“The Coffin Maker” by AnaMaria Curtis

It's Storytime with Wil Wheaton
Episode Date: December 17, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode of "It's Storytime with Wil Wheaton," Wil narrates AnaMaria Curtis’s acclaimed science fiction story, “The Coffin Maker.” The tale unfolds aboard the Guiding Light, a research vessel from a doomed Earth desperately seeking a habitable new planet. At its heart is Stephanie, a quietly haunted outfitter tasked with preparing planetary suits for the few remaining surveyors risking their lives on a potentially lethal planet. As the mission unravels, the crew faces loss, survivor’s guilt, and impossible choices—each suffused with the hope, despair, and complexity of humanity’s final chance.

Wheaton’s narration mirrors the story’s somber but tender tone, emphasizing the personal costs of collective tragedy and the small, stubborn flickers of hope amid relentless failure.

Key Discussion Points & Story Breakdown

1. Wil’s Opening Reflection & Story Introduction

• Wil Wheaton contextualizes the story (02:06):
  • Opens with his personal frustration over climate inaction and how speculative fiction can force us to confront possible consequences.
  • Prepares listeners for an emotionally charged journey:

    “Catastrophic climate change is scary. It's real, and it's dangerously close to inevitable... one of the ways we can inspire people... is through fiction.” (Wil Wheaton, 02:11)

  • Introduces the setting: a desperate mission to find a new world, already marked by loss and dwindling hope.

2. Setting: The Ship and Its Burdens

• Life aboard the Guiding Light:
  • The ship orbits the planet Terrida Bay, years into a mission that has already seen failure and death.
  • Stephanie, the protagonist, stands with the dwindling crew, watching the three surveyors (Mikhail, Lorena, and Ariadne) tracked as blinking dots on a screen, knowing that each mission risks another heartbreak.
  • Atmosphere: Heavy with survivor’s guilt and dread, underscored by routine turned hollow as old friends are lost.

3. Stephanie: Outfitter and Survivor

• Internal struggles and lost friends (starts ~03:50):
  • Stephanie meticulously checks dwindling supplies, haunted by memories of Yael and Shruti—friends and mentors lost to a previous mission’s catastrophe.
  • The ship’s technical decline is paralleled by Stephanie’s emotional disarray; her self-doubt and guilt are constant companions.
  • She must cannibalize old suits for parts, knowing she can only attempt to save one with certainty.
  • Quote:

    “She would have to cut outlines out of these layers, fit them to the surveyors, sew them into their coffins.” (~32:20)

4. The Surveyors’ Descent and Tragedy

• Mikhail’s death (~16:46–21:00):

  • The first hint of fatal trouble: the temperature in Mikhail's suit drops ominously.
  • His suit ultimately fails, leading to his lonely death, broadcast silently to the ship.
  • Stephanie is tormented by the thought that suit failure may be her fault.

• Lorena’s death (35:00):

  • As Lorena collects water samples, a moment of routine becomes fatal:

    “Oh shit,” she utters, and then her stats ‘go crazy’ as she slips and is lost.

  • The only sound left is “waves lapping at the microphone inside the suit.”
  • This moment is described with chilling precision, leaving the crew in stunned, isolated grief.

5. Ariadne: The Last Spark

• Bond between Stephanie and Ariadne:
  • Stephanie channels her limited resources into making Ariadne’s suit as perfect as possible, driven by a complicated attachment and hope.
  • A tender, vulnerable fitting scene:

    “What would you do, outfitter, if you had two weeks left?” – Ariadne
    “I think you would look at me … until your time was up.” (~36:55)

  • Ariadne confides, in a whisper:

    “I want to live.” (~38:25)

6. Aftermath and Survival

• Ice Storm and Isolation (~43:00–46:00):

  • An ice storm cuts off all communication with Ariadne as the crew waits in agony.
  • Stephanie reflects on her raw loneliness and the need to reclaim her identity beyond grief and failure.

• Contact Restored and Hope Reignited (47:40):

  • After a harrowing silence, Ariadne’s faint voice returns—she’s alive.
  • The mess hall erupts with tearful celebration:

    “Permission to prepare the lander for return.” – Ariadne
    “Permission granted.”

  • The relief and connection among the survivors is palpable, and Stephanie prepares to welcome Ariadne home in the most literal way—by cutting her out of the suit she had made, “like a coffin, like a lifeline.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Wil Wheaton on the function of fiction in climate catastrophe (02:11):

  “One of the ways we can inspire people to [face climate change] is through fiction that shows us what our future might look like if we stay on our current course.”

• Stephanie’s haunted reflection on survivor’s guilt (multiple times throughout):

  “She would have to cut outlines out of these layers, fit them to the surveyors, sew them into their coffins.” (~32:20)

• The devastating moment of Lorena’s death (35:00):

  “Oh shit,” [Lorena’s last words] and “a faint crackling comes over the speakers… the sound of the water, of waves lapping at the microphone inside the suit.”

• Ariadne’s vulnerable hope (~38:25):

  “I want to live.” – Ariadne

  • “When I saw you were the outfitter, it was the first moment of hope I had.”

• Final hard-won exhale of hope (47:40):

  “Permission to prepare the lander for return.”
  The entire crew cheers, embracing joy and relief after unrelenting loss.

Important Timestamps

• 02:06: Wil’s introduction, the climate change connection, and the story setup
• 16:46: First major mission update and Mikhail’s fate
• 35:00: Lorena’s death—tension, then sudden loss
• 38:25: Ariadne and Stephanie’s vulnerable exchange during suit fitting
• 47:40: Contact restored with Ariadne; communal catharsis and return
• 51:00: Wil’s closing thoughts, credits, and story context

Tone, Language, and Style

• Tone: Somber, reflective, tender; occasionally bitter or resigned, but with persistent undercurrents of hope.
• Language: Precise, emotionally resonant, attentive to small details—both technical and personal.
• Wil Wheaton’s narration: Intimate but unflinching, narrating both the external action and emotional interiority, blending empathy with a persistent sense of warning about humanity’s choices.

Summary Takeaway

“The Coffin Maker” offers a poignant glimpse into the human consequences of environmental crisis and the cruel arithmetic of survival. Through Stephanie’s struggle to save what she can, the story becomes a meditation on grief, hope, and the impossible choices made in the shadow of collective failure. Wil Wheaton’s performance deepens these themes, carrying listeners through sorrow, guilt, and hard-won joy—with a final reminder that hope, though battered, is not quite extinguished.

For more by AnaMaria Curtis, visit annamariacurtis.com.