Happy Holidays friends, here I am, come to bring you the gift of podcast recommendations. I am a fan of podcasts in general, but lately I’ve been getting really into fictionalized narrative podcasts. There are some really good ones out there. Serialized fiction is such a fun way to tell stories. They do it with tv shows, comic books, books, radio shows, and now podcasts.
Superheroes
Red Rhino:
Red Rhino follows Wes Whittaker. He is a not exactly popular boy in high school, and when someone pushes his brother into a rhino pit he jumps in after him. Wes is struck by lightning and charged by the rhino at the same time, giving him rhino powers. Powers which he thinks are actually not so cool. He meets a strange woman named Evangeline, who helps teach him about his new powers and how to adjust to his life as the Red Rhino. There are not very many episodes of Red Rhino so far, but I look forward to there being more.
The Van:
Some kids with special powers live in in a van, traveling from place to place with an ethically questionable woman. Sort of like Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, if Miss Peregrine were kind of a terrible person. There are only a few episodes out so far, but this is definitely one of my favorites. The characters are engaging, the voice acting is well done, and the story has captured me. I can’t wait for the next episode.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-van/id1434215983?mt=2
Sci-Fi
Dining in The Void:
Dining in The Void is like a murder mystery crossed with a deadly escape room, in space. Celebrities and well known figures from various different planets have been invited to a dinner party on a fancy space station. All is well until they realize that no one knows who has invited them there. The dinner party quickly becomes a fight to stay alive and escape the space station, as everyone’s deepest secrets are revealed. This feels like a TV show. It is intense, high stakes, and full of vivid imagery. The characters all have very big personalities, and are well developed over the series. Dining in The Void is absolutely one of my favorite podcasts, it’s hard not to get addicted to a mystery, especially a great one like this. There is some really intense stuff, so be aware of that if it concerns you, but it’s an excellent story. Their first season just ended, and all I have to say is “WHAT!? What was that ending?” Needless to say, I’m excited.
https://www.dininginthevoid.com/
Pod to Pluto:
If you need to laugh after you listen to Dining in The Void, and trust me, you will, listen to Pod to Pluto. Poor Jemima Belafonte is just about to retire, when she is sent on a five-year mission to Pluto. Why? Because someone might have left the lights on, and she needs to turn them off. Jemima must travel to Pluto and back, with only the mischievous AI in her pod as company. It’s a very fun podcast.
http://www.cornucopia-radio.co.uk/pluto/
Mythos The Series:
Ever seen the show Firefly? You’ll probably like this. Sci-Fi/ Fantasy is genre you’d see labeled on a book or something like that, but this story is literally a Science Fiction Fantasy story. Mages in space, mysterious artifacts, exciting new planets. It took me an episode or two to get into it, but now it’s one of my new favorites. With a rather large cast the acting is wonderful and the characters are easy to get attached to. There aren’t very many episodes of Mythos The Series yet, but it’s already got a quest going in a large sweeping universe with great world building. Also, the singing in the most recent episode was lovely.
https://www.mythostheseries.com/
Fantasy
Modern Fae:
A young woman moves to a small town in Texas after her life begins to fall apart. What she doesn’t know is that this town is inhabited by faeries and ancient deities and creatures. There are only four episodes so far, but I’m into it. If you are familiar with faerie lore and world mythologies, which am (a bit at least), it makes the story even better, but you can absolutely enjoy it with no prior knowledge.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/modern-fae/id1435737861?mt=2
Mermaids of Merrow’s Cove:
I haven’t finished this one yet, but it’s good so far. A mystery story, reporter Emma Kersey investigates the mysterious death of a young woman who was found washed up on the sea shore, looking almost like a sea creature. Rumors have circulated about the woman being a mermaid, which Emma does not believe, but she knows there’s something more to the story.
http://www.midnighteggs.net/mermaids-of-merrows-cove/
Dystopian?
In Her Burning:
I could maybe put this under sci-fi, but it feels a bit different. It’s set in what seems like some kind of dystopian society. There’s this tradition where certain people become “polished”. They go through a surgery where the irises of the eyes are removed, allowing them to see an alternate dimension, a creature called the volucris, and experience some kind of transcendence. Erith has been chosen to become polished. It’s an honor, so they say, but she doesn’t really want it. The podcast is her recorded journal, it follows her journey as she adjusts to her life as one of the polished.
https://universe.vision/inherburning/
IDEAS, Brand and Experience Design, Orla…Another one I can recommend is Project Stellar. I haven’t listened to enough of it to really talk about it. At first, I thought it was kind of a collection of short stories, but now I’m pretty sure that what I thought was the first story was actually a sort of prequel. It’s a sci-fi podcast featuring various aliens, pretty cool so far. I’d have to say, of the ones on this list my favorites are The Van, Dining in The Void, and Mythos The Series. So, go forth and explore the world of podcasts. They’re really great. So, do you have any podcast recommendations?
