#The Bright sessions

[bakanokiwami]

[2023] TOP 20 PODCASTS ON AO3 FOUND IN FANDOMS > OTHER MEDIA

To make this ranking, all series titles in Other Media were copy-pasted to Google Sheets, rearranged according to number of fanworks, and then manually filtered since not all podcasts were marked as such.

The numbers under each rank indicate how much they rose/fell in the rankings based on last year's (Oct. 24, 2023) rankings, which can be found here. The gray numbers in parenthesis indicate how much fanworks it gained since last year.

The data for this year and last year's rankings were taken while logged in, so lcoked fanworks are included in the count.

A few web series like Critical Role and Dimensions 20 released audio-only versions of their works too, but I left them out since they were listed was a web series on ao3 and more known as one too.

Cabin Pressure has also been left off the list this time since its podcast format was only released in 2019, years after it aired on the radio.

All nonfiction podcasts have also been excluded (Not that there were many), because with RPFs, it’s hard to tell if the fic in question is just based on the podcast or because of the things the person has done outside of it. Last year, I accidentally included The Misfits in the list since I didn't realize from its description that it was nonfiction.

The Two Princes (Podcast) ranks 21st in the rankings this year, and actually ranked 20th last year when the rankings are adjusted to exclude Cabin Pressure and The Misfits.

The College Tapes is actually a spinoff of The Bright Sessions.

Thanks for understanding and hopefully I didn’t mess up anywhere! 🙏

[jenijro]

My dumbass be like “oh give me more podcast recommendations” knowing damn well I have at least 500 other podcasts to listen to

[drdrizzey]

Podcasts are so funny, I can literally re-listen to the Magnus archives but picturing Jon with the most absurd hats, sombreros and ugly new year glasses or even galaxy leggings in the most heartbreaking and serious scenes and nothing could ever stop me. And it would be canon.

Just a sneak into my twisted mind and the power of one's imagination. Unstoppable. From now on, they're all bald.

[littleacebee]

The only thing I have to say for myself is: Songs in podcasts my beloveds <3

IDs in alt text and under the cut

[ID: Front cover of a zine. In the middle of the page there is big red heart with text in it: „Songs in podcasts my beloveds”.

Page 1. Text saying: „I love songs in podcasts! They are so cool and great and amazing and wonderful and fun and fabulous and excellent and brilliant”

Page 2. On the top of the page there is text: „Me when there is song in podcast:”. Below there are three doodles of a person. First is singing dramatically, other two are dancing. There are colourful musical notes around.

Page 3. Text saying: „Some of my fav songs from podcasts with honest and totally not biased rating:

„Die Berliner Luft” from The Amelia Project - 10/10

Songs from Roguemaker - 10/10

Theme song from Night Shift - 10/10

„Magistrate’s daughter” Travelling light - 10/10”

Page 4. Text saying: „Musical episode of Mission rejected - 10/10

Folks songs in Camlann - 10/10

Songs from The Strange Case of Starship Iris - 10/10

„It’s all made up!” from Victoriocity - 10/10

Musical episode of The Bright Sessions - 10/10

Song in the last episode of Trice Forgotten - 10/10”

Page 5. Text saying: „”Poisoning Pigeons in the Park” from Midnight Burger - 10/10

Songs from Re: Dracula - 10/10

Cabaret Night at Cosmic Lounge from Stellar Firma - 69/10

Theme song from Dark Ages - 10/10

Songs from Welcome to the Brass Eagle - 10/10

The Ballad of Anne & Mary 1000/10”

Page 6. At the top of the page there is text saying: „”To be an Undertaker” from Wooden Overcoats - 100000000000000000000000/10”. Below there is doodle of a person playing on a mandolin.

Page 7. There is a doodle of a person holding a big sign with text: „You should add song to your podcast!”. At the bottom of the page there is text saying: „#fiction podcast zine event”. End ID]

[magic-dustt]

The way I would sell my soul just to have one person who would be willing to lie on the floor with me and listen to my favorite podcasts. Am I asking for too much? I know you'd like Limetown, I know you'd like TMA, I know you'd like Archive 81. Why won't anyone just lie on the floor with me, goddammit…

[madzwashere]

I think all of us that listen to audio dramas should kiss right now.

[chronically-enthusiastic]

I made a quiz!! If youre ever in need of an audio drama rec, I hope this quiz will aid you!

@vetchtibbles

[thelaurenshippen]

it's officially been 10 years since I sent @thebrightsessions pilot to my friend Jack to get his thoughts. he was the first person to read it, and gave me great thoughts, and I made the pilot better and then...

well. it was almost exactly a year before I sent this message:

all to say: however long it takes, however uncertain you feel—surround yourself with amazing, kind, talented people and just go for it. the worst that can happen is that you learn something. the best is that you learn something and it gives you your life, which is what happened to me.

it’s said so much that it sounds trite but it really is true: do it scared

[samwise1548]

Feeling nostalgic for early podcast days

Share which ones if any, or if I misses some (range is some ambiguous time between 2015 and 2020)

[daily-podcasts]

Intro to The Podcast Directory Wiki + this blog: 🪄

This is a side-blog to share podcasts that you may not have heard of before! There will be one post per day, (hence the blog name) highlighting a specific audio drama and linking to their page on the wiki. (main blog is @james-spooky)

They’ll be themed posts aside from the daily ones but it was mainly to have a fun side hobby to get the word out there about some niche podcasts! :]

The Podcast Directory Wiki has over 300 podcasts logged, categorised into many useful groups in order to effectively find ones suited to your tastes. 😋

Detailed info below on how to effectively use the wiki👇

NAVIGATION: 🧭

As said above there are many ways to navigate the wiki and find different podcasts!

Here’s the breakdown:

Masterlist: A list of every podcast logged on the wiki from A-Z 📝

Genre/Subgenre: If you only like horror podcasts or are looking for found footage, musical theatre or something more specific like a plane crash or cryptids, all can be found as categories under these pages :] 📄

Length: By either episode length or total number of episodes for the podcast. e.g. you can browse podcasts that have under 10 episodes, or 20-29 or if you don’t like long episodes you can look at podcasts exclusively that have an average runtime of 20-29 minutes etc. ⏰

Completion Status: We’ve all been there; getting sucked into a podcast only to learn that it was never finished or you have to wait months for a new episode! 💔 And a lot of the time, we love to binge a whole series in a day… With these categories, podcasts are broken down into “completed”, ���incomplete” or “ongoing”; this way you can easily dodge those heartbreaks. 😉

LGBTQ Rep: Audio dramas in general are known to have a significant amount of LGBTQ Representation within their characters and storylines. Under this category, it’s broken down into specific representation such as “trans rep” or “lesbian rep”. This way if you want to find more podcasts that represent you, you can! Be mindful that “representation” differs from active protagonists and engrained storylines to side characters or smaller roles. More detailed information surrounding this should be on the individual podcasts page! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Transcripts: Sometimes it can be frustrating to find a really good podcast but there’s no transcript available! 😓 On each Podcast page it is noted whether or not transcripts are available (with a ❌/✅) or you can browse from the category “transcripts” which includes ONLY podcasts with transcripts available to avoid getting invested in ones without.

Network: If you particularly like the work of a certain podcast network, such as QCODE or RustyQuill you can use these categories to find all of their projects! 🖊️

Prominent Podcasters/Voice Actors also have pages dedicated to them with links to their imdb, itemising all the projects they’re involved in if you want to hear specifically more of your favourite actor or writer! 🎭

Randomiser: A lot of the time it can be overwhelming with all the choice! How to choose what to listen to when your “to listen list” is miles long… With the randomiser at the top of the page, it will give you a random podcast, freeing you of the weight of choice 😅 Additionally, you can randomise a genre/subgenre if you want to see what else is out there…

These are the genres/subgenres that are covered:

PAGE LAYOUT EXAMPLE:

Each page has all the information you need, website links, spotify links, transcripts, cast etc.

Spotify linked trailer/first episode to gauge whether you want to invest!

You can easily see the genres, number of episodes, seasons and whether or not it has transcripts available. Even the combined listening time of the podcast so you know what you’re getting into!

All podcast pages have every episode linked to spotify in the collapsible tables. (Logging podcasts with episodes in the hundreds was when I started to regret this decision…🧘)

Each podcast has a small section dedicated to other audio dramas which have a similar vibe so you can find more like your faves! As there are always more podcasts to add, your help or contributions are appreciated. 💪

Take this information and fuel your podcast addiction ten fold ✨👀😏

[lunarhorrors]

i’m in desperate need of fiction podcast recommendations. podcast enjoyers please share your favorite podcasts

[beano-no-know69]

hey can anyone give me recs for good spooky audio dramas?

Also bonus points if there’s gays in it (although honestly at this point I go into podcasts assuming there will be, and am hardly ever wrong)

Ones I’ve liked and listened to are: the Magnus archives, the box, king falls am, old gods of Appalachia, darkest night, limetown, spines, the bright sessions, wolf 359, all the public radio alliance ones, Alice isn’t dead, archive 81, life after, the message, the far meridian, the bridge, mirrors, the 12:37, penumbra, strange case of starship iris, girl in space, the leap year society, Mabel, and the white vault

[exhaustedwerewolf]

sleep and his half-brother death, john william waterhouse (1874) // over the garden wall, dir. patrick mchale (2014) - gifset by @thecindercrow with text from stopping by woods on a snowy evening, robert frost (1923) // gravity falls s2e19: weirdmageddon 2 escape from reality, jeff rowe & alex hirsch (2015) // sisters, radical face (2015) // critical role episode 40: desperate measures, liam o'brien & laura bailey (2016) // joan + mark's secret notebook, julia morizawa & lauren shippen (2016) // come and find me, lily harrington (2021) // the attic monoloues episode 9: i think upon hell-fire, morgan greensmith (2021) // spire episode 13: loop, matt wilson (2023) // tiktok comment, unknown (2023)

[camlannpod]

DOUBLE ANNOUNCEMENT!

First - the Camlann soundtrack album is available for pre-order right now on the @tincanaudio Bandcamp Page!

Second - on the 30th November Ella, Amber and the team are going to be doing a 12 hour Twitch marathon on the Tin Can Audio Twitch channel to raise money for season 2!

The stream is going to start at 2pm GMT (that's 10am EDT, 7am PDT) and run til 2am. From the second hour we'll be doing a re-listen of the series, with an episode on the hour every hour.

We're also going to be joined by a number of special guests! These will include the amazing @laurenshippen, Eira Major from @hangingslothcentral, Joe Fisher from Midnight Burger, Steve Shell from Old Gods of Appalachia, and many many more. Our guests will be joining us to chat about folklore, medieval history and all things Camlann.

PLUS, we're going to have a raffle and we'll be giving away actual physical merchandise. Specifically: 9 signed posted, 9 custom made fabric campfire patches, and 9 copies of Ella's TTRPG Upriver Downriver thanks to the generous support of @macguffinandco. Right now this is the only way to be in with a chance of getting physical Camlann merchandise, so if you're interested please join us on Saturday 30th November 2024 and donate!

Overall, we need to raise £36,000 to make season 2. We're hoping to get most of that from grant funding, but UK arts charities are more likely to fund projects which have already raised some cash from audience support. That's where you come in! We've made £2,000 already thanks to the generous donations of our listeners. If we can get up to at least £5,000 in this livestream, our funding applications will be that much more competitive.

So please, join us, hang out and have fun!

[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

[thebrightsessions]

We love that, even years after our story came to a close, new listeners are finding our show all the time! Thank you so much to all of our listeners - new and old - for making us a part of your year!