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The Midnight Rebellion: Almost Midnight

August 8, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

The Midnight Rebellion: Almost Midnight

In a Boston thunderstorm, twelve-year-old Jules Wattsgreen lies awake counting seconds between lightning flashes and thunder booms—a trick her mother taught her. But it is not the storm keeping her up. When the clock strikes midnight, it will be exactly one year since her mother, Dr. Elizabeth Greene, entered her laboratory and never came home. Now her twin brother Hart is standing in her doorway with a flashlight, trying to drag her into that same lab. "What better way to honor her than raiding her stuff?" he asks. Jules knows the lab is off-limits. Their father locked it after the accident. The police found nothing outrageous inside—except Dr. Greene's ashes—but the detective warned them never to step foot in there again. Still, Hart is determined. He is like their mother was: an inventor, a rebel. And as he points out, he is going with or without her.

The choice to follow

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What you'll learn

  • 1 Timestamped Outline
  • 2 (00:20) **Introduction to The Midnight Rebellion** - Emily Kwang introduces a new interactive fiction podcast from WBUR set 100 years in the future
  • 3 (01:21) **The Story Begins: Rules of Engagement** - The narrator explains the interactive format and how listeners must make choices at the end of each chapter
  • 4 (02:29) **Meet Jules Wattsgreen** - Introduction to the protagonist, a 12-year-old girl unable to sleep on the anniversary of her mother's death
  • 5 (03:29) **Brother Hart's Midnight Plan** - Jules' twin brother Hart appears in her doorway with a flashlight, determined to break into their late mother's lab
  • 6 (04:56) **The Twins' Dynamic** - The narrator explains how the twins are opposites: Jules the rule-follower and Hart the roguish leader who drags her along
  • 7 (05:54) **The Mystery of Dr. Green's Death** - Backstory on the suspicious circumstances and public speculation about what happened in the lab

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

WBUR’s The Midnight Rebellion is a one-of-a-kind podcast: a “choose your own”-style show set 100 years in the future when the climate has gone haywire, and it’s up to you to save the planet. Rooted in science, this fictional adventure was created for kids and grown-ups alike. 

Each chapter ends with a choice. You decide what’s next. Choose wisely.

Listen to the rest and follow The Midnight Rebellion wherever you get your podcasts.

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