Episode Transcript
[mid-tempo synth music fades in, growing into a dance beat]
[Narrator: Ashley King, a young woman, speaking quickly and with high energy]
It’s been scientifically proven that adolescents and young adults are more prone to excessive risk taking. The frontal cortex or some shit...
The decision-making part of the brain isn’t fully developed until age 25. AGE 25! Can you believe that? That’s a long-ass time to make some poor-ass choices.
[beat drops, dance track continues]
I’m Ashley King. Today, in the year of our lord, it’s 2024, and I’m 32. But for the sake of the story I’m about to tell you, it’s 2011 and I’m 18.
[sounds of a crowd over the dance music; clinking glasses, Ashley gives a big “woo!”]
I had a pretty uneventful life growing up — thanks to the watchful eye of my Mexican-Nazi mother.
[sounds of laughter over the dance music; more clinking glasses; Ashley and others cheers each other in Spanish]
I was in that liminal space between high-school and University.
I’d been called boy-crazy once or twice, but I preferred “boy-enthusiastic”. I wasn’t reckless, I was spontaneous. I wasn’t irresponsible, I was care-free, and I wasn’t a hoe, I was just fun.
Yeah, I pretty much had it figured out. And I was ready to break free from my mom and go explore the world, with my best friend Britney.
[dance music builds, the sound of waves on the beach fades in]
First stop: the Beaches… Booze…. and Boys of Byron Bay.
[dance music builds, Ashley and a group of friends chant “Drink! Drink! Drink!” and cheer as the beat drops yet again, then fades into the sound of the ocean waves]
[Ashley’s voice quiets and slows]
But, as you may have guessed, my hot Australian summer didn’t go as planned.
[sound of ocean waves fade into static crackling and drone; sense of unease]
This is Static: A Party Girl’s Memoir. A four-part coming of age tale… unlike any you’ve ever heard. My true story is coming your way this Fall. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts to hear Every. Single. Detail.
[music fades, static and drone sounds continue to a squeaky end and click; silence]
