Radio at the End of the World-Audio Fiction and Drama Podcast Roundup September 2020
The world around us is and has always been in a constant state of altered flux. For a big part of the country, this past month has meant fires, smoke, evacuations, death, loss, and ash. And while the west coast burned, the country has continued grieving the loss of so many lives to oppression. But there is more than just loss happening, there is a great awakening to the world and systems around us.
Maybe it is because of this that the podcasts that stood out to me were all about change, growth, and the error in doing what the popular party demands. Feast your ears on the podcasts below but do so with an open mind and heart to hear the stories and themes held within.
HORROR
Nightlight Horror Podcast ‘Last Stop on Route Nine’ by Tananarive Due
If you are a horror fan, then you are familiar with Nightlight Horror Podcast and Tananarive Due. If you’re a fan and unfamiliar with either of these, then you need to go through both of their backlists and catch up on some engaging and exciting horror fiction. Nightlight Horror Podcast publishes and creates horror experiences from Black writers. There’s music, sound effects, and a scary story to boot. Tananarive Due has written horror since the 90s and uses the themes of being Black to create new and fresh horror. ‘Last Stop on Route Nine’ touches on how haunted places seek out and hunt haunted people to a point where if we are not careful, they can pull us back into the dark, scary.
Listen Here: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify
WEIRD FICTION
The Truth ‘Into the Hum’ by Louis Kornfeld
“Movies for your ears,” is the tagline for the audio drama podcast The Truth. Straddling the line between fiction and the fantastic, The Truth brings more than movies to your ears. The actors who bring to life the story pull you in as well. The Truth is one of those podcasts that works best in headphones for the full immersion of what the podcast has to offer. ‘Into the Hum’ is a story that exists in the strange lands between genres. There is so much beauty to the story, but also a lot of fear and oddness that is hard to explain. You just have to hear it to understand, to be transformed by the hum.
Listen Here: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify
ROMANCE
The Lesbian Romantic Episode #184 ‘More Than Fun and Games (A Blogger Story Sequel)’
The Lesbian Romantic is a podcast that I’ve been listening to for a while because Sigrid has a splendid gift at weaving that gooey romantic feeling of a budding romance. Sigrid balances a story with the slow seduction of a telling. Follow a young woman as she flirts with the possibility of taking a dream job with a game developing mogul that always seems like she’s offering more than just a job. Each part in this series inches closer to a conclusion that is still yet unknown. It is a ‘will they, won’t they’ that keeps upping the flirty atmosphere of its characters. The way Sigrid slowly unravels the story drenches each new installation in taut lesbian sexual tension.
Listen Here: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify
MYSTERY
CBS Radio Mystery Theater Episode #1022 ‘Jerry the Convincer’
People who love a good rerun of a classic steeped in witty dialogue and smoky atmosphere should check this long running show out. It’s a rerun podcast show that airs the old mystery episodes that CBS put out between 1974 and 1982—commercials included. CBS Radio Mystery Theater, at first, did not feel like my type of show, but then, that feeling of laying out on the couch watching old TV shows creeped up on me, and I settled into the story of ‘Jerry the Convincer’, which was uploaded back in August. The story is a fable of what happens if you try and go against what you know and believe is right to fit in with those around you.
Listen Here: Google Podcasts | Spotify
FANTASY
Toasted Cake Episode #247 ‘A Wedding Gown of Autumn Leaves’ by Caroline M. Youchim
If there is someone who frequently comes up in this series, it is Tina Connolly who writes, podcasts, and does audio narration, touching almost all aspects of the audio drama world. Her podcast, Toasted Cake, is a speculative fiction podcast featuring flash stories by some of the top names in the speculative field today. Caroline M. Youchim’s ‘A Wedding Gown of Autumn Leaves’ is a fantasy story about a family, clan, race blending and melding their worlds. It is a dark romantic about accepting and integrating the customs of those we love around us because even if we don’t fully understand it, we still must respect it.
Listen Here: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts
FICTION
Selected Shorts ‘Coming of Age’
Funny, engaging, and well-acted, Selected Shorts shapes each of its episodes around a theme and have voice actors portray it for listeners. Each episode features two stories around that particular theme. Past themes have included ways of seeing, runs in the family, and more. One of September’s episodes was all about coming of age, that fertile time in our lives that is filled with pain, reckoning, and growth. ‘Coming of Age’ has two stories that focus on first kisses and first loves and first desires. One story by Clarice Lispector, ‘The First Kiss’, and another by Julia Elliott, ‘Hellion’. Out of the two, ‘Hellion’ is the one that stood out and conjured up memories of spending sticky, hot days in a small town near Mobile nestled in the tangle of Alabama. Donna Lynne Champlin evokes all the swampy goodness of the south and the tangible love shared between two teens.
Listen Here: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify
KIDS
Storynory – Stories for Kids ‘Astropup and the Seven Mountains of Genius’ Part 1 + 2
Original, good, clean fun is what you’ll find in Storynory. There’s a variety of episodes with stories aimed at entertaining the children in our lives. All of the stories are hilarious and wildly imaginative, but Astropup sort of stole my heart. ‘Astropup and the Seven Mountains of Genius’ is spread over the course of two episodes and follows Astropup as he ascends the mountains of genius cooking one horrible or delicious meal after another all in the attempts of reaching the top. Its well-performed and really funny; the perfect show for not just young listeners but the adults in their lives.
Listen Here: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify
Thanks for joining me in another month of audio fiction and drama for the hopeful or weary listener. Next month, I’ll do a special round-up in honor of the holidays. Until then, I hope you can find some peace in the stories above to help make it through these changing times.
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