0:00

Welcome to the country's most exclusive boarding

0:02

school, Bishop Grey, where rules mean nothing

0:04

and money means everything. Academy

0:07

is a new scripted podcast that follows

0:09

Ava Richards played by HBO's industry Myhala

0:11

Harold, a brilliant scholarship student who has

0:13

to quickly adapt to her newfound eat-or-be-eaten

0:15

world. Her ambitions take hold and her

0:18

values bend in hopes of becoming the

0:20

first scholarship student to make the list.

0:22

Bishop Grey's all coveted academic top ten

0:24

curated by the headmaster himself. Becoming

0:27

a chosen one means she's on a path to

0:29

big things. After realizing there's

0:31

no way she'll make the list on her

0:34

own, she accepts an invitation to an underground

0:36

society that promises her one of the ten

0:38

coveted spots. If she bends to

0:40

their will for her own success, she could have

0:42

everything she's ever dreamed of, but at what cost?

0:45

Ava must navigate a game of high-stakes chess

0:47

and risk throwing it all away for love.

0:50

If she makes the right moves, she could

0:52

be set for life, but one misstep could

0:54

cost her everything. Academy takes you

0:56

into the world of a cutthroat private school where

0:58

power, money, and sex collide in a game of

1:00

life and death. Prime Download

1:05

the Amazon Music app today. Birds

1:08

of Empire is presented by HelloFresh.

1:11

Use code BIRDSFREE for free

1:13

breakfast for life at hellofresh.com/birdsfree

1:15

when breakfast item per box

1:17

while subscription is active. Hello

1:21

listeners, be advised that this show

1:23

is an immersive audio experience. It

1:25

may seem like sounds are coming from the sides or

1:27

behind you. Listener discretion is

1:29

advised as this content is intended

1:31

for adult audiences only. Cue

1:34

code presents Birds of Empire season

1:37

2 created by Jason

1:39

Liu. The

1:42

veil of all souls The

1:48

people of the water were known across

1:50

the land for predicting their deaths, sensing

1:54

them approaching like a

1:56

guest about to wrap upon the door asking

1:59

for free. food, asking for shelter,

2:02

asking for water, and a

2:04

bit of your time, all

2:06

of your time. The

2:09

ancient thinkers who first grappled with

2:11

the great questions of being spoke

2:14

softly over the firelight. They

2:17

dissected the matters of the

2:19

spirit slowly. They

2:22

plunged into the pools of unknowing

2:24

and raised back up gulping for

2:26

air. The

2:29

shamans were well practiced at

2:31

drawing their words into the

2:33

fore of their mind's eye,

2:35

casting their wisdom like heavy

2:37

plumage in the air before

2:39

them. Bears

2:42

had many words for the deed

2:44

of thinking and considered it a

2:46

physical act no different from running.

2:49

One deeply twined up with

2:51

healing magic or dark poisons.

2:55

All in the great green kingdom

2:57

of their gods was animated by

2:59

some guiling force that went back

3:01

to the soil, the water,

3:04

and the roots of their souls. Death

3:07

was no exception. Whatever

3:10

do you mean? Well,

3:14

if now you picture yourself

3:17

at the end of a long life

3:20

in green palm, perhaps

3:22

I can help you better understand,

3:24

child. Perhaps

3:26

you can feel the great mother

3:29

whispering into the chambers of

3:31

your heart as it prepares

3:33

this marvelous halting. Yes,

3:37

I believe you can do this, child. I

3:39

believe very much in you. So

3:43

here you are, the

3:46

creeks of the wood bridges that

3:48

connected every place that swells in

3:50

your memory. Those creeks

3:52

now sound like a chorus

3:55

moving in time, like

3:57

the croaks of water birds. You

4:01

remember suddenly when you

4:03

were a young woman, telling

4:05

secrets to a boy who did

4:07

everything to make you laugh, hanging

4:10

a fresh carved bow around his

4:12

neck, pretending to be one of

4:15

the great creatures from a legend

4:17

that you never heard. Now

4:21

you're of middle age, the

4:23

soft hand of your lover placed

4:26

on the nape of your back, you're

4:30

four years new, telling

4:32

yourself that you must not look at the

4:34

sun as much as you wish to. Now

4:39

you're in your first war, your

4:41

age escapes you, all you hear

4:44

is sound. Now

4:47

you're watching from outside of your

4:50

body as it plays again and

4:52

again all the shapes

4:54

you ever made in life begin

4:56

folding and shivering like

4:59

a mating dance to death that

5:01

takes you by the arm and

5:03

agrees that the quiet here is

5:06

like no place else. Where

5:09

is this place like nowhere else? You

5:13

are resting in the veil of all

5:15

souls where all things

5:17

begin and end. When

5:20

you look down your palms are covered

5:22

in soil, you can

5:24

hear the rites of sunset, words

5:26

that echo the birthing rites of

5:28

sunrise. You

5:31

are suspended in the sweet sap

5:33

of time, you

5:35

dissolve into sunlight, you resolve

5:37

into moon water, you

5:39

walk upon paths of beaten feathers

5:41

and the down of tattered wind.

5:46

The sun is here with you, a young man, they

5:49

whisper that they are afraid so you speak

5:52

to them. It

5:54

seems they hear you and they

5:56

speak back, you tell them

5:58

that you will do your best. best to

6:00

join them to all that's come

6:03

before. You

6:05

reach for your body but it's gone. Yes,

6:09

that happens in this place. Can

6:11

they hear you? Perhaps, but

6:14

less. The veil of

6:16

all souls is

6:18

crowded with emptiness. But

6:21

you remember the creak of the bridges,

6:23

the war, and the hands that brought

6:25

you love, the hands that brought you

6:28

comfort. The young man

6:30

is frightened. You forget

6:32

what it is to be frightened and

6:34

more of you is fading. Just

6:37

before you go, it's

6:39

when you understand and feel the

6:41

great secret that

6:43

all things are music. And

6:46

to music, we

6:48

shall return. Birds

6:55

of Empire stars Gwendolyn Bryley Strand

6:57

as the Keeper. Written and

7:00

directed by Jason Liu. Executive

7:02

produced by Jason Liu, Rob

7:05

Herding, David Henning, and

7:07

Shen Yin Hu. Producers

7:09

Lawrence Zanelli and Nick Shanks.

7:12

Edited and mixed by Will Tendi.

7:16

Original score and composition by

7:18

Darren Johnson. Music editor

7:20

Will Tendi. Supervising

7:22

sound effects editor and sound

7:25

designer Randy Torres. Audio

7:27

engineering by Ben Milchiv. Assistant

7:30

engineer Alex Trump. Casting

7:34

director Chrissy Fiorelli. Script

7:36

supervisor J.C. Holmes. Production

7:39

legal Christina Bulbrook and Lindsay

7:42

Keel. Production accounting Pin

7:44

Chin Liu. This podcast

7:46

was recorded under a sag after

7:48

a collective bargaining agreement. Birds

7:50

of Empire is a cue code production. Recording

7:54

copyright 2024 by cue code

7:56

Media Inc. The

8:00

Empire presented hello fresh use

8:02

code birds three for free

8:04

breakfast for life. And. Hello

8:06

fresh.com Heard. One

8:08

that the fed her box or can hack.

8:14

Hi. I'm not be Miller and I

8:16

house of the As. Rich

8:18

as hundred media and pop culture analysis

8:20

and history but also a kind of

8:22

fine I volunteer as to the the

8:24

go down the rabbit hole somewhere else

8:26

is sit back soon and and you

8:28

maintain that saddest of the friend who

8:30

knows is a little bit too much

8:33

about pop culture. Search. For

8:35

the As An special wherever you're listening now. Is

8:39

pretty strange, isn't it? Yeah, a

8:41

lot stranger than you might think

8:43

we'd are encrypted. goes your foes,

8:45

that sort of thing. So hell

8:47

yeah. Only every week on Bigfoot

8:49

Collectors Club. hi I'm Michael Macmillan,

8:52

I Brace Johnson and I'm Riley

8:54

Bread. Each week on the Big

8:56

For Collectors Club podcast we talk

8:58

to amazing, guess about their personal

9:00

paranormal history and share stories of

9:02

High Street Sasquatch check aliens obviously

9:05

dog man. I mean as I

9:07

get carried away sometimes. We chat

9:09

with actors and comedians about weird experience

9:11

like how did this get mates pulse

9:13

here Other times we talk to experts

9:16

about the realm of the unknown like

9:18

Monster Quest producer does Hijack. We also

9:20

do deep dives into topic like Roswell,

9:23

Men in Black, even the Abominable Snowman.

9:25

The check out new episodes a big

9:27

for collectors club every Wednesday on Wood

9:29

Elf Media or wherever you get your

9:32

podcasts your reality may depend. On it.