On the Pacific Crest Trail, everyone gets a trail name - and a chance to become someone new. But if everyone around you is pretending, how do you really know who you're walking into the wilderness with? And what's to stop someone from vanishing completely?Check out Monarch's live performance of a brand-new murder mystery episode, featuring Boise storytelling legends Austin Von Johnson, Jessica Holmes, Jamie Logan, Mason Dodson, Halaia Barnett and Justin Paulson. Written and directed (live!) by Laura Munsil.Monarch is a 13-episode supernatural narrative fiction podcast set in the world of long-distance backpacking. Learn more at monarchcast.com.
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Episode Thirteen: New Mexico Part II
Monarch’s journey ends. Not with a bang, but with breakfast at a hermitage.
STARRING:
Laura Munsil as Monarch
Michael Hart as Max
Tate McCullough as Doug the Hermit
Chance Owen as Freeman
Joshua Malloy as Uribe
SOUND DESIGN & THEME BY:
Nile Popchock
FEATURING AN ORIGINAL COMPOSITION BY:
Nile Popchock
LEARN MORE:
Website: monarchcast.com
Instagram: monarchpodcast
TikTok: monarchpodcast
YouTube: monarchpodcast
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Episode Twelve: New Mexico Part I
Monarch thaws out in the Gila River Wilderness in New Mexico.
The serenity of the Gila lulls her into quiet reflection, until she notices she’s being followed.
Everything echoes in a canyon.
STARRING:
Laura Munsil as Monarch
Austin Von Johnson as Jules
Chelsea Smith as Anna
James Logan as Sharpshooter
Michael Hart as Max
SOUND DESIGN & THEME BY:
Nile Popchock
LEARN MORE:
Website: monarchcast.com
Instagram: monarchpodcast
TikTok: monarchpodcast
YouTube: monarchpodcast
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Episode Eleven: Now Darkness Falls
In the San Juan Mountains, Monarch finds shelter in a yurt.
She sees a pika, hears a wolf, and sings with a chorus of cows.
Will it ever stop snowing?
SOUND DESIGN & THEME BY:
Nile Popchock
LEARN MORE:
Website: monarchcast.com
Instagram: monarchpodcast
TikTok: monarchpodcast
YouTube: monarchpodcast
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Episode Ten: Salida
Monarch hikes through Rocky Mountain National Park, and notices that winter has arrived - early.
A small-town waitress makes sure everyone knows who’s boss, and a run-in at an outhouse leaves Monarch feeling uneasy.
In Salida, Monarch thinks about exits.
STARRING:
Laura Munsil as Monarch
Christian Prior as Stone
Katie Preston as Minnie
Jessica Holmes as Sheila
Halaia Barnett as Jess
Austin Von Johnson as Jules
SOUND DESIGN & THEME BY:
Nile Popchock
LEARN MORE:
Website: monarchcast.com
Instagram: monarchpodcast
TikTok: monarchpodcast
YouTube: monarchpodcast
When Hallie Halprin - trail name Monarch - sets off to hike the Continental Divide Trail, she’s doggedly determined to go alone. While the people who know her best express concern, Monarch is unfazed. She has a plan to interview people for an audio project about supernatural encounters, a catalogue of campfire stories (no reason! she’s just interested!).
The perils Monarch encounters on her five-month journey, real and imagined, mirror her complicated, optimistic, and doomed attempt to use adventure as a way to be reborn.
Website: monarchcast.com
YouTube/Instagram/TikTok: @monarchpodcast
Netherlands