In an effort to make this the most insanely valuable newsletter about fiction audio, I've made yet another enhancement to the listings below.
You'll note that every show listed shows a "Listening time" value. Nifty! This is probably something I could pull from the show's RSS feed. But I'm not a developer (I could use one, hint, hint!) so I'm doing the calculation manually. Please accept my apologies if I got it very, very wrong.
Let's get into this week's featured selections, shall we?
- Evo
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I've listened to every episode of these shows, and proudly recommend them to you. As with all things in life, YMMV.
In a not so distant future, due to overwhelming carbon emissions, The Earth is on the brink of becoming uninhabitable. These conditions are made far more horrifying because the available housing shelters (that can produce sustainable air quality) will only be able to house 80% of the world’s total population. To try and save the human race, every person has a government-mandated microchip implanted in their brains to attempt to facilitate the migration of a portion of the population to an underground shelter. In order to decide who gets to be protected and who must stay above ground, the government implements a value scale they have determined based on “usefulness” to future society. If you are valued at a 50 or above, you will be chosen to enter the bunker, and, if not, you must stay above ground and face the end of days.
“Neuron” (which acts as both a prestigious brain implant and also a software company) is folded into a sanctioned branch of the government called, “The Ministry of Experience.” Their job now is to develop technologies and software that can replicate the human experience above ground. But what is far more pressing is The Ministry must find a way to reduce the use of resources, or they will run out of all survivable assets before being able to relocate to “Eden” - the one place above ground that might be salvageable in a few years time.
Whether Eden will be ready in time remains to be seen, but its existence is literally the last hope for the human race surviving. In a drastic effort to cut emissions and resource usage, “The Oyster” is created. The Oyster is Nirvana - A state absent from the mind while being filled with complete pleasure and bliss. What, then, happens when reality begins to fade and The Oyster is all that remains?
A new podcast musical from the producer of The Bright Sessions and creators Jeff Luppino-Esposito, Brett Ryback, and Matt Sav.
After a tragedy in the Whitetail National Forest, 18-year-old Peregrine Wells seeks out survivalist skills from an enigmatic old recluse. In this fictional documentary musical with an original folk-pop score, listeners will follow producer Brett Ryback as he explores themes of grief, adolescence, and our precarious relationship to the wilderness - all set against a sleepy northern Minnesota town reeling from a loss of innocence it will never get back.
In Strange Woods is a production of Atypical Artists. It is created and executive produced by Jeff Luppino-Esposito, Brett Ryback, and Matt Sav.
When 16-year-old Sabrina cracks the cryptic Parallax, she’s recruited to track down a serial killer… who might not be from this world. Starring Anya Chalotra and Chance Perdomo.
A traumatized woman reluctantly returns to her dying hometown to find the stoner friends she abandoned are hooked on a strange new drug — with bizarre, seemingly supernatural qualities.
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Some not-so-recently completed or finale'd shows we've just added to our audio fiction directory.
Serialized sci-fi tales told audio drama podcasts. For centuries the colony of Atrius has been cut off from humanity and endured generations of civil war. What remains is a gleaming city and beyond its walls, a lawless expanse known as the Fringe.
A fantasy-adventure between adventures, wherein five heroes encounter monsters, magic, fighting, and friendship in the conveniently located Goblin’s Head Inn.