I don’t need much excuse to do a bonus episode, and when I received an email this morning announcing that the Portal had surpassed 10,000 plays I immediately set to work on this bonus episode.
Ten thousand plays in 7 ½ months seems to me like something to celebrate. And, in this bonus episode the Portal goes back to its roots. Season 1, episode 1 was titled Welcome to Ankh-Morpork, and we spend a good deal of this bonus episode exploring the Disc’s greatest city more fully, in part by a walking tour described for us in the Compleat Ankh-Morpork City Guide.
I also want to share the news that the Portal has picked up its fourth patron via Patreon. Bjornar has joined Bethany, Luke and Tony in the ranks of those who have put their money where their ears are, so to speak. Thanks again (and again!) to the four of you. Although s/he didn’t say so explicitly, I would guess by the name that s/he is probably Norwegian. Since I had a message from Sebastian, a new listener in Germany this morning as well, both sides of my ethnic heritage have been heard from in less than 24 hours.
Speaking of Patreon, I’ve added a new level of membership. Perhaps you’d like to support the show, but are a poor UU student, lance constable in the Watch, or cabbage farmer on the Sto Plains. If so, I hope you’ll consider subscribing as a patron at the $1 a month level. Every little bit helps, and you will receive value for your dollar above and beyond the regular episodes of the show. I will send you a personal thank you message. And I do mean personal. No cut-and-paste nonsense here. Each listener is unique, and so is each thank-you message I send out. In addition, members of the Canting Crew (that is, subscribers at a dollar a month) will also have a 10% chance each month of accessing one of the Patreon-only audio episodes. I’m not feeling constrained to stick to a twenty-minute timeframe on these, and I’m being guided by patron feedback in terms of subject matter, so these are good value for your money, if I do say so myself. https://www.patreon.com/user?u=21210045 will get you to the show's Patreon page. Alternatively, just go to Patreon.com and search for us.
Also, remember that the Portal is on Discord now. Friends of the Discworld Portal, to be exact. We now have an expanded server with quite a few different discussion and other channels. Membership is free and anonymous, so click here if you want to get involved. https://discord.gg/K9s6BSW If the link doesn’t work just go to discord.com and search for us.
I have a nascent presence on Reddit in the discworld subreddit as Portal_Steward. More to come there.
Finally, thanks to Luke and other listeners who are doing their best to spread the word about the Portal via social media. It must be working. Season 4 episode 1 had 231 plays in the first 48 hours—almost twice the previous record.
These are some long show notes, but I had a lot of things I wanted to get out to you. Remember you can read the Portal blog at https://mindkindle.net/gnomic-musings-the-discworld-portal-blog/ and you can reach me via email at randy@mindkindle.net. As ever, no turtles or cats were harmed in the making of this episode.
Footnote: The episode’s title is meant to be an homage to Thief of Time as well as a rather tortured pun. Myra LeJean in Thief of Time becomes Myra L’Auditrice here. The name could be rendered Legion of Auditors—Legion meaning, classically, ten thousand of something, and Auditors, remember, can mean listeners as well as accountants.