210 - Ten Years Later

Hey y'all, it is Jeffrey Kraner speaking to you from the year 2025.

And did you know that Welcome to Night Vale is back out on tour?

We are.

We're gonna be up in the northeast in the Boston, New York City area, going all the way over to the upper Midwest in Minnesota.

That's in July.

You kind of draw a line through there and you'll kind of see the towns we'll be hitting.

We'll also be doing Philly down to Florida in September.

And we'll be going from Austin all the way up through the middle of the country into Toronto, Canada in October.

And then we'll be doing the West Coast plus the Southwest plus Colorado in January of 2026.

You can find all of the show dates at welcome to nightvale.com/slash live.

Listen, this brand new live show is so much fun.

It is called Murder Night in Blood Forest, and it stars Cecil Baldwin, of course, Symphony Sanders, me, and live original music by Disparition, and who knows what other special guests may come along for the ride.

These tours are always so much fun, and they are for you, the Die Hard fan, and you, the Night Vale new kid alike.

So, feel comfortable bringing your family, your partner, your co-workers, your cat, whatever.

They don't got to know what a night veil is to like the show.

Tickets to all of these live shows are on sale now at welcometonightvale.com/slash live.

Don't let time slip away and miss us when we are in your town because otherwise we will all be sad.

Get your tickets to our live U.S.

plus Toronto tours right now at welcometonightveld.com/slash live.

And hey, see you soon.

Ten years ago, we were a friendly desert community where the sun was hot, the moon was beautiful, and mysterious lights passed overhead while we all pretended to sleep.

Now we're still all of those things, but we also have the new Adidas outlet at the mall.

Welcome to Night Vale.

Okay,

well,

today is the day.

Carlos is on the way to the station and he should be here very soon and I will get to present him with his surprise.

I am holding the certificate.

There isn't usually a certificate, but I insisted and printed one out myself.

There should always be something tangible to mark the really important intangibles.

You see, Carlos arrived in town 10 years ago today, and after 10 years, he is now officially part of the town of Nightvale, just as much as station management and the brownstone spire and barks on We, the crime dog.

He belongs to Nightvale, and Nightvale belongs to him, and no one can take that away.

I got him a certificate.

I couldn't find any appropriate templates, so it has a picture of a man golfing and word art that says, grats to my grad.

But I think he'll get the idea.

Okay, if you see him on his way here, please don't let him know.

Oh, he's gonna be so excited.

Looking back at these 10 years makes me think about everyone else who went through this decade-long journey with me.

Take Dana Cardinal.

Ten years ago, she was a high school senior, editor of the school paper with a strong interest in a career in journalism.

She became an intern here at this very station.

And you could say that really launched things for her.

Specifically, she was launched into the same desert otherworld where Carlos was once trapped.

And then she became mayor of Nightvale, and then she wasn't mayor anymore and will never have a mayor again, yada yada.

Now, here we are 10 years later, and Dana lives a quiet life.

She works as a therapist.

I asked her, don't you usually need a degree for that kind of thing?

And she said yes, and then changed the subject.

Mostly though, she relishes the quiet, no longer being in the public eye, no longer having me talk about her on the radio.

All the oh.

You know what?

Never mind.

Let's Let's talk about something else.

Continuing our look back at these 10 wonderful years, let's talk about lights seen in the sky above the Arby's.

Not the glowing sign of Arby's, something higher and beyond that.

Now we all understand the lights above the Arby's, except they are no longer the lights above the Arby's.

Not since Rudy Arby, owner of Arby's Discount Shoes, which the lights floated above, closed up shop and was replaced by Burger King.

Yes, Janet Burger King's sportswear and tuxedo rental sits where the Arby's once was.

But we still understand the lights.

Listeners, the future is here, and it's about 100 feet above the Burger King.

An update on our top news story.

Carlos called and said that as long as he's out, he just needs to pop into the Ralph's and pick up some stuff for dinner, which is so thoughtful of him.

And I love him taking on that responsibility.

But also, I can't wait much longer.

To be the one to get to tell the love of my life that this town is his for as long as he wants it.

To get to express that sense of belonging to one who was once unsure of his belonging.

Well, I want to do it right away.

But that is a selfish impulse.

This This day is not about me.

It's about Carlos.

And anyway, stopping at the grocery store so you'll have something to make dinner with, isn't that all just part of belonging to a town?

Isn't every life lived day to day?

And isn't every day lived moment to moment?

Isn't it?

Really.

If you know the answer, please call in.

I don't have a strong handle on how time works.

But speaking of time, it's it's time to look at time as it applies to a person.

Okay, I said time too many

times.

And this time, the word has lost all meaning to me.

Okay, so let's just look at 10 years of Steve Carlsberg.

10 years ago, I'd say things were pretty much like they are now.

Steve has always been one of my favorite people.

Our relationship has always been close and friendly.

Yeah.

Not much to say there.

Steve's a big sweetie, and I've always thought so.

Not like Susan Willman, ugh, or Honto Carr, or whatever she's calling herself now.

And now a word from our sponsors.

I took a walk on the cool sand dunes, brittle grass overgrown.

And above me in the night sky, above me I saw.

My baser instincts tell me that I am merely basic needs, but on my good nights, I am also grace and light.

My alarm clock tells me that I am not enough, but my dreams tell me there is a sprawling within me.

There is no end to what could be accomplished with eggs if we really applied ourselves.

My teeth taste like orange rinds.

My tongue tastes like cherry lipstick.

My breath smells like freshly hewn wood.

I took a walk on the sand dunes, brittle grass overgrown, and above me in the night sky, above me I saw.

This message was brought to you by Coke Zero.

It is almost as if...

We weren't.

Oh!

Oh!

The door to the producer's booth is opening.

This must be Carlos.

Hi, Carlos!

Surprise!

Oh, it's my niece Janice.

Right, right, right, right.

Oh, she's looking for ways to get some more credits at college, and she's considering interning at the station.

Janice, I told you this before.

I do not recommend that.

Why?

I, uh...

I don't know why.

It's just not for you, okay?

Have you thought about interning at City Hall?

The Hall of Public Records could probably use your advice on better security.

In any case, have you seen your uncle Carlos?

He was outside the Ralphs, caught in conversation with Telly the barber.

Well, it's nice that he has found it in his heart to forgive Telly for that vile haircut.

My own heart remains void of that particular bit of forgiveness, but I do hope Carlos hurries.

I just can't wait.

Now, get out of this radio station, Janice.

Intern literally anywhere else.

Is the abandoned missile silo outside of town taking applications?

It's a hard internship to get, but highly prestigious.

We have time for one more retrospective, and who else could it be but Tamika Flynn?

A decade ago, Tamika was 11 years old.

Can you believe that?

She hadn't yet gone through the summer reading program, hadn't yet returned with the head of a librarian, hadn't yet created her teen militia that helped save our town from Strexcorp and a smiling god.

No.

She was merely an 11-year-old who loved books and what can be done with books, like reading, collecting, and hurling at wrongdoers.

Now she is a member of city council, a responsible adult like any of us.

She still loves collecting books, but she doesn't hurl them at bad people as much anymore.

She still totally does do that.

Oh man, does she do that, but just not as much.

And what next for Tamika?

Well, she's 21.

She doesn't need to know what's next.

I don't know what's next, and I'm...

whatever age I am.

I have no idea.

Another look back.

Let's talk about the house that doesn't exist.

You might remember that this house was in the old development of Desert Creek, out back of the elementary school.

The house seemed like it existed, like it was just right there when you looked at it.

And it was between two other identical houses, so it would make more sense for it to have been than not.

But the house simply wasn't there.

Also, it served as the gateway into a desert otherworld where Carlos was stuck for a year because he wasn't from Night Vale and so the old oak door wouldn't let let him back through.

That's all basic science and it was really difficult.

But maybe it was good for us.

The time apart strengthened our relationship.

As they say, if you can do long distance, okay.

Great.

But not having to do it is better.

Of course, that will never be a problem again because now Carlos belongs to our town.

I have the certificate to prove it.

He should be here soon to pick it up.

Anyway, the house that doesn't exist got torn down by the city last year.

We're trying to address the housing crisis with more high-density buildings, and so now it is an apartment building that doesn't exist.

Like, it's just right there when you look at it, but the apartment building definitely isn't there.

This is much better for housing more people, more affordably.

Oh, also, it's still a gateway to the desert otherworld, so please be careful.

Oh, okay, okay, okay.

Carlos is here.

Okay, I'm gonna hide their certificate, and here he is.

Hi, honey.

Hey, pumpkin.

What's up?

I was just in the middle of an experiment.

Yeah, I had heated up a green-colored chemical until it was bubbling, and then I pointed this big orange laser at it.

And then I wrote a bunch of numbers on a chalkboard, so I am expecting some truly groundbreaking results.

Ooh, I'm sure.

And you will do your hometown proud.

My.

My hometown?

Of Nightvale.

Here's a certificate.

After 10 years, you are officially a member of this community.

Nightvale's weirdness is finally your weirdness.

You are threatened by and protected by this town as much as any of us.

Okay, listeners, Carlos is overcome.

He's looking at the certificate.

Oh, did you know I designed that certificate myself?

Oh,

I knew that, sweetie.

You sure love comic sans,

but uh

wow

Carlos,

Carlos, what's wrong?

Why are you crying?

I

uh okay, listeners, please hold on.

Uh, I'm gonna take you to the weather.

A weird idea, few friends, no plan.

That's where it all began.

We didn't know if anyone would hear,

but things soon got out of hand

When the numbers came in we thought they were in air

Didn't even know what Tumblr was at the time

But our new life started there

and all of you are wine.

Thanks,

extraordinary thanks.

Can't believe it happened.

Thanks

for letting us do what we do.

Thanks,

unbelievable thanks.

Here's to ten more years

of sharing the small town with you.

So we piled all of our friends into a van

Went just everywhere they'd let us go

And we never

forgot

Who's staring back from the dark in every show

Thanks

extraordinary thanks.

Can't believe it happened.

Thanks

for letting us do what we do.

Thanks,

unbelievable thanks.

Here's to ten more years

of sharing the small town with you.

I don't know what happens from here.

Every life is lived day to day.

But I know I love riding this little town for you.

And I know I'm so lucky it all turned out this way.

You chose to hit play on this podcast today.

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I am once again thinking about the series of ongoing actions that we perceive as the present and the amassing of memories that we treat as the past and the hopes and dreams and worries and fears that we project as the future.

I am thinking about time and how it's so finite and also so infinite.

but not infinite enough.

Never quite infinite enough, really.

And I am thinking about space, which is merely a concept applied by humans to all that is not human around them.

We believe our subjective to be the universe's objective, but we are mistaken.

Space is what we fill with it.

Ideas, other people.

Walls and windows, a sun, a moon, sand between our toes.

We add it up to whatever is meaningful to us.

And

I am also thinking about a town, which is just a collection of objects and people, no more meaningful than any other.

Any arrangement of objects and people could be a household or a town or a city or a state or a country or an entire world.

Arbitrary lines drawing arbitrary boundaries.

Well, and this one we call Nightvale, and it has been my home for 10 years.

When I was not able to go back through the old oak doors because I was not from Nightvale,

it hurt.

It called into question my standing among people I loved, and

so I did not hurry home.

Cecil doesn't know how long that time apart was from my perspective, and he never will.

Time is a funny thing.

It's a joke with a sad punchline.

It is nice, I suppose, this piece of paper, the idea that I belong, but I did not need a piece of paper.

I did not need to be told that I belong to this town, because this town belongs to me.

It is an artificial set of boundaries around an arbitrary collection of objects and people, and I am one of those people.

I helped set those boundaries.

I started contributing to the definition of this town the moment I set foot in it.

My son was born here, my husband too, but all of us live here.

I love my son and my husband, and I love Nightvale too.

I actually don't need any piece of paper telling me that Nightvale loves me back.

So here's to 10, 20, a lifetime more of years in this desert town.

Time both finite and infinite, but never infinite enough.

Still, I just have to say this certificate is very cute and it was very nice of Cecil to make it.

I will hang it up in my lab next to the photo of Hideka Miyazaki at his Nobel Prize ceremony.

Here's to Nightvale forever.

However long forever ends up lasting.

Okay, sorry about that.

I had to pop into the bathroom to feed the kittens and...

Oh, Carlos is gone, but he took the certificate.

Did he seem excited?

I bet he was.

So excited.

I'll listen back later.

10 years.

Not that long in the grand scheme of things, I guess, but we don't live in the grand scheme, do we?

No.

Our personal schemes are much more modest, and 10 years

is a lot to me.

Thank you all for listening, and I hope you'll keep listening.

I'll still be here, the voice of your community coming to you wherever you listen.

This all mattered to me.

Every minute of it.

I hope it mattered to you.

Stay tuned next for a woman's voice listing a bunch of names for some reason and then saying a proverb.

And from My Night Vale to yours.

Good night, Nightvale.

Good night.

Welcome to Night Vale is a production of Night Vale Presents.

It is written by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Kraner and produced by Dispirition.

The voice of Carlos is Dylan Marin.

The voice of Nightvale is Cecil Baldwin.

Original music by Dispirition.

All of it can be found at disparition.bandcamp.com.

This episode's weather was 10 years later by Joseph Fink.

Find out more at josephfink.bandcamp.com.

Comments, questions, email us at info at welcometonightvale.com or follow us on Twitter at Nightvale Radio.

Or start a weird project with a few friends and then do it for a decade and counting.

Check out welcometonightvale.com for info about our current tour of North America and our upcoming European tour and our Patreon that keeps us able to make this show.

Today's proverb.

Hey, thanks.

Hi, this is Dr.

Janet Lubell with the University of What It Is.

Karim Nazari got in touch with us and explained about your

your weird little desert town and it sounds simply fascinating.

a scientifically rich hotspot.

We're sending a team right away.

We cannot wait to figure out why every part of your town is the way it is.

We were going to find an explanation for every little thing, okay?

Don't worry.

We'll be there soon.

Hopefully, the next time we speak, it'll be in person.

Okay, bye-bye now.

Hey, y'all, it is Jeffrey Kraner speaking to you from the year 2025.

And did you know that Welcome to Night Vale is back out on tour?

We are.

We're going to to be up in the northeast in the Boston, New York City area, going all the way over to the upper Midwest in Minnesota.

That's in July.

You'll kind of draw a line through there and you'll kind of see the towns we'll be hitting.

We'll also be doing Philly down to Florida in September.

And we'll be going from Austin all the way up through the middle of the country into Toronto, Canada in October.

And then we'll be doing the West Coast plus the Southwest plus Colorado.

Colorado in January of 2026.

You can find all of the show dates at welcome to nightvale.com slash live.

Listen, this brand new live show is so much fun.

It is called Murder Night in Blood Forest, and it stars Cecil Baldwin, of course, Symphony Sanders, me, and live original music by Disparition, and who knows what other special guests may come along for the ride.

These tours are always so much fun, and they are for you, the Die Hard fan, and you, the Night Vale new kid alike.

So feel comfortable bringing your family, your partner, your co-workers, your cat, whatever.

They don't got to know what a night veil is to like the show.

Tickets to all of these live shows are on sale now at welcometonightvale.com/slash live.

Don't let time slip away and miss us when we are in your town because otherwise we will all be sad.

Get your tickets to our live U.S.

plus Toronto tours right now at welcometonightveld.com/slash live.

And hey, see you soon.