Archive 81 – Episode: "We Made a New Podcast Called Conversations with Ghosts! You Can Listen NOW!"

Podcast by Dead Signals | Released: October 22, 2025

Episode Overview

This special Archive 81 episode serves as both an announcement and a preview: creators Dan and Mark unveil their new audio drama podcast, Conversations with Ghosts. The show follows cemetery attendant Mal Fleming (voiced by Mark) as he attempts to help spirits at Greybriar Cemetery pass on by uncovering the stories of their lives, deaths, and afterlives. Fusing New York City's rich history, horror, and the series’ signature immersive sound design, each episode explores themes of memory, identity, and oblivion.

Listeners are given a full preview of one of the first episodes, immersing them in Mal’s deeply personal and eerie exchange with an unnamed, fading ghost.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Premise and Announcement (00:00 – 01:06)

• Dan (A) introduces Conversations with Ghosts:
  • Mal Fleming helps Greybriar Cemetery spirits pass on by learning about their unresolved histories.
  • The show blends horror, NYC lore, and inventive sound design.
• First two episodes are available in the new podcast feed; regular weekly releases promised.

2. The Encounter Begins: Identity and Memory (01:06 – 04:44)

• Mal Fleming (B) begins interview with an indistinct ghost (C):
  • Ghost’s confusion and loss:
    • C cannot remember their name or death, and repeatedly references the city’s dual nature, water, and tides — “The city was once two cities, and it is a city of water and tides ever changing...” (C, 01:15)
    • Discusses the danger of giving a name, “...if you name me incorrectly, you will influence me into being someone I was not so as to fit the name. Like water filling a vessel.” (C, 02:13)
• Mal refers to notes by Caldwell, a predecessor, warning against letting ghosts fade away.

3. Fear, Fading, and the Nature of Death (04:44 – 07:02)

• C describes hints of oblivion and fear of fading:
  • "Something whispers to me about oblivion... of letting my bones erode like stones in the ocean... But I think the thing is lying. Something tells me such things. But there's something in its voice. Something wrong." (C, 04:52)
• The ghost struggles to open a metaphorical “onyx door”, believing a memory or a name is needed as the key.

4. Caldwell and the Limits of Knowledge (07:02 – 08:20)

• Discussion touches on Caldwell’s death and lingering presence; C suggests talking to him, but Mal explains Caldwell is unreachable:
  • “I have tried that. I would love to get more of a sense of, well, my responsibilities. But he has either passed on or he will.” (B, 07:23)
• The elusiveness of names and their significance is probed:
  • “Sometimes I think [names] are the most important things in the world. And sometimes I think they do not matter at all.” (C, 08:00)

5. Language, Identity, and the Past (08:20 – 11:22)

• Mal speculates about C’s language and background, surmising English or possibly Dutch roots, tying back to the city's history.
• Gender is discussed – C remarks on voice and dissolved identity:
  • “Does my voice make me sound like a man or a woman? At this point I cannot even tell.” (C, 09:31)
• The idea of being moved posthumously, the fading of memory and spirit as time passes, and the isolation within the graveyard.

6. Sensation, Scent, and Unlocking the Past (11:22 – 13:28)

• Mal observes that most spirits have a scent (“petrichor”), but this ghost hardly gives off anything.
• C’s first tangible memory emerges: beaver trapping on winter rivers, violence, and the beaver pelt trade — vivid, visceral recollection:
  • “The traps themselves were rusted jaw like things... And they would snap so fast and so hard... And then the skinning would begin. The hats were so warm, though the height of fashion.” (C, 12:09–13:23)

7. History as Myth, the Changing City, and False Memories (13:28 – 16:56)

• Ghost recalls the story of Manhattan’s purchase for $24, ruminating on how repeated stories become history:
  • “Once you say a word enough, it becomes the new name. Manahatta became Manhattan, became New York. All for $24. It’s history.” (C, 14:51)
• The relationship between memory and place is explored; ghost compares its recollections to water slipping through fingers.

8. The Philosophical Heart: Memory, Renewal, and Passing On (16:56 – 19:38)

• Mal and C debate the importance of the past vs. the liberating lure of forgetting:
  • “Is it not freeing to throw away your past?” (C, 16:56)
  • Mal argues we cannot truly escape context; “You can never extricate yourself.” (B, 17:00)
• The possibility that even splinters of memory may be enough for passage is discussed—Mal thinks the trap memory may be real and important.
• Mal paints a picture of New Amsterdam’s vibrant, diverse, and boisterous days, cementing the idea that fragments of lived experience persist and matter.

9. Closure: Onyx Doors and Naming (19:38 – 20:30)

• The ghost requests a name to anchor itself for passage. Mal whispers one privately, giving the spirit something to hold onto.
  • “That is a very good name. No.” (C, 20:15)
• Final Words: Mal intones, “Name redacted. Passage completed.”

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On the burden of names:
  • “Perhaps if you name me incorrectly, you will influence me into being someone I was not so as to fit the name. Like water filling a vessel. Better to have no name at all.” - C (02:13)
• Oblivion and fear:
  • “Something whispers to me about oblivion... but I think the thing is lying. Something tells me such things. But there's something in its voice — something wrong. A skull is always smiling, Mal Fleming.” - C (04:52)
• Memory as water:
  • “Of course things come, but they go ever so quickly. It's like trying to hold water in your hand.” - C (02:49)
• On New York’s mythic history:
  • “Once you say a word enough, it becomes the new name. Manahatta became Manhattan, became New York. All for $24. It’s history.” - C (14:51)
• On the ghost’s fading identity:
  • “Does my voice make me sound like a man or a woman? At this point I cannot even tell. It seems so. I wonder if that was the first part of me to fall away.” - C (09:31)
• On the passage’s ambiguity:
  • “Do I come into a new place, wash up on a new continent with nothing but half remembered stories and false names? Or everything is returned to you and you become who you once were? Or perhaps it does not matter and my soul is used up. Rain into the ocean.” - C (18:59-19:30)

Notable Timestamps

• 00:00–01:06 — Dan introduces the new show and its premise.
• 01:06–03:27 — Mal questions the ghost; failure of recollection and the threat of fading.
• 04:52–06:00 — Ghost describes the seduction and terror of oblivion.
• 09:31–09:57 — Ghost dwells on lost gender identity.
• 12:08–13:28 — Vivid retelling of beaver trapping and trauma.
• 14:41–15:31 — Myth of Manhattan’s "purchase" and the malleability of history.
• 16:34–17:06 — Debate on the possibilities and limits of forgetting the past.
• 18:26–18:52 — Reminiscence about New Amsterdam, warmth, and camaraderie.
• 19:38–20:30 — The final naming and completion of passage.

Tone & Style

The tone is somber, poetic, and gently unsettling—true to Archive 81 and Dead Signals’ style. The performances are nuanced: Mal is empathetic and grounded; the ghost is dreamlike, untethered, and hauntingly philosophical. The use of metaphor (water, tides, onyx doors) and a strong sense of place establish an atmosphere that is eerie yet tender.

Summary for New Listeners

This episode not only announces an exciting new fiction series from the Archive 81 creators but also submerges listeners in Conversations with Ghosts's eerie, introspective world. Through the moving exchange between Mal Fleming and a fading, nameless spirit, it meditates on memory, identity, history, and the liminal space between life and oblivion. While chilling in its horror-overtones, the writing and performances also communicate empathy, connection, and the ever-present questions of who we are and what it means to be remembered (or forgotten). For anyone drawn to spectral mysteries, historical echoes, and existential rumination, Conversations with Ghosts is an immediate must-listen.