Anthologies are notoriously hard to review. Assuming there’s no overarching story connecting them all, does one review all the episodes? A sample of them? If a sample, who decides what’s seen and what’s omitted? Questions like these can shape perception of an anthology series, more so in audio one — and much more in a series with over 100 episodes. The “Untold Tales” podcast seemingly has stories for everyone.

For this review, I asked the show runners (Dr. Jeffrey A. Robinson and Melissa Del Toro Schaffner) which stories they’d like reviewed. What I got was a mix of their more popular to personal favorites. This review will be a blend of those suggestions, plus my own choices when scrolling through their podcast feed, and seeing something that catches my eye. There are quite a few multi-part story episodes taken from longer works like novels. I’m limiting myself to just one of these to help speed things up during the listening phase of the review process. If you have a favorite story not listed below, leave a comment and smash that like button to let me know if I should listen to more than these four stories. </youtube-joke.exe>

1. Timepiece (Episode 2)
2. The Gift of Memory (Episode 35)
3. Reversing Gravity (Episode 74)
4. A Turn in the Road (Parts 1-3; Episodes 3-5)

Timepiece (Ep 2 of Untold Tales)

This story probably would have worked much even better in a visual format. Still, some parts are better than others. There are collections of these stories on Amazon Kindle. Volume one includes Timepiece. The descriptions of how the time travel watch works as the story unfolds is an example of the audio working against the story. The narration in particular, which made me eyes glaze over from trying to make sense of everything, was difficult to parse.

The ending, while a nice bookend to the opening, didn’t have the emotional impact I typically experience during funeral scenes. That being, an emotional wreck. Seriously, throw in a scene of a funeral and I will cry. At least in movies, this is case.

There is a prequel in episode 71 of the “Untold Tales” podcast for those who want to know what Paul (the husband) actually thought and did with the watch before his death. I’m sure have loved timepiece and have listened to it’s prequel before or after the anthologies second episode

The Gift of Memory (Ep 35)

The story starts off as a more scientific take on “Memento.” Both use the real world condition of anterograde amnesia to explain both Leonard and Margaret’s inability to create new memories. While the neo noir movie from the early 2000s hardly touches on the medical diagnosis, “The Gift of Memory” leans in to the science. Both the more quantifiable science of medicine, and the social science of psychology.

The science behind the fictional drug meant to help people with severe memory problems is made believable with the usual easy to understand jargon of neuroscience. It’s not a cure for dementia or Alzheimers, but the treatment eventually works a little too well. The idea that the ability to remember distant memories is a gift happens to also be a curse. As one of the many people all over the world suffering from depression, sometimes the worst thing to do is recall bad moments of our past and focus on them. Humans tend to focus on the negative rather than the positive. One negative thought can overshadow many positive ones.

The one thing I didn’t like was the justification for forgetting difficult memories as being good. In some instances, it’s probably for the best. People with PTSD comes to mind. Roughly just six percent of adults in the United States’ have PTSD, according to the US Department of Veteran Affairs. That number is probably less because it counts people who did have PTSD, but no longer do. For the over 94 percent of adults who don’t have it, burying it inside and not talking about it isn’t exactly a healthy way to help people overcome the disorder. And this applies not just to PTSD.

Reversing Gravity (Untold Tales 74)

Time travel seems to be a common element of these science fiction stories. Some go hard sci-fi to the point of the exposition sounding implausible both technically speaking and just from hearing it. This story, written by guest writer Howard Loring, lies somewhere in between stories like a later episode called “Alternities’ in terms of how understandable their exposition is to most people.

With “Reversing Gravity,” the exposition isn’t science jargon and lingo that hardly anyone would understand outside of that field. Instead, it uses metaphor and simple examples to illustrate the science behind certain scientific theories. The first half of this story is a misdirect. You think it’s about this character named Max, but he never shows up and is, I think, is in college? Frankly, the reason for the misdirect works only because what happens once the character of Bertie shows up to dinner and mentions a theory of physics that’s outdated in present day. Making this a historical setting and the identity of Bertie becoming more than a little obvious. At least for those who have a passing knowledge of physics or a history of science, including biographies.

Loring’s subtle use of the omniscient point of view combined with the narrator’s delivery of the words gives an almost Tolkien vibe. The prose isn’t in the style of the Hobbit’s POV — where we are told the story after the fact in a way that is reminiscent of a children’s tale. Lines like “He didn’t know it at the time, but …” aren’t at the forefront, but the impact of that type of prose certainly is.

A Turn in the Road

A three-part story from “Untold Tales” that feels bloated and honestly forgettable, “A Turn in the Road” takes the idea of knowing outcomes of potential futures to a quaint and homely end. Out of the stories reviewed above, this one is more of a relationship story than a time travel one. “A Turn in the Road” is an example of a split-focus story. The emotional resonance comes from the two lovers. Problem is, the story spends the bulk of its time on the philosophical ramifications. Whatever way you slice it, it’s disjointed and suffers because of it.

The second part seems there only to connect the first and second and it could’ve been done in less time—thus making the need for a middle section obsolete. Of course, that’s me trying to fix a story rather than critique it. I could go on with other episodes I listened to, but didn’t write about. An honorable mention is “Tesla’s Time.” A story, I think, about the origin of film in an alternate timeline where Nikola Tesla’s inventions became something more. While I can’t confirm this is the case, I can say that I enjoyed it more than “A Turn in the Road.” That’s the issue with anthologies. Some are bangers. Others less so, but the short format makes them easy to digest (most of the time).

8/10 Stars