6 Podcasts That Mix Fact with Fiction

The blend of fact and fiction is a controversial topic, especially depending on how a piece of media is conveyed. Sometimes, the tactic can be used in ways that can manipulate the audience–think War of the Worlds, but maybe on a smaller scale, and certainly more modern. When done well, though, the tactic can make for some interesting ruminations on what is and what could be.

These six podcasts master that blend. They’re not listed in any particular order, and just like the subject of the list, there’s a blend of nonfiction and audio fiction present.

1. Podcast Meander

Podcast Meander starts out as a travel podcast, and it ends up . . . something different. It’s the story of a man who’s, essentially, trying to flee from his problems, only to find that they refuse to leave him behind. The podcast uses a blend of fact and fiction to convey the emotional truth of living with a mental illness. It’s strange, surreal, and often deeply uncomfortable–and it does all of this beautifully. With gorgeous sound design and music, Podcast Meander is a shockingly haunting listen that you won’t soon forget.

Listen: Apple | Spotify | Stitcher

2. Flash Forward

Flash Forward is a fun take on sci-fi hypotheticals. What if your thoughts were controlled by a fungi? What is we ate using food pills? What would happen if we just gave everyone money? While investigating how each scenario would play out, drawing from research and real world examples, the episodes also contain segments of audio fiction, depicting how that sci-fi world might exist in a fictional space. It’s a great way to tie together scientific exploration with something a bit more engaging and exciting than just presenting the standard facts and concepts.

Listen: Apple | Stitcher | Podbean

3. The Shadows

The Shadows blends the true life of Kaitlin Prest (previously of The Heart) with a fictionalized version of herself to try to answer the question, “What is love?” Kaitlin–the character–struggles to find her place in modern ideals of romantic love and monogamy, but still desperately craves the storybook romances we’re all constantly fed. As she fulls in love with one of her fellow puppeteers, her struggles to maintain her concept of romance, her concept of her friends, and her concept of herself all in line. You can read our full review of The Shadows here.

Listen: Apple | Google | RSS

4. Everything Is Alive

Everything is Alive is an improvised interview show with inanimate objects. While the episodes are clearly fictional, they’re also meticulously researched beforehand. In the first (and absolutely stunning) episode, a can of generic cola informs host Ian Chillag of the very real radioactive sodas that used to be sold, and of bottles of strawberry Fanta left out for offerings. A lamppost tells Chillag about the theft–sorry, kidnapping–of the lamppost from the famous Singin’ in the Rain scene. Each episode leaves you laughing and moved from the story told, but also filled with bizarre tidbits of trivia. You can read our full review of Everything Is Alive here.

Listen: Apple | Stitcher | Podbean

5. Snap Judgment

Snap Judgment follows a standard format for a public radio storytelling podcast. Each episode brings different stories on a theme, usually about three 20-minute stories for a one-hour episode. Snap Judgment differs from most, though, in that it isn’t just human interest stories. It also pulls in fiction. Several episodes weave fiction in with the other stories, but to make sure the difference is clear, all of the fiction pieces are given some element of the superhuman or supernatural.

Listen: Apple | Stitcher

6. Greater Boston

Greater Boston is a phenomenal work of slipstream fiction that takes place in a hyperbolic version of Boston, MA–a version in which the psychics are sometimes right, The Red Line is its own town, and the world’s most boring man decides to die while riding a roller coaster of the first time. Each episode begins with the creators interviewing actual Boston residents with one question that pertains to a major theme in the episode. 

Listen: Apple | Stitcher | Libsyn