prologue, Numi Numi. I know for sure a lot of you love that song. Now you can buy it for a dollar. 

To get this and all our future releases, and generally support the show, join the Ground Crew at patreon.com/needsaname.  To check out the songs, go to tracecallahan.bandcamp.com. That’s Trace as in with a pencil, Callahan as in the pretty common Irish last name, at bandcamp.com

As always, thank you so much for your support! 

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 In Episode One, "When the Gravity is Real," Quill and Zei touch down on the ground, joining Zahava, Cyrus, and James on the planet. Kolian and Mandry watch from above while we discover whether or not anyone is allergic to the air (were we worried about that?). Plants may be planted; power generated; and as always, there will be cheese. But the planet still has secrets for our brave terraformers to discover.

The transcript is available.

Content Note:  this episode is free from sensitive content other than some swearing.  

The showrunner and lead writer for this project is Evan Tess Murray. The sound designer, audio engineer, and composer is Trace Callahan. Sounds and music are her original creations.

This is a collaborative, ensemble project. Many of the character decisions are made by the actors as part of the story and script development process. Please check out the links below to get in touch with them or find more of their work. 

Presenting the Nameless Crew

• Trevor Bean creates and voices Mandry
• Trace Callahan creates and voices Kolian
• Alexander Endymion Hernández Díaz creates and voices Cyrus
• Alexander Doddy creates and voices James
• Sawyer Greene creates and voices Quill
• Anjali Kunapaneni creates and voices Devi
• Dominic Mendez creates and voices Ángel
• Caroline Mincks creates and voices Zahava
• Evan Tess Murray creates and voices Zei

They're also just a ton of fun to hang out with. Our corner of the internet is very friendly, and you're welcome to come say hello. We'd also love you to join the Ground Crew by supporting us on Patreon, if you can.

The promo at the end of this episode is for Seren, an upcoming show by our friend Nerys. 

This story is being told by people in various parts of the world. Every episode, we'll give a bit of space in the shownotes to an effort by indigenous people that could use some support.  Our creator is from the Dawnlands, the ancestral and current home of the peoples of the Wabanaki Confederacy. Please check out - and support - Nibezun. 

A great deal of this episode was written and edited at Candy’s, an LGBTQ+ community space in Portland, Maine. Check them out at http://candyslovesyou.space.

And finally, our hearts go out to our Australian friends and family.  Please help if you can - one suggestion is to donate to the Australian Red Cross. In addition, a member of our podfamily has family that have lost their home to the fires - you can help them out here. Keep breathing, Australia.

We tell a story about another world, but we're not giving up on this one. 

Support the Show.