#hartlife

[theboardofdirectorslovesyou]

OUR FAIR CITY IS BACK ON THE AIR!

You can listen to it now wherever you get podcasts. As we said- we'll be doing DAILY episodes Monday-Thursday as we go through Season Two, and resume a weekly release schedule when we hit Season Three.

[celestialsqyd]

me waiting for neal to come back

“this character is dead” to you maybe. I don't know where y'all live but I live in denial

[kissmefriendly]

OUR FAIR CITY UPDATE????

OUR FAIR CITY UPDATE!!!!!

[worldgonewrongpod]

Hi! I hope it's alright to barge in with an Our Fair City question over here 🐜 OFC is one of my all-time favorite podcasts. I've relistened multiple times and I still recommend it to people.

I totally understand you're not gonna keep an active social media profile and whatnot for a podcast that has been finished for years now, but I was wondering about availability of old materials. Namely:

transcripts (never know when a new listener might need them)

Patreon content (I recently remembered "The Chamberlain Tapes" existed. I'm kicking myself for streaming it on Patreon directly at the time, and not downloading/saving it anywhere)

the art book (I understand not keeping the merch store up forever, but I'm hoping since that's just a digital file, there's hope for that to end up someplace else? 🙏)

Didn't really phrase that whole thing as a question, but I hope my question got across 😅

Always super happy to respond to questions about Our Fair City! So glad to hear you love the show- really appreciate the kind words~

Great questions- various answers below.

-Transcripts- Our Fair City actually never had fully produced transcripts- we added the practice of releasing them with Unwell. We're currently looking at what options are available there- but as of now, automatic transcripts should be available through Apple Podcasts.

-Patreon content- We're slowly moving old Patreon content over to be available on the new Audacious Machine Creative Member program! Already up for Our Fair City are all of the ringtones we produced for patrons- and we'll have more (including The Chamberlain Tapes) available there in the future.

-The Art Book- Great question! We actually have some other Our Fair City merch up on the Audacious Machine Creative Web store (including the MolePeople Revolution! shirt). I'll have to see if our webstore will let us sell digital downloads- will get back to you on that one~

Thanks so much for listening, and we hope you are well!

[xdarkabyssx]

Okay so this is a looooong shot. I'm re listening to Our Fair City ie my favorite podcast of all time. Which ended in 2018ish.

So I'm on one of the episodes and it mentions extras and WEBCOMICS on their website!!!! Which is now obviously defunct since its. Been a while.

Anyway my main point being I was wondering if anyone knows a place where I'd be able to access/read them? 😶😶😶

It's by Hartlife NFP which I'm pretty sure also made unwell a Midwestern Gothic mystery which is more recent! So they're still active! So there's still hope!

[purple-to-my-tangerine]

💕

Pondering the Cube (as brought on by a discussion with a friend about the Cube (ofc))

[smallmediumproblems]

Propaganda under the cut

Why isn't John/David/Cecil/Obituary Writer/etc here?

I'm specifically excluding narrators who are also primary characters in the story. There are a lot of really good unreliable main character POVs, and some that are very, very popular. There are also a LOT of found footage / "documentary" shows, so the pool of "main character who is technically also the narrator" is monstrously large. This is for narrators who have things to say about the story but are moderately to severely removed from it. You'll notice I've also excluded the Documentarian from The White Vault, because by the time she's commenting on the story, she's also a main character.

Madeleine can stay because she's very polite.

Madeleine the mouse

Madeleine doesn't exactly serve a narrative so much as she plates and seasons it before bringing it out. Part plot device, part confidante, and all bohemian authoress. But please, consider the other candidates long and hard before you vote. She's not really too unreliable, she's just incredibly biased.

The Voice of HartLife

You have to be a special kind of unreliable for one of your characters to break down the fourth wall into your recording studio to kick the shit out of you.

The Historian

*Gesturing at a lithograph of Eisen and Telesphore making out sloppy style* "Truly, it is tragic that the men of our generation have lost such deep platonic bonds as are depicted here. So secure were they in their brotherhood that our contemporary idea of friendship fails to-"

The Narrator

No, not Leon. The other guy. I can't possibly describe what his Whole Deal is without spoiling a major plot twist of the show, but guys. He killed Matt Damon, guys. He killed Matt Damon while trying to murder dozens of other people at the same time. (Hundreds? I don't know how trains work.)

Dubrach

Yes, I know it's not really confirmed. That's what unreliable narration is all about. But what could be more reliable than the literal word of god on the puny machinations of his flock? :) :) :) Also he's voiced by Alisdair Stuart, our dad.

The Malevolent Patreon Hastur

...is specifically not included, because a) people are going to think I'm talking about John, and b) brand recognition is going to skew the whole thing, as if Madeleine isn't going to sweep for that very reason. But I'm mentioning him here because of the time he made people so angry that the actual real live writer had to come out and remind them that this is a fictional character. iykyk.

[ghostflowerdreams]

Audio Drama Recommendations, Pt. II

For part one, click here. I went on another audio drama binge and I found some that were pretty fun to listen to. I usually tend to go after the ones that are completed because the longer the wait, the more likely I will forget the details, but this time I just went for anything that caught my attention. This also isn’t in any particular order.

The Magnus Archives – is a horror fiction anthology podcast written by Jonathan Sims, directed by Alexander J. Newall, and distributed by Rusty Quill.

The new Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, Jonathan Sims, attempts to bring a seemingly neglected collection of people’s testimonials of their encounters with the supernatural up to date, converting them to audio and supplementing them with follow-up work from his small but dedicated team. [COMPLETED]

It has five seasons, each 40 episodes long, as well as additional content such as Q&As, non-canon fan-submitted statements and one-off episodes that tie in with Rusty Quill's other podcasts.

It does start out slow and maybe at some point you’ll be wondering where is this going and what does some of these episodes have to do with the overall story, but it does all eventually connect. Your patience will pay off because once the build-up is done it picks up and things get really interesting!

Unwell – is a horror podcast starring Clarisa Cherie Rios and produced by Hartlife NFP.

The story follows Lillian Harper who has returned home to Mt. Absalom, Ohio to care for her estranged mother Dorothy after an injury. Living in the town's boarding house which has been run by her family for generations, she discovers conspiracies, ghosts, and a new family in the house's strange assortment of residents. [ONGOING]

This audio drama has five seasons which runs for 12 episodes. It currently has 54 episodes in total and each one is about 20-30 minutes long. New episodes are released fortnightly (biweekly) on Wednesdays. They take a mid-season break between episodes 6 and 7.

Bridgewater – is a supernatural thriller audio drama produced by Grim & Mild and by iHeartRadio, created by Aaron Mahnke and written/directed by Lauren Shippen.

Folklore professor Jeremy Bradshaw is pulled into the mysterious 1980 disappearance of his police officer father, Thomas, by new evidence that threatens to upend decades of certainty. Along the way, he’s helped by some unlikely partners who challenge everything he believes in, and ultimately tries to answer the question: can the past actually be rewritten?

Together with his father’s former partner, retired Detective Anne Becker, Jeremy must chase the clues that will tell him whether his father really did fall victim to a Satanic cult in the Bridgewater Triangle—or something much more dark and unexplainable. [ONGOING]

It has two seasons, the first consist of 10 episodes and the second has 12 episodes. Each one runs about 20-30 minutes long. Season three was put on hold when there was news of a possible television series. However, that fell through and by then everyone was working on other projects. So a season three, well, that’s pretty much up in the air.

It stars Misha Collins (Supernatural), Melissa Ponzio (Teen Wolf), Nathan Fillion (Firefly, The Rookie), Karan Soni (Deadpool), Kristin Bauer (True Blood), Hilarie Burton Morgan (The Walking Dead, One Tree Hill), Wil Wheaton (Star Trek: The Next Generation), Jonathan Joss (The Magnificent Seven, Parks and Rec) and Lori Alan (Spongebob Squarepants, Family Guy).

The Lovecraft Investigations -- is a mystery thriller/horror fiction podcast written and directed by Julian Simpson, based on several works of H.P. Lovecraft. It’s produced by Sweet Talk Productions for BBC Radio 4. It concluded with three seasons and each episode is about 25-30 minutes long. There might be a fourth season in the works, but even if there isn’t the series is considered to be finished.

The first season starts off with an investigation into the disappearance of a young man, Charles Dexter Ward from a locked room in an asylum. [COMPLETED]

It stars Barnaby Kay (Shakespeare in Love), Jana Carpenter (Doctor Who), Nicola Walker (MI-5, Unforgotten), Mark Bazeley (The Queen, The Bourne Ultimatum), Phoebe Fox (Eye in the Sky, The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death), Steven Mackintosh (Rang De Basanti, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels), Samuel Barnett (Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, Penny Dreadful), Alun Armstrong (Sleepy Hollow, The Mummy Returns), Adam Godley (The Great, The Umbrella Academy), and so on.

Midnight Burger – is a monthly sci-fi audio drama about a diner at the end – and somehow the beginning – of the universe.

When Gloria took a waitressing job at Midnight Burger outside of Phoenix, she didn’t realize she was now an employee of a time-traveling, dimension-spanning diner. Every day Midnight Burger appears somewhere new in the cosmos along with its staff: a galactic drifter, a rogue theoretical physicist, a sentient old-timey radio, and some guy named Caspar.

No one knows who built Midnight Burger or how it works, but when it appears there's always someone around who could really use a cup of coffee. Come by any time, we open at six. [ONGOING]

The audio drama currently has three seasons and each episodes averages about 30 minutes to an hour or so.

Rex Rivetter: Private Eye – is a 1950s-style noir detective audio drama written by Greg McAfee, directed by Rhiannon McAfee, and produced in San Diego, CA by Downstairs Entertainment with editing and sound design by Steve Murdock. The Rex Rivetter theme “Nightmare” by the Artie Shaw Orchestra is used with permission of Music Sales Corp.

The year is 1955. Tinsel town. The land of make-believe. It's a time of growth in American prosperity. Especially in Los Angeles. Here, dreams are bought and sold.

But there's a seedier side to the City of Angels, the shadows where pimps and narcotics pushers live, where organized crime stands just around every corner with one hand out, and the other wrapped around a roscoe. It's a city full of fancy dames and slick cons, where bookies know the vig, so you better, too.

Some folks call it noir or pulp fiction. But for a private eye named Rex Rivetter, it's home. [ONGOING]

It has four seasons and each one runs about 20-30 minutes long. Due to the pandemic, it is still unknown if season five will ever come out and so far there hasn’t been any news about it either.

Mansfield Mysteries – is a satirical, cozy murder whodunit written by Amy Henson, directed by Nicholas Hoyt and produced by The QuaranTeam.

It follows the inquisitive, martini-loving socialite Dorinda Mansfield and is set in quiet, affluent Berkshire Bay. So far it only has one season, which contains nine hilarious episodes, each three-chapter story finds Dorinda wrapped up in a new murder. With the help of her devoted daughter, Stacey—as well as the occasional frenemy—Dorinda digs for clues, navigates Berkshire Bay’s elite social circles, and sifts through years’ worth of grudges and motives. In this company town, no one can be trusted, and everyone has something to hide.

Whether at the Labor Day Extravaganza, the Halloween Tennis Club Open, or secret karaoke night, Dorinda sets out to find the real killer before they get away with murder… Just as soon as she orders her martini! [COMPLETED]

If you’re looking for a bite-sized audio drama, this might be for you. It has three seasons (or chapters) and each one only takes three episodes to complete its tales, which is fun, amusing and will keep you entertained while you’re working on something or resting your eyes.

The Call of the Void – is an indie science fiction mystery audio drama created and written by Josie Eli Herman and Michael Alan Herman. It’s produced by Acorn Arts & Entertainment. It contains three seasons of 28 episodes and each one is about 25-30 minutes long with a cast of about 35 actors.

In the bustling streets of New Orleans, a tour guide and a palm-reading outcast team up to unravel the mystery behind cases of sudden insanity besetting the city. [COMPLETED]

Wolf 359 – is a science fiction audio drama created by Gabriel Urbina and produced by Gabriel Urbina and Zach Valenti under Kinda Evil Genius Productions. It consists of four seasons with 61 episodes in total and each one is about 25-40 minutes long.

It is set on board the U.S.S. Hephaestus space station orbiting the star Wolf 359 on a deep space survey mission. The dysfunctional crew deals with daily life-or-death emergencies, while searching for signs of alien life and discovering there might be more to their mission than they thought. [COMPLETED]

[hephaestuscrew]

Thinking 'If I had a nickel for every time a podcast production company was named after the fictional sinister corporation that plays a major role in their first audio drama, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice' thoughts about Third Sight Media (Greater Boston) and Hartlife NFP (Our Fair City).

[mercuryj15]

Continuing my podcast crawl since I keep catching up to the ongoing ones.

Next up is Unwell. This one has been exceptionally good. It has an interesting story and characters that you easily get invested in.

[purple-to-my-tangerine]

HartLife board of directors I want so badly to absolutely eviscerate you you pompous self important greedy insensitive corporate pricks. You’ve convinced yourselves you hold power equal to gods and I wish for your hubris to fell you sooner rather than later

So anyway I’ve decided to start listening to ofc again,

[theboardofdirectorslovesyou]

September 2024 re-release of Our Fair City 

LOYAL POLICIES!

We are going to try an experiment- really doing science, you could say. Our Fair City is going to be re-released!

What? What are you talking about?

The world of audio fiction (and otherwise) has changed a lot since we started making Our Fair City in 2009. Distressingly- the social, political, and artistic themes we were engaging with in the show just keep getting more relevant. We want to bring this show to new listeners- but understand that the long feed and lack of current releases can be a barrier to entry. SO: On August 5th, we’re going to temporarily remove the episodes from the podcast feed. Starting in September 2024 on the existing feed, we are going to release seasons 1 and 2 rapidly in a 30-day period. It’s going to be almost daily. Starting in October, we’ll be releasing episodes weekly. We hope you will be excited to listen along with us as it’s released again!

But I love Our Fair City and I can’t stand to wait to listen to it! What do I do? For anyone who gets into the show and *just can’t wait* for weekly releases, we will have all 8 seasons available, ad free, as part of the Audacious Machine Creative membership starting in September. Membership is $5/month and gets you access to all of Our Fair City and ad free feeds of all our other shows. You also get some fun Our Fair City bonus content - like all of the ringtones we produced while the show was originally releasing. Check out more about becoming a member here.  

[skyfullofpods]

O is for Our Fair City @theboardofdirectorslovesyou!

The isolated city of Hartford grew out of the HartLife insurance company, which controls every aspect of the lives of the policies (policies, not people) of the city. The episodes of Our Fair City are presented as “true dramatizations” of the city’s history by the narrator.

[curiousity-killed-the-cat-but]

Midnight burger is honestly one of my favs 10/10 always recommend, it’s kinda like if doctor who and hitch hikers guide to the galaxy had a love child - the time travel and dimension travel of doctor who and the silly shenanigans of guide to the galaxy.

the end of time and other bothers is an actual play podcast but it’s the only actual play podcast I could get behind

Unwell is great, very mysterious

The old gods of Appalachia is decent

If you like musicals the ballad of Anne and Mary is a great completed show based on real pirates Anne and Mary.

The edge of sleep is a fantastic spookiesh apocalyptic story - it only has one season right now because they focused on a book and tv show, the book is out but I haven’t heard anything about the show. I believe a second season is confirmed for soon.

Ghost tape and the burned photo are good spooky ones too.

Solar is a good completed started podcast - sci-fi.

Pretty much anything from Qcode/woodelf media or the fable and folly, networks is great

Hartlife nfp, long cat media, Gideon media, networks are also pretty decent

So I now have a >1hr commute 3-4x a week. I need narrative podcasts and I know nothing about podcasts.

I'm considering getting into WTNV? I guess? It's literally the only one I know of with a narrative.

Suggestions????

[park-bench-poet]

Listening to Our Fair City makes Silas Lodge feel a lot more sinister. Mark Soloff, you butter-voiced bastard!

[heres-to-all-that-is-mine]

Imagine drinking from a juice box and suddenly realising your top surgery’s been done/undone

Anyway I wouldn’t trust HartLife’s food products as far as I could throw them, and I have Very Weak Arms