The Midnight Rebellion: Almost Midnight

Summary

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Short Wave: The Midnight Rebellion — "Almost Midnight" (Aug 8, 2026)

Hosts: Emily Kwong, Regina Barber (NPR)
Special Feature: First episode of WBUR’s "The Midnight Rebellion"

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Episode Overview

This episode of Short Wave spotlights the premiere of WBUR’s interactive sci-fi podcast, "The Midnight Rebellion." Set 100 years in the future, it invites listeners to help shape a story powered by climate change, memory, and invention. Through rich, cinematic audio storytelling, the show merges science-based fiction, immersive world-building, and audience participation—a “choose your own path” adventure with up to 82 possible outcomes.

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Key Discussion Points & Story Highlights

Introducing "The Midnight Rebellion"

• Emily Kwong introduces the episode and new podcast (00:17):
  • "It’s a pick your own path podcast set a hundred years from now in a world shaped by the choices we’re making today.”
  • Highlights the show's interactive element: listeners make choices after each chapter to decide characters’ fates (00:38).
  • “Our future isn’t written yet. And that is kind of the point.”
  • All episodes are released and the Short Wave feed presents the first, "Almost Midnight."

Setting the Scene: "Almost Midnight"

• Narrator (01:23):
  • Welcomes listeners to the story; explains interactive structure.
  • “Your decisions determine the outcome of our story. Good or bad, life or death, it’s on you. Choose wisely.” (01:36)

Meet the Characters

• Jewel Watts Green

  • 12-year-old protagonist, cautious, missing her mom, insomniac on the stormy anniversary of her mother’s death/disappearance (02:41).
  • Remembers her mom’s thunderstorm counting trick, highlighting a bond through science and small rituals (02:57).

• Heart Tree (a.k.a. Heart)

  • Jewel’s twin, bold and inventive; goads Jewel out of bed, insists on entering their late mom’s laboratory (03:49).
  • Teases Jewel with her nickname "sailor," referencing her large ears:
    • "Come on, sailor. Oh, the winds be blowing. Hang on to your sails." (04:26)
  • Playful sibling banter—Heart: "Would you say I gave you a heart attack? Eh?" (03:54)
    Jewel: "Please, never become a comedian." (03:59)

• Dr. Elizabeth Green ("Lightning Lizzy")

  • Recently deceased mom, climate scientist.
  • Reputation at school: "radical, an Earth nut, a green freak, a rebel rebel.” (06:29)
  • Students speculate she faked her own death, though the more likely truth is tragic (06:10–06:36).

Motivation & Grief

• Heart convinces Jewel to enter the forbidden lab, “to honor her” and for Heart’s own engineering experiments (05:29).
• The lab, described as full of strange gadgets, has remained untouched since the unexplained storm-accident that killed Dr. Green.

Inside the Lab: Discovery and Memory

• Sibling Dynamics:

  • Heart: “You’re just like dad, afraid of breaking the rules.” (06:57)
  • Jewel: “I break rules.” Heart: “Name one.” Jewel: “I...I don’t double knot my shoelaces sometimes.” (07:00–07:06)

• Shared memories: Jewel reflects on pressing her handprint into the walkway (08:31).

• Uncovering Mom’s Tech:

  • Heart finds Dr. Green’s cherished red radio (09:53); Jewel is overcome with emotion.
  • The radio plays local climate politics news, triggering Jewel’s memory of her mom at work (10:11–11:41).

Flashback: Jewel & Dr. Green

• Conversation about fixing a family pocket watch, climate change, and fear for the future (11:06–11:47).
  • Dr. Green: “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. …If we keep making poor choices, it'll happen again. To us.” (11:47)
  • “You are strong, Jewel. You and Heart. You are my little spark and fire. You’ll be okay. I know.”
• Scene highlights the mix of scientific doom, parental hope, and inheritance of responsibility.

The Climax: Mysterious Machine

• Jewel, haunted and restless, explores further in the lab (13:18–15:44):
  • She uncovers a bizarre, towering machine—a patchwork of metals—“twice her height...Like a lunar lander or a diving bell” (13:48).
  • On activation, the machine spews foul, fish-and-seaweed-filled water (“Ew. Smells like fish guts.” — Jewel, 15:07).
  • Inside, she spots her mother’s gold pocket watch (15:38):
    • Narrator: “The gold watch chain is caught in the grating at the back of the cabin.”

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Interactive Storytelling:

  • Narrator: "Your decisions determine the outcome of our story. Good or bad, life or death, it's on you. Choose wisely." (01:36)

• Mental Health & Grief:

  • Jewel, counting seconds in the storm, recalls her mom’s coping ritual (02:41–03:21).
  • Heart: “You can say it.” [Inviting Jewel to acknowledge their mom’s death] (05:17)
  • “You are strong, Jewel. You and Heart. You are my little spark and fire. You’ll be okay. I know.” – Dr. Green (12:30)

• Sibling Banter:

  • “I don’t double knot my shoelaces sometimes.” — Jewel (07:03)
  • “That’s not a rule. …I see your shoes every day. They’re double knotted.” — Heart (07:06)

• On Climate Change:

  • Dr. Green: “…they are the single biggest cause of climate change...If we keep making poor choices, it'll happen again. To us." (11:41)

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Key Timestamps

• 00:17-01:23 — Emily Kwong introduces "The Midnight Rebellion" and explains its interactive format.
• 01:23-02:41 — Narrator introduces the story, rules, and interactivity.
• 03:21-04:32 — Sibling dynamics and introduction of central mystery: their mother's death.
• 05:11-06:36 — Family background, lab forbidden after Dr. Green’s accident, school rumors.
• 09:53-10:11 — Heart finds Dr. Green’s red radio; Jewel’s emotional reaction.
• 11:06-12:42 — Flashback: Dr. Green with Jewel, climate warnings, pocket watch scene.
• 13:44-15:44 — Jewel discovers the enigmatic, fish-filled machine; finds her mom’s pocket watch.
• 16:00-17:07 — Interactive choice: Should Jewel fetch Heart, or enter the machine alone? Listeners choose next episode.

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Choice and Listener Agency (End of Episode: 15:59–17:04)

The story halts at a pivotal moment, placing the next move in the audience's hands:

• Stay safe: Fetch Heart and explore together (choose Chapter 2: Get Heart)
• Risk it all: Enter the mysterious machine alone (choose Chapter 3: Into the Machine)

Narrator: “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?” (16:00)

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Overall Tone, Style, & Takeaways

• Imaginative, cinematic, and science-rooted — Combining adolescent longing, STEM inspiration, climate urgency, and the thrill of adventure.
• Playful sibling banter leavens deeper themes of grief, legacy, and the daunting scale of the future.
• Interactive storytelling empowers listeners to explore multiple paths, embodying the uncertainty—and agency—of our real climate choices.

Emily Kwong (00:17):
“It is fiction rooted in science and brought to life with cinematic audio storytelling... Imagine our tech camp series, but with robots and pirates.”

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Where to Go Next

Listeners are encouraged to:

• Continue the adventure by searching for "The Midnight Rebellion" in their podcast app.
• Make their choice for Jewel’s next step by picking either Chapter 2 ("Get Heart") or Chapter 3 ("Into the Machine") in the show’s feed.

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“Choose wisely. This is The Midnight Rebellion.” (16:59)

Transcript

[Narrator]

This message comes from NPR sponsor Carvana. Carvana believes selling your car should be easy. Get a real offer down to the penny picked up from your driveway. You may keep waiting for a catch. There isn't one sell [e-mail] pickup fees may apply.

[Emily Kwong]

You're listening to Short Wave from NPR. Hey, Short Wavers, Emily Kwong here. I think you all know we can change course on climate change. The question question is just how. And that question is at the heart of a new WBUR podcast, the Midnight Rebellion. It's a pick your own path podcast set a hundred years from now in a world shaped by the choices we're making today. And what's really cool is at the end of every episode, you get to decide what happens next in the story. There are up to 82 possible outcomes because our future isn't written yet. And that is kind of the point. And I gotta say, I have never heard another podcast like this one. It is fiction rooted in science and brought to life with Cine Cinematic Audio Storytelling. Imagine our tech camp series, but with robots and pirates. We're sharing the first episode with you now. If you want to keep going, search for the Midnight Rebellion wherever you listen to this podcast and follow the show. All 26 episodes are out now. This is the Midnight Rebellion, chapter one.

[Narrator]

If you are listening to this, congratulations. You have made it to the first chapter of the Midnight Rebel. 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

[Jewel Watts Green]

the seconds 2, 3, 4.

[Narrator]

Between the blindingly bright flashes of lightning.

[Jewel Watts Green]

6.

[Narrator]

7 and the rolling booms of thunder.

[Jewel Watts Green]

9.

[Narrator]

Jules 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.

[Jewel Watts Green]

11, 12.

[Narrator]

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

[Heart Tree]

Jewel.

[Narrator]

The shadow enters her room. A flashlight flicks on and there is a grinning face. Jewel's shoulders relax.

[Jewel Watts Green]

Heart. You scared me.

[Narrator]

It is her brother. Heart Tree or Heart.

[Heart Tree]

I scared you. Would you say I gave you a heart attack? Eh?

[Jewel Watts Green]

Please, never become a comedian.

[Heart Tree]

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

[Narrator]

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.

[Heart Tree]

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

[Jewel Watts Green]

I really wish she 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.

[Heart Tree]

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

[Narrator]

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?

[Jewel Watts Green]

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

[Heart Tree]

Since mom died. You can say it.

[Jewel Watts Green]

The lab is dangerous, Heart.

[Heart Tree]

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

[Narrator]

Heart 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 Heart 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. Mr. Watts, if I was you, I'd

[Jewel Watts Green]

lock up that lab of hers and

[Narrator]

never step foot inside again. 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 life Lightning Lizzy.

[Jewel Watts Green]

My dad called her a radical, an Earth nut, a green freak, a rebel rebel, a Rebel.

[Narrator]

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.

[Heart Tree]

You're just like dad, afraid of breaking the rules.

[Jewel Watts Green]

I break rules?

[Heart Tree]

Name one.

[Jewel Watts Green]

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

[Heart Tree]

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

[Jewel Watts Green]

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

[Emily Kwong]

Ugh.

[Heart Tree]

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

[Jewel Watts Green]

You'll get yourself hurt. Fine.

[Narrator]

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, Jule 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 Heart to pick the lock.

[Jewel Watts Green]

Come on, Heart. I'm freezing.

[Narrator]

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 Heart made her do. She thought her parents would get upset, but they loved it. Jewel looks up. Heart drops a rock and slips his hand into the broken glass window to unlock the door.

[Jewel Watts Green]

Seriously?

[Heart Tree]

It was cracked already. I don't think the storm did it. Aha. Here we are. The laboratory. Now keep your eyes peeled. I need a few actuators and a light sensor and a new battery for my latest creation, the K9000. Get it? Like, can I? Because it's a dog robot.

[Narrator]

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.

[Jewel Watts Green]

Hey, be careful with that stuff.

[Narrator]

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

[Heart Tree]

Look. Mom's most advanced piece of technology.

[Narrator]

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.

[Emily Kwong]

This is 90.9, WBUR, Boston's NPR. It's 11:59.

[Narrator]

Here's the news.

[Emily Kwong]

Brutus Bright held a rally today on Boston Common.

[Heart Tree]

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

[Narrator]

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.

[Jewel Watts Green]

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

[Narrator]

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.

[Jewel Watts Green]

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

[Narrator]

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.

[Jewel Watts Green]

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 know. 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.

[Narrator]

Jewel shakes herself from the memory. It is night. Her mother is dead, and heart has found the worst station imaginable.

[Heart Tree]

Do you think K9000 should have a scary bark or shouldn't speak English? Is that weird?

[Jewel Watts Green]

I'm going upstairs. I can't think straight.

[Heart Tree]

What do you want to think about?

[Narrator]

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

[Heart Tree]

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

[Narrator]

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

[Jewel Watts Green]

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

[Narrator]

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

[Henry Ford Health Sponsor]

Whoa.

[Jewel Watts Green]

What is that?

[Narrator]

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 from the bottom begin to twirl. Copper coils spark. Ribbons of steam curl into the air.

[Jewel Watts Green]

What. What are you.

[Narrator]

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 obvious. But it is a device of some sort. Of an instrument, a vessel, a mechanism. What's the word?

[Jewel Watts Green]

A machine.

[Narrator]

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

[Heart Tree]

Ugh.

[Jewel Watts Green]

Ew. Smells like fish guts.

[Narrator]

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

[Jewel Watts Green]

Gus.

[Emily Kwong]

Gross.

[Narrator]

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

[Jewel Watts Green]

Mom's pocket watch,

[Narrator]

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

[Jewel Watts Green]

This is crazy. I should call Heart. I should.

[Narrator]

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.

[Emily Kwong]

To keep the story going, search for the Midnight Rebellion.

[Narrator]

In your podcast app and follow the show. The whole series is out now. Up next, select chapter two, Get Hard or chapter three, into the Machine. That's in our feed the Midnight Rebellion.

[Emily Kwong]

See.

[Henry Ford Health Sponsor]

Support for NPR and the following message come from Henry Ford Health. In the game of life, science is undefeated. It doesn't stand still or accept limits. It learns, adapts and evolves. That's why Henry Ford Health is working together to keep pushing medicine forward, not just following science, but advancing it every single day. Like their doctors performing Michigan's first beating heart transplant, leading to faster recovery and better patient outcomes. Or developing remote ultrasound diagnostics used by astronauts so medical expertise can travel beyond the hospital. Because the future of healthcare belongs to those who move science forward, who never stop searching and challenging what's possible. If science is where progress begins, Henry Ford is where science leads. Science for the win. Henry Ford Health we are Henry. Learn [e-mail] scienceforthewin.