Podcast
Breaker Whiskey
Hosted by Atypical Artists · EN
BREAKER WHISKEY is an ongoing, daily microfiction podcast exploring one woman’s journey to find additional survivors in an America made empty by an unknown event in the late 1960s. In 1968, two women find themselves in rural Pennsylvania during what turns out to be some kind of apocalyptic event. By the time they discover that everyone else is gone, it’s too late to figure out what happened. Despite not liking each other at all, the women work together to survive, until six years later one of them sets out on her own, driving around the country to find other survivors. This is her, calling out to anyone who might listen. BREAKER WHISKEY is made by Lauren Shippen and recorded on a 1976 Midland CB Radio. Please visit breakerwhiskey.com for more information or to send a message to Whiskey.
16episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
300 - Three Hundred
3d ago00:08:40Tap to summarizeA final transmission before I take an indefinite break.Please visit breakerwhiskey.com for more information. Breaker Whiskey is an Atypical Artists production created by Lauren Shippen.If you'd like to support the show, please visit atypicalartists.co/support.----[Transcript]Breaker, breaker. This is Whiskey calling out for Passerine. Got another message here so I'll, uh, read it out. "Breaker breaker it's Passerine here. I sent a message out to you a little while ago, and honestly, I don't remember half of what I said. I was in a bit of a weird place then, so it might have been nonsense. If you come across it, I hope it isn't too incomprehensible. Hope I had somewhat of a point. Just wanted to message again. Kinda miss hearing your voice on the radio, but hey, you do what you want. It's your life, and I bet you're making the most of it, now you know what it's worth.I was just thinking about home. About what it means to be home. If you recall, I set off on a big adventure, a lot like yours, I think. Just getting out to see what it was like out there. To see things, I'd never seen. I have this motto about making sure I do the things I want in this life. No regrets, right? And I'm home now. After a year of being away, I made it home.Not back to my original timeline, I don't think. Things are still wonky, and it's definitely not the way it's supposed to be, but I'm not fading away anymore. I'm stable. And I feel like I've found a place to belong. Just like you did. You found Harry, and that's your home. And I know it's not the same, but nothing ever is. Look at me rambling again. I'm trying my best to get better at being succinct, but hey, work in progress. My point is that home is important. And that maybe you'll never get to go back to your timeline, but maybe that's not a bad thing. Maybe you can find a new one, like I did. One where you and Harry can be together.Still on the search for Charleston Chews by the way. Don't think we have those in my neck of the woods. Still gonna keep looking. It sticks in my head every time I enter a shop with a chocolate section. Hoping you're safe at home.Passerine out."I did get your previous message. I don't know if you heard my response. It sounds like maybe the radio waves are not our friends all the time. I know I haven't been on here as much as I was in that year of wandering that I did, but I still think about all of you out there hearing my voice and either finding comfort in that or wondering who the hell is talking on the radio. But I'm happy to hear that you're home, if I can remember correctly, which, you know, I'm not sure I can, you last talked about change and swinging between hopefulness and hopelessness, so sounds like maybe you are at home with hope now? And you're right. Harry is my home. We've- we settled into a good place, Harry and I. It's not always perfect, but I don't know. It's like all of the hard edges of ourselves that used to chafe on each other have been sanded down by proximity and, well, an effort, I guess, because it can't just be proximity, right? Because we were together in a house alone for years and still, you know, bumped into those sharp points. So the effort is important and it makes the time go by fast too. Really, you know, working on not just coexisting with somebody, but building a relationship with them, building a home with them. Not to say that we're building a permanent home. We're still moving from time to time, but mostly because Harry's actually really wanted to see things. see things that she's never seen before. Like you wanted to. And so we've wandered. And some of the things have been things that I saw and fell in love with on my grand road trip. And some have been new to me too. And that's been really nice. Both sharing the things that excite me with her and discovering new things together. But yeah, it's amazing how the time slips away, you know? I look up and already it's been two years that we've been doing this, that we've been what we are to each other. It doesn't feel real. I look in the mirror and I don't feel like I'm that much older. I'm not even sure I feel wiser. And isn't that supposed to be the hallmark of age? And I guess I've been distracted in exploring all the nooks and crannies of this country, and also all of the dimensions of Harry. I guess I haven't been leaning on the radio as much as I have in the past. I still like having a connection to the outside world, such as it is, especially since it doesn't seem like...well, what you have said about change and about home. I have started to wonder if we have found ourselves in a new timeline after all, in some kind of new home. Because we haven't heard from Junior in a really long time. I mean, we haven't heard from Birdie either, but they said something had changed, and I wonder...I do wonder if we're safe now. If we're safe and we can just be home. And if that's the case, then maybe we can create a new home base. Really actually build a home together. I've never been one for scripture. Surprise, I know, but there's this one phrase that stuck with me through the years, and that's "everyone will sit under their own vine and under their own fig tree, and none will make them afraid". I think that's the promise of home, isn't it? Being in your own space with your own people. Unafraid. And against all odds, I think we may have found that. What a miracle that is. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I do enjoy this tether to the wider universe. But the habit I have of making sure that I'm consistently sitting down and listening to the radio on some kind of cadence and responding to the people who are able to get through. I think part of that has been driven out of fear. Listening at the radio for a warning. For some kind of information that would send my life off its axis again. And I don't want to be afraid anymore. That's not to say that I still won't sit by the radio and listen for you, Passerine, or for anyone else who's sent me a message through the years. But. But maybe I don't know when you'll next hear from me. Maybe...maybe I'm gonna go sit under my own vine and fig tree for a little while. Oh, what a miracle that is. So Passerine, I am glad you're home, too. And to anybody else who might be hearing this, wherever you are, whoever you are. If you're not home yet, I hope you find it soon.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcribe →299 - Two Hundred Ninety Nine
May 2000:02:23Tap to summarizeTo RumPlease visit breakerwhiskey.com for more information. Breaker Whiskey is an Atypical Artists production created by Lauren Shippen.If you'd like to support the show, please visit atypicalartists.co/support.----[Transcript]Wow, Rum, I haven't heard from you in an age. I think I remember correctly that you found your dog, and your dog had also picked up some other dogs in the process of being missing. So it sounds like all of you are doing well. I have talked to Harry before about finding some kind of pet, but I don't know. We have yet to happen upon any creature that would seem to have their life improved by joining up with us. Lots of wild animals, not a lot of domesticated left. I am sorry that people keep trying to take them from you. Sounds like it's sort of dodgy where you are. Weird that some woman claimed that she knew me and could take you to me. I guess maybe she's heard me on the radio too. Maybe she's heard me talking to you on the radio. But in any case, no, I don't know anybody. I mean, well, I guess I know you, I know Passerine. I know the Red family, solitude. Lots of people who have sent me radio messages, Morse code messages through the years, but I haven't met any of you in person. So any one of you is as trustworthy as any of the others. I guess that's not really that helpful. In any case, I hope you're well too, as well as you can be, and that you are able to track down your Birdie, whoever he is, wherever he is. I like the idea of having a secret language with a friend.I guess Harry and I sort of have that, a holdover from some of the signs and whistles that we would use in our work. But it's not like it comes much in handy now. We don't really need to speak in secret code when there's no one around to hear us. In any case, I'm glad you got your radio fixed and keep your head on a swivel. Sounds like there are some not great people where you are, but also sounds like you've got some good friends in those dogs. Whiskey out.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcribe →298 - From Breaker Rum (Listener Message)
May 1300:01:26Tap to summarizePlease visit breakerwhiskey.com for more information. Breaker Whiskey is an Atypical Artists production created by Lauren Shippen.If you'd like to support the show, please visit atypicalartists.co/support.----[Transcript]Hi Whiskey, I've been trying to fix this bloody radio for months, and it just now sprang to life and started playing hymns so I'll message you quickly before the God Squad track me down.Hypocrites. Let me warn you - there are bad people out there who pretend to be all holy and helpful, then they try to nick your supplies (and your dogs) when you're asleep. They tried this trick with me, which was a big mistake: let's jusy say that my dogs are a very protective of their Person...I also wanted to let you know that I met a squat, red faced, scarlet haired 70 something woman called Jay - she has a face like an angry terrier, do you know her? She reckoned she knows you and could take me to you. I fell for it for roughly 20 seconds until she started asking me things like how to cook wild meat, how to train wolf hybrids etc. No you can't have my dogs. Bugger off.It's always the same if we meet someone - they see a disabled lady and see easy pickings. Mugs, there's more than one way to be able. My dogs are a team. They keep me safe and fed and won't work for anybody else...except for Birdie, if we ever find him. He and I made up a secret language as kids and Iused this to train the dogs. Maybe Birdie would get me home if I let him have a dog I bred for him. A girl can hope...Hope you're well. Beware of red faced shrieking women and false Bible bashers!Your friendRum (and doggy family - now if YOU found me, you I'd trust to have a puppy, I have it on authority that you have a good heart) xxSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcribe →297 - Two Hundred and Ninety Seven
Apr 2200:01:57Tap to summarizeTo PasserinePlease visit breakerwhiskey.com for more information or to send a message to Whiskey's radio. Breaker Whiskey is an Atypical Artists production created by Lauren Shippen.If you'd like to support the show, please visit atypicalartists.co/support.If you'd like to send Whiskey a message, click here.----[Transcript]God isn't cutting your hair short. Just the best thing in the world. I definitely feel much better now that I have Harry cutting my hair short again, rather than me hacking away at it. It looks better too. Not that I'm ever looking at myself, but I think Harry appreciates it. I think I would have assumed that your favorite bird was the passerine, given you know the name. But I like that it's a raven. You know, they can live up to three decades. It's a long time to have something squawking nevermore at you.It's weird to think about that. That I've been on this earth for more than three decades now. And as long as I stay healthy and we continue to figure out the food situation, I could be here for three more decades. It seems like a long time, especially when there is so little change. I know you talked about how that's the only certainty in life, but.I don't know, we've settled into stagnation or something. Or. Or maybe. Maybe we're resisting change. Maybe we hit upon some degree of peace that any rupture to that, any shaking of the boat is too unbearable to think about. But it does feel like we should do something. Like we should pursue some change. Some…I don't know, extreme is the wrong word, but just something. Just something I don't know.I'm getting restless, my friend. I am getting restless. I don't know, maybe. Maybe. Right. Maybe change isn't something you ever choose. Maybe it's just something you wait for. And I guess I'll continue to wait.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcribe →296 - From Passerine (Listener Message)
Apr 1500:02:18Tap to summarizePlease visit breakerwhiskey.com for more information or to send a message to Whiskey's radio. Breaker Whiskey is an Atypical Artists production created by Lauren Shippen.If you'd like to support the show, please visit atypicalartists.co/support.If you'd like to send Whiskey a message, click here.----[Transcript]Breaker breaker, it's Passerine, once more joyously heard. You said you wanted to hear from me again, and well, I like writing out to you. I like hearing my words read out and answered, just another reminder that I'm real and that other people find worth in my words. You feel like a friend, even though we've never met, and likely never will. Thank you.I'll be completely honest with you Whiskey, I've rewritten this message so many times. I keep trying so hard to say something profound or meaningful, something from the heart. The issue is that my heart keeps changing, I go from hopeful to hopeless, and words I believed in one day seem like lies the next.It's obvious to say, but that sort of change is certain. The world around you changes, and you change with it, sometimes slowly, sometimes all at once. You know something about that, about breaching into the unknown, choosing that change, and realising that really, you have very little control of what comes next. But, in a way, that's the best part. Because if things keep changing, if things are chaotic and unpredictable, then at least it means you're still there to experience it. And if you're still there, then it means things can change for the better still. It means the candle is still lit.Again, I think you get that. The refusal to let the chaos and darkness and uncertainty win, because you have a goal, you have a fire, and you need to keep fighting.By the way, I've never had a Charleston Chew, but now on my adventures, I've been keeping an eye out for them. Haven't found one yet, but I'll keep looking, and when I find one, you'll get my honest review. Also, about the tree thing, everyone does really dumb and idiotic things at seventeen. It's the magic of being seventeen. If anyone out there listening is currently that age, keep going kid, it'll get better.I'll give you a few more fun facts about me and my life. I cut my hair short last year and I finally felt like myself when I looked in the mirror. Sometimes I think I'm in the wrong universe too, because I always seem to be the odd one out, no matter where I go. I find cleaning dishes to be soothing. My favourite bird is the raven.I hope you get this message. I hope you understand what I'm trying to say. I hope your life keeps changing, and that the fire doesn't go out.We're not alone. Passerine out.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcribe →295 - Two Hundred and Ninety Five
Mar 2500:03:10Tap to summarizeTo SolitudePlease visit breakerwhiskey.com for more information or to send a message to Whiskey's radio. Breaker Whiskey is an Atypical Artists production created by Lauren Shippen.If you'd like to support the show, please visit atypicalartists.co/support.If you'd like to send Whiskey a message, click here.----[Transcript]Breaker, breaker. This is Whiskey calling up for solitude. I like that: the in between. It's better than anything I've ever called whatever this is in my head, and it really does describe what it feels like just existing in this in-between. In between versions of my life, in between past and future, in between a different state line every other month.Because you're right. I do think about it. I think about what my life would be like if I hadn't met Harry, if I hadn't met Pete, if I hadn't made the choices that I made. I know Harry thinks about it, too.We don't talk about it as much as we should. Maybe. I mean, other than the few blow up fights we've had, we've never. Well, we just don't really talk about it so much anymore. And maybe that's because it hasn't been that big of a problem since we reunited. We haven't heard or seen a peep from Junior and whatever change Birdie was warning about. I mean, there's someone else here, something else here it hasn't reached us yet. We do keep moving to avoid anything reaching us, but I don't know. It's a big country.I do think that we could stay in one place for a little while and probably avoid whatever is coming our way. Then again, maybe I don't want to settle down into a particular place. I get what you mean, Solitude. I am also bored a lot of the time and being on the move, constantly setting up a new home base, driving, trying to find more fuel. All of that stuff keeps me busy, keeps us busy. I do think Harry would be satisfied just reading every book that's ever been published, but I need action.I miss talking to everybody every day too. It was easier, I guess, when I wasn't with Harry. Now I have someone who talks back in the moment that I'm actually talking to them. And well, I like trading radio messages back and forth, but I also I don't have that much to say. There haven't been that many seismic changes after a year full of them.I think since Birdie explained what they could, I've been more at peace with the in-between. I don't really understand how it works, why it works the way that it does, or if there is any way for us to get back or get somewhere else, because I'm not even sure that there's a back to get to. Despite all of that, I'm still. I don't know, I'm just a little bit at peace, I guess. I hope you find that too. Peace. Not just solitude.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcribe →294 - From Solitude (Listener Message)
Mar 1800:02:09Tap to summarizePlease visit breakerwhiskey.com for more information or to send a message to Whiskey's radio. Breaker Whiskey is an Atypical Artists production created by Lauren Shippen.If you'd like to support the show, please visit atypicalartists.co/support.If you'd like to send Whiskey a message, click here.----[Transcript]Do you ever wonder what your life was leading up to had you not been transported to the In-Between? Or if you hadn't met a specific person that that would've kept you from getting trapped here? Like, do you think if you never met Harry, or the rest of your group, or Juniors Dad wasn't on shift that day, that you would've ended up here? Or that you were always destined to be in this place?I think I was always supposed to be here. I've always felt out of place. More comfortable by myself. Aimless with school and jobs and relationships. And now here I am. In The In-between. Alone with myself, my thoughts, and my stories. I love stories. But, well, I'm sure you know this, they can get kind of,, stale, after a while.I've been stuck here for a few years and at first, it was like Heaven. No people, but everything still moved around like there were people here. That's why I call it the in-between by the way. It's kind of just like everyone else in invisible and I'm the only one visible? Or maybe it's the other way around. Pretty sure my town is convinced it's been infested with ghosts. It was nice at first, if a bit of a dangerous learning curve. I got to read my backlog of books, play games, listen to the radio, though the signal is terrible on this side of the veil. But it started to get boring. And then I heard your voice, which was MUCH clearer. It helped. Hearing you travel around was like my own little serial story. I miss the daily updates. I've gotten off track. Sorry, it's like I said. I'm very bored. Anyway besides the boredom due to a lack of socialization, I feel like I'm more free than I ever was. Free to learn, to read, to write, to ponder. And I've been thinking about the events that led me here lately. If I could've avoided it or if this was always to be my destination. I'm not sure what my answer would be. What do you think? Oh! Uh, you can call me Solitude. I was gonna go with a pun or something like SoliDUDE but,, I'm feeling introspective lately so I'll save the silly for later. Solitude, out.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcribe →293 - Two Hundred and Ninety Three
Feb 1800:02:49Tap to summarizeTo August.Please visit breakerwhiskey.com for more information or to send a message to Whiskey's radio. Breaker Whiskey is an Atypical Artists production created by Lauren Shippen.If you'd like to support the show, please visit atypicalartists.co/support.If you'd like to send Whiskey a message, click here.----[Transcript]This is Whiskey calling out for August. Are you saying that you've been alone since you were a kid? Uh, I don't even know how that's possible. I, I mean, what choices--What kind of circumstance could you have been in to separate a timeline into its own branch? I'm sorry. That's awful. And I'm sorry that you're on another continent. Because maybe, maybe somehow we are part of the same timeline and we could actually see, meet, talk to each other. But how would we get there? I don't know if you heard my broadcast the other week, but the idea of sailing across the ocean terrified me. It's not something I have the training to do or the stomach for. Frankly, too many things can go wrong.I don't know, would it...would it be worth it if it meant there were people on the other side? It sounds like you've been alone for a lot longer than I've been alone. So maybe...maybe people don't solve anything, if they're not the right people. If you're the wrong person. I've been in groups like that before, and it's a rare thing to find what I found. To find a handful of people to whom you belong, with whom you actually like spending time. But all that said, it is still kind of an extraordinary thing that we're alive at the same time. Maybe not in the same place, maybe not exactly, but that we can talk to each other. What a what a wonderful thing to be alive at the same time as someone else's, as anybody else. Human existence is so singular, you know. I mean, sure, maybe aliens do exist, but for all we know, we are the only intelligent life in the universe. And we're such a small blip in the lifetime of our earth, of our galaxy. And so, to get to experience it is this one in a million chance. But at the same time, for a singular as human existence is, we are all experiencing shades of the same thing. I don't know, maybe it's not a comfort to somebody who has felt on the outside their whole lives. I guess...I guess I just want to say you might be on the outside, but you're not alone on the outside.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcribe →292 - From August (Listener Message)
Feb 1100:02:28Tap to summarizePlease visit breakerwhiskey.com for more information or to send a message to Whiskey's radio. Breaker Whiskey is an Atypical Artists production created by Lauren Shippen.If you'd like to support the show, please visit atypicalartists.co/support.If you'd like to send Whiskey a message, click here.----[Transcript]Hello, Whiskey. I'd like to tell you a story. Nothing more, nothing less. You don't have to respond. You don't even have to listen. It's just nice to talk to someone after... There was once a child. For they can't have been much more than that. Maybe ten or eleven years old. And this child lived in a sleepy little village in the English countryside. The child always knew they were different to anyone else in the village, but they didn't know why or how. They didn't understand their people, and in turn, their people did not understand them. But it was all right. You don't need to understand one another to teach one to read or to help out on a farm. And all was well. But the child always felt left out, misunderstood as they were. They hated their people. But hate is such a strong word, I hear you cry. They hated their people with a burning passion. It ate them up inside. Tearing out a hollow in their chest. till they were completely and utterly empty. I wish I was alone, they would cry. I wish you would all just leave me be. So I could be alone. And one day when they woke up, their wish had come true. It was not what they had wanted. They screamed and they cried. And then they fell to their knees and laughed and laughed and laughed.I have been alone for years. I walk a lot nowadays. Always in the same few square miles, my dear. I have a little hoard of books and music and radios and televisions. A lot of it doesn't work anymore. Of course, sometimes when I travel outside of my area, I will hear a voice and I will think that maybe, just maybe, this time I am not alone. And that is how I found you. Whiskey. I realized you were alive and at the same time as me, you were alive. But then I realized you are not even on the same continent as me. And so I remain alone. My name is August, by the way. Nice to meet you.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcribe →291 - Two Hundred and Ninety One
Jan 2100:04:14Tap to summarizeTo Rusty.Please visit breakerwhiskey.com for more information or to send a message to Whiskey's radio. Breaker Whiskey is an Atypical Artists production created by Lauren Shippen.If you'd like to support the show, please visit atypicalartists.co/support.If you'd like to send Whiskey a message, click here.----[Transcript]Jesus Christ Rusty, tear gas? Sounds like you're having a much harder go of it than I ever had. I'm sorry that you're doing it alone. It does make it easier having Harry and I'm taking care of her as best as I can. She- she liked that part of your broadcast. She happened to be standing over my shoulder as it came in. And she was very pleased to hear you say that. She likes when I'm responsible for her in some way, I think makes her feel loved, which. Yeah. She is. You know, honestly, it never occurred to me to take a boat anywhere. Maybe because I haven't really spent much time on them before. Maybe because the thought of being lost at sea is so much worse than any version of my life over this past year. Decade, really. Here alone, at the end of the world, or nearly alone. So I hope if you do take that boat somewhere, that it's somewhere close and safe, and that you have clear weather your whole way. That old sailor saying? Francis used to say it...um...something about the sunset. Red sky at night. Sailors delight. Red sky in morning, sailor. Take warning. I have no idea if that's anything. I don't know, maybe check the Anarchist Cookbook, see if they have anything to say about the sky and what importance for sailing the seas it holds. But if I find myself wanting to seek out some islands, I'll definitely check to see if your book is there. Who knows, maybe one of your other selves will find it. Now that you know you've been broadcasting to my frequency, it's very possible that they've heard you just like you heard them. It must be so strange. I might not be alone because I have Harry. But. You're not alone in a way that I think very, very few people can understand. All of you. Rusty. Scarlet. Red. You know that there are other yous out there living lives and speaking to one another about those lives. I mean, that's a kind of community that I can't even fathom. Once again, I think about what the hell my other selves are doing that they're not hearing any of these transmissions. And then I think, well, maybe they never really got into the radio. Maybe they had no reason to. Maybe they're all, I don't know, maybe they're all sitting in prisons somewhere. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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