Wooden Leg

  This episode of Bubble & Squeak comes in three parts: a joke Peterson almost told at an open mic in Sunbury, PA, a true story from Santiago, Chile, and a sound slice from the past. Peterson begins with one of his father’s best jokes—or at least the story of why he nearly told it in public and then thought better of it. His mother, Anita Toscano, had a crisp, dry wit. His father, Pete Toscano, told jokes that were risky, bawdy, and barroom-ready. That family comic inheritance sets the stage for the main story. In “Shell Game,” Peterson remembers a 1994 trip to Santiago, Chile. At the time, he was closeted, married to a woman, working for a Christian mission, and trying very hard to become a straight man. From his hotel window, he watches three black Mercedes limousines move through the city, one of them likely carrying former dictator Augusto Pinochet. What follows is a story about power, performance, masculinity, repression, and the strange masks people wear in order to survive. The episode closes with a brief sound slice from Peterson’s past, connecting memory, family, and voice. Featured story: “Shell Game” was first published in Unlikely Stories. You can read the journal for free at: https://unlikelystories.com/ Bubble & Squeak is written and produced by Peterson Toscano. It features uncanny sounds, funny interludes, and stories—most weird, many true. Find Peterson online: https://www.peterson-toscano.com/ You can also find him on TikTok, Instagram, and Bluesky.