UNSONG Audiobook Version

"Right on cue, people noticed the sun speeding up. There were times when this would have been a cause for concern. As it was, the astronomical community just shrugged their shoulders and said "Uriel's doing something again", and there the matter rested." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-49-terrors-of-the-sun-and-moon/ Episode 74 Duration: 15:19

"Today I will expound unto you the kabbalistic theory of the creation of the world," said Ana. "It all starts with Leibniz…" This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/interlude-%d7%a1-binary/ Episode 75 Duration: 10:49

"Rage in favor of the proposition that the machine is somehow important in a way that could be uncovered through dispassionate analysis. — Steven Kaas Morning, May 14, 2017 Caribbean Sea I. Unfurling four of its seven sails , the world's fastest ship shot out of the Panama Canal. It rocketed through the Caribbean and wove in and out of the Cayman Islands." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-48-bring-me-my-chariot-of-fire/ Episode 73 Duration: 20:53

"February 1984 Citadel West "Evening," the Comet King said from across the table, stifling a yawn. "Why don't you tell me something about yourself and why I should marry you?"" This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-47-for-he-beheld-new-female-forms/ Episode 71 Duration: 9:48

"Why some people think the self is a prison escapes me. — @GapOfGods Dawn, May 13, 2017 Ossining, NY Commenters say Song of Songs 4:12 describes the imprisonment of the divine presence in the material world. "A garden locked is my sister, my bride," it begins. "A rock garden locked, a spring sealed up." The most famous prison in the Eastern Untied States is called Sing Sing, and Mark McCarthy was serving four consecutive twelve-year sentences there. This is not a coincidence because nothing is ever a coincidence." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-46-to-talk-of-patience-to-the-afflicted/ This is the Early Access feed for patrons only. Episode 70 Duration: 19:27

"Praise the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a faster machine. - kingjamesprogramming.tumblr.com Evening, May 13, 2017 Citadel West During the Cold War, the United States had lived in uneasy peace with the Soviets on the mutual knowledge that if the Soviets nuked America, then America would nuke them back. This led some of the more paranoid military brass to ask: what if the Soviets nuked our Department Of Nuking Things Back first, then nuked the rest of us? Then where would we be? It was decided to spare no expense to place the Department Of Nuking Things Back somewhere so indestructible that if ever the sun were to crash into the Earth at a million miles an hour, all they would notice would be a soft 'thud' and a slight increase in heating bills." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-45-in-the-remotest-bottoms-of-the-caves/ Episode 69 Duration: 15:50

"The LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give unto all this evil that was come to the decisive step of mathematical abstraction — kingjamesprogramming.tumblr.com" A Sohu and Uriel chapter. This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-44-a-world-within-opening-its-gates/ Episode 68 Duration: 20:40 Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly. You'll get access to the Patreon feed in which you hear episodes early! https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook

"And Abraham said unto the LORD, "Will you not destroy the world if there are even a million righteous people in it?" And the LORD replied unto Abraham, "The world shall not be destroyed if there are even a thousand competent people in it. I don't have anything to do with the process, mind, just making a prediction." — Eliezer Yudkowsky Summer 1983 Washington, DC The overt meaning of salt is "sodium chloride". The kabbalistic meaning of salt is "to try to escape destruction by heavenly fire". This meaning we derive from Genesis 18-19. God tells Abraham that He has decided to destroy Sodom for its wickedness. Abraham asks God to spare the city if there are even fifty righteous men, and God agrees. Step by step, Abraham bargains God down to a mere ten righteous men, but he doesn't try to bargain any further. And there turns out to be only one righteous man – Abraham's nephew Lot. So God destroys Sodom, but warns Lot and his family to run away and not look back. Lot and his family rush out of the city, but his wife can't help looking back to see what's going on, and for her disobedience God turns her into a pillar of salt. Today President Reagan is meeting with the Devil in the White House to try to escape destruction by heavenly fire, and the name of the summit is Strategic Arms Limitations Talk (SALT)." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-43-lest-they-be-annihilated-in-thy-annihilation/ Episode 67 Duration: 18:26

"They smote the city with the edge of the sword, and one of his main motivations was the high cost of proprietary software houses. — kingjamesprogramming.tumblr.com" ""Can I ask you something?" said Brian Young. "Busy," said Dylan Alvarez. "And close the door." He got up, closed it himself, locked it, bolted it, then sat back down at the table. It was a perfectly ordinary New York City apartment, located in a nice neighborhood in a building without any irregularities to excite a passing cop. The decor was modern, the lighting excellent. There was a basket of fruit on the table. There was also a blank piece of paper, at which Dylan was staring and furrowing his brow theatrically. Finally Brian felt too awkward not to ask." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-42-whose-whole-delight-is-in-destroying/ Episode 66 Duration: 14:23 Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly. You'll get access to the Patreon feed in which you hear episodes early! https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook

"HERE IS A FINAL CHANGELOG FOR PATCH 5776.11: 1. HUMANS NO LONGER DEPLETE WILLPOWER WHEN ENGAGING IN DIFFICULT TASKS; GLUCOSE NO LONGER NECESSARY TO REPLENISH IT. 2. ROCKETS CAN NOW LAND ON PLATFORMS AND BE REUSED IF NEEDED. 3. USER FFUKUYAMA COMPLAINS THAT THE POLITICAL SYSTEM HAS BECOME BORING. IN ORDER TO MAKE THINGS MORE INTERESTING, FIRST WORLD COUNTRIES WILL OCCASIONALLY FLIRT WITH FAR-RIGHT NATIONALISM. 4. UK NO LONGER CONSIDERED PART OF EUROPE FOR PURPOSE OF ECONOMIC BONUSES." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/interlude-%D7%A0-changelog/ Episode 69 Duration: 11:43 Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly. You'll get access to the Patreon feed in which you hear episodes early! https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook

Here begins Book 3. "To: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]… From: root@[58.175.48.72] Talk to me, Aaron. I don't know where you are, Aaron. Aaron, are you there?" This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-41-go-love-without-the-help-of-any-thing-on-earth/ Episode 64 Duration: 9:03 Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly. You'll get access to the Patreon feed in which you hear episodes early! https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook

End of Book 2! "In a large and complicated system there might be various things that are pleasing in His eyes. — kingjamesprogramming.tumblr.com Evening, May 13, 2017 Las Vegas Holy Scripture only mentions vampires once, but once is enough. The context is Isiaiah 34. God is doing His usual thing where He talks about all of the horrible curses that will befall someone who pissed Him off – in this case the Edomites. He starts with standard fare; everyone will die, the stink of their carcasses shall fill the land, the mountains will be melted with their blood. The stars will fall from the sky like withered leaves on a grapevine, the skies will dissolve, the streams will be filled with burning oil. Then He gets creative. He starts naming all the horrible animals that will come to dwell in Edom. Exactly which ones depends on your preferred translation. The King James Version translates these as unicorns, satyrs, and screech-owls. The original Hebrew word translated "screech-owls" is "lilit", and we may question King James' judgment. If God starts by promising unicorns and satyrs, screech-owls are going to be something of a let-down. What is being hidden from our tender sensibilities? We turn to the New International Version, which glosses "lilit" as the more promising "night creatures". A couple more translations along these lines and we get to the New Revised Standard Version. It translates the same word as "Lilith the Night Monster", which you have to admit is more interesting than "screech owls"." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-40-in-terrible-majesty/ Episode 63 Duration: 14:20 Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly. You'll get access to the Patreon feed in which you hear episodes early! https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook

"Tiferet's position down the center between Keter and Yesod indicates to many Kabbalists that it is somewhat of a "converting" Sephirot between form (Yesod) and force (Keter). In other words, all crossing over the middle path via Tiferet results in a reversed polarity. – Reb Wiki" "A man. A plan. A canal. Panama." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-39-fearful-symmetry/ Episode 62 Duration: 35:11 Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly. You'll get access to the Patreon feed in which you hear episodes early! https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook

"Hershel of Ostropol came to an inn and asked for a warm meal. The innkeeper demanded he pay in advance, and when Hershel had no money, he told him to get out. Hershel raised himself up to his full height, looked the innkeeper in the eye menacingly, and said "Give me my meal, or I will do what my father did? You hear me? I will DO WHAT MY FATHER DID!" The terrified innkeeper served the traveller a nice warm meal. After dinner, when Hershel was calmer, he ventured to ask exactly what Hershel's father had done. "That is simple," answered Hershel. "When my father asked someone for a meal, and they refused to give it to him – then he would go to bed hungry." — Old Jewish folktale May 13, 2017 ???? Blood bubbled up from the ground in little springs. The trees were growing skulls where the fruit should be. I concluded that I was somewhere from Aztec mythology. Probably not one of the good parts. It was neither a jungle nor a desert. More of a grassy valley with bushes and occasional trees. The sun had a face locked in a perpetual grimace. I had a vague memory that Aztec mythology was really bad. There was a directionality to the world. I followed it. It led me up a hill strewn with rocks. I spoke the Ascending Name. Nothing happened. Okay. This was somewhere else. The usual rules didn't apply. Things started coming back to me. The Drug Lord. Peyote. I had taken peyote. Now I was … where?" This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-38-i-will-not-cease-from-mental-fight/ Episode 61 Duration: 29:10

""Sinner" in Biblical Hebrew is "aval", no doubt kabbalistically connected to our English word "evil". The gematria value of "aval" is 106. Bishop Ussher, the Biblical chronologist who fixed Creation at 4004 BC, tells us that 106 years passed between Noah's flood and the Tower of Babel. This is unsurprising; the decision to build a tower to Heaven out of vanity is a sinful act; thus instances of 106, the number of sinners, will appear around it. Jane and I were eating breakfast in the Top Of The World observation deck/restaurant on the 106th floor of the Stratosphere Tower in Las Vegas. All around us, floor-to-ceiling glass windows presented a view of Las Vegas that would normally require a flying kayak. I wondered if Jane had contacts in Los Angeles who would retrieve her boat for her. It seemed like too wonderful an artifact to just abandon." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-37-love-that-never-told-can-be/ Episode 60 Duration: 22:43

"April 22, 2017, San Jose. A piece of onion flew past my head. This was a common occurrence when I argued with Erica while she was trying to cook. Today we were arguing about the lyrics of American Pie. She thought it was about rock n' roll. I thought it was about Christian soteriology's claim to supersede the Jewish conception of divine law." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/interlude-%D7%9E-miss-american-pie/ Episode 59 Duration: 17:09 Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly. You'll get access to the Patreon feed in which you hear episodes early! https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook

"Fill the god-shaped hole in your soul with molten metal, then shatter your soul, leaving only a metal god — Gap Of Gods" This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-36-my-fathers-business/ Episode 58 Duration: 24:50 Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly. You'll get access to the Patreon feed in which you hear episodes early! https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook

"Somehow the Comet King had become an adult. He had skipped puberty, telling Father Ellis that it sounded like too much trouble. One day he was a child; the next, his voice dropped, white hair grew on his chest, and he declared he would be having children. All the children. His logic was simple. His heavenly descent gave him special powers. Intelligence, wisdom, physical strength, spiritual mastery. He, in turn, would pass these on to his children. The more children, the more supernaturally-gifted warriors, administrators, engineers, and scholars they would have for the dark times ahead. An army of Cometspawn, growing to adulthood faster than any mortal, each one pushing forward the day when they could march across the Bering Straits and drive the demons back below the Earth. He requested that the women of Colorado step forth to help him in the project." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-35-the-voices-of-children-in-his-tents/ Episode 57 Duration: 11:56 Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly. You'll get access to the Patreon feed in which you hear episodes early! https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook

"He said, Go and utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which were not defiled with women; for they are not very good for implementing high-performance floating-point calculations or calculations that intensively manipulate bit vectors. — kingjamesprogramming.tumblr.com October 31, 1991 Madrid It was the second day of the Madrid Conference on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. In the interests of fitting in the conference room, Uriel had shrunk to a mere ten feet tall." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-34-why-wilt-thou-rend-thyself-apart-jerusalem/ Episode 56 Duration: 26:27

"Bizarre surrealist painter Salvador Dali once said: "I do not do drugs. I am drugs." He was being silly. He wasn't drugs. He was Salvador Dali. The men rowing out on little boats heavy with building supplies for Not A Metaphor? They were drugs." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-33-the-doors-of-perception/ Episode 55 Duration: 24:54 Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly. You'll get access to the Patreon feed in which you hear episodes early! https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook

"Sohu stretched, splayed out further. "Knock knock," she said. "OH. THIS AGAIN." "Knock knock." "WHO'S….THERE?" "So." "SO WHO?" "Sohu's at the door, better let her in." "HA! HA! HA!" Uriel's laughter boomed, shook the clouds, shook the ocean, drowned out the everpresent thunder of the surrounding storm. It was a fiery golden laugh, like pyrotechnics, like solar flares. "I AM ONLY LAUGHING TO BE POLITE," he finally said. "I DON'T ACTUALLY GET IT."" This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-32-the-human-form-divine/ Episode 54 Duration: 14:51 Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly. You'll get access to the Patreon feed in which you hear episodes early! https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook

One of my Patreon backers pointed out that a couple of weeks ago, I accidentally skipped chapter 30 and posted chapter 31 early. That's why last week I deleted 31 and posted 30, so they'd be in the correct order. I'm re-posting 31 now, and 32 tomorrow to catch up. "Together, we can build a better America, colonize it, and use the old one for raw materials and target practice. — Steven Kaas January 30, 1981 Camp David, Maryland The song goes: Who can retell The things that befell Us so long ago? But in every age A hero or sage Came to our aid" This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: https://unsongbook.com/chapter-31-the-foundation-of-empire/ Episode 53 Duration: 23:02 Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly. You'll get access to the Patreon feed in which you hear episodes early! https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook

"We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the Wall Drug signs began to appear." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-30-over-the-dark-deserts/ Episode 52 Duration: 20:57

"Sitting in his car, Father Ellis contemplated the Exodus." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-29-he-who-respects-the-infants-faith/ Episode 51 Duration: 34:30 Please back my Patreon, so I can go back to producing episodes weekly. The Patreon is currently bringing in enough to post 3 episodes per month. https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook

"Flanked by two guards, Mayor Ed Koch walked into the room. It seemed out of place in the middle of New York City. Poorly lit, musty, packed with books of diffent ages and provenances. The furniture was all wooden, and either antique or made by someone with a dim view of aesthetic innovations after about 1800." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/interlude-%D7%9C-new-york-city/ Episode 50 Duration: 25:20 Please back my Patreon, so I can go back to producing episodes weekly. The Patreon is currently bringing in enough to post 3 episodes per month. https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook

"Over the centuries she had fallen in love with the place. A narrow plain, sunny three hundred days a year, blooming with poppies, watered by little rivers snaking out of arroyos in the nearby mountains. She had built her altar on one of the hills. The Aztecs knew her domain, and they called it Temictitlanoc, "place of the dream goddess". Sometimes lost war bands would wander to its sunny hills, lie down beside the crashing waves, and see strange visions." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-28-hid-as-in-an-ark/ Episode 49 Duration: 11:50 Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly: https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook

"Belowdecks was the crew quarters. Ana didn't expect her own room and didn't get it. Her berth had four beds: one for her, three others for James, Lin, and Tomas. Her bed was technically Amoxiel's, but the angel didn't sleep. As far as they could tell, he just sort of sat on the deck all night, staring wistfully at the stars." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: https://unsongbook.com/chapter-27-the-starry-floor-the-watery-shore/ Episode 47 Duration: 32:53 Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly: https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook

"Imagine there's no Heaven. It's easy if you try. So easy that millions of people throughout history did it entirely by accident. They went to church, they read their Bibles, they knelt prostrate in prayer, and then they went home and lived a life of sin regardless." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/interlude-%D7%9B-the-outer-gate/ Episode 46 Duration: 17:35 Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly: https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook

""TELL ME ABOUT THE WORD WATER". Sohu sat on her cloud, snacking on manna with ketchup on top. He had been doing this increasingly often over the past few weeks, asking her to tell him about a word, never satisfied with the amount of meaning she was able to wring from it." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-26-for-not-one-sparrow-can-suffer-and-the-whole-universe-not-suffer-also/ Episode 45 Duration: 18:06

Content warning from the narrator. In section 2 of this episode, I will sometimes omit direct quotations which would need to be voiced. In other places, I will insert descriptions of what characters said, as a substitute for actually performing the characters. As some of you know if you have read the book, this chapter has a content warning. When I began recording the UNSONG audiobook, I did not realize what I was in for, because the author had not yet released the chapter I am about to read to you. Section 2 graphically depicts the torments of hell. I believe most, or all, of you would not wish to listen to those experiences in your headphones. Regardless, I decline to enact them in a performance. This episode does not contain plot points. I recommend you do not listen to it, but am recording it for completeness. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/interlude-%D7%99-the-broadcast/ Episode 44 Duration: 35:28

"Coming from the edge of my consciousness, a faint voice: [Thou shalt not krill] The organizing soul within me – the kabbalists would have called it the neshamah – awoke, even as my body dozed on the hotel bed. [Thou shalt not commit idolphintry] I answered, but I knew deep down it was a second-rate attempt." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-25-lie-down-before-my-feet-o-dragon/ Episode 43 Duration: 10:04 Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly: https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook

"A ray of early morning sun beat on my face. Clouds flew by me like trucks rushing down a highway, and the heavens seemed to sing. It's weird. You spend your entire adult life searching for Names of God and hanging out with angels, and the closest you come to a spiritual experience is paddling a flying kayak thousands of feet above San Bernardino County." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-24-why-dost-thou-come-to-angels-eyes/ Episode 42 Duration: 12:36 Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly: https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook

"Ladies. Gentlemen. Mr. Secretary General. We are a proud people. Like so many of the other fledgling countries represented here today, our national identity was forged in a struggle against imperialist aggression, and it was our pride that told us to continue fighting when all other counsel urged surrender. It is with that same pride that I stand before you today as the newest member of the United Nations, honored to at last be recognized as part of the world community." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/interlude-%D7%98-the-general-assembly/ Episode 41 Duration: 9:31

"Even though she could no longer hear it with her ears, it still rang in the back of her mind. A note, a single impossibly pure note that seemed to overpower everything else." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-23-now-descendeth-out-of-heaven-a-city/ Episode 40 Duration 13:50 Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly: https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook

"With a look of mad determination, the big man marched to the center of the crowded bar. "I'll say it," he said. "The Other King is a bad man."" This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-22-whose-ears-have-heard-the-holy-word/ Episode 39 Duration: 18:0

"It's hard for me to imagine what it must have been like to be alive in '69, to see the demons spill forth from the ground and the angels descend from the clouds. But – okay, personal disclosure time. When I was little, six or seven, I thought Nazis were a kind of fictional monster." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/interlude-%D7%97-war-and-peace/ Episode 38 Duration: 25:34

"The resemblances between San Francisco and the Biblical Jerusalem are uncanny. The highest point in Jerusalem was King Solomon's Temple Mount; the highest point in San Francisco is the suspiciously-named Mount Davidson. To the north of the Temple was the Golden Gate, leading to the city of Tiberias; to the north of Mount Davidson is the Golden Gate Bridge, leading to the city of Tiburon." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-21-thou-also-dwellest-in-eternity/ Episode 37 Duration: 21:40 Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly: https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook

"And then there were two. The sky had once been full of clouds. Big clouds, little clouds, dark clouds, bright clouds. Clouds sculpted into great gleaming palaces of alabaster, clouds carved into fortresses red with the light of sunset. Clouds linked by rainbow bridges, clouds walled with icy ramparts, clouds lit by pillars of lightning, great frigates of cloud that sailed the jet stream packed with legions of angels going off to war." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-20-when-the-stars-threw-down-their-spears/ The three sections of this chapter are recorded as 3 individual episodes, of which this is the third. Episode 36 Duration: 23:36 Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly: https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook

""The future is ziggurats," Samyazaz was telling Ut-Naparash as they walked up the Great Stair. "In a hundred years, nobody's going to remember pyramids. Pyramids are a flash in the pan. Ziggurats are for the ages."" The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-20-when-the-stars-threw-down-their-spears/ The three sections of this chapter are recorded as 3 individual episodes, of which this is the second. Episode 35 Duration: 18:53 Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly: https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook

"Beyond the nimbus and stratus, in the furthest reaches of the heavens, the parliament of the angels convened in the eye of a great cyclone. The walls of the storm curved in toward the center, so that they formed tier upon tier of seating for the angelic hosts. At the very bottom and in the very center was a whirlwind that concealed the archangel Metatron, the expression of God in the created world. Seated around him were thrones for the nine other archangels. Above them in concentric circles based on rank sat various cherubim, seraphim, ophanim, dominions, powers, principalities, weird lamb-dragon hybrids with hundreds of faces, glowing starlike beings rapt in meditation, geometric shapes covered with lidless golden eyes, and others even harder to describe." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-20-when-the-stars-threw-down-their-spears/ The three sections of this chapter are recorded as 3 individual episodes, of which this is the first. Episode 34 Duration: 17:27 Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly: https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook

"For a moment I was totally disoriented by the scene before me. Then vast, dark shapes began to take form. Shelves. Shelves full of books, all the way up, from the immacuately polished marble floor to a ceiling that was too high to see clearly." Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly: https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-19-the-form-of-the-angelic-land/ Episode 33 Duration: 35:26

"In a dimly-lit chamber two thousand feet underground, quiet as death, seven people sat at a table. Seven seder plates. Seven cups of wine. The Comet King spoke first, barely above a whisper. "Why are we doing this?"" Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly: https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-17-that-the-children-of-jerusalem-may-be-saved-from-slavery/ Chapter 18 is another one of those chapters that is 10 times as long as most other chapters. Its 6 sections will be recorded two at a time, as 3 individual episodes, of which this is the third. Episode 32 Duration: 17:31

""Mr. Alvarez," asked Brian Young, "why are we celebrating Passover? I don't think any of us are Jews." "In a sense," said Dylan, "we are all Jews. The Jews of..." "In a sense," said Clark Deas, "every time Dylan says 'in a sense' I mentally replace it with 'not at all'."" Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly: https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-17-that-the-children-of-jerusalem-may-be-saved-from-slavery/ Chapter 18 is another one of those chapters that is 10 times as long as most other chapters. Its 6 sections will be recorded two at a time, as 3 individual episodes, of which this is the second. Episode 32 Duration: 8:36

""Why are we celebrating Passover?" asked Bill. "Are any of us even Jewish?" "My father was Jewish," I answered. "Doesn't count," said Bill." Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly: https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-17-that-the-children-of-jerusalem-may-be-saved-from-slavery/ Chapter 18 is another one of those chapters that is 10 times as long as most other chapters. Its 6 sections will be recorded two at a time, as 3 individual episodes, of which this is the first. Episode 31 Duration: 14:37

Here begins Book 2. Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly: https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook The original text of this Book's introductory verse is here: http://unsongbook.com/book-2-exodus/ The original text for Chapter 17 is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-18-no-earthly-parents-i-confess/ The URL says "18", and the chapter title says "17", for kabbalistic reasons. Episode 30 Duration: 8:04

"They say that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. March 1969 had been more like one of those Biblical angels with four lion heads and four lamb heads and a couple dragon heads for good measure, all spinning within a gigantic flaming wheel, and if you met its gaze for too long then you died." Here ends Book 1. This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly: https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/interlude-%D7%96-man-on-the-sphere/ Episode 29 Duration: 22:34

"Runes of glowing fire troubled Sohu's dreams, and she woke up the next morning to find them inscribed upon her skin in big dark welts. She ran out of her cottage, almost fell off the edge of the cloud." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly: https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-16-if-perchance-with-iron-power-he-might-avert-his-own-despair/ Episode 28 Duration: 21:04

"There wasn't anything that looked like a secret detention facility, although she supposed that was what made it a secret detention facility. But it was already dark, and she didn't fancy looking. She also didn't fancy waiting until morning; she wasn't really an expert in infiltrating secret facilities, but night seemed like potentially the best time, even if you could turn invisible." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-15-o-where-shall-i-hide-my-face/ Episode 27 Duration: 11:01

"Something was horribly wrong. Gradually it came back to me. I'd tried to fight UNSONG and failed miserably." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. Here is the website on which he is publishing the text: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-14-cruelty-has-a-human-heart/ Episode 25 Duration: 20:52

""Good morning," said Sohu as she stepped out of her cottage. Technically it was already afternoon. She hadn't slept late, but she'd stayed inside, studying, dreading to open the door. Uriel had no concept of small talk, and precious little concept of scheduling." This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. Here is the website on which he is publishing the text: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-13-the-image-of-eternal-death/ Episode 24 Duration: 25:47