Escape Pod 1024: “Some Things I Should Probably Have Mentioned Earlier (LIVE)”

Podcast: Escape Pod by Escape Artists Foundation
Air Date: December 18, 2025
Story by: Laura Perlman
Host: Alastair
Special Segment by: Summer Fletcher
Recording: Live at Worldcon 2018

Episode Overview

This milestone episode closes a year-long retrospective celebrating Escape Pod’s 20 years. Presented as a Flashback Friday, it features Laura Perlman’s darkly comic and subversive science fiction story “Some Things I Should Probably Have Mentioned Earlier” performed live at Worldcon. The episode also includes Summer Fletcher’s reflections on community and authenticity, and a heartfelt commentary by the host, Alastair, who gives “20 reasons” why the story—and Escape Pod—endures.

Key Segments & Discussion Points

1. Introduction & Context

• [00:31] Alastair introduces the story, noting its significance as the final major “big number” highlight of the year and Laura Perlman’s credentials as both a speculative fiction writer and Escape Pod’s future Cat’s Cast editor.
• The episode is framed as a celebration of Escape Pod’s history, connections, and impact on science fiction storytelling and podcasting.

2. Main Story: “Some Things I Should Probably Have Mentioned Earlier”

[01:27] Laura Perlman (Live Reading)

Synopsis

• The story is presented as a confessional “Dear Kevin” letter from Lyssa, an alien who has been living undercover in human form, to her now-estranged human husband.
• The letter details Lyssa’s deep discomfort at their vacation cabin (the sights, sounds, and rituals of nature are deeply alien), and admits to keeping her true identity secret since the start of their relationship.
• Lyssa outlines the elaborate measures taken by her species to blend in on Earth, the difficulty of mimicking “arbitrary” human food preferences, the importance of cover stories, and the weight of maintaining their masquerade.
• A turning point arrives with Lyssa’s unexpected pregnancy—an interspecies feat made possible by her expert mimicry. She confesses she had hoped Kevin was also undercover, but genetic analysis confirms his humanity.
• The story becomes darker as Lyssa reveals the mounting familial and cultural pressures (including her family’s hostility towards Kevin and preference for raising the child apart from him), the strain of secrets, and ultimately, Kevin’s fate: he will be killed and consumed as their child’s first solid meal—a macabre yet oddly loving tradition.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On the alienating sounds of nature:

  “The sound of crickets at night makes my skin crawl. They sound like impending doom, like a critical piece of equipment being worn down by friction, or a thousand tiny voices hoarse from screaming, reduced to a raspy warning chant in some ancient language.”
  — Laura Perlman as Lyssa [01:46]

• On blending in:

  “We spoke human languages, ate human food, and molded ourselves into closer and closer approximations of human shapes.”
  — Laura Perlman as Lyssa [03:45]

• Alien horror-comedy, the pregnancy reveal:

  “I'm sure you understand why we can't let you go. I know the basement can get a little chilly, but you shouldn't be there much longer...you will nourish her. Tonight, when her teeth have completely hardened, you'll have the honor of being her first solid meal.”
  — Laura Perlman as Lyssa [12:49]

Timestamps

• 01:27 – 13:13: Entire story delivered in one continuous letter

3. Summer Fletcher’s Reflection on Community & Authenticity

[13:13] Summer Fletcher

Summary

• Summer draws a direct connection between the story’s themes of pretending, belonging, and authenticity, and the real dynamics of sci-fi fandom communities (particularly at conventions like Worldcon).
• She observes that everyone—even among “their people”—still masks and mimics to fit in, just as Lyssa did. These social adaptations both help and hinder true connection.
• The challenge: drop the mimicry, embrace difference, and create a space where “our people” can include “your people”—thus expanding what community means.

Notable Moment

• On the limits of mimicry and the value of honesty:

  “Either in subtle ways like Strellurian stem cells matching just enough to make a half human baby, or in performative ways like putting a false horn on a real unicorn to make them see the Unicorn. A lot of us are a little awkward, and these mimics keep the social machine running smoothly. But if something’s wrong, that same protective shell becomes the barrier.”
  — Summer Fletcher [14:33]

• The aspirational call:

  “The more we share the vast range of our experiences, the greater our possibilities become. So if you're here today at this con, or not listening now, or years from now, and you're thinking about what you should have said, maybe it's not too late to show up as you are.”
  — Summer Fletcher [15:56]

Timestamps

• 13:13 – 16:26: Summer Fletcher’s segment

4. Alastair’s “20 Reasons” That Celebrate Story and Community

[16:26] Alastair

Highlights

• Alastair gives a heartfelt, sometimes humorous list of 20 reasons he loves Perlman’s story and what it represents for Escape Pod, ranging from structural brilliance (“a Dear John letter with a sci-fi twist”) to its careful balance of horror and humor (“the teeth!”), and the significance of live readings.
• He reminisces about the Worldcon event where it was recorded, sharing behind-the-scenes moments involving community, resistance against bigotry, and the bonds fandom creates.
• The importance of community hosts, especially Summer Fletcher and the Escape Artists family, are emphasized as “vital” but “difficult” work that “gets done because we keep trying.”
• The final reason restates Summer’s point: the value of showing up as yourself, wherever and whenever you are.

Notable Quotes

• On the story’s genre subversion:

  “This starts as what is called in the UK a Dear John letter...that element of it is as carefully tempered as the rest, and it's never played for laughs, which somehow makes it both funnier and darker.”
  — Alastair [16:32]

• On the ad-free, donation-driven podcast model:

  “We are a twenty-year-old impossibility, a company powered by donations who give their work away for free but pay their artists for their time. That...makes it very easy to forget how cool this job is sometimes. This reminded me.”
  — Alastair [18:32]

• The episode’s key message:

  “The more we share the vast range of our experiences, the greater our possibilities become. So if you're here today at this con, or not listening now, or years from now, and you're thinking about what you should have said, maybe it's not too late to show up as you are.”
  — Summer Fletcher, quoted by Alastair [19:30]

Timestamps

• 16:26 – 20:44: Alastair’s 20 reasons, reflection, and conclusion

Memorable Moments & Quotes

• Alien food faux pas as insight into identity:

  “I brought out the saltiest fruit. We had a jar of olives. Oops. I seem to mess up a lot during meals with your family.”
  — Lyssa [05:07]

• Stralurian family dynamics, both alien and recognizably human:

  “Three of them wanted to kill you outright; the others just wanted me to leave you...I refused to go along. I was sure our love was strong enough to withstand this challenge. Half of all marriages end in divorce, and I was determined that ours wouldn't be one of them.”
  — Lyssa [09:11]

• Satirical horror climax:

  "You will nourish her. Tonight, when her teeth have completely hardened, you'll have the honor of being her first solid meal. All well, some of my love, Lyssa.”
  — Lyssa [12:56]

Thematic Takeaways

• The Price of Pretending: Both story and commentary tie the dangers of relentless mimicry—whether for survival, belonging, or love—to the loss of authentic connection and big, often dark consequences.
• Fandom as Found Family: The podcast weaves fiction and community, celebrating how sci-fi spaces simultaneously demand and resist “otherness,” ultimately striving to be inclusive (if imperfectly).
• What We Don’t Say Matters: A recurrent call encourages listeners to “show up as you are” and to risk being honest—because integrating our hidden selves lets community and possibility flourish.

Conclusion

“Some Things I Should Probably Have Mentioned Earlier (LIVE)” is both a hilarious and harrowing meditation on identity, belonging, and honesty—and a microcosm of the Escape Pod mission itself: telling stories that merge the wildest fantastical elements with the rawest truths of being human (or alien). The episode celebrates both the journey of one podcast and the complex, flawed, but ultimately hopeful communities that grow up around stories—urging all to show up, share, and escape together.