* Entertainment * Column * Report # Welcome to Night Vale host Cecil Baldwin shares his tech pet peeves Just let the man watch movie credits in peace! by Terrence O'Brien May 30, 2026, 4:00 PM UTC Cecil Baldwin is a busy man with some dope boots. | Image: Cecil Baldwin * Entertainment * Column * Report # Welcome to Night Vale host Cecil Baldwin shares his tech pet peeves Just let the man watch movie credits in peace! by Terrence O'Brien May 30, 2026, 4:00 PM UTC [](/authors/terrence-obrien) Terrence O'Brien is the Verge’s weekend editor. He has over 18 years of experience, including 10 years as managing editor at Engadget. Cecil Baldwin’s résumé includes appearances on [_Gravity Falls_](https://youtu.be/VEPx6cnsArw), narrating the documentary [_Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Stree_](https://youtu.be/bvDaZX-j-0w) _t_ , and performing as part of the New York Neo-Futurists theater company. But he is best known as the host of the podcast [_Welcome to Night Vale_](/column/864078/cosmic-horror-comedy-podcast-welcome-to-night-vale), a long-running fiction show that blends macabre Lovecraftian horror with absurdist comedy. As Cecil Palmer, the voice of Night Vale Community Radio, Baldwin keeps the people of the titular town abreast of all the goings ons with the Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your Home and offers tips on how to best maintain their Bloodstone circles. He also cohosts [_Random Number Generator Horror Podcast No. 9_](https://www.nightvalepresents.com/rnghpn9) with Night Vale cocreator Jeffrey Cranor, recently directed the play _As Sylvia_ and raises awareness for LGBTQ+ issues and HIV. In short — he’s a busy man. So we’re excited that he found some time to tell us about his tech pet peeves. **What is one thing you wish you could change about your phone?** I wish it were impossible to manually [text and drive](/transportation/838901/elon-musk-tesla-fsd-text-while-drive) a vehicle at the same time. We are collectively way worse at it than we think. **What is your happy place online?** Adding books to my [Favorite list](/entertainment/891057/what-were-listening-to-watching-and-reading) on Amazon so I remember titles/authors, and then taking that list to my local new and/or used bookstore and buying them there. **Which tech trend do you wish would go away?** Please, I’m begging you, let me watch the credits of the film or television show in peace. I just finished a movie, you don’t need to roll me right into a whole new one. Let me digest for just a second. **What creation are you most proud of?** It would have to be the podcast [_Welcome to Night Vale_](https://www.welcometonightvale.com/), right? It was the acting role that changed the trajectory of my life. **What do you do when you’re feeling stuck?** I will literally say to myself “1, 2, 3, 4, 5…. Walk away.” It’s like an unbinding, spoken out loud when I don’t know how to move forward with a project or I’m stuck in a social media scroll-frenzy that is giving no pleasure. Put it down. Walk away. Focus on something else for a while. **What’s the last piece of physical media you bought?** Picked up a few albums at my local record store: Marianne Faithfull _À la Télévision 1965-1967_ , Jorge Ben Jor _Jorge Ben_ , and Dr John _Gris-Gris._ **What would the tagline for your biopic be?** Performing authenticity… for real. **What’s the last GIF or meme you used?** [](https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/heaving-breathing.gif?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,0,100,100) **Follow topics and authors** from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates. * Terrence O'Brien * Column * Entertainment * Interview * Report