It was exactly what I needed

Looking back on this past year as things open up again, I realize how much this podcast helped me get through those first few rough months (and some months in between). It encouraged me to keep listening to shows, reading, and writing in a time when everything felt overwhelming. It was the perfect solution to feeling like you needed to connect with others. I was worried about my father who lived alone, and being able to send him these episodes and share them made all the difference to my anxiety!

Our Plague Year is such a comforting show. Listening feels like a nice hug from an old friend, a reassurance that you’re not alone. It’s incredibly well-done and I look forward to episodes each month.

I’ve been listening to this podcast from the beginning, and the journey continues to be amazing. Reflects the singular struggles of our time with courage, wit, and sincerity. I’m so grateful this exists!

I’m just really grateful that your feb 19 episode was able to make me cry because god I have needed to cry for MONTHS and I haven’t been capable and.... so.... thank you.

Thank everyone who’s been on here You guys keep up my faith in humanity :) Everyone stay safe and I love you, whether or not you’re on here or if you just listen. I thought I would just listen but I submitted and that was incredible to hear my own voice with everyone else’s, it was kind of like singing in a chorus if you know what that feels like? But seriously this is the only thing I’ve found that 100% cures my quarantine loneliness. I’m beyond grateful that there are new episodes, but especially grateful to Joseph Fink for hanging in there to get us them! Everyone keep going.

Thank you for this. It's an incredibly weird and scary time, and it somehow helps to be able to hear other people talk about. I guess it's like you say: it's a scary time, but it doesn't have to be scary alone. So thank you for making this, and a thank you to everyone who calls in too.

This show combines the thoughtful, reflective poetry-prose of an excellent professional writer with personal stories from equally thoughtful, observant listeners. it's not uplifting, but it gives a genuine feeling of commaradarie - we are all in this together.

...or whatever awards podcasts get. Honestly, this is such a beautiful and moving record of this scary and strange time, and people will value it for years to come. Thanks for making me feel less alone.

Unlike other shows about this year that I’ve found and tried, this show brings it home. Literally - it brings you stories from everyday people, going through the trials and small joys of this year just like you are. I haven’t managed to listen to an episode without tearing up yet, but considering that I can’t really cry otherwise despite feeling a need to, it’s probably for the best. Emotional catharsis in a time of great tragedy and confusion and all... can’t put a price on it. I can’t recommend this podcast more. Do be sure that you’re in a place that you can tear up - or even sob a little, I can’t judge - before cueing up an episode, but it’ll be the good kind of cry. The one where your eyes hurt a little but you feel a little lighter, like you’ve ripped a chunk of grief and terror off your soul and finally let it go.

A brilliant, commiserating and uplifting show that brings literature and art and music and and regular people together. It has helped me process what we're going through, it has helped me feel more connected and understanding of all the different ways people are experiencing this pandemic. I never thought a podcast could feel so communal. Thank you.

I needed this. I needed this more than anyone will ever truly know.

This podcast is a soft, comforting light in this crazy world. Whenever a new episode comes out, i know i’ll find comfort within the stories told, regardless of whose story is being shared.

Sincerely, thank you for this. Thank you for the stories you tell and the stories you give a chance to be told. Thank you for all the work you do and for all that you have given to us. To me.

Can podcasts get Pulitzer Prizes? Because I’m only 4 episodes in, but I’m convinced this one deserves one. Coming from the performing arts sector the first two episodes were really hard to listen to, but also so cathartic. They put what we’ve been thinking & feeling into words so eloquently, and it was so prescient. I could go on & on just about the first 4 episodes, but I’ll stop there. Bravo tutti 👏🏻

the first few episodes were really good, with the listener stories and what seemed like genuine feelings, but after a while the episodes just turned sort of bleak. i tried to keep listening, but they just started to feel more like creative writing essays as time went on, not really real. the whole premise of this podcast was supposed to be about how “this is scary, but we don’t have to be scared alone”, but it feels like it’s turned into “this is bleak and never going to end” good job otherwise Night Vale Presents

I thought this was going to be about our shared quarantine experience. Instead it was another tiresome leftist rant. Deleted

I started listening to this podcast when it first launched (at the beginning of the pandemic) but while waiting for a second episode to go up I forgot about it so now I’m catching up. It’s amazing to listen to these episodes from 3-4 months ago and see how much more accurate & relevant they are now than they were then. ❤️ The episodes are pretty short and after the first few they start including stories from listeners, and it’s amazing and comforting to hear how other people are experiencing this tumultuous time. 10 out of 10 do recommend.

Makes me sad, but the writing is so good I can’t be mad at it for making me feel this way.

I’ve only heard the first 10 minutes of episode 1 here from march And i am crying freely on a walk thank you for recording your experiences and feelings and yes exactly its so much the trauma of this hour by hour I grieve with you

It’s only been myself and my fam. I miss my friends and it’s different from when I had to go to club meetings and miss lunch with them. I wish I ate more with them. The podcast gives me the glimpse outside when the loneliness of nights drags on, so thank you!

The podcast itself was a great idea. Hearing voice from around the country and the stories as to how this pandemic has affected different people is spot on. Today’s moronic comment about defunding and abolishing (not retraining and creating better policy but abolishing) by the host was beyond dumb. Who are you going to call when the intruder enters your home? Antifa?

For years, Joseph Fink’s writing has been one of the most comforting things to me, this show is no exception. The essays by both Fink and the others featured in this podcast are all a beautiful, haunting wake-up call to what those in our communities are experiencing, yet they serve as a comforting reminder of unity in these dark times.

I was just thinking the other night as I was watching a show thinking how unrelatable it all seems anymore. And that it almost hurts to watch how casually the cast interact with each other outside their homes. Well, this show is the cure for that. And I love it.

The most beautiful thing. Thank you for the hug.

I’ve always loved the intimacy and lowering of emotional walls that occurs when a group of people gather around a fire. Stories are shared, hopes and fears and dreams and regrets are expressed openly, without judgement. This podcast feels like a campfire to me. I think it is so wonderful that we can gather as a community and share our experiences. Thank you Joseph and everyone involved for taking the time to make this possible.

This podcast is so needed, I think. At least to some people. We are going through a horrible time. But we are going through it together. Maybe not in the physical sense, a community we are. We are all in this together. This podcast reminds me of that. So I am very grateful for this.

I love this podcast!! I really like what someone else has commented saying that it’s like a therapy session! I’m telecommuting most days but I still have to go in the office on Tuesday and Thursdays, so it’s perfect days to listen! I would love to be able to submit a written statement too, I would like my story to be shared, but I’m afraid someone would recognize my voice! I wonder if anyone else feels the same! Anyway you all are awesome and thank you for the podcast! It means so much to me and I know it does to so many other!! Stay safe

Thank you for giving a voice to the fear, and one full of hope. Thank you for existing. Thank you for reminding me of life. Thank you, because you will never know how much this means. Thank you for being here. Thank you. Thank you.

It’s amazing that you've figured out how to talk about the pandemic without inciting even more fear and anxiety. Psychologists are finding that a lot of what we are experiencing during this time is akin to a trauma response. So, this is like virtual group therapy. Thank you so much.

Thank you for this. I love the rhythm of the episodes - alternating essays and voicemails. This podcast reminds me of the human capacity to (continue to) make art, and that I’m not in this alone. Stay home, stay safe, stay distanced together.

Cathartic and encouraging. Heard about this on your virtual book tour. Thank you for making stories and sharing them with us so we all feel less alone.

Thank you for this.

I appriciate everything that youve done and for continueing to make podcasts. I especially thank you and everyone that speaks on the podcast for being so wonderful and honest and strong.

Honest and real, often touching and encouraging, this is the arm around your shoulder in the face of pain. Thank you Joseph and friends. I needed this.

I have really enjoyed listening to this series. I find it comforting to hear about other people and how they are dealing with this sickness. Thanks!!

Everyone can relate and has been either indirectly or directly effected by Covid-19. This podcast takes a human-centered, grounded approach to processing this shared experience. So much news and information is being released to the point where it feels like the world can change from one hour to the next. Most of the news is on an almost intangible level, focusing on health systems, countries, and economies, and typically lacks relatable, personal perspectives. I’ve been looking to make meaning through all of this and I have felt less alone by listening to this podcast.

I’m a fan of other Nightvale Presents podcasts, Nightvale was actually the reason I started listening to podcasts at all. I wasn’t sure how much I would like this new podcast. After the first two episodes I was reluctant to keep listening bc it was depressing for me to face the realities of the current situation. I’d rather focus on my work or distract myself with fictional stories. But now that I’ve listened every episode up to April 16th (the day I’m writing this) I have started to look forward to each new episode. The stories from other listeners in voice mails have been one of my favorite features. I’ve been listening to these first person accounts of how others are facing this. It’s helped me to better understand how others in society are being affected and how I should consider that when I make the choices I will be making as this continues and after it has passed. I recommend taking time once or twice a week to listen to the new episodes and let the stories sit with you. This podcast is a great idea and also acts as a digital journal for this strange time in history and I think time will prove the importance of these recordings. Great work Joseph. We’re gonna make it through this year.

I enjoy hearing the other people’s stories about how they’re living through these strange times. It gives the listener (at least me) a sense of togetherness, a reminder that we’re all living through this together.

Joseph Fink won’t stop pontificating. The podcast just sort of rambles. This is pretty uninspired. Ughh.

You need this podcast, it balances profound happiness and meaning, which lightheartedness, and love.

Thank for the tears I shed listening to “Dark Stories”. Thank you for first good cry since this has all begun. Thank you for the deep, chest-wracking sobs so thick that I couldn’t see. I didn’t realize how much I had needed that. I was really struck by Jeffery Cranor speech about cats and their relationship with us as this all unfolds. I love the idea that "the cats know that we know about the plague.” And I felt a little bit better as I hugged my cat and cried until I felt just a little bit better. I’m so grateful for these little spoken word essays.

Of course the people who bring you Night Vale are the people who describe the pendulum swings between existential dread and endless boredom in a way that helps me feel connected instead of panicked. This show is perfect for our uncertain times. Thank you for this gift

Honestly I don’t know if I’ve ever felt more seen by a podcast. Thank you

I'm still scared and lost, I know you are too, but I don't feel so alone in it. I have been trying so hard to numb myself to the anxiety and fear and shock and misery that I have been feeling since this began (on top of all of those feelings that have already existed in me long before this began), so that I can continue going every day to my essential job that I love but that scares the absolute crap out of me right now. This podcast, like every other wtnv production, helps me feel it. I'm sobbing and shaking and still feeling really, really, really scared as I write this but I'm actually feeling it. My cat is curled up across the room, loving me on her terms but keeping a watchful eye because she knows. Thank you, as always. You all help me feel normal and help me adjust and let out what I need to feel and I still don't know many other things that help me feel quite so human in the very best possible way. Thank you.

This podcast makes me feel less alone during all this.

“There’s nothing lonelier than panic at night”. Put to words the quiet despair I’ve been keeping to myself and immediately made me feel understood. Thank you

This podcast is real. It’s scary and hopeful and curious and a reminder that one day it’ll get back to normal, a new normal maybe, but definitely a normal different from this newfound normal. I like the essays that are added. Listening to the WTNV podcast, knowing what you’re hearing are unreal updates of an unreal town, is comforting. It’s obvious it’s not real. This podcast is kind of the same in a different format. What you’re hearing are real accounts in our own real world. Scary, hopeful, curious. Can’t wait to see where this goes, but in all reality, we’ll know exactly where this podcast is headed because we’re all living in it.

I was listening to the first episode while commuting to work, because I was required to assist that day and left the security of my home. The beauty of the song by Danny Schmidt, the voice of Joseph and the messages this podcast conveyed nearly made me cry. It felt therapeutical, somehow.

Love this podcast. Extra poignant because my last night out was the Night Vale show in Portsmouth. In such troubling times I find your perspective centering and inspiring.