Circle Round presents: The Midnight Rebellion, Ch. 1

Summary

Circle Round Presents: The Midnight Rebellion, Ch. 1

Date: July 2, 2026
Podcast: Circle Round from WBUR
Host(s): Erica Henningson (A); Narrator (B); Heart (C)

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Episode Overview

This special episode is the first chapter (“City of Tides, Chapter 1: Almost Midnight”) of The Midnight Rebellion, an interactive audio adventure for older kids spun off from the Circle Round universe. The show weaves coming-of-age themes—grief, curiosity, rebellion, and family bonds—through a suspenseful, atmospheric nighttime escapade as twin siblings Jewel and Heart explore their late mother’s forbidden laboratory. The story balances emotional resonance and science-themed adventure, culminating in a listener decision that determines what happens next.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Interactive Storytelling Introduction (01:04)

• The episode opens with a note about its interactive format: at the end of each chapter, listeners make a choice that shapes the story.

  “This is an interactive podcast that means you will hear two choices… your decisions determine the outcome of our story.” — Narrator [01:11]

• Emphasizes agency and engagement: kids are told, “Choose wisely. This is the Midnight Rebellion.” [01:32]

2. Establishing Setting and Characters (02:22 - 04:31)

• The protagonist, 12-year-old Jewel Watts Green, lies awake as a thunderstorm rages—the anniversary of her mom’s mysterious death.
  • Jewel remembers the “counting trick” to judge the storm’s distance, taught by her mother, Dr. Elizabeth Green—a physicist and climate scientist.
• Her twin brother, Heart, enters, teasingly breaking the tension:

  “Wakey wakey. It’s time.” — Heart [03:42]

• Sibling contrasts are quickly drawn: Jewel is cautious and law-abiding, while Heart is spontaneous, rebellious, and inventive.

3. Backstory: Tragedy and Rumors (04:51 - 06:38)

• The twins’ mother died a year ago in her lab, under clouded circumstances.
• The forbidden laboratory and the unresolved trauma surrounding Dr. Green’s death are central:

  “No one knows what she was creating the day of the accident… It was enough to condemn the place.” — Narrator [05:09]

• Local rumors (including at East Boston Middle) swirl: Did Dr. Green fake her death? Was she an eco-radical?

  “Many moms are tired of being moms. And some even have exciting pasts involving protests and jail time. Yet faking a death to escape one’s children is very, very rare…That leaves us with the hard truth that Jewel’s mom is dead and something in the scientist’s lab did it.” — Narrator [06:23]

4. Sibling Banter & Decision to Enter the Lab (06:38 - 08:07)

• Heart pushes Jewel to raid the lab “to honor their mom”—but also for his own inventive curiosity.
• Jewel, reluctant but worried for Heart, agrees to go, noting her own small act of rebellion:

  “She laces her sneakers, single knotted, because at this moment she is feeling quite rebellious and follows Heart out…” — Narrator [07:17]

• The physical setting—muddy, storm-soaked, and infused with family history (the twins’ handprints in the concrete walk)—deepens the scene.

5. Exploring the Forbidden Laboratory (08:38 - 10:47)

• The lab is depicted as a cluttered, mysterious place, full of inventions and memories.
• Heart is searching for parts for his latest project—the K9000 robot dog—while Jewel is apprehensive, overwhelmed by the connection to her mom.
• A dusty red radio triggers a vivid memory for Jewel:

  “I can just feel mom in here, can’t you?” — Heart [10:01]

• Flashback: Jewel recalls her mother’s concern for the environment and her own role as a parent and scientist.

  “I just worry about the world we grown ups are leaving you. By the time you’re my age, it’ll be too hot to think and half the city is going to be underwater… If we keep making poor choices, it’ll happen again. To us.” — Dr. Green (via memory) [11:28]

• The mending of the golden pocket watch symbolizes lingering family ties and unresolved grief.

6. Discovery of the Mysterious Machine (13:06 - 15:35)

• Jewel escapes to the upper floor, trying to clear her head, and stumbles onto a strange, patchwork metal machine.

  “Tall, round. A metallic sheen of not one color, but many. Copper, nickel, silver, bronze. She steps closer and the thing comes to life.” — Narrator [13:28]

• As the machine activates, it expels seawater and fish guts, filling the room with a foul smell—both grotesque and mesmerizing.
• Inside the machine, Jewel spots her mother’s gold pocket watch:

  “Mom’s pocket watch, the one Dr. Green kept with her always…” — Jewel [15:19]

7. Cliffhanger & Interactive Choice (15:39 - 16:58)

• The story’s tension peaks: Jewel must decide whether to fetch Heart or climb into the mysterious machine alone.

  “This is where you come in. Jewel faces a choice, and you must help her decide. Should she run to get her brother, or should she step into the machine right now, alone?” — Narrator [15:39]

• Listeners are instructed to pick either Chapter 2 (“Get Heart”) or Chapter 3 (“Into the Machine”), with the fate of the characters in their hands.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Rulebreaking:

  “I don’t double knot my shoelaces. Sometimes.” — Jewel [06:44]
  “That’s not a rule. That’s never been a rule anywhere. Ever.” — Heart [06:47]

• On Grief and Family:

  “I wish I could tell you why exactly Jewel decides to go after her brother. I do not think she herself knows.” — Narrator [07:12]

• Mom’s Wisdom (Flashback):

  “You are strong, Jewel…You are my little spark and fire. You’ll be okay. I know. And the watch will be okay too…” — Dr. Green [12:16]

• On the Machine’s Arrival:

  “The door opens, folding down like a gangway, and the machine vomits.” — Narrator [14:38]
  “Ew. Smells like fish guts.” — Jewel [14:47]

• Cliffhanger:

  “Choose wisely. This is the Midnight Rebellion.” — Narrator [16:36]

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Important Timestamps

• [01:04] – Interactive storytelling primer
• [03:18] – Heart enters Jewel’s room
• [05:09] – The mystery around Dr. Green’s death
• [07:12] – Jewel’s decision to follow Heart
• [08:38] – Breaking into the laboratory
• [10:01] – Flashback triggered by the radio
• [11:28] – Dr. Green discusses climate change
• [13:06] – Jewel discovers the mysterious machine
• [15:19] – Sight of mom’s pocket watch
• [15:39] – Interactive choice presented

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Tone & Style

The episode melds suspenseful adventure, sibling banter, and poignant remembrance with science and environmental undertones. The narration is warm and immersive—filled with sensory detail, humor, and a touch of mystery. There’s an invitation for young listeners to engage, reflect, and guide the story’s path.

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Takeaway

The Midnight Rebellion: Chapter 1 sets a gripping stage for an interactive, emotionally charged adventure where family secrets, inventions, and difficult choices blur together in a storm-soaked night. Listeners are left hovering on the edge of adventure, echoing the show’s heartfelt challenge: “Choose wisely.”

Transcript

[A]

Hey everyone, it's your Circle Round summer camp counselor, Erica Henningson. You might have heard me say that I'm from another podcast, WBUR's new show for kids. It's called the Midnight Rebellion. And today we're bringing you another episode from that new show right here to your Circle Round podcast feed. The Midnight Rebellion is for slightly older kids, so if you're younger than say 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 old, you might want to ask your parents if it's okay to keep listening. Okay? Okay. So if you're seven years old or older, keep listening to join the Midnight Rebellion WBUR podcast Bost.

[B]

If you are listening to this, congratulations. You have made it to the first chapter of the Midnight Rebellion. This is an interactive podcast that means you will hear two choices. At the end of each chapter, I will say something like should our heroes play it safe or risk it all? Then you must choose how. I will explain that when the time comes. For now, just know that your decisions determine the outcome of our story. Good or bad, life or death, it's on you. Choose wisely. This is the midnight rebellion. Part 1 city of tides chapter 1 almost midn. The hour is nearing midnight, but Jewel Watts Green cannot sleep. She lies in bed watching bomblets of rain explode against her window skylight, counting the seconds.

[A]

Two, three, four.

[B]

Between the blindingly bright flashes of lightning.

[A]

Six.

[B]

Seven and the rolling booms of thunder. Nine. Jewel's mom, Dr. Elizabeth Green, taught her this counting trick. The shorter the time between flashes and booms, the closer the heart of the storm. But it is not the nearing storm that keeps Jewel up. It is the fact that when the clock ticks 12am it will be one year to the day when her mom, Dr. Green, entered her laboratory during a storm just like this and never came home.

[A]

11. 12

[B]

as the Thunder goes outside, a creek inside catches Jewel's ears. She sits up. A pale shadow shifts in her doorway. Jewel.

[C]

Jewel.

[B]

The shadow enters her room.

[C]

Room.

[B]

A flashlight flicks on and there is a grinning face. Jewel's shoulders relax.

[A]

Heart. You scared me.

[B]

It is her brother, Heart. Tree or Heart?

[C]

I scared you. What you say I gave you a heart attack, eh?

[A]

Please, never become a comedian.

[C]

No promises, sis. Now. Wakey wakey. It's time.

[B]

She stares at hard. His irises shine bright like a blue flame. He has the same broad build as Jewel, the same freckled nose, the same coarse hair. Their ears are different. His are slim and regal. Hers are so big. Some say they make her look like a sailboat, earning her the much Loathed nickname.

[C]

Come on, sailor, or the winds be blowing. Hang on to your sails.

[A]

I really wish you wouldn't call me that. It doesn't even make sense. I hate the ocean. I hate being wet. And speaking of, it's pouring. I'm not going outside.

[C]

But now's our chances. Dad's asleep, we're not. It's basically destiny.

[B]

Jewel shakes her head. How could two people born on the same day into the same family be so different? Twins, age 12. Jewel, the law abiding citizen, and Heart, the roguish leader with the ability to drag Jewel along no matter how much she resists. She followed him out of the womb. Will she follow him now?

[A]

No. Dad said the lab is off limits. Nobody's been in there since.

[C]

Since. Since mom died. You can say it.

[A]

The lab is dangerous, Heart.

[C]

It'll be good for us. Come on. I know you miss her. What better way to honor her than raiding her stuff?

[B]

Hart has been trying for months to get Jewel into the lab. Always, he says, to honor their mom. While this may be true, it is also the case that Hart is, like their mother, was an inventor. And Dr. Green's lab is full of gizmos for inventing. No one knows what she was creating the day of the accident. The police found nothing outrageous in the lab. Except, of course, Dr. Green's ashes. It was enough to condemn the place. Are you sure, Detective? She was a physicist. She studied climate change. She wasn't a bomb maker.

[A]

Mr. Watts, if I was you, I'd lock up that lab of hers and never step foot inside again.

[B]

This led to much speculation at East Boston Middle. The dominant theory was that Dr. Elizabeth Green had faked her death because she was tired of being a mom. It is well known that before she was mom, people called her Lightning Lizzie.

[A]

My dad called her a radical, an

[B]

Earth nut, a green freak, a rebel. Many moms are tired of being moms. And some even have exciting pasts involving protests and jail time. Yet faking a death to escape one's children is very, very rare. Unfortunately, that leaves us with the hard truth that Jules mom is dead and something in the scientist's lab did it.

[C]

You're just like dad. Afraid of breaking the rules.

[A]

I break rules?

[C]

Name one.

[A]

I. I don't double knot my shoelaces. Sometimes.

[C]

That's not a rule. That's never been a rule anywhere. Ever. Besides, I see your shoes every day. They're double knotted.

[A]

That's not true. I triple knot for baseball.

[C]

Fine. Stay here. I'm following in Mom's footsteps. And that means I'm going with or without you.

[A]

You'll get yourself hurt. Fine.

[B]

I wish I could tell you why exactly Jewel decides to go after her brother. I do not think she herself knows. It may be that she is worried for him, or that she is jealous of how similar he is to their mom. Regardless, Jewel throws on a sweater and jeans and tiptoes downstairs. She laces her sneakers, single knotted, because at this moment she is feeling quite rebellious and follows Hart out the sliding back door into the rain. The laboratory was once the family's detached garage, a two story Victorian with purple shutters. It sits far back from their street and the top floor offers a lovely view of Boston Harbor. When it's not storming immediately, Jewel regrets her wardrobe. Her sneakers squelch through mud. The sweater drinks in the chilly June rain as she waits seemingly forever for Hart to pick the lock.

[A]

Come on, heart, I'm breathing.

[B]

Idly, Jewel kicks the pools, forming in the handprints on the walkway. Years ago, when her parents were converting the garage, she and Hart had pressed their palms into the concrete walkway as it dried. It was another thing Hart made her do. She thought her parents would get upset, but they loved it. Jewel looks up. Hart drops a rock and slips his hand into the broken glass window to unlock the door.

[A]

Seriously?

[C]

It was cracked already. Dad'll think the storm did it. Aha. Here we are. The laboratory. Now keep your eyes peeled. I did a few actuators and a light sensor and a new battery for my latest creation, the K9000. Get it? Like K9 because it's a dog robot.

[B]

Jewel rolls her eyes, wringing out her mane of hair. She enters the cluttered space. Pinewood crates stacked to the ceiling, whiteboards with strange symbols, glass jars of brown liquids lining the shelves, all of it gathering dust.

[A]

Hey, be careful with that stuff.

[B]

Hard is head down in a crate, tossing out gizmos. His feet kick in the air. Then he re emerges, flushed and pleased.

[C]

Oh, ha. Look. Mom's most advanced piece of technology.

[B]

He holds aloft a radio, a little red radio. The sight of it hits Jewel with a wave of emotions. Her mother loved that radio. She listened to it every day while she worked. This is 90.9, WBUR, Boston's NPR. It's 11:59. Here's the news. Brutus Bright held a rally today on Boston Common.

[C]

Over 10,000 were in attendance. I can just feel mom in here, can't you?

[B]

The tech billionaire received roars of approval when downplaying the severity of climate change. First they take your Fuel. Then they'll take your freedom. We won't let that happen. And the sound throws her back in time. It is a gray morning in June. It is the day her mom died. Jewel watches as her mom hunches over her workbench, twisting away at tiny gears and springs.

[A]

This is ridiculous. Can you fix it? I'm sorry. I don't know what I did wrong.

[B]

Her mom is mending a gold pocket watch, a family heirloom that Dr. Green carries with her everywhere. That was except for the day before, when Jewel borrowed it for a class presentation and the timepiece broke.

[A]

What was that, hon? Your watch. You seem mad. Oh, no, no, it's not the watch, Jewel.

[B]

It's that said he would burn more fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas, despite the fact that they are the single biggest cause of climate change.

[A]

Oh, I just worry about the world. We grown ups are leaving you. By the time you're my age, it'll be too hot to think and half the city is going to be underwater. Oh yeah. Did you know a bad climate brought down civilizations before the Maya, Old Egypt. Oh, I swear if we keep making poor choices, it'll happen again. To us. I. I know. You. You told me before. Ah, right. Your dad tells me that I scare you kids with all of my doom talk. Well, I'm sorry. It's just that I care. I know. You are strong, Jewel. You and heart. You are my little spark and fire. You'll be okay. I know. And the watch will be okay too. Just one more twist. Ah, listen.

[B]

Jewel shakes herself from the memory. It is night. Her mother is dead. And Heart has found the worst station imaginable.

[C]

Do you think K9000 should have a scary bark? Or should it speak English? Is that weird?

[A]

I'm going up stairs. I can't think straight.

[C]

What do you want to think about?

[B]

She doesn't answer because saying it aloud is too hard.

[C]

Whatever, sailor. Oh, but don't forget. K9000 needs an actuator. Let me know if you see one.

[B]

Jewel climbs the creaking ladder to the hatch door in the ceiling and emerges in a dark den. She flips the switch.

[A]

Nothing. H. There's got to be a lamp around.

[B]

She peers into the dimness. Then she spots a circular silhouette. Like a black hole. A flash. And that is when she sees it.

[A]

Whoa. What is that?

[B]

Tall, round. A metallic sheen of not one color, but many. Copper, nickel, silver, bronze. She steps closer and the thing comes to life. Red lights flicker on. The object is twice her height. A globe on four steel legs. Like a lunar lander or a diving bell. There is a heavy vault like door and a single porthole window from which more light shines. Rods sticking out the from. From the body begin to twirl. Copper coils spark. Ribbons of steam curl into the air.

[A]

What. What are you?

[B]

It is ugly, as if it climbed out of a junkyard. The legs are uneven, the coils lurch and stutter. The spherical shell is a patchwork of metals. Its purpose is far from obviously, but it is a device of some sort. An instrument, a vessel, a mechanism. What's the word?

[A]

A machine.

[B]

The door opens, folding down like a gangway, and the machine vomits.

[A]

Ew. Smells like fish guts.

[B]

Reeking fluid floods out of the open water and slimy green ropes of seaweed. And yes, it is fish.

[A]

Gus. Gross.

[B]

The machine quakes. She opens her mouth to call Harp, but her brother's name dies on her lips because something else catches her eye. Inside the machine, on the cabin floor,

[A]

Mom's pocket watch,

[B]

the one Dr. Green kept with her always the gold watch chain, is caught in the grating at the back of the cabin. Jules steps to the threshold, driven by curiosity.

[A]

This is crazy. I should call Hart. I should.

[B]

Her mind narrows. The sound of the storm slips away. The machine too shakes in silence. All she hears is the blood pumping through her body and her heart ticking like a clock. This is where you come in. Jewel faces a choice, and you must help her decide. Should she run to get her brother, or should she step into the machine right now, alone, to find her brother? Select Chapter two, Get Heart to step inside. Select Chapter three Into the Machine. That's right, you will not listen to this story in numerical order. To make your choice, go to chapter two, Get Heart or Chapter three into the Machine. Choose wisely. This is the Midnight Rebellion.

[A]

To keep the story going, search for the Midnight Rebellion in your podcast app and follow the show.

[C]

The whole series is out now.

[A]

Up next, select Chapter two, Get Hard, or Chapter three into the Machine.

[B]

That's in our feed the Midnight Rebellion.

[C]

See you there.