
The first episode of an award-winning comedy we know you'll enjoy.
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Narrator
Have you ever dreamed of disappearing and starting over? What if there was a company that could provide such a service? That's the premise of the comedy podcast the Amelia Project, a show about a secret agency that will help you fake your own death. In each episode, you hear a new client being interviewed about the issues that brought them to Amelia. And those problems are, in turn, funny, thought provoking and downright weird. The sound design is so immersive, you'll believe you're right there at the Amelia Project office, eavesdropping on their plans to help someone die and start over. It's a unique premise, and the show tackles philosophical questions and impossible dilemmas with a light, funny touch that made us laugh out loud. It's a series with an overarching plot. We recommend you start with episode one and you'll soon be hooked on these funny, strange and mysterious stories. You can find the Amelia Project wherever you listen to podcasts. Here's episode one.
Answerphone/Automated Message
Congratulations, you've reached the Amelia Project. This phone call isn't happening. If you're not serious about this, hang up now. If you continue, there's no way back. Good choice. A new life awaits. You'll hear back from us within the hour. If you don't hear back, please consider the whole thing a hoax. Leave your message after the beep. How quickly can this be done? I don't have much time. I leave Planet Earth tonight. I'm being launched to Anthodon in 10 hours. I can't get out of it. My followers won't let me. I need help. I need you to intervene. My name is Zael Indigo Ravenheart, Founder and Archpriest of the Apostles of Eden. Get back to me, please. Quick. Help.
Narrator/Producer Commentary
The amelia project by philip thorne and eystein braga. With music and sound design by frederik baden. Episode 1 zale indigo ravenheart
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
interesting. Hello. Come in.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Could you draw the curtains? It's just.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Certainly nobody.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Nobody is allowed to know I'm here. Those two Italian guys in the lobby, are they trustworthy?
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Joey and Salvatore.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
They don't look trustworthy.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Those boys are hard as biscotti. But don't worry, they're working for you. We're all working for you. Amelia is at your service.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
What I want is probably impossible.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Without faith, nothing is possible. With it, nothing is impossible.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Faith.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Relax. Make yourself comfortable. Grab a chair.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
What?
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Relax. Grab a chair.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
There is no chair.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Of course there is.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
No, there isn't.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
You have no faith now.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Faith's got nothing to do with it.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
I'm telling you, there is a Chair? You're choosing not to believe me?
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Look, this has nothing to do with what I believe in or not, okay? I can see with my own eyes. Or rather, I. I can't. I can't see. You see, that's the point. I can't see the chair because it's not there. The chair, it doesn't exist. Fact.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Pity. It's a very comfy chair.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Prove it to me.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
What?
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Approve. There's a chair. Gone. Gone. Sit down in it. You can't. You have no evidence.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
You're really strange, you know that?
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
What was your name again?
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Zale Indigo Ravenheart.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Call it even. I looked you up on the Google before you came in. Zale Indigo Ravenheart. Hmm. This was the first hit. What am I looking at?
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
It's the countdown. Days, hours, minutes, seconds.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
A countdown to your death.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
To my departure from Earth.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
8 hours, 20 minutes, 35 seconds.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Yeah. Does that give us enough time?
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Well, that rather depends on the complexity of the task and the funds you have at your disposal. How do you intend to leave planet
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Earth in a canon?
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
You're kidding.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
I wish I was laughing.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
And this was your idea?
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
It's the only way to get to Antithon.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Antithon?
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
It's a long story and we don't have time.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
There's always time for a story. At Emilia, we connect stories. Ah. If these walls could talk.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
But they can't, can they?
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
I'm sorry, did you just ask me if our walls can talk?
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
I mean, this isn't being recorded or anything, is it?
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
No. I'm interested in how someone decides he wants to be fired into space from a cannon, goes out of his way to publicize the exact time and date, attracts huge attention, then realizes 8 hours, 20 minutes and 35 seconds beforehand that maybe it's not such a bright idea after all. Can I guess? You've lost your faith. Whatever this Antithon is, you no longer believe in it.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Yeah, it's not that simple.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Okay. What is Antithon?
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
You may find it hard to believe.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
I expect nothing less.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
It requires a leap of imagination.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
You're sure you won't take a seat?
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
There is no. What is that?
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
I believe that is a chair.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Where did it come from?
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Do you believe this is a chair?
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
It doesn't.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Sit down and tell me about Antithon.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Would you mind turning that down? It's stressing me.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Sit down. Tell me about Antithon.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
For every aspect of life, there's an opposite, right? Fire and water, light and dark.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Life and death.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
A thing can only exist by having an opposite. Something to compare it to. I mean, how would we know what good is if there was no evil?
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
I agree with that.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Everything exists in pairs. Earth is no exception. Earth has an opposite.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
And that's Antithon?
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Yes. Earth and Antithon are on opposite sides of the Sun. They circle the sun at 180 degrees from 1 another.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Like twins.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
That's right. That's right. Their identical distance from the sun means Earth and Antithon have the same exact conditions. Same atmospheric pressure, temperature, gravity.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
And presumably, life.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Precisely.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Wow. I think this calls for a cup of cocoa. Salvatore, two Cocos, please.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Each one of us has a counterpart on Antithon.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
What proof do you have for the existence of Antithon?
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Everything has an opposite. The universe needs balance. Antithon revealed itself to me in a vision.
Answerphone/Automated Message
Ah,
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
so you haven't actually seen it.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Well, how could I? The sun blocks it from view. It's perfectly hidden, even from the most powerful telescopes.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
So it's a matter of faith. Ah, Salvatore Grazimil. Oh, my good, isn't it? I have it specially shipped from Les du Magot. Chalky, Chalky, Chalky, Chalky. Okay, let's say for the sake of argument that Antithon exists after all, without evidence of its absence, who am I to disprove it? Let's say it really is a second Earth. Why are you and your followers so hell bent on getting there? Why, yes, haven't we established it would be exactly like Earth? It would just be more of the same.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Antithon is our counter planet, not just geographically. Everything there is inverse. Every decision you make on Earth is played out twice on Earth. And on Antithon, your counterpart always does the exact opposite.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
So going to Antithon means you can turn your life around, Go down the roads you chose to ignore.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Wouldn't you like to know what would have happened if you made different choices? If you'd studied art instead of physics, Gone to Africa instead of America. If you'd taken up that job offer in Paris. If you'd just kissed that girl. That's what tonight is all about. When I founded the Apostles of Antathon two years ago, I started the online timer to give myself a deadline. It was always my intention to be the first person to get to Antithon.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
To meet your counterpart, to switch places
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
with him or her. What?
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Look, it's a nice story, and you tell it passionately. I can see how you've attracted such a following. But tell me, did you actually ever Believe this stuff yourself? Or was it just a way to get famous and make money?
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
I still believe in it.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
No, you don't.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
I do.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
I don't believe you.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
That's your choice.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
You're messing with me. The reason you're here is you don't want to get into that canon. Right? You want us to fake your death.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Can it be done? Do we have enough time?
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Well, frankly, you've put yourself in a very difficult position. You have 8 hours, 14 minutes and 6 seconds left.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Shit. Shit.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
We might be able to help. There's nothing we like more at Amelia than a challenge. But given how little time you've got and the danger you've put yourself into, haven't you considered, you know, just legging it?
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Where would I go? They'd find me.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Your followers.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
My apostles. They've poured their heart and soul into
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
this and their money.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Yeah, that. That too.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
What do you think they do?
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Well, I'm supposed to lead the way. Sure, it can be done. If I chicken out, they'll think it was a scam, that they'll feel betrayed. They'll want revenge. I have no choice. I have to get in that cannon. I don't want to be shot to
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Antithon because it doesn't exist.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Because my life would be a nightmare there. When I founded the Apostles of Antithon, my life, it was a mess. Two divorces, an estranged son trying to wean myself off a cocaine addiction. I'd hit rock bottom. That's when Antathon revealed itself to me. All those things I could have done differently. I envied my counterpart on Antithon so much, it drove me crazy. Then I realized I was the chosen one. Antithon had chosen to reveal itself to me. My destiny was to be the pioneer who leads the way there.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
So you founded Apostles of Antithon and set the timer?
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Yes. And it was a hit. I mean, I couldn't keep up with all the emails. Had to hire a secretary.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Who wrote to you?
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Well, at first it was, you know, people like me. Victims of bad decisions that had led to dead ends. Then the media got interested. He thought I was batshit crazy, but I was good for ratings. My name started trending on Twitter. Courtney Love wore an Anti thon T shirt to the Emmys. Lady Gaga mentioned me in a song. Marilyn Manson became a follower. They wanted to do a documentary on me. But production could have only started next month after I'd already been launched to Antathon.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Well, that's a bummer.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
I did a lot of Interviews, though.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
How did it feel to get so much attention?
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Like I was living someone else's life. Taxis, talk shows, restaurants, hotels. Gym membership. A new flat.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
You've been living the high life, which is the problem. Life in the fast lane. Not all it's cracked up to be, huh?
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Oh, no, no, no.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
It's.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
It's fantastic. My life is wonderful. Which means I no longer want to switch with my counterpart. His life must be hell. Please help me. I can't go to Antathon. Hmm.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Time to put metaphysics behind us. I think the only thing that'll get you out of that cannon alive is physics.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Whatever it takes.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Have you brought the tech specs for the cannon? Excellent. What length is the barrel?
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
24ft.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Your weight?
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
126 pounds.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Height?
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
5ft. 8.11 inches.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Location for the launch?
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Edgeworth Common.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
I'll have to check that on a map.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Everything all right?
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Computers, Pesky things. Still getting used to. Got it. Edgeworth Common. Blackbull Pub. Cricket Ground. Waio Reservoir. Blackburn Woods.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Hmm.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
8 hours, 10 minutes and 1 second. That means the launch takes place at
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
11:30pm we're going to have to control
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
your flight and limit the distance you'll be launched. We'll use gunpowder to make a flash and a bang, but only a small amount and not in the chamber. In place of gunpowder, we'll use a tank of compressed air. Once it's burst, it'll provide the propulsion. I suggest we let Salvatore operate the cannon. He's experienced with firearms and nobody will dare get near him.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Uh huh.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
126 pounds. 5 foot, 8.11 inches. That means the square of your velocity exiting the barrel is equal to the square of your velocity at the base of the barrel plus twice the distance you travel along the barrel, multiplied by your acceleration with a final estimated velocity of 66 miles per hour and an initial velocity of 0 meters per second. And taking into account the length of the barrel, which is 7.32 meters, your acceleration comes to 59.6 meters per second squared. If we raise the barrel 39 degrees, you'll reach an altitude of 23 meters and cover a distance of 59.05 meters. That will get you safely over Blackburn woods and allow you to land in Waio Reservoir. You're a good swimmer.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Good would be stretching it.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Okay, but you can swim. Joey will be out there in a dinghy, but it might take a while to find you. We can't pinpoint your landing to the spot. We'll provide you with a whistle. That should make it easier.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
And my followers will believe I'm gone.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
By the time their eyes have adjusted from the flash, you'll be far from sight. It's the middle of the night, remember? It'll be pitch black. Oh, that reminds me. We'd better give Joey a good searchlight. Now, have you given some thought to your reincarnation?
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
What?
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Your new life. How and where would you like to come back?
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
I don't know.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Once our surgeons are done with you, you'll barely be recognizable. Even so, you don't want to risk being found out. So I suggest you go somewhere far away.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
That sounds good.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
You want to go somewhere, you can continue living it up. Otherwise, what's the point? Right?
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Right.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Macedonia.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Macedonia.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Very cheap. Your savings would take you a long way there. You'll be able to live comfortably for a few months until you've found your feet and can set up something new.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Where is Macedonia?
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
There's just one problem.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
What's that?
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Amelia is not a charity. Our services come at a cost.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Of course.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Amelia is expensive. We're the best in the business.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Okay.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
So after you've paid us, you'll be too broke even for Macedonia. That would mean starting from scratch, a life of poverty. And that's exactly what you want to escape from. So that would be kind of ironic, wouldn't it?
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Yeah.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
So you're in a bit of a bind.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Yes.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Luckily, I have a solution. Yes? Has it struck you that there's a certain overlap between Amelia and Antithon? People are attracted to Antiethon because of the idea of starting afresh at Amelia. That's what we offer. We help people who've reached a dead end to transition from this life to another.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
I suppose.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
You said you have some high profile followers, musicians and celebrities.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
That's true. You'd be surprised.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
I want the names of everyone who's contacted you. I want access to their emails. I want all the information you've got on your fans and followers at Amelia. We are always looking to get our number into the hands of interesting and influential people. Give me your network and your disappearance is on the house.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Well, I guess I. Hang on a minute.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
What?
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
How do I know you'll do what you say? You might just blow me to pieces. Who would know?
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Hmm.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Okay. Prove that you won't do that.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
I can't.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
So how can I be sure?
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
You can't. You need faith.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Faith?
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Eight hours, five minutes and eight seconds. You know, you can torture yourself with doubt, or you can start looking forward to your new life in Macedonia. Do you like champagne?
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Sorry?
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
I hear the champagne in the Balkans is intolerable. Better have a glass now before you leave. What do you say?
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
I could do with a drink.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Excellent. Salvatore, bring us a bottle of our finest Veuve Clicquot, please. You're making the right choice. Trust me. Ah, lovely. Salvatore, would you mind opening it? You know what happened last time. Zale. Indigo Ravenheart Congratulations. A New Life AWAI.
Narrator/Producer Commentary
The Amelia Project is produced by Imploding Fictions in association with Open House Theater.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Alan Bergen as we interview.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Welcome.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Could you draw the curtains? It's just. Certainly nobody's allowed to know I'm here. I don't have much time. What I want is probably impossible.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Without faith, nothing is possible. With it, nothing is impossible.
Interviewer/Agent at Amelia Project
Faith.
Zale Indigo Ravenheart (Client)
Relax. Make yourself comfortable. Grab a chair.
Narrator/Producer Commentary
The Amelia Project was produced neither by Imploding Fictions nor Open House Theatre, Vienna. It didn't feature Alan Bergen as the interviewer, nor did it feature Dave Moskin as Zale. You didn't hear Julia Morizawa on the answerphone. It was neither written nor edited by Philip Thorne and wasn't directed by Philip Thorne or Eystein Braga. Music and sound design not by Frederik Baden? No. Graphic design by Anders Pedersen and Julia C. Thorne did not help with production coordination. This episode wasn't recorded at Torgiva Studios and Gabriel Geber had nothing to do with it.
Podcast: Trap Street
Hosts: Tony Martinez & Michael P. Greco
Date: May 29, 2026
In this special episode of Trap Street, the hosts introduce listeners to The Amelia Project, a darkly comic fiction podcast about a clandestine agency that helps people disappear and start new lives by faking their deaths. The episode features the first episode of The Amelia Project, showcasing its unique blend of absurdist humor, existential musings, captivating sound design, and intricate character work. The core narrative follows Zael Indigo Ravenheart, a charismatic cult leader on a deadline to be shot into space, desperately seeking an escape from his own myth.
On faith and reality:
"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence." (Interviewer, 04:28)
On the lure of alternate lives:
"Wouldn't you like to know what would have happened if you made different choices?... That's what tonight is all about." (Zale Indigo Ravenheart, 09:30)
On the irony of reinvention:
"After you've paid us, you'll be too broke even for Macedonia. That would mean starting from scratch, a life of poverty. And that's exactly what you want to escape from. So that would be kind of ironic, wouldn't it?" (Interviewer, 16:27)
On belief and risk:
"You know, you can torture yourself with doubt, or you can start looking forward to your new life in Macedonia." (Interviewer, 17:47)
The episode sparkles with absurdist wit, philosophical banter, and a tone blending levity with existential questioning. The sound design, whimsical yet immersive, anchors the tongue-in-cheek treatment of themes like belief, reinvention, and the search for meaning through manufactured myth.
For newcomers, this episode serves as both an introduction to the innovative fiction stylings of The Amelia Project and a thematic exploration of the human desire for escape, reinvention, and faith in the unseen. Through the increasingly ridiculous yet touching case of Zale Indigo Ravenheart, the show probes how people can create, believe in, and ultimately escape their own stories—if they can afford the price.