Here on Nerd News Memphis, we are doing something different. Instead of a TV show with characters I like, I'd like to discuss a podcast with characters I like. Podcasts have become a new form of media. This media let's artists, journalists, radio personalities, and many others use the expansiveness of the internet to reach larger audiences. One podcast in particular has caught the attention of thousands of internet surfers: Welcome to Nightvale. Set in the fictitious desert town of Nightvale, WTNV is a faux radio show hosted by smooth voiced and omnipotent Cecil Baldwin. Cecil talks about the on-goings of his beloved town, Nightvale, which is like if the Twilight Zone was eaten by Cthulu. Cecil Baldwin is my favorite radio host, who doesn't actually exist, who is as sweet as he is frightening.    
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Reason 1: Omnipotent......thing
How does Cecil Baldwin know what is going on in Nightvale as it happens? This has been my question since episode one of this haunting faux radio show. Is he out and about, wielding a microphone, broadcasting the show as he runs around town? Does he have demon minions who pop in and out of the studio, whispering their investigations in his ear? Or is Cecil an all-seeing being, who has an ever present floating eyeball hovering above Nightvale, watching and observing everyone and everything? I don't know readers. I just don't know....

Reason 2: His velvet smooth voice
Caramel smooth. Honey-dipped. Creamy, calm and slow. These are all terms that can be used to describe Cecil's delicious and soothing voice. Like a lullaby, his voice can calm and soothe the listener like warm milk. But the deep and sweet voice can distract from the forewarnings and deeply foreboding words that Cecil is saying. One minute, he is welcoming listeners to that evening's show. The next minute, he is frantically warning them to lock their doors and ignore the high-pitched screaming coming from the outskirts of town. The show can escalate quickly and horrifyingly.

Reason 3: So...what does he look like?
Welcome to Nightvale fans have created many renditions of what Cecil and other citizens of Nightvale might look like. With no defining physical characteristics given from the show, there is an infinite amount of ways to picture the face behind the voice. Some fans imagine Cecil to be tall, bald, and white with a third eye. Others have imagined him to be a Native American man, who is creepily tall and gaunt, with ever-shifting tattoos that creep across his paper-thin skin. Who truly knows what Cecil Baldwin looks like? As long as he is there, reporting fervently to his audience, I will be more than content to never know.

            So, dear readers, I hope this sheds some light on why Cecil Baldwin of Welcome to Nightvale is one of my favorite characters on the internet. He is surprisingly brave, stubborn, and obsessed with one scientist's beautiful hair. And I can relate to that. 





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