CostasNarrativeXP 2026 October feature "The Ramayana"

Translated by R K Narayanan

The Ramayana is a journey through dharma—where love, loyalty and duty are tested by suffering and sacrifice. It asks whether a person can remain true to what is right when the heart itself demands otherwise.

00:29 Prologue

08:52 1 Rama's Initiation

45:02 2 The Wedding

Costa's Wordbook

Kamban - or Kambar, was a legendary 12th-century medieval Tamil poet celebrated as the "Emperor of Poets", well known for his Tamil epic based on the Hindu story of Ramayana, featuring over 10,000 verses

Palmyra n An East Indian palm, Borassus flabelliformis (palm My ra)

Adisesha - or Shesha or Ananta, is the primordial, thousand-headed serpent and king of all Nagas in Hindu mythology

Yagna - in Sanskrit meaning worship, sacrifice, offering, or devotion; it is a vedic ritual performed in front of a sacred fire (agni) to honor deities, seek blessings, and maintain cosmic balance

Stripling n male adolescent or young adult (Strip ling, not stripe)

Woebegone adj Feeling, showing, or expressing deep sorrow, grief, or wretchedness (Woe be gone)

Sidhasrama - a legendary, mystical abode of siddhas (perfected beings) mentioned in ancient texts like the Ramayana, a secret land deep in the Himalayas

Yaksha - a broad class of nature spirits or demigods in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain mythology, primarily associated with water, trees, forests, wilderness, fertility, and treasure; possess a dual personality; they are typically benevolent guardians of natural treasures and wealth, but can also be malevolent spirits or ghosts that haunt wilderness areas

Depredation n plundering, robbing, pillaging; waste or consumption (dep pred Daytion)

Loba - hungry, greedy for power

Asura - cosmic rivals or anti-gods who challenge divine authority. They embody ambition, rebellion, ego, and the struggle for cosmic dominance, frequently residing in the netherworld and seeking immortality or universal control

Microcosm n A relatively small object or system considered as representative of a larger system of which it is part, exhibiting many features of the complete system (Micro cos sm)

Suzerainty n the domain of a suzerain, a position who can exercise control over the foreign policy and economic relations of a subordinate state, while allowing that subordinate state internal autonomy

Akimbo n Placed in such a way as to have the hands on the hips and the elbows bowed outward

Ashram n a place of religious retreat modeled after the Indian ashram

Musth n A periodic state of heightened sexual activity and aggression in adult male elephants, characterized by the discharge of secretions from glands near the eyes and the continuous dribbling of urine (must)

Veena n A plucked stringed instrument used mostly in Carnatic Indian classical music

Areca n Palms in the genera Areca and Dypsis

Margosa n common name for the neem tree, native to the Indian subcontinent and parts of Southeast Asia, characterized by its fast growth, drought resistance, and bitter bark

Bullock n a young bull, especially one that has had its sex organs removed and is kept for its meat

Palanquin n A covered conveyance, generally for one person, used in India and elsewhere in the East, borne by means of poles on the shoulders of four or six men (pel len Keen)

Yojana n ancient Indian unit of distance, varying in length from approximately 6 to 15 kilometers (Yoe jena)

2026 Upcoming
The Two Towers, Ramayana, Winnie the Pooh, The House at Pooh Corner

Milestones
2021: 0 Full soundtrack, no editing, wife commentary, summary outline, irregular release
2022: 2.0 DaVinci editing, wordbook, book intro, AI intro + thumbnail, chapter summary, scheduled release
2023: 2.1 Descript, CapCut, Suno score, character intro, weekly release
2024: 2.2 Standard condenser mic, Audacity, ChatGPT annotation + illustration, timestamp, 1-hour content
2026: 2.3 Gemini definition, JP, CN, PT subtitles on selected YouTube videos

Platforms
YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Reddit, Amazon Music, Firstory, Pocket Casts, KKBOX, Castbox, Noice, Podcast Addict, SoundOn, Castro, Player FM

CostasNarrativeXP 2026 September feature "The Two Towers"

Weary companions carry on divided by fate and duty — hope fraying under mounting darkness, courage tested in isolation, as small acts of loyalty and endurance quietly hold back an encroaching, overwhelming shadow.

Book Four
Chapter I-II
00:25 I The Taming of Sméagol

49:33 II The Passage of the Marshes

Costa's Wordbook

Nohow adv in no way, not at all

Ell n Any of several historical units of measure, originally based on the length of the arm or forearm but later standardized at other lengths, such as the English ell of 45 inches (114 centimeters)

Noisome adj Offensive to the senses; disgusting, unpleasant, nauseous; foul, fetid, especially having an undesirable smell; sickening, nauseating; morally hurtful (Noise some)

Mere n A small lake, pond, or marsh

Heedlessly adv without care or concern

Earthward adj Towards or in the direction of the earth (earth word)

Leprous adj Of, relating to, or resembling leprosy; rough surface (Lep prus)

2026 Upcoming
The Two Towers, Ramayana, Winnie the Pooh, The House at Pooh Corner

Milestones
2021: 0 Full soundtrack, no editing, wife commentary, summary outline, irregular release
2022: 2.0 DaVinci editing, wordbook, book intro, AI intro + thumbnail, chapter summary, scheduled release
2023: 2.1 Descript, CapCut, Suno score, character intro, weekly release
2024: 2.2 Standard condenser mic, Audacity, ChatGPT annotation + illustration, timestamp, 1-hour content
2026: 2.3 Gemini definition, JP, CN, PT subtitles on selected YouTube videos

Platforms
YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Reddit, Amazon Music, Firstory, Pocket Casts, KKBOX, Castbox, Noice, Podcast Addict, SoundOn, Castro, Player FM

CostasNarrativeXP 2026 end of year feature "The Two Towers"

Weary companions carry on divided by fate and duty — hope fraying under mounting darkness, courage tested in isolation, as small acts of loyalty and endurance quietly hold back an encroaching, overwhelming shadow.

Book Three
Chapter I-XI
00:25 I The Departure of Boromir

21:17 II The Riders of Rohan

1:28:53 III The Uruk-Hai

2:15:32 IV Treebeard

3:36:35 V The White Rider

4:28:56 VI The King of the Golden Hall

5:27:14 VII Helm's Deep

6:12:30 VIII The Road to Isengard

6:59:18 IX Flotsam and Jetsam

7:44:35 X The Voice of Saruman

8:19:31 XI The Palantír

2026 Upcoming
The Two Towers, Ramayana, Winnie the Pooh, The House at Pooh Corner

Milestones
2021: 0 Full soundtrack, no editing, wife commentary, summary outline, irregular release
2022: 2.0 DaVinci editing, wordbook, book intro, AI intro + thumbnail, chapter summary, scheduled release
2023: 2.1 Descript, CapCut, Suno score, character intro, weekly release
2024: 2.2 Standard condenser mic, Audacity, ChatGPT annotation + illustration, timestamp, 1-hour content
2026: 2.3 Gemini definition, JP, CN, PT subtitles on selected YouTube videos

Platforms
YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Reddit, Amazon Music, Firstory, Pocket Casts, KKBOX, Castbox, Noice, Podcast Addict, SoundOn, Castro, Player FM

Leave a comment and share your thoughts: https://open.firstory.fm/user/cln9oxg7r007d01xyhd0fadj5/comments
CostasNarrativeXP 2026 Halloween feature
"A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens

It is never too late to reclaim our humanity: wealth cannot replace love, time cannot be recovered, and a meaningful life is measured by how deeply we care for others.

Preface, Stave One - Five

00:30 Preface

01:01 Stave I Marley’s Ghost

40:40 Stave II The First of the Three Spirits

1:17:52 Stave III The Second of the Three Spirits

2:07:01 Stave IV The Last of the Spirits

2:39:06 Stave V The End of It

Characters

Ebenezer Scrooge — A miserly, cold-hearted businessman who values money above human connection

Jacob Marley — Scrooge’s deceased business partner, who returns as a ghost to warn him

Mr Fezziwig — Scrooge’s former employer and master during his apprenticeship; a cheerful, generous man who treats his employees warmly

Belle — Scrooge’s former fiancée, who ends their engagement when she realises his love of money has displaced his love for her

Bob Cratchit — Scrooge’s underpaid clerk, a kind-hearted and hardworking family man who remains cheerful despite poverty

Fred — Scrooge’s nephew, the son of his late sister Fan. Cheerful, good-natured and generous, he embraces Christmas, companionship and goodwill

Costa's Wordbook

Laocoön - A Trojan priest of Poseidon (or Apollo, depending on the author), whose rules he had defied (or whom he had otherwise offended), who tried to warn his fellow citizens against the Trojan horse. He was killed for this, along with his two sons, by giant snakes sent by Minerva (lay Oc coe on)

Joe Miller - an 18th-century English comic actor, but his name became associated with old, overused jokes because of a joke book published after his death, Joe Miller’s Jests (1739)

Plaister n arch. Plaster (Play ster)

dot the i's (and cross the t's) - idiom, to pay a great deal of attention to details

2026 Upcoming
The Two Towers, Ramayana, A Christmas Carol, Winnie the Pooh, The House at Pooh Corner

Milestones
2021: 0 Full soundtrack, no editing, wife commentary, summary outline, irregular release
2022: 2.0 DaVinci editing, wordbook, book intro, AI intro + thumbnail, chapter summary, scheduled release
2023: 2.1 Descript, CapCut, Suno score, character intro, weekly release
2024: 2.2 Standard condenser mic, Audacity, ChatGPT annotation + illustration, timestamp, 1-hour content
2026: 2.3 Gemini definition, JP, CN, PT subtitles on selected YouTube videos

Platforms
YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Reddit, Amazon Music, Firstory, Pocket Casts, KKBOX, Castbox, Noice, Podcast Addict, SoundOn, Castro, Player FM

Leave a comment and share your thoughts: https://open.firstory.fm/user/cln9oxg7r007d01xyhd0fadj5/comments
CostasNarrativeXP 2026 Halloween feature
"A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens

It is never too late to reclaim our humanity: wealth cannot replace love, time cannot be recovered, and a meaningful life is measured by how deeply we care for others.

Stave Three & Four

00:29 Stave III The Second of the Three Spirits

49:39 Stave IV The Last of the Spirits

Characters

Ebenezer Scrooge — A miserly, cold-hearted businessman who values money above human connection

Bob Cratchit — Scrooge’s underpaid clerk, a kind-hearted and hardworking family man who remains cheerful despite poverty

Fred — Scrooge’s nephew, the son of his late sister Fan. Cheerful, good-natured and generous, he embraces Christmas, companionship and goodwill

Costa's Wordbook

Prodigiously adv Astonishingly, enormously, excessively, immensely, extremely

Facetious adj playful, without lack of dignity, abounding in fun; not serious abt sthg serious (Fa see tious)

Filbert n hazelnut or the bearing tree

Kith and kin - n pl One's acquaintances and relatives; kith as friends, kin family

Declension n a descent

Bedight trans v To dress or array (bid Dyt)

Execrable adj deserving a curse; unequivocally detestable (Ex sic crable)

Menagerie n dated a zoo where animals are gathered for exhibition

Factious adj causing or engaging in political disagreement, division, or factional conflict

Beetling adj jutting or overhanging

Frousy adj frowsy, dirty or uncared-for appearance

2026 Upcoming
The Two Towers, Ramayana, A Christmas Carol, Winnie the Pooh, The House at Pooh Corner

Milestones
2021: 0 Full soundtrack, no editing, wife commentary, summary outline, irregular release
2022: 2.0 DaVinci editing, wordbook, book intro, AI intro + thumbnail, chapter summary, scheduled release
2023: 2.1 Descript, CapCut, Suno score, character intro, weekly release
2024: 2.2 Standard condenser mic, Audacity, ChatGPT annotation + illustration, timestamp, 1-hour content
2026: 2.3 Gemini definition, JP, CN, PT subtitles on selected YouTube videos

Platforms
YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Reddit, Amazon Music, Firstory, Pocket Casts, KKBOX, Castbox, Noice, Podcast Addict, SoundOn, Castro, Player FM

Leave a comment and share your thoughts: https://open.firstory.fm/user/cln9oxg7r007d01xyhd0fadj5/comments
CostasNarrativeXP 2026 Halloween feature
"A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens

It is never too late to reclaim our humanity: wealth cannot replace love, time cannot be recovered, and a meaningful life is measured by how deeply we care for others.

Preface, Stave One & Two

00:30 Preface

01:01 Stave I Marley’s Ghost

40:40 Stave II The First of the Three Spirits

Characters

Ebenezer Scrooge — A miserly, cold-hearted businessman who values money above human connection

Jacob Marley — Scrooge’s deceased business partner, who returns as a ghost to warn him

Mr Fezziwig — Scrooge’s former employer and master during his apprenticeship; a cheerful, generous man who treats his employees warmly

Belle — Scrooge’s former fiancée, who ends their engagement when she realises his love of money has displaced his love for her

Costa's Wordbook

Stave n a set of verses, a stanza (Stayf)

Ironmongery n Tools and other hardware from an ironmonger's shop or the shop itself (iron Mung gery)

Simile n comparing one thing with another, always including the words as or like (Sim mil lee)

Unhallowed adj not conforming to accepted ethical standards, immoral

Rime n an opaque, white, granular coating of ice formed when supercooled water droplets in fog freeze rapidly on contact with a solid surface

To come down - arch. to reduce in wealth

Withal adv In addition, besides (with Thall)

Humbug n Nonsense

Liberality n generosity in giving or a broad-minded tolerance for different beliefs and behaviors

Misanthropic adj dislike or hatred against mankind

Alderman n A noble of high rank or authority in Anglo-Saxon England

Belshazzar - derived from the Akkadian Bēl-šarra-uṣur, meaning "Bel, protect the king" or "Prince of Bel”, he was the crown prince and co-regent of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, the eldest son of Nabonidus (the last native king of Babylon); in the Book of Daniel, he is portrayed as the last king of Babylon who witnessed the "writing on the wall" during his feast, leading to the empire's fall to Persians (bel Sha ser)

Jocund adv Merrily, cheerfully (Jock kend)

Robin Crusoe - an 1719 novel by Daniel Defoe, widely credited as the first English novel and a foundational work of literary realism. The story follows Robinson Crusoe, a young Englishman who defies his family to go to sea, is enslaved by pirates, and eventually becomes a castaway on a remote tropical island near Trinidad

Lath n A thin strip of wood or metal, usually nailed in rows to framing supports as a substructure for plaster, shingles, slates, or tiles

Chaise n Any of various light open carriages, often with a collapsible hood, especially a two-wheeled carriage drawn by one horse; chaise longue- a long, low seat, with an arm at one side and usually a low back along half of its length, that a person can stretch out his or her legs on (Shays)

2026 Upcoming
The Two Towers, Ramayana, A Christmas Carol, Winnie the Pooh, The House at Pooh Corner

Milestones
2021: 0 Full soundtrack, no editing, wife commentary, summary outline, irregular release
2022: 2.0 DaVinci editing, wordbook, book intro, AI intro + thumbnail, chapter summary, scheduled release
2023: 2.1 Descript, CapCut, Suno score, character intro, weekly release
2024: 2.2 Standard condenser mic, Audacity, ChatGPT annotation + illustration, timestamp, 1-hour content
2026: 2.3 Gemini definition, JP, CN, PT subtitles on selected YouTube videos

Platforms
YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Reddit, Amazon Music, Firstory, Pocket Casts, KKBOX, Castbox, Noice, Podcast Addict, SoundOn, Castro, Player FM

CostasNarrativeXP 2026 Mid term feature "Inferno"

Humanity is enthusiastically building its own high-tech highway to Hell, proving that our scientific arrogance will ultimately trigger a completely self-inflicted apocalypse.

Chapter 56-104

0:00:25 56-61
1:05:47 62-67
2:03:45 68-72
2:57:16 73-77

3:55:11 78-82
4:52:50 83-88
5:53:49 89-95
6:59:04 96-102

8:04:09 103-104
8:16:40 Epilogue

Costa's Wordbook

Caramel budino - ita, a luxurious, Italian-style pudding characterized by its silky-smooth, custard-like texture and rich flavor, often served as a layered dessert or parfait

“Dove passo trovare Marta Alvarez?” - ita, “Where can I find Marta Alvarez?”

Molto bella! Stupendo! - ita, Very nice! Stupendous!

Red eye flight/ Red eye - overnight commercial flight departs late at night and arrives early next morning

Terza rima - ita, a rhyming verse form, in which the poem, or each poem-section, consists of tercets (three-line stanzas) with an interlocking three-line rhyme scheme

2026 Upcoming
The Two Towers, Ramayana, A Christmas Carol, Winnie the Pooh, The House at Pooh Corner

Milestones
2021: 0 Full soundtrack, no editing, wife commentary, summary outline, irregular release
2022: 2.0 DaVinci editing, wordbook, book intro, AI intro + thumbnail, chapter summary, scheduled release
2023: 2.1 Descript, CapCut, Suno score, character intro, weekly release
2024: 2.2 Standard condenser mic, Audacity, ChatGPT annotation + illustration, timestamp, 1-hour content
2026: 2.3 Gemini definition, JP, CN, PT subtitles on selected YouTube videos

Platforms
YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Reddit, Amazon Music, Firstory, Pocket Casts, KKBOX, Castbox, Noice, Podcast Addict, SoundOn, Castro, Player FM

CostasNarrativeXP 2026 Mid term feature "Inferno"

Humanity is enthusiastically building its own high-tech highway to Hell, proving that our scientific arrogance will ultimately trigger a completely self-inflicted apocalypse.

Chapter 1-55
01:18 Prologue

0:07:16 1-6
0:59:42 7-13
1:56:35 14-18
2:56:14 19-23

3:47:20 24-30
4:48:09 31-38
5:44:08 39-44
6:44:32 45-50

7:49:02 51-55

Costa's Wordbook

2026 Upcoming
The Two Towers, Ramayana, A Christmas Carol, Winnie the Pooh, The House at Pooh Corner

Milestones
2021: 0 Full soundtrack, no editing, wife commentary, summary outline, irregular release
2022: 2.0 DaVinci editing, wordbook, book intro, AI intro + thumbnail, chapter summary, scheduled release
2023: 2.1 Descript, CapCut, Suno score, character intro, weekly release
2024: 2.2 Standard condenser mic, Audacity, ChatGPT annotation + illustration, timestamp, 1-hour content
2026: 2.3 Gemini definition, JP, CN, PT subtitles on selected YouTube videos

Platforms
YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Reddit, Amazon Music, Firstory, Pocket Casts, KKBOX, Castbox, Noice, Podcast Addict, SoundOn, Castro, Player FM