Seven Reasons You Should Listen To Welcome To Night Vale

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If you saw the thumbnail for this post and went "Lanie, what the heck?" I'm not sorry. If you aren't already hailing the almighty Glow Cloud, you should be. I could have titled the post "Kill Your Doubles" but I feel like that would have been more alarming. By all this, I really mean you should be listening to Welcome to Night Vale.
I haven't done a post that's just me gushing about something in a long time, and I really feel like gushing about Night Vale right now. I'm going to do it and you can't stop me because I already wrote the post.
There might be spoilers in here but I'll try to keep them minimal. I am currently on episode 105, and obviously I can't spoil past that point.

Welcome To Night Vale is a fictional radio broadcast from a town in a slightly altered reality where, "the sun is hot, the moon is beautiful, and mysterious lights pass overhead while we all pretend to sleep."
I freaking love WTNV. It gets 10000/10 for stealing my entire heart. If it hasn't stolen yours yet, here are some reasons you should listen.

1. The writing is very well done.

It can switch from dramatic to deep to comedic in the span of a few sentences. You may have to pause the podcast to stare into space and contemplate how this seemingly random thing managed to make you think about your life so deeply. Even the things that are kind of random seem deep. I heard one intro that said "Look at it from the raindrop's point of view" and I really felt that. I'm not sure what it means, but I felt it.
Not to say that's all that WTNV is. Cecil may be a radio host, but he is very opinionated and doesn't do a great job of keeping his personal life separate from the show. This way we learn about his family, friends, and enemies.
There are a lot of things about the show that are just a little bit off, but in context you don't question them. How is a fist sized river rock the president of Night Vale Community College? I don't know, but we respect her. She is also surprisingly good at bowling.

2. It is insanely quotable.

I think it would be fun to make a quote from Welcome to Night Vale my senior quote. I'm not a senior yet, though, so I might change my mind.
Here are some fun ones:

• "The present tense of regret is indecision." 
• "I believe the children are our future. They are also our past and our present. This is how children work in linear time."
• "I like my coffee like I like my nights: dark, endless, and impossible to sleep through."
• "To claim your new member benefits, simply visit Stamps.com, and press your forehead against the radio mic in the upper-right of your screen until your entire body falls forwards into the alternate Stamps.com universe."
• "Wednesday has been cancelled due to scheduling errors."

There are proverbs at the end of every episode. This one from episode 92 spoke to me, as follows:

• "Writing rules: One, write a lot. Two, read a lot. Three, if someone tells you not to use adverbs or some other Elmore Leonard thing, swiftly kick them."

3. The character introductions are fantastic and so deserve their own section.

Like, "John Peters, you know, the farmer?" and "the Faceless Old Woman who secretly lives in your home" and "Literal five headed dragon Hiram McDaniels" really speak to me. Every time one of these characters is mentioned, they are introduced the same way. In episode 100, John Peters even introduced himself that way and Sheriff Sam replied "Yes John, we always know. You’re a farmer, we get it."
It's helpful because you don't have to remember if John was the manager of the bowling alley or a farmer. Except I think his double is a pharmacist called John Peter.

4. There are lots of diverse characters!

Cecil's niece, Janice, uses a wheelchair. Carlos the Scientist is Latino, I believe. Cecil and (former) intern Maureen are gay. Cecil is also Jewish. In episode 80, Sheriff Sam, who uses they/them pronouns, is introduced. That excited me because there aren't a lot of characters that go by they/them. (Side note: don't get into a grammar debate over this. I am also a grammar nerd but I respect our nonbinary friends.)
I don't know if angels, dragons, and a little girl whose entire body is just a hand count as diverse characters, but we have those too if that's what you want.

5. It has a happy gay storyline.

The host, Cecil, has an amazing boyfriend. I didn't go into the podcast expecting it, so it was a nice surprise. The fact that they made it very obvious and the ship is canon (!!!) brings me so much joy. Their relationship is so sweet. I love a good romance. The actors for both characters are gay, and that's also important. As far as I am there are only happy endings, but I've accidentally seen some small spoilers from the wiki and I am worried.
In episode 100 they decided to make all the shippers cry, so be prepared for that. (At least me. I cried.)

6. The advertisements are hilarious.

One of the quotes I mentioned earlier was an ad for Stamps.Com. I have no idea if they are paid to run these ads or just decide to. They usually have very little to do with the product being advertised. They're weird. If you haven't heard one before, you just have to experience it.
Also Deb, the sentient patch of haze, who does live advertisements for Jo Ann Fabrics. Why? Who knows.
This Instagram account has made some of the advertisements into graphics. I think they're pretty cool.

7. Lastly, the story is really good.

It gets intense, as any good story should. I really don't know how else to say that. There are smaller arcs, seasons I guess, of things that might seem unrelated at first turning out to be a big deal and very dangerous. Like when Steve Carlsburg told some boy to get a dog? That didn't end well.
The history of Night Vale is also amazing. I won't go into it too much, because it's better if you listen yourself. You learn that Night Vale doesn't follow time like most other places do. Travel between Night Vale and the outside world doesn't work quite right. Sometimes ghosts come through on trains that don't exist anymore.

[Edit: I completely forgot to mention the weather! It's a music segment, and I've discovered several great songs because of it. It has a mix of genres and there should be something for everyone. I'm hooked on Quiet Americans by Shearwater because of it, haha.]

Those are my feelings on Welcome To Night Vale!  You can listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and I assume there are more sources than that. I prefer Apple Podcasts because you can download the episodes for free, instead of having to pay to download them. If this post intrigued you, listen to the pilot episode and let me know what you think! If it didn't, I'm sorry. I hope you find a different podcast that is also good.
Until later,