Cool Story and a strange admission...

I have a confession to make, I like Neanderthals. I mean, I like them. As in, I think the Geico cavemen kinda had it goin' on (though the show was pretty friggin' stupid and clearly a case of folks not understanding that funny in small doses does not mean funny in large chunks).

I don't know why I like them, but I think stories like Asimov's "The Ugly Little Boy" and L. Spraugue de Camp's "The Gnarly Man" helped plant the idea that Neanderthals are interesting. Maybe that and I have a thing for the underdog that perhaps goes a bit ga-ga nutso.

Escape Pod #198: N-words by Ted Kosmatka and read by Kim The Comic Book Goddess (there's a link to her site as part of the podcast). She does an amazing job of narrating the story, really of performing it. Listening to her, the emotions she puts forth feel real.

The story is about racism and it uses the idea of genetically engineered Neanderthal children to explore ideas about race, culture and the percepton of 'primitive'. It's also about the future of the human race. It is chilling and thought-provoking and the last few minutes made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and made me shiver.

This isn't a happy story -- unless you're a big fan of 'just desserts' type stories -- but DAMN was it good!