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Ars Paradoxica

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Ars Paradoxica
Presentation
GenreScience Fiction, Time Travel
Created byMischa Stanton
Daniel Manning
Written byMischa Stanton
Daniel Manning
Eli Barraza
Julian Mundy
Danielle Shemaiah
Tau Zaman[1]
LanguageEnglish
UpdatesCompleted
Length30–55 minutes
Production
Opening theme"Redshift (Theme for ars Paradoxica)" by Mischa Stanton
Ending theme"Electric River (acoustic)" by Eno Freedman-Brodmann
No. of episodes36
Publication
Original releaseJune 1, 2015 –
June 6, 2018
Related
Websitearsparadoxica.com

Ars Paradoxica (stylized as ars PARADOXICA) is a science fiction podcast created by Mischa Stanton and Daniel Manning.[2] In-universe audio recordings tell the story of Dr. Sally Grissom, a scientist from the present day that accidentally invents time travel and is sent back to the USS Eldridge in 1943.[3] The series was originally aired from June 2015 to June 2018.[4]

Ars Paradoxica's production was funded in part by their Patreon, which garnered them around $800 a month as of 2017. The show has also received several awards, including best writing, best engineering, best new show, and best show overall from Audio Verse.[5]

Summary

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Synopsis

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Modern-day scientist Dr. Sally Grissom accidentally sends herself back to 1943, finding herself aboard the USS Eldridge during the Philadelphia Experiment. She is recruited by the United States government to continue developing this new time travel technology under a secret branch of the government called the Office of Developed Anomalous Resources (ODAR), with the goal of using this technology to help the United States win World War II and the Cold War.[2][3] Grissom and her colleagues find themselves entrenched in politics and interpersonal struggles as they work to repair and improve their time travel device, the Timepiece, and avoid changing too much of the past.[6][7]

After the end of World War II, the government continues to fund their work as new obstacles arise. They discover that time travel causes an illness called Butterfly Syndrome, which causes brain damage that makes individuals constantly switch tenses while speaking. A cure is eventually discovered—raising children backwards through time makes them immune to Butterfly Syndrome—but the cost is steep.[8]

Cast and characters

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  • Kristen DiMercurio as Dr. Sally Grissom, a theoretical physicist and the fictional granddaughter of astronaut Gus Grissom. She is aromantic and asexual.[9]
  • Reyn Beeler as Chet Whickman, the first person Grissom met upon arriving in 1943 and an officer in the U.S. Navy.
  • Katie Speed as Esther Roberts, an ambitious woman that started out as a calculator.
  • Zach Ehrlich as Jack Wyatt, Esther Roberts' lab partner.
  • Robin Gabrielli as Anthony Partridge, a former high school math teacher that now runs ODAR's Predictive Mechanics division after discovering how to reliably predict the future.
  • Susanna Kavee as Helen Partridge, a singer and wife of Anthony Partridge.
  • Rob Slotnick as Director Bill Donovan, a character based on William "Wild Bill" Donovan, former director of the OSS.
  • Dan Anderson as Hank Cornish
  • Arjun Gupta as Dr. Nikhil Sharma, an ODAR agent from the future that Grissom encounters in Philadelphia.[10]
  • Lia Peros as Petra
  • L. Jeffrey Moore as Lou Gaines
  • Preston Allen as Bridget Chambers, ex-lover of Esther Roberts.
  • Lee Satterwhite as Quentin Barlowe/Ben Quigley
  • Hannah Trobaugh as June Barlowe
  • Charlotte Mary Wen as Penny Wise
  • Bernardo Cubría as Mateo Morales
  • Richard Malmos as Agent Ray Vico
  • Richard Penner as Dr. Fitzgerald
  • Lauren Shippen as Maggie Elbourne
  • Tina Huang as Tonya LeMartine
  • Sammi Lappin as Miriam Roberts
  • Ego Mikitas as Adler[11]

Awards and nominations

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Audio Verse Awards
Year Award Recipient Status Ref.
2016 Best Audio Engineering of an Original, Ongoing, Long Form Production Mischa Stanton for ars PARADOXICA Won [12]
Best Writing of an Original, Long Form, Large Cast, Ongoing Production Daniel Manning, Mischa Stanton, Julian Mundy, Tau Zaman, Danielle Shemaiah Pointer and Eli Barraza for ars PARADOXICA Won
Best Original, Long Form, Large Cast, Ongoing, Dramatic Production ars PARADOXICA Won
Best New Original, Long Form, Large Cast, Ongoing Production ars PARADOXICA Won
Best Performance of an Actress in an Original Leading Role for a Long Form Production Kristen DiMercurio as Sally Grissom in ars PARADOXICA Finalist [13]
2017 Best Audio Engineering for an Ongoing, Dramatic, Production Mischa Stanton for ars PARADOXICA Won [14]
The Webby Awards
Year Award Recipient Status Ref.
2017 Best Sound Design/ Original Music Score 2017 ars PARADOXICA Nominated [15]

References

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  1. ^ "A (Written) Oral History of "ars PARADOXICA"". Wil Williams Writes. December 13, 2019. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Thang, Patricia (May 4, 2017). "3 More Fiction Podcasts to Satisfy Your Love of Stories". BOOK RIOT. Retrieved November 23, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Mitchell, Brandon (October 12, 2018). ""ARS Paradoxica": A Podcast Review". Niner Times. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
  4. ^ "About". ars PARADOXICA. Retrieved November 21, 2024.[non-primary source needed]
  5. ^ "ars PARADOXICA – Searching for Meaning in a Universe that Aggressively Lacks One". Vassar College. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
  6. ^ "ars PARADOXICA". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved November 21, 2024.[non-primary source needed]
  7. ^ Zutter, Natalie (May 8, 2020). "10 Long-Running SFF/Horror Fiction Podcasts". Reactor. Retrieved November 23, 2024.
  8. ^ "A (Written) Oral History of "ars PARADOXICA"". Wil Williams Writes. December 13, 2019. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  9. ^ "ars PARADOXICA is the Time Travel Podcast You Didn't Know You Wanted". Discover the Best Podcasts | Discover Pods. May 9, 2018. Retrieved November 23, 2024.
  10. ^ "Let's Go Back to ars PARADOXICA: "14: Anchor"". Wil Williams Writes. April 12, 2019. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  11. ^ "Cast". ars PARADOXICA. Retrieved November 21, 2024.[non-primary source needed]
  12. ^ "2016 Winners – The Audio Verse Awards". December 28, 2016. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
  13. ^ "2016 List of Finalists – The Audio Verse Awards". November 20, 2016. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
  14. ^ "2017 Winners – The Audio Verse Awards". December 19, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
  15. ^ "Nominee: ars Paradoxica". Webby Awards. Retrieved November 21, 2024.