#Greater Boston

[clonerightsagenda]

I'm loathe to make this comparison because people throw out Discworld as a comp title way more often than warranted (and don't get me started on how every SF debut claims Murderbot as a readalike when it's not deserved) but if I could make the comparison once, I think Greater Boston is the closest I've seen to Discworld. It skins over the real world with a made up* metropolis and then uses that setting and its cast of interconnected characters to make a lot of observations about people and society that range from hilarious to profound and, frequently, both at the same time. One of the show's theses is first presented in a monologue about two Bigfoot hunters seeking the sublime and finding each other.

It posits ridiculous scenarios and then takes them seriously in the worldbuilding. It dredges up bizarre real world facts and spins them into something else until you're constantly looking up which bits of trivia are true. It's relentlessly optimistic about humanity and our capacity to care for each other while also being cleareyed about all the ways we as individuals and a society are currently failing. It's got a guy named Dipshit Poletti. I don't know what Terry Pratchett would have written about Brexit, but Greater Boston's take on the 2016 US election is the best I've seen. America's truest answer to Ankh Morpork right now is a city made out of trains.

I came to this realization while on my commute this afternoon but I now desperately want to see CMOT Dibbler in Red Line.

[radicalreliablerandomness]

Podcast Rec Masterpost

I've been asked a couple times for podcast recommendations so I thought I'd post a compilation of some shows and a bit of info about them. Most shows I talk about are tagged below (I ran out of tags) so you can look through fan content as well if you're not one to care about spoilers. My asks are still open for personalized recs if you send me some others that you've listened to just because I love you, yes that's right! You. The person reading this right now!

Here goes!

Dungeons And Daddies *not a BDSM podcast

This show is a dnd actual play podcast. The first season is about four dads from our world lost in the Forgotten Realms in search of their lost sons. It’s a comedy but as with all comedies, you will cry by the end of it. It's super easy to get into with great chemistry between all the cast players and the dm, no prior knowledge of dnd is necessary. They do invoke slight horror sometimes so do keep an eye out for content warnings. Season 1 has 68.5 episodes along with bonus content and a mini campaign in between seasons 1 and 2. Season 2 is currently ongoing. Transcripts available.

The Bright Sessions

This is a science fiction podcast. The premise is a collection of clinical recordings of superpowered people's therapy sessions. The plot gets more interesting and convoluted as you get further in. Incredible voice acting filled with emotion. Does have some heavier discussions so be on the lookout for content warnings. It has 7 seasons (the last two are technically not part of the first five seasons' plot) and is completed. Transcripts available.

Hello From the Hallowoods

A post-apocalyptic fiction podcast. A beautifully written and preformed podcast that explores identity, religion, and other themes in vignettes throughout this haunted world narrated by an omniscient being. Some heavier topics are included so check the content warning before each episode. Seasons 1 and 2 are completed and season 3 will be done soon. Transcripts available.

The Magnus Archives

A horror fiction podcast. A well written chronological story told through anthology which seem to be tape recordings from a paranormal investigation institute. Incredible writing and actors that really bring it to life. This is horror so make sure to check the content warnings. The show is completed at 5 seasons. Transcripts available.

Neighbourly

Another horror fiction podcast! An interesting look into all the houses on Little Street and their peculiarities. Some more peculiar than others. The podcast is absolutely delightful with a horribly fun narrator. I would suggest checking the content warnings as some episodes are more intense than others. The show has 2 completed seasons. Transcripts available.

The Fall of the House of Sunshine

A musical mystery fiction podcast. The first season is about an investigation on the murder of a beloved host of a children's tooth-themed show. That's all I can say without spoilers. There are 3 incredible seasons along with short stories in between each season. Transcripts available until halfway through season 2.

Welcome to Nightvale

Possibly the most well known science fiction podcast, it really speaks for itself but I'll do my spiel anyways. Recorded as snippets of a daily radio broadcast, the show details the weird goings on in this strange desert town of Nightvale. Narrated almost completely by the radio host's smooth voice. It's ongoing and is currently sitting at 233 episodes. Transcripts available.

The Two Princes

A fictional queer romance podcast. It takes place in that special part of fiction that always starts with "once upon a time," it feels like a story book almost. The show is based around two boys meeting in the woods. Spoiler alert: they fall in love. It's just a cute feel good show. The podcast is complete at 3 seasons. Spotify auto-generated transcripts available.

What's the Frequency?

A self described psychedelic noir podcast. It's an absolute blast even if it is a bit hard to follow. Takes place in the 1940s in LA when all radio broadcasts were turned to static. You kind of just have to go with it until you get to the end. Completed at 12 episodes. Transcripts available.

Story Break

A writer's room podcast. The basic concept behind Story Break is 3 Hollywood writers in a room together take a prompt and try to make a story for it in an hour. There are many laughs in this podcast and just all around good humor and vibes. The show is complete at 169 episodes plus two full movie scripts. No transcript.

Who Killed Avril Lavigne

A science fiction podcast. It's about a time traveling pop punk loser and that's all you need to know. It's a podmusical so you'll be getting great nostalgic pop punk type songs along with crying from laughing so hard. Completed at 8 episodes. No transcript.

The Behemoth

A fiction podcast. Based around an unexplainable creature emerging from the ocean and how the world, and one girl in particular, deal with this phenomenon. It is pretty short with the longest episode being about 12 minutes. Completed at 20 episodes. No transcript.

Rude Tales of Magic

A dnd actual play podcast. It is mainly focused on the actual roleplay and story telling as opposed to the actual play. A handful of college students from Polaris University fuck the world up by completing a hazing ritual which in this case is a supposedly demon summoning. Obviously now they need to fix the world. Currently 64 episodes and ongoing. No transcript.

Midnight Burger

A very well written fiction podcast. It’s about a time/space traveling diner where the employees try to help solve a problem every place they land. Think Doctor Who adjacent vibes but with more drama. There is an overarching plot that comes together so look out for that. It has incredible characters that are really nicely fleshed out. You’ll somehow like and hate all of them as much as possible in the best way. Currently has 29 episodes of the main feed and a 9 episode mini-series. Transcript available.

Monstrous Agonies

A fiction podcast. It’s an radio advice segment on a station for “liminal Britain” aka the monstrous world to put it plainly. It’s really chill and comforting. There’s very good advice there and the intermittent ad reads will have you giggling to yourself. Episodes are on the shorter side, averaging about 15 minutes each. It does have some heavier discussions so make sure to check the content warnings. The show is completed at 111 episodes through 3 seasons. Transcripts available.

Desert Skies

A fiction podcast. The voice acting in this one is incredible, it’s the same person the whole time. The show as a whole is also just super well done. The premise is that when you die you show up on a highway and get to this astral pit stop. I’m not going to spoil it anymore you just have to experience it. There is an additional show, Desert Skies FM that's a buddy to this one. I recommend listening to both. Season 1 was completed at 12 episodes. Transcripts available.

Wooden Overcoats

A sitcom dramedy podcast. The show is about two siblings that run a funeral home on an island. It used to be the only one, it isn’t anymore. It has a wacky cast of characters and even wackier plot points. The dialogue can be a little hard to get used to at the beginning but once you get into it it flows easily. The show is completed at 4 seasons. Transcripts available.

Greater Boston

An audio drama podcast. It's set in Boston if you couldn't tell from the title and starts with the death of a man on a rollercoaster. It blends real life with some subtle (and at times not-so-subtle) fantasy elements. It's currently at 4 completed seasons. Transcript available.

Gay Future

A science fiction podcast. In a world where everyone is gay in the future we focus on this one straight kid. Following his journey to destroy the government who are making everyone gay. This is a satire by the way. 1 season completed at 6 episodes. No transcripts.

Death by Dying

A dark comedy podcast. The show follows an obituary writer while he does things that are totally under the jurisdiction of his job. A well written and preformed show. There are a lot of laughs and obviously some heartbreaks as well. Currently 1 completed season with season 2 sitting at 2 episodes for a bit now. Transcript available.

Not Another D&D Podcast

An actual play dnd podcast. This one's more mainstream than my other podcasts so I don't talk about it as much but that doesn't mean it's not incredible. The first campaign is about 3 adventurers off to save the world. Obviously. It can be a bit slow in the beginning but anything past the second half of the first season is incredible. There's humor, drama, love, and much more. The DM is also just incredible. 1 completed season, a couple mini campaigns, and the second season is currently at 43 episodes. No transcripts.

Forgive Me!

A fiction podcast. It starts based around vignettes of confessionals in this small town taken by a new father in the local church. An overarching plot is present but it's generally a feel good, sweet and simple show. They have 2 complete seasons with season 3 currently at 9 episodes. Transcripts available.

Real Housewives of D&D

An actual play dnd podcast. This show is based around the concept of a "Real Housewives..." type show but you don't need to know anything about those to listen to this. It's about 4 reality TV stars thrown into a magical fantasy world with no knowledge of how to get home. There's drama, excitement, danger, and lots more. The first season was just completed at 16 episodes. Transcripts available.

The Silt Verses

A horror fiction podcast. Two people who worship a banned god travel together up a river in a pilgrimage. There is incredible worldbuilding in this show along with acting and sound design. This is horror and a very good one at that so make sure you check content warnings. Season 1 and 2 are completed and season 3 is at 2 episodes so far. Transcripts available.

The Land Whale Murders

A comedy fiction podcast. It takes place in the year 1899 and is about a pair of friends? maybe not, that metaphorically explore the world they're living in. It is a commentary on the world we live in and the problems in it through a hilarious and wacky cast. There are currently 17 episodes between both seasons 1 and 2. Transcripts available.

Elaine's Cooking for the Soul

A post-apocalyptic cooking podcast. The show is about a dentist who makes her way through the fallout of an apocalypse while also making a cooking podcast. It does have depictions of violence, war, and dentistry so check out the content warnings. There are 2 completed seasons. No transcripts.

Fawx and Stallion

A mystery podcast. If you hate Sherlock Holmes you'll love this podcast. Also if you love Sherlock Holmes you'll love this podcast. It's based around the detectives who live across the street from Holmes at 224B Baker street. It's pretty goofy. Season 1 is completed. Transcripts available.

The Amelia Project

A fiction podcast. Follow the shenanigans of this death-faking organization as they take in new clients and hear their stories. It does develop an actual overarching plot later on but every second is fun. Seasons 1-4 have been completed and season 5 is in progress. Transcripts available.

A Voice From Darkness

A horror podcast. It's centered around a radio show hosted by Dr. Malcolm Ryder, Parapsychologist. He helps people who call into his show with supernatural problems, gives PSAs and warnings about strange happenings, and more. Season 1 is completed and season 2 is at 9 episodes. Transcripts available.

Station Arcadia

A dystopian fiction podcast. Formatted through a radio show, it tells the story of a world that's slowly dying. There are vignettes of different characters through different areas of the world. Season 1 is completed at 25 episodes. Transcripts available.

Margaret's Garden

A science fiction podcast. It has two plots running at the same time which keeps you on your toes but makes for an intriguing story line. In one plot line, two agents are sent to investigate the strange happenings of a weird little long abandoned town. Simultaneously, we hear from the past of that town as it catches up to the agents. Completed at 10 episodes. Transcripts available.

Camp Here & There

A horror comedy podcast. It's recorded as a set of daily announcements over a loudspeaker at a totally normal summer camp. The announcements are made by the camp nurse and he's also totally normal. I promise. Make sure to check in with the content warnings as some topics are a little mature or graphic. There are currently 34 episodes. Transcripts available.

Wayward Guide for the Untrained Eye

A companion horror podcast. This is actually a bit meta because it is the result of a youtube series. This show is the one the podcast hosts in the series release, it's definitely worth both the watch and the listen though. It's got werewolves and drama. Completed at 10 episodes of video and 10 of the podcast. No transcripts.

I am in Eskew

A horror podcast. It's about a man who's trapped in a city where the buildings always change and the rain never stops. There's a weird monotonous creeping horror in this show that just draws you in. Check for content warnings definitely. Completed at 30 episodes. Transcripts available.

Traveling Light

A comfy cozy fiction podcast. It follows The Traveller on their exploration through space, visiting alien planets and collecting stories to send back to their community. For supporters of the show, it almost functions as a choose-your-own-adventure with choices to vote on and listener submissions. It's made by the same people as Monstrous Agonies so if you enjoyed that, you'd enjoy this and vice versa. There are currently 16 episodes. Transcripts available.

Not yet described but still recommended:

Eeler’s Choice

The Secret of St Kilda

The Endless Ocean

The Department of Variance of Somewhere, Ohio

The Sword & The Stoner

World Gone Wrong: a fictional chat show about friendship at the end of the world

Travelling Light

Waterlogged

Brimstone Valley Mall

[sexiestpodcastcharacter]

Podcast Elections: ACAB Edition

The introduction to this poll has been moved to the Voter's Guide (under the cut) due to length. Please ensure you are registered to vote in your local elections, should you be eligible.

*There is no lesser evil when the institution itself exists to exploit, oppress, and enact violence. I refuse to vote in this race, but I will vote in other races on the ballot.

Elections are coming up in the USA. I'm used to voting about twice a year, and understand how few measures and candidates are truly exciting to vote for. There's a lot of maintenance (renewing bonds and levies, voting against limitations to abortions, etc). Most candidates have significant flaws and even the ones who seem promising will probably fail to meet their campaign promises. It's boring but important. To me it seems that the dramatic races and measures are usually more threatening (so we vote against it) then promising (so we vote for it). City Council, County Chair, School Board, Water District, Library Board, and so on are all highly important, but candidates' platforms can be opaque, or there can genuinely be no good options. But if we want clean water, good education, freedom to read, an attempt at affordable housing, etc., then we need to care about these positions.

But then there's the elections that never feel good. The elections for who gets to lead the people we allow to murder with little consequence. The people in charge of institutions that I would rather be destroyed. Obviously there's the big one, but frankly due to the electoral college, the state I live in, and partisan races usually coming down to Party over Policy, voting in that election feels incredibly ineffective (but I do it anyways).

Another institution I don't like voting for is the County Sheriff, but at least my vote feels more influential here. As this is a nonpartisan position, this will be a runoff election. That means if no candidate gets greater than 50% of the vote we will hold another race between the top two candidates the following week.

[specialagentartemis]

Coming skidding in just under the wire for @boombox-fuckboy’s Fiction Podcast Zine September!

This was an idea I had since the zine event was announced, but it felt very personal and I didn’t quite know how to go about making it. But I did want to reflect on what fiction podcasts have Meant To Me. And my delicate emotional state during 2020, lol.

Plain text transcription:

Cover: The Podcasts That Got Me Through COVID Lockdown.

Spread 1: In 2020, I was part of the lockdown contingent. [Drawing of a house] I chose a Masters Degree project I could do from my parents' basement, 2000 miles away from my university. I attended my MA graduation ceremony on Zoom in my dining room.

The loneliness and disconnection in ars PARADOXICA spoke to me. I recognized myself in Sally Grissom: asexual, of course; lonely; throwing myself into my research; clinging to friends far away. [A drawing of a brown-haired woman in a blue sweater, hunched over, writing.]

(I cried over Sally Grissom in the park.)

Spread 2: I lived - and locked down - in Metro Boston: not Boston proper, but close enough. I would go for a walk every morning, and the familiar Boston skyline greeted me. [Drawing of the Boston skyline including iconic buildings like the Prudential Center and the John Hancock Building.]

During this time, when my whole world shrank to a few blocks around my house and the park down the road, Greater Boston made me feel connected to the city, to the diversity of it, to the places so familiar to me, to my home.

(I cried over Michael's letters in the park.)

Spread 3: The comedy and tragedy, the surrealism and all-too-real groundedness of Arden [drawing of a blood splatter and a magnifying glass] took me on an emotional journey through just about every feeling there is, some of them really intense. [Drawing of a house on fire.]

But even the normal parts - going to work, parties, air travel - felt distant and surreal, and the ridiculous parody subscription service ads felt way too real. [Drawing of a box with a pair of green socks in it, a reference to a classic Arden ad.]

(When Brenda mentioned going out to a bar with coworkers for drinks after work, I cried. In the park.)

Back: Thank you to podcasts

for making me feel seen and understood,

making me feel connected and grounded,

and giving me an outlet for my feelings

during that insane and hectic and scary year.

[chemicallywrit]

Happy Audio Drama Sunday! What an absolutely delightful week in audio drama. Here are my personal standouts:

🐉 One of my favorite shows in the entire world is @noadventurespod, and I am so happy it has made its triumphant return. Bea is doing great at wizard college, Happy has his hat back, Sig continues to encourage folks to become better and make their own choices by telling them to leave him the frick alone—who could ask for anything more? Please don’t sleep on Absolutely No Adventures.

🧛🏻‍♂️ I have been excited for @theholmwoodfoundation since they started talking about their premise, and this pilot episode did not disappoint. Holy heck. Rebecca Root especially is a whole genius, with both the leads playing two characters and doing justice to both. I love it when found footage has a purpose, and I love Dracula, and hey, can we 🅱️LEASE make this show happen? I’ll never recover if we don’t.

🐦 @greaterblogston never misses, but this last Halloween episode—a horror story from a flock of pigeons about a real life predatory gull—was genuinely chilling. Especially because I just listened to an episode of Endless Thread about gulls, how the reasons they’re pushed inland is the loss of habitat on the coast, which the episode even acknowledges. It’s a creeping tragedy, a symptom of climate change, and that makes the serial killer gull even scarier.

🚀 @breathingxspace ended this week! I’m having a hard time describing what this show means to me—as someone who’s constantly struggling with finances and debt, the theme song alone is enough to bolster my spirits. I’m not alone. And in a way, that’s the point of the finale too. The hardship doesn’t last; someday we take over the trillionaire’s mansion and throw a fair. You’re not alone.

Hey! Do you like how I write and make podcasts? Consider buying me a ko-fi so’s my debts don’t drag me back, as it were.

See you later!

[boombox-fuckboy]

Don't know anyone here? Pick one and go listen!

Am I missing your favourite? Are they from a comedy? Let me know!

Am I worried Rudyard might skew the results? A bit, yeah, he's well-known. But I don't know enough comedy podcasts to exclude him, so he's getting listed twice instead.

[queenbeyondthewalll]

Thinking about the podcast Greater Boston again, and specifically Monty Linzer-Coolidge. Born on the day of the Red Line vote, named for the man who abandoned it. Moved into a train city as a newborn and spent the first, what, year of his life strapped to his mom while she ran around being Head Cop of Train City, committing the occasional crime. Communicates fluently from the day he’s born through gas because Cop Mom has psychic gas powers. Is lulled to sleep by being rocked back and forth very fast, presumably because he’s spent his entire short life living in a train. Survived multiple terrorist pranks, still an infant. His parents and him leave Train City to squat in an abandoned cheese-themed amusement park with a group of train refugees and also a hippy commune polycule. As far as his young mind knows, life is mostly trying to set up new functional societies in unlikely places

[greaterblogston]

hi there!! i saw that you're planning on deactivating your twitter but would you maybe consider setting it to private instead or archiving it in some way?? there's so many good memories and great bits of commentary on there and it would be sad to see it go. i totally understand if that's not something you'd be up for but i figured i'd suggest it!! thanks so much :)

Thanks. It took me a long time to answer this because I wasn't sure what I was going to do. The fact is that I'm very angry at what's happened at Twitter, just like I'm angry with so much happening around the world.

What seemed like lunacy a few years ago in Greater Boston is becoming reality. Sure, it's not a train system as a city, but Twitter was once the top social media platform in existence. It was bought and paid for by a rich megalomaniac and is used primarily to amplify his own voice while it courts right-wing political influence and prop up work created by artificial intelligence. That's a bit too close to home to Emily Bespin for my liking.

So my current thoughts is to leave the work there as a Fuck You to Elon and all of his bootlicking backers. It's a mole working in the Red-sistence. Like Gemma or Isaiah.

And yes, I acknowledge that this means Twitter can use my tweets as AI generated training. Go on, do it. See what happens. We saw what happened to the Cheesebots when they soaked in the memories of Leon. I fucking dare you, punk.

So for now, it's going to stay. It's too complicated to archive and host elsewhere, and I'm too angry to wave the white flag and give up on it. Plus I don't want someone creating a screen name and pretending to be us, which is a fear others have used to justify in not deleting your account all together.

The fact is - it's a lot of fucking hard work to run any social media account. In the early days of Greater Boston I was on that sucker a TON. I really tried to make it almost an extension of the show. I probably got too sucked in at one point. And so having it all go to hell has been kind of devastating. In a way, it feels like the show doesn't have a voice anymore, and we have no sense of how connected we are to anyone. And it's hard to keep creating in that kind of a void. But that's our issue, not yours.

All I know is I'm not going back to Twitter unless it changes to a massive degree. Communication will be handled here, via the Newsletter, and maybe Instagram. Maybe. Tik Tok possibly too. I don't know. Who knows?

Thanks for the question and for making me think about this.

[fyeahaudiodrama]

welcome to audio drama, may i interest you in a:

or a:

[pavlikbuonarroti]

podcast of all time forreal

[somuchbetterthanthat]

Every time I try to describe Greater Boston I always end up going back to thinking "how are les mis fans not ABSOLUTELY loving this show. How are they not a perfect demographic for it."

Like. Is it like les mis? Absolutely not. But is it sort of like les mis?? Also no! But does it carry the same feeling than les mis?? YEAH.

At the smaller level, if Gavroche is Paris, then Mallory is Greater Boston. I feel if you love Gavroche, it's impossible not to love Mallory. Are they the same character??? Zero percent! But also KINDA. You know what i mean?

(everybody stares at me in polite and quiet bafflement)

[crimson-dianxia]

Leon Stamatis

from the fiction audio drama podcast i've been listening to non stop on my semester break: @greaterblogston

[wiserebeltiger]

Rhode Island is a place where the stupidest, most obvious psychos get away with the stupidest, most obvious crimes.

[biwonderland98]

I never know how much to take podcast crossovers as canon, but having Give Me Away and Greater Boston in the same universe is truly wild. What the fuck is happening in the States in that world

[do-you-know-this-adhd-character]

Do you know this (canon) ADHD character?

Proof: Confirmed in the mini-episode Farewell Dmitri.

[vernanonix]

I heard someone say recently that Forgive Me! crosses over with everything in existence but have you seen The Amelia Project’s rap sheet?