Another month, another list of amazing audio drama podcasts that you should be listening to. For fans of audio fiction and audio drama, this is the list that makes your monthly search quick and easy. I do all the hard work of finding a great listening experience. No matter what your interests are, this list covers multiple audio fiction genres and audio drama types.
This month’s list has everything from post apocalypse audio dramas to sketch comedy show podcasts and audio fiction podcasts featuring stories from around the world. Even if you don’t know what you like when it comes to the vast world of audio fiction and drama podcasts, you’ll be able to find something to spark your heart and ears.
For past months’ round ups, here’s the past three months’ Radio at the End of the World articles: October, September, and August. I write a new list every month after listening through tons of different audio fiction and audio drama podcasts. To keep up to date, follow my writing here or subscribe to my newsletter.
This post apocalypse audio drama podcast is a one person voiced show that makes the listeners feel like they are being acted to by a full cast narration. It’s dark and gritty like any good post apocalypse story. The thing that makes it stand out is that the stories don’t focus on the horror of the end of the world, but of the communities that stand together. Think more Z Nation and less The Walking Dead. Breakers follows character Shepherd Grey as he walks the broken lands of the post-apocalypse interacting with the various survivors who are etching or scratching out a living in the harsh new world. He also has a dog that accompanies him for listeners who enjoy a good audio drama with a faithful furry companion.
Listen Here: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify
Normally, I’m not a fan of big hosted audio drama podcasts, though they usually are great. A lot of the times, they are bogged down with advertisements that run in the middle of the audio drama and have this air of selling that just makes me cringe when listening to a story. Dust, despite its ads running, is a hell of a great science fiction show. There are various seasons that follow different storylines and characters. The cast alone is phenomenal—Toni Collette, Lance Reddick, and Haley Joel Osment. Together the actors and writing evoked this sense of an expansive world that pulls readers in. It feels a lot like Mass Effect with The Expanse mixed in. The podcast follows an AI who has come online after the extinction of the human race by an unknown alien invader. The AI builds itself a body, well a ship, and takes off into the skies in search of revenge.
Listen Here: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify
This is an older audio drama that I just discovered this month. It is a stellar story and super creepy to boot. One of those types of audio dramas that might not be the best to watch alone, especially if you’re out in public at night. What made this audio drama great for me is the use of description to really paint a scene or picture of something. Shows like this, of course, wouldn’t be half as good without their voice actors who all pull off organic dialogue and emotion that grips you while listening to this crime noir tale of murder, family, and deceit. It’s a pretty graphic show, so if you get nauseous watching unsolved mysteries, then this show is not for you. The crime noir audio drama follows a journalist as they go through the uncovered tapes of an investigator in the middle of a gruesome investigation. It should be mentioned that season 2 has an expected 2021 air date.
Listen Here: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify
For fans of Supernatural, Penny Dreadful, and other dark fantasy detective shows, The Wrong Station’s episode ‘Notes from a Hunter’ is perfect for you. Instantly, this audio fiction podcast episode gripped me because of its literary fantasy style. I’m a sucker for a well-told story using literary techniques that delve a bit deeper to produce a rounded story that digs its claws into you. It’s got monsters, tragedy, and an amazing reading that uses so much emotion in that it makes you sort of scared, concerned for this aged hunter. Follow the story as various notes from a hunter’s cases and journeys unfolds.
Listen Here: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts |
Sandman Stories is an audio fiction podcast that uses public domain stories to bring tales to life for its listeners. One of the advantages of using public domain works is that there is a wide selection from other cultures to choose from that tell the history and culture of a place. There’s also a wide array of genres that people can sample from out of the podcasts archive. One of November’s stories caught my attention as being humorous, unique, and imaginative. The audio fiction retelling of the story originally written by Yei Theodora Ozaki tells of a warrior’s battle with a giant centipede.
Listen Here: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify
A two-person sketch comedy podcast that is very satirical and features sketches that poke fun and create humorous shows based off of popular TV shows and news broadcasts. For instance, ‘Oh Dear, Lucy’ features a show MasterChef Unprofessionals that sounds like the gag reels of great British cooking shows. It’s a relatively new podcast but is cranking out consistent funny episodes for their listeners and aiming, it seems, to be a tongue in cheek slice of life sketch show.
Listen Here: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify
This is British humor meets Welcome to Nightvale all wrapped up in a funny audio drama podcast. Ian is working a job as a postal work in a very strange small town where there’s a man who can control pigeons, a woman who has a litter of children that connect to random encounters throughout the town—I think she’s a siren or some other temptress—and other odd happenings. People who have worked odd jobs that had them interacting just a little too close with the public will relate immensely to Ian’s quips on life and work. Ian’s Gone Postal is funny, weird, and addictive.
Listen Here: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify
I hope you were able to find something new and fun to listen or to recommend to the people in your life. For more recommendations and to see what podcasts didn’t make the list, subscribe to my newsletter.
If you have a podcast that you want me to check out, please feel free to send me a message! I’m always on the lookout for new audio dramas and audio fiction podcasts.
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