#wtnv ep 81

[kevin--of-desert-bluffs]

WTNV quick rundown - 81 - After 3327

Featuring Maureen Johnson as Intern Maureen.

To err is human. But to err is also computer. We’ll have to find another test to reveal which of us are secretly bots. Welcome to Night Vale.

Intern Maureen drops by the studio with her new beagle puppy. Cecil is instantly enamoured with the cute pup. Maureen is still trying to get Cecil to sign a letter saying she completed her internship. She has a new one, 'leading an army or whatever'. He still won't sign it. Sensing he's distracted, she leaves.

She leaves in the company of the boy Cecil saw her with before and whom he doesn't trust.

The Museum of Forbidden Technologies hosts a lecture by Night Vale High’s AP auto shop teacher Nick Teller. Of course, since learning about most technology is forbidden, it is required of him to wear a burlap sack over his head and have a white noise machine blasting through the lecture.

He gets frustrated with this and removes the sack, switching off the white noise maker. He then tells people how to save energy which includes a generator that runs indefinately on no fuel that he has invented.

He also mentioned how an experiment he did before caused a boat to start jumping through parallell time and space, causing him to have to fake his death and change his whole life to evade the consequences.

Cecil continues to repeat what he's saying, making him an accomplice in the forbidden learning of new things. Cecil was doing this on purpose so that he could get a couple of weeks off work. Between reeducation sessions, he manages to get chores done and spend some time with Carlos. He also visits Nick, who says he doesn't mind his new job and is 'feeding' the cars as well as grading pictures.

Weather: "Table Song" by Katie Kuffel

NV leaves offerings of fruit and Rolaids for the Eternal Scouts in their glass cases in front of City Hall.

Wednesday is Take Your Daughter To Work Day. Wednesday is Put Your Daughter To Work Day. Wednesday is Teach Your Daughter How To Do Whatever Simple Task It Is You Are Paid To Do And Then, Once She Has Mastered It, Slip Away And Leave Her As Your Replacement Day.

Dark Owl Records is having a sale, especially on art which has no real value, and Michelle wants to know what albums you want so she can throw all the copies she owns in the trash because it's become too popular. She burns this statement into Cecil's lawn.

Harrison Kip testifies against Hiram, speaking about how he was tricked into raising a sand golem for Hiram. He also says that he was so ashamed he's been living far out in the desert which is mostly peaceful but he recently saw something which scared him but he doesn't say what.

Cecil likes the show 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' which is some kind of lawyer show in NV.

Stay tuned next for an unexpected gain in cabin pressure. No mask will help you. We weren’t prepared for things to go this way. And good night, Night Vale. Good night.

[goopiguess]

Among Us (Cecil): 4

Impostor (Cecil): 2

Among Us (Pamela): 1

Been watching Welcome To Night Vale

I have just started episode 31. Cecil is a simp and has so far said Among Us twice and Impostor once.

[werewolfwriter323]

Hello and welcome to my Blog

I am Werewolfwriter323 and this post is basically just a way for me to organize all the stuff I post or reblog, so that I can find my own stuff and whatnot easier. And to find posts that I want to look at or reblog again.

Here’s the most used tags that i’ve included

#not tma (these are for most posts that aren’t tma or other fandoms)

#other’s art (art that I didn’t create)

#free palestine (any post that I reblogged about palestine)

#werewolfwriter does stuff (my tag for any “original” stuff that I post, whether it’s art, aus, writing, shitposts, memes, edits, etc.)

#werewolfwriter [ ] draws, edits, writes etc. (A more detailed tag for whatever “original” thing that I posted)

#important news/info (Anything that I reblogged that I think will be important to look back on, or important info or links, or the like)

#queer stuff (Any Queer/Gay/LGBTQ+ posts. To note I usually use the term Queer to speak about the community, just because for me it works better as an umbrella term, it fits better for what I identify with.)

#random stuff (random posts that I found interesting or funny enough to reblog)

#memes (It’s memes, what do you want from me?)

#writing stuff (Posts that usually include writing tips and the like that I know that I’ll want to look back on)

#art stuff (Posts that usually include art tips and the like that I know that I’ll want to look back on)

#save for later (Posts that I want to look back on for whatever reason)

I have been using tumblr for a while, and I had an older blog that I was often on, but it wasn’t until a few months ago with this new blog that I finally figured out how tagging works. I hadn’t really given it though until recently, and now I am glad to be able to use it to organize my stuff somewhat.

Despite being a mostly TMA and WTNV blog here's some other fandoms that I love and will gush about given the chance.

Gravity Falls

Danny Phantom

Avatar The Last Airbender

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures

Mob Psycho 100

Kingdom Hearts

Sonic The Hedgehog

Other Random tidbits

Most relistened to TMA eps:

MAG 01 Anglerfish

MAG 13 Alone

MAG 15 Lost John's Cave

MAG 22 Colony

MAG 51 High Pressure

MAG 50 Trail Rations

MAG 77 The Kind Mother

MAG 81 A Guest For Mr.Spider

MAG 91 The Coming Storm

MAG 125 Civilian Casualties

MAG 132 Entombed

MAG 170 Recollection

MAG 177 Wonderland

MAG 178 The Processing Line

Podcasts I've listened to:

The Adventure Zone (Balance & Amnesty)

Welcome To Nightvale

Random Number Generator Horror Podcast No.9

The Strange Case of Starship Iris

The Magnus Archives

Scared Gay

Wolf 359

Wooden Overcoats

Red Valley

Jar of Rebuke

And finally this is a safe space for any queer/gay/LGBTQ+ folks (including aroace people, or anyone else on the acesexual spectrum, trans folks of any sort (gender can be whatever you want or don't want it to be), and Bi and Bi adjacent (Pan for example) folks.

It's also a safe space for any neurodivergent folks.

And honestly a safe space for anyone else who isn't an exclusionists of any kind, I try to be a pretty open minded person, and I try to not judge others, but if you are going out of your way to harass people online for no good reason, then I won't deal with you on my blog, you will be blocked.

That's all for now, thanks for reading if ya did, and I hope that you enjoy what stuff I've got here.

[thirtheenprimes]

Just put on night vale again for the first time in a very long time, wondering why I stopped listening. Then the intro came on and it felt like it was simultaneously snowing and 100°F, like I just walked into Walmart except it looked identical to a Target, like I was trying to scratch my nose but it felt like someone was slapping my ear.

I physically shudder every time I hear the different intro and it takes emotional energy to stick it out until the episode starts. This is nothing like anime intro changes every season.

I don't hate it, but I would rather hear nails on a chalkboard every morning.

[firsttimelisteningtowtnvrants]

go for it nick. find those time travel papers. change the past dude.

[cinnamoncandycanes]

CECIL, WRITE MAUREEN HER DANG CREDIT LETTER!!!

[radiosandrecordings]

This might just be me speaking from a point of relative ignorance about horror, because I’m not really one for it beyond audio horror and creepy pinterest boards, but something that’s kind of struck me about why I like jonmartin, and all the romance in TMA, is that it’s romance within a horror but the romance is never the horror?

That seems to be something I come up against a lot when looking for queer horror stuff. You see rec lists for stuff like Hannibal, or Jennifer’s Body, or Killing Eve, and while I’m sure those are good - admittedly I have not seen any of them besides a few eps of Killing Eve and that was more just playing while I was in the room - I’m not particularly interested in exploring Dark and Evil Love/Hate queerness. I just want to see queer people, specifically queer romance from this standpoint, where the couple genuinely like each other. Where the world is horrifying around them, but they are this unified force against it. And yes, from an objective standpoint, Jon is a monster, technically. But that doesn’t mean he’s abusive to his partner or there’s ever any moments of “Oh he’s so bad, but I love him, the conflict!” because Jon is.... Just kinda a guy who was given some powers he doesn’t know how to deal with, he’s not malicious. He genuinely loves Martin, and they argue but it’s in very reasonable, normal ways where they apologise and talk it out. And to me that’s a lot more appealing than dynamics of Sexy Evil Person and Person Who Can’t Stop Thinking About Them, to just see queerness normalised as them going through something horrifying but still being good for each other, rather than having them slowly destroy each other. 

Other horror audio I’ve listened to is also very much in the same vein - Night Vale, Alice Isn’t Dead, Archive 81, Death by Dying. It’s all very casual, just kind of... Queer And Horror, as opposed to Queer Horror, or even going back to the days of Hays Code, Horror From Queerness. (Though of course I think for WTNV and AID in particular you lose something special about them and a lot of their message and subtext if you were to remove that queerness) 

I think it’s that same part of me that wants everything to be solved with the power of friendship and for everyone to be if not friends, then amicable in the end somehow. Something about how even when the world around you is dark and grim and terrifying, at least you can confide in each other and the love you have together

[cantarellangel]

angel's list of podcasts

Podcasts I'm up to date with:

The Magnus Archives: What got me started on podcasts again after wtnv in 2013. Really like it, the slow buildup to the overarching plot is v impressive. Frightening sometimes. (8.5/10)

Alice isn't Dead: Some genuinely touching moments. Dragged a bit in the middle, but I really liked it. Not all that attached to the characters but I'm making this list a year later. Lesbians!(7.5/10)

Archive 81: This is..... alright. I suppose. I mean I don't care about any of the characters and the plot is.... fine. I've got to listen to Season 3. Not scary. (6/10)

Caravan: I didn't like any character in this :( or the plot :( maybe i don't like non horror podcasts? representation is cool but i need to like the story as well :/(3/10)

Death by Dying: Solidly okay. The main character was funny...... but like thats it. The story was solidly okay. (4.5/10)

Gender Forking: This is a twilight podcast. (7.5/10)

Girl in Space: I liked this! Solid likeable characters and a plot that's actually halfway decent. Am I just rating these podcasts lower bc they're not horror? Has the magnus archives flowers for algernon-ed me? (6.8/10)

I am in eskew: REALLY LIKED THIS ONE. Lots of allegories and metaphors to draw parallels to that i recognised in some dark corner of my pitiful heart. It took me a while to get through this bc of the ambient rain sounds and the main character is a british man narrating so I kept falling asleep. Didn't scare me though, even though people say it's scarier than tma. (9/10)

Inkwyrm: I was told this was like devil wears prada in space and it is....... but like it's not that funny. And like instead of Andy growing more Miranda-like, in this Miranda becomes a better person which would appeal to some people i guess but not me. (4/10)

LifeAfter/The Message: I liked LifeAfter more than The Message tbh but it's good. Says interesting things about technology and capitalism but not in a boring black mirror sort of way. I liked it! (7/10)

Limetown: This is like LifeAfter but with more episodes and a more likable main character. Ep 2 warning was the scariest thing I've ever heard. I really like stories about brave women seeking out truth to an extent that everything else (including their own safety) becomes background noise. (8/10)

Mabel: This is so poetic and pretty and I love the characters and world and story and plot. Unfortunately it's so poetic I've missed whole chunks of it, and so i have to relisten. (8.5/10)

Old Gods of Appalachia: This is really fun, I like how the narrator refers to the audience as family. The plot is also really good. Horror. (8/10)

Olive Hill: This is a good one, like Limetown but the production quality is like rather indie. But it's the best modern adaptation of the changeling metaphor that I've seen. (7.5/10)

Philosphize This: Well it's a philosophy podcast. I've not finished it but it's good. (7/10)

Rabbits: Solid premise, annoying narration, bad execution and ending. (2/10)

Spines: I like this! Really good body horror!! Not frightening but like I love it. (7/10)

Stellar Firma: Well it's okay. Definitely more fun listening to it while interacting with the fandom than taking the pure source material. It's fun, it's alright. (7/10)

The Domestic Life of Anthony Todd: This is nice except I have barely any idea whats going on like world-wise and I don't like any of the characters. It's also not horror, god, do I really have a bias against non scary podcasts? (5.5/10)

Time:Bombs: This was funny. Also 3 episodes. (7/10)

Wolf359: LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS. Sometimes scary, sometimes funny, mostly a drama and I love all the characters. Really want to write a character driven drama like this (9/10)

Wooden Overcoats: Got to be real this isn't funny and tbh it's kinda boring. I've only listened to the 1st season and I may drop it. (3/10)

The 6 disappearances of Ella McCray: I liked this one! It's short and cute I think (5/10)

Mirrors: I liked this a lot more than Ella McCray, the characters were fun and the plot is intriguing and heart-warming (6.5/10)

Zero Hours: Love this as well! Though I'm glad I listened to this before 2020 since it's about the end of the world. (8/10)

Podcasts to be listened to:

Sayer

The Black Tapes

The Deca Tapes

The White Vault

Unwell

Within the wires

Podcasts I've dropped:

The Penumbra Podcast: Tried a solid amount of eps but it was a slog and i didn't like any of the characters or the plot or anything

The Bright Sessions: Why's the narrator so... aloof like? ugh. It's also a bit over produced

The Adventure Zone-Graduation: How do you make a boarding school story unfun? :(

The Adventure Zone-Amnesty: No idea wtf is happening here

My Brother, my brother and me : Maybe I just don't like these dudes.

Rusty Quill Gaming: Sorry Alex :( Maybe I just don't like gaming podcasts without a plot :((

Lore: Just not my style :/ Maybe I don't like real stories

Welcome to Night Vale: I love wtnv but like without a solid overarching plot it loses steam & direction.

(Last updated: 19-09-2020 3:25 p.m.)

[archivebottles]

Hi! Sorry for bothering, but I'm kinda new to podcasts and I really wanted to know if you could recommend me some? I've already listened to The Magnus Archives, The Penumbra Podcast, Welcome To Night Vale, King Falls AM and The Bright Sessions. Also I love your art! You're one of my favorite tma artists :)) (And sorry for any mistakes, English isn't my first language and I'm kinda sleep deprived).

hm well i am not Really the podcast kinda person i barely listen to any but one i can really recommend in the adventure zone lol but thats only if ur into a dnd type podcast and not just audio drama(basically if you want something very funny try it)

also if ur ok with silly podcast stellar firma is also fun and you can totally zone out thru them (and its finally building into like a story which im rlly interesting in seeing)

i have uh Tried mabel which is also very good but its like very poetic and the beginning is super slow and kinda awkward to listen to but apparently picks up at ep 8 but if ur into that ppl who like it Love it a lot(not my thing but maybe someday idk i thought it was a horror like tma (its not))

two others on my list are wolf 359 which ive heard a lot of good things about! and probably the next one on my list to listen to when i have to go back to work on monday is archive 81!

idk about any others ill be honest

edit: so i dont get more than one ask over it bc i did forgot about it but alice isnt dead is good if you liked wtnv

[peccolias]

Do you have any podcasts youd recommend? I've been listening to TMA and am caught up, otherwise the only other ones i listen to are mcelroy podcasts. Do you happen to have any podcasts you like and would just rec. In general?

(Updated 8/25/20)

HECK YEAH I do! For you and anyone else who’s looking for something new, keeping in mind I lean towards the horror genre, but here’s a mixed bag:

Podcasts I have finished/caught up on/can fully rec:

Welcome to Night Vale (first podcast I ever listened to, and the only one I listened to for a long time. Mixed radio show/narrative fiction style with a real cozy comforting sort of spooky atmosphere and there are so many E M O T I O N S. Probably THE most well-known, if you haven’t listened yet, definitely give it a try)

The Magnus Archives (you already said this one, but it’s very good horror and everyone should give it a chance. It’s pretty much the flipside of WTNV, with plenty of mystery, intrigue and creeping dread. Don’t let the first 20 or so eps fool you; it isn’t an anthology and the plot spirals deeper and deeper and it gets pretty depressing sometimes actually)

Unwell, a Midwestern Gothic Mystery (You want an explicitly mixed black female wlw lead who gets a Latina gf?? Explicit they/them NB rep?? Spooky queerness?? A haunted small town boarding house with ghosts and weird doors?? And a celery festival?? This one's for you. Oh there's also a cult. So far it's a great balance of uneasy creepiness and good slice of life with a full cast of colorful characters, and the town's name slaps. Mt. Absalom?? Hello?? Has serious moments that will hurt you, too)

Limetown (COMPLETE. short thriller/mystery type, interesting story about an entire small community that goes missing, has a TV series now I think?)

Wolf 359 (COMPLETE. AMAZING radio drama one of my good friends who always recs good things rec’d to me and now I rec to YOU. you won’t regret listening if you like great stories and upbeat sci fi comedies that go horribly, horribly wrong. IN SPACE.)

I Am In Eskew (COMPLETE. Really good casual yet seriously fucked up foray into Lovecraftian psychological horror centering around a living city called Eskew and its horrible and equally despondent occupants and occurrences. Follows two voiced characters whose paths eventually converge. It's sort of depressing and hurt my heart sometimes for the sheer hopelessness, but it's worth the journey.)

Podcasts I like but have not caught up on:

Old Gods of Appalachia (old country american horror anthology)

King Falls AM (cozy little small town late night radio show with a colorful cast of characters and plenty of spooks)

Wrong Station (vintage radio show style horror anthology based on old TV and radio shows of the same flavor. but modern.)

The Lost Cat Podcast (Lighthearted horror (yeah it exists) and existentialism revolving around the narrator and his lost cat and many glasses of wine. There are many cats. I mean a lot. If you don't want depressing scary horror but still want to step into a world of kooky spooky Eldritch supernatural stuff and relevant musical interludes per episode, this is the way to go. I'm not very far along but it's a fun time.)

The Bridge (interesting setting and story premise. It’s a whole system of bridges across the Atlantic. come on. oh, but make sure you find the right one. it isn’t the talk show about politics and news)

Rusty Quill Gaming (had a hankering for familiar voices during the TMA hiatus and since this has some TMA voice actors in it I gave it a try. First rpg podcast I’ve listened to, but I fell in love with their campaign and characters)

Podcasts I have NOT listened to but they look good/I’ve heard things/they’re by the same creators of series I enjoy:

Dreamboy (Night Vale Presents)

Alice Isn’t Dead (Night Vale Presents)

Within the Wires (Night Vale Presents)

Stellar Firma (Rusty Quill) 

Zero Hours (Wolf 359 creator/cast)

ars Paradoxica (friend who rec’d Wolf 359 to me mentioned this one so I trust it)

Death By Dying

The White Vault 

The Bright Sessions

The Black Tapes

Blackwood

Archive 81

Sayer

Wooden Overcoats

The Penumbra Podcast (I hear EXCELLENT things about this one)

The Adventure Zone and other McElroy podcasts (more of a note to self. I really need to start listening to them boys)

–

That’s about it, that’s my current lineup for listening and as many as I know. Y’all feel free to reblog with more recs or more info on the ones I haven’t listened to. 

Hope you find something you enjoy, anon!

[ehlihr]

what podcasts have you listened to/are listening to ? i swore at one point that u listened to the black tapes podcast but i must be mistaken bc i can’t find anything abt it on ur blog :0

Advanced apologies to anyone who searches like. any of these.

i’ve listened to tma (obvs), more than a season of penumbra (i have yet to go back), d20 if you count that as a podcast, wtnv, taz balance and some of amnesty, mbmbam, review revue (it’s new and rly fucking funny), king falls am, wolf 359, the orbiting human circus,and archive 81

i’v listened to abt five eps of the black tapes, and haven’t found it in me to go back yet, but i like the production and i have a character Type (sad old man hated by everyone needs one (1) friend because he’s earned it) and i love the protag’s slightly unethical-journalist energy lmao.

other podcasts on my List (other than aforementioned podcasts, many of which I'm frankly not caught up on): darkest night, Alice isn’t dead, to live and die in LA, the dark tome (i actually listened to an ep and hated the vibe but i wanna try again), sawbones, rqgp, stella firma

Feel free to leave recs! I don’t much like fiction comedy, i prefer other genres that are comedic if that makes sense? Like ok, wtnv is funny, but its not really a comedy. versus like, the early episodes of king falls which i just wasn't into, but it later became like a horror drama which is more my vibe.

[storms-podcast-archive]

Podcasts I'm Currently Listening To

The Magnus Archives: caught up, my favorite and current obsession. I never knew i could like horror before TMA

Stellar Firma: caught up, hilarious and incredibly underrated, i wish more people listened so it would get the recognition it deserves. think Hitchhiker's Guide and add more chaos, if thats possible

WTNV: havnt listened in a long time but Im gonna make my way back to it soon. The OG podcast for me

Archive 81: finished s2, trippy in the best ways

The Adventure Zone: caught up, cant say anything that other people havnt already said, Balance rekindled my love for DnD and led me to Critical Role

Not Another DnD Podcast: started but having a hard time getting into, love Dimension 20 so I'll give it another go at some point

Rusty Quill Gaming: will start soon as it is the next in line of my Rusty Quill lineup, listened to ep 0 character introductions

High Rollers: my friend is super into this one and I tried to get into it campaign 2 but wasnt feeling it, might try again later

My Brother My Brother and Me: cant listen to TAZ without next checking this out, i listen sporadically

All other McElroy content: i have dipped my toes into but not into enough to regularly listen

Our Plague Year: its to sad to listen to too much at once

Big ones Ill try soon

Wolf 359

The Penumbra Podcast

Beef and Dairy Network?

Mission to Zyxx

Rise of the Demigods/Godsfall

Friends at the Table

Alice isnt Dead

I have tons more on my list, but this is my current line up. If theres a major one you feel I must start before all others, please let me know!

[transarchivist]

wtnv and archive 81!

wtnv: what was your first podcast?

wtnv was my first podcast! i binged it a few years ago and recently caught up a bit! (im back to being a few eps behind rn tho)

archive 81: do you have a favorite ‘in universe’ explanation for the podcast?

tma’s 1000% is my favorite!!! although i will say when in wolf 359 the sound of the recorder clicked off and then they kept talking gave me chills

[nat-20s]

wtnv, archice 81, kaleidotrope!

WTNV: What was your first podcast?

Welcome to nightvale was, in fact, my first podcast! Probably part of why it feels so much like coming home with every new ep i listen to!

Archive 81: Do you have a favourite ‘in universe’ explanation for the podcast? Radio show, found footage, etc?

Radio show is a classic! I like how it incorporates not only why the things we’re hearing are being recorded, but also why we, as an audience, would be listening!

Kaleidotrope: Do you have a ‘comfort podcast’?

Welcome to nightvale for sure. Also dungeons and daddies. and bombarded!

[rhoddys]

Alright dndads didn’t go over the best with my mom

She was laughing along with it but then said that she found it boring later, it was only the first ep tho so maybe I’ll try later

She asked for more podcasts in the realm of tma so we’re trying CHAT rn and I’ve also got Archive 81 eps downloaded plus a WTNV ep

[celestriakle]

I keep getting people who ask me what podcasts I listen to, what they’re about, and which I recommend, SO. Please note: these are solely my opinions, and your taste may differ from mine.

If you ever want more recommendations, check out Radio Drama Revival, which features all sorts of shows, singular and serial, and interviews with their writers and creators.

(This list is regularly updated. Last update 10/31/21.)

Top 3:

Archive 81: Dan is hired to organize some tapes about a very strange apartment building. Really ramps up in season 2. Horror. Good characters, interesting worldbuilding, intriguing plot, good voice acting, the best sound design of everything I’ve listened to so far. The whole package, really. (Ongoing.)

The Magnus Archives: An archivist for an institute of paranormal research reads aloud witness testimonials that turn out to be connected. The most tightly written podcast yet, perfectly paced, amazing use of framing device, fascinating world-building, wonderful slow-burn character development. Pay attention to the details in this one. (Completed.)

The Penumbra Podcast: There are a handful of stand-alone stories, but the two primary ones are a medieval-adjacent fantasy featuring knights facing monsters and a scifi detective noir story. Good breadth, and all the stories are fun and interesting, the characters endearing. Really excellent dialogue and genre play. (Ongoing.)

Great:

Alice Isn’t Dead: An anxious trucker is looking for her missing wife. Done by the Nightvale people but nothing like it. American Gothic variety horror. Lovely descriptions, a good protagonist, an interesting world, well-paced. (Completed.)

The Bunker: A black comedy about three guys who survived the apocalypse broadcasting a radio show to the wasteland. The episodes are long, but clearly and easily segmented for easy listening. Does an excellent job building up the world and characters and maintaining its bleak humor throughout, while going in depth on its themes and the chosen topics of each episode. (Completed.)

The Bright Sessions: People with powers in therapy to learn to cope with them. Contrary to what one might expect, this isn’t about superheroes, but the way it handles healing and growth and relationships are fantastic. A satisfying ending. Very character-driven. Sequel series are now available on the feed as well. (Completed.)

Caravan: Two best friends are on a camping trip together, when one falls into a midwestern fantasy world. So much fun, the characters are full of charm and heart, and the voice actors portray them well. Another heartwarming whisperforge work, funny too. Mildly NSFW. (Ongoing.)

The Deep Vault: In the near future, a small group escape the apocalypse by taking shelter in a legendary abandoned bunker, but they’re not alone. A 7-ep miniseries made by the same people who did Archive 81, and they’re able to develop their cast and the relationships in it quite effectively in the short span given. A fast paced adventure great for a long drive or quiet afternoon. (Completed.)

The Far Meridian: An agoraphobic young woman wakes up to discover her lighthouse is teleporting around. Gentle surrealism with a focus on story. Even the one-off characters are charming, and there are well-written latino characters everywhere. (Ongoing.)

Girl in Space: Just a girl, in space, taking care of a star with only a glitchy AI for company (for now). The girl’s very charming, and the AI is one of my favorites I’ve seen written. (Ongoing.)

Gone: A woman wakes up one day to discover she's the last person in the world. No apocalypse, everyone's just... gone. Very, very strong voice in the protagonist; she's rough and fascinating. Incorporates a mental health angle often neglected in these types of stories. Another season was promised, as season 1 ends on a cliffhanger, but it hasn’t yet materialized. (Abandoned.)

Greater Boston: In an alternate Boston, the Red Line railway becomes it's own city, and the ramifications of that. A story about community, with the focus on a group of people dealing with the aftermath of a single man's death. Both deeply emotional and very, very funny. There are cheese robots, Atlantis, and guinea pigs. A delightful and very well woven wild ride. (Ongoing.)

Kalila Stormfire’s Economical Magick Services: A pleasant slice-of-life record of a young witch’s attempt to start a business. It takes a little to get going; I didn’t get much invested until episode seven, but ever since then, it’s continually ramped up. The final season especially is a delight. The crossover specials are very fun. (Ongoing.)

Liberty: In a distant Earth colony colony, there is the city of Atrius ruled by the dictatorial Arkon, and outside are the cannibalistic Fringers. Three stories in one. Critical Research, the first and roughest, follows a crew of Atrians going out and studying the Fringers. Tales of the Tower are is an anthology of horror stories aired by the Atrian government. Vigilance is an Actual Play story where the players are Atrians trying to track down three missing persons for community service, and get stuck in a deeper conspiracy. All of them are excellent, amazing soundscaping, good VAs, and intense writing. Vigilance and Critical Research are over, but Tales from the Tower is still ongoing. (Ongoing, but has several completed stories.)

The London Necropolis Railway: A short listen about a railroad that ferries the souls of the dead. A ghost dodged their train and one of the ticketers needs to chase her down. Short episodes, exciting, funny and fun. (Ongoing.)

A Scottish Podcast: A self-absorbed asshole tries to get rich by starting his own supernatural podcast. A parody of The Black Tapes and its ilk. Hilarious and a solid plot. (Ongoing.)

Startripper!!: An alien office worker buys his dream car and quits his job to go have adventures and live his best life. Genuinely the happiest, most feel good podcast I’ve heard. An absolute pleasure. (Ongoing.)

Uncanny County: An anthology series about strange events happening in a backwater town. Mostly has a goofy, off-beat tone, so it’s all good fun. Stories range from a couple that moves into a a house with a bathtub that reduces aging to a couple trying to get over the husband’s fear of clowns by staying a clown hotel. The stories are connected by place, but there’s no overarching plot; it’s just good fun. (Anthology.)

Welcome to Nightvale: The community radio show for the small desert town of Nightvale, where every conspiracy theory is true. You probably know this. WTNV is credited with kickstarting the new age of audio dramas for good reason: it's weird and wonderful with expansive storylines and amazing characters. I first discovered it back in 2015, but dropped it and didn't revisit it until now, five years later. Even with every other show I've heard, even with its own massive backlog, it still holds up with the best of them, still evoking new emotions and unveiling new secrets. WTNV is still very much an amazing podcast worth listening to. (Ongoing.)

The White Vault: An international repair team goes up to a base in Svalbard and becomes trapped by a storm after making an amazing discovery. Arctic horror. Novel framing, excellent suspense, good sound design and voice acting, a well done show. Uses actually international VAs. (Ongoing.)

Within the Wires: Tales from another world told first through relaxation tapes, then museum guides, then a government official’s notes to his secretary. The delicate unveiling of the world, and the complex relationships depicted through these restricted forms is absolutely masterful, allowing a deep understanding in spite of hearing only one voice. It starts off very strange and surreal, but it’s worth listening through that initial bump to get to the meat. (Ongoing.)

Wolf-359: The crew of a deep-space outpost begins receiving a series of strange transmissions. A sci-fi classic in the podcast community for good reason: beautifully plotted, excellent emotional arcs, a cast of characters I loved in their entirety. (Completed.)

Wooden Overcoats: A comedy about two competing funeral homes in a tiny village. Absolutely hilarious. Each character has their trope, but they are never bound by it and all are allowed to grow and develop beyond it. (Ongoing.)

Good:

2298: In a dystopian future where human lives are guided and curated by the Network, resident 24 is haunted by a beautiful golden bird. A modern take on a Big Brother-style dystopia. Quite short, but fun. Connected to the canon of Girl in Space. (Completed.)

36 Questions: An estranged married couple attempts to reconnect by asking each other 36 questions that are supposed to help people fall in love. A musical, only 3 episodes long. Very good, excellent sound design, and this podcast would easily be in the great category if it weren’t for the ending, which I found unsatisfying. (Completed.)

Ars Paradoxica: A scientist accidentally sends herself back to the ‘40s and gets picked up by a military organization and tries to use their resources to get herself back to the present. One of the earlier audio dramas, so it’s a little tropey, but it existed before many of those tropes were established. I’m still listening through! (Completed.)

Beef and Dairy Network: A comedy podcast that made me laugh! The news from a fictitious network, like if Nightvale was about beef and dairy exclusively. Enough plot and fun to keep it fresh, that it really only wears down after 40 or so episodes. (Ongoing.)

The Bridge: The caretakers of Watchtower 10 on the largely abandoned Transatlantic Bridge are all there for a reason. There are frightening things in the water, and a wealth of stories. A little spooky, but not really horror. Big lovable cast, a good format, and several interesting plot threads to put together and follow. (Ongoing.)

Gal Pals Present Overkill: A ghost tries to figure out how she died and navigate the afterlife in a very haunted park. Sweet, does very interesting things with ghosts as a concept. All girls, everyone’s gay, that latina representation I always crave. (Ongoing.)

Kane and Feels: A pair of PIs (Paranormal Investigators) investigate a trail of subconscious strangeness. A very beautiful and surreal story that blurs the world of reality and dreams. Lovely prose and aesthetic. Episodes release extremely sporadically with no clear season breaks. (Ongoing?)

King Falls AM: Two guys host a radio show in a little town full of strange happenings. A similar premise to WTNV executed quite differently. Charming but underwhelming for the first 50-ish episodes, then ramps up sharply and becomes very intense and very good. (Ongoing.)

Lesser Gods: In a post-apocalyptic future after which humans lost the ability to reproduce, the final five youngest on earth attempt to cope with and solve a murder after one of their ranks dies. Like a YA novel in the best way. Very flawed and complex characters. Episodes stopped coming midseason. (Abandoned.)

L I M B O: A dead man meets people from his past. Manages to bring to life several interesting characters in a very short time, though it leaves questions. Connected to the canon of 2298. (Completed.)

Mabel: Live-in caretaker for an elderly woman won’t stop leaving voicemails for the woman’s estranged granddaughter and discovers many strange things in the strange house. Very narrowly got edged out of my top three, but still very good. Gothic horror. Great use of format, well-paced, mellifluous writing and good music that makes it a pleasure to listen to in sound alone. (Ongoing.)  

Middle:Below: A man with the ability to travel to the spirit world helps ghosts move on. Very cute and quirky and sweet. The cast’s charming, and the ghosts they deal with are interesting, and there’s still quite a number of mysteries about the world. (Ongoing.)

Outliers: An anthology collection rather than a narrative, each story tells the tale of a lesser known British historical figure. Well-written, well-acted--mostly--with a bonus of some learning on the side. (Completed.)

Passage: Two skeletons on a lifeboat from a ship that supposedly vanished a century ago washes up on the shore of a small town. A mystery miniseries, only 7 episodes long. Half the reason I listened to this is because it takes place in the PNW. A good mystery, an enjoyable quick listen. (Completed.)

Pleasuretown: A western about a small desert town that got wiped out, and the stories of all the inhabitants who used to live there and the strange supernatural encounters they had. It weaves together beautifully with top notch sounds. Starts out very white/male/cishet, but the stories get more diverse and inclusive as the podcast goes on. It’s episodic enough that the stories are enjoyable on their own, but the large overarching story thread never got resolved. (Abandoned.)

Radiation World: A boat full of strangers on a quest discovers a bunker full of people who survived the apocalypse and they help each other out. Shenanigans ensure. Incredibly fun and funny with a great plot and series of twists. The ending implied another season was planned, but there are no major questions left, so it stand on its own. (Completed?)

Station to Station: A researcher is looking into the circumstances of the disappearance of a beloved coworker no one seems to remember. Sporadic update schedule has made this one a bit hard to keep track of. (Ongoing.)

Alright:

Bubble: A hipster human colony that lives in a bubble on a foreign planet occasionally deals with monster attacks. A comedy that knows its type very well: I have an intimate understanding of the people it’s poking fun at, and that made it at once incredibly fun and also hard to listen to. It implied there would be a second season, but one hasn’t yet happened. The first season stands alone well, however. (Completed?)

Big Data: Seven thieves steal the seven keys to the internet to try to take it down. Each individual heist is really interesting and fun with a great thief, but the frame narrative left me wanting. The ending implied there was going to be a sequel series, but one never materialized. (Completed?)

Congeria: A detective searching for a missing girl gets caught up with cults and murderers. A well produced podcast, well acted and well plotted, this is perfect if you love hardboiled detective stories. Honestly, this is only in alright because it’s not my usual genre. It was just a heavy listen. (Completed.)

The Dark Tome: A dark fantasy podcast where a troubled young teen reads a magic, potentially evil book that sucks her into another world and allows her to witness stories. Very much has the feel of a YA novel. Each stories within the frame are written by different authors, so episode quality varies. (Ongoing.)

Deadly Manners: A classic murder mystery at a grand house party. It was enjoyable, the characters reasonably fun (with one massive racist/homophobic/antisemitic exception), but the whole thing still felt very run-of-the-mill nevertheless. (Completed.) 

Dreamboy: A depressed musician gets caught up in a conspiracy surrounding a dream and a killer zebra. Honestly, that synopsis isn’t even the half of it. This podcast is incredibly strange (and explicitly NSFW) but quite fascinating. Also, it has fabulous musical numbers. (Completed.)

Empty: Several humans and an AI wake up on a colony spaceship alone, with no memory. Interesting characters, a new favorite AI, but their season finale was more of a cliffhanger than a finale that wrapped up anything. (Abandoned.)

Hadron Gospel Hour: A comedy podcast about a scientist who broke the universe, his everyman sidekick, and the supercomputer helping them fix it. It’s episodic, and there are standalone shorts in it that are funny. Some jokes haven’t aged well, to put it kindly. At least one episode contains a racist joke. The seasons posted are complete, but the overarching plot never finished resolving. (Abandoned.)

The Infinite: The last surviving member of a deep space exploration mission receives a mysterious signal and contemplates if it’s worth chasing. It preceded many of the more popularized space operas and says many of the same things as them. (Completed.)

Janus Descending: A research team of two get killed while on an expedition to an alien planet. Told nonlinearly. There’s so much here that’s good, but the main characters are afflicted with a whole lot of stupid that diminishes the effect. (Completed.) 

Joseph: The Revenge of Opus: A far future scifi story where some dude saves the world and the girl. I'm writing this about nine months after first listening, and honestly that's about all I retained. I remember it being fun, and having very excellent sound design, but the story was very predictable and thus forgettable. (Completed.)

LifeAfter/The Message: A pair of discrete podcasts on the same feed. The Message is about a team of scientists trying to decipher a sound that triggered a pandemic, and LifeAfter is about an FBI agent offered a chance to reconnect with his dead wife through an AI. They were both interesting, though The Message hit uncomfortably close to home, since this is being written in Nov 2020. LifeAfter had a stronger plot regardless, though the likability of its protagonist is questionable. (Completed.)

Magic King Dom: One of the few survivors of an apocalypse grows up alone in Disneyland. Cute and well produced, but the pacing is very fast, and Dom’s characterization stretched my suspension of disbelief. Connected to the canon of Girl In Space. (Completed.)

Misadventure by Death: A trope-aware person is hired to take care of an almost certainly haunted house. The writing feels a little amateur at points, but it’s enjoyable and had decent pacing so far.  Updates stopped coming midseason. (Abandoned.)

Tides: A xenobiologist who has been stranded on an alien planet that’s regularly soaked by a large tidal wave. It’s acted well enough, the sound is good, and the premise is good along with the dialogue, but a bit too much time is spent on the visual descriptions of alien creatures and the pacing of the main plot has yet to catch up. (Ongoing.)

What’s the Frequency: Something strange is happening with the radio, and two detectives are on the case. Anyone who knows me knows I’m not a fan of avante guarde storytelling methods, and unfortunately, this podcast makes plentiful use of them. It took several episodes for me to grasp a basic idea of which characters were which and what the basic plot was, due to nonlinear narrative, unclear characterization, and similar sounding VAs. In spite of this, the charm of the characters I did grasp and the bits of plot I put together kept me interested and listening. (Ongoing.)

Not Recommended:

The Angel of Vine: A hardboiled PI attempts to solve a grisly murder. A very generic example of its genre, it doesn’t bring anything new or interesting to the table. Just boring.

The Black Tapes: Reporter looks into the unsolved cases of someone who disproves the paranormal for a living. Season one was fantastic, but they start to lose it in season two; the pacing and focus go astray. Season three is worse, and then the finale they put out was one of the most disappointing endings I’ve endured in years. It was bad enough I don’t intend on looking into their other productions, Rabbits and Tanis.

The Blood Crow Stories: S1 is about a malicious entity that haunts a ship, but each season is different. I listened only to s1. If you like villains who get away with all their plans perfectly and face no challenge from the protags whatsoever, then this podcast is for you. The villain is also incredibly overwrought to near laughability and relies on gore and shock value for its fearsomeness. The rest of the cast is alright, but nothing special. Uncomfortable interactions with the creators sealed my decision to not proceed with the other seasons.

Everlasting Beholders: Some aliens attempt to influence an alternate Earth. The changes made are uncomfortable, and it’s a bit hard to follow. Supposedly it connects to Empty, but not in a way I could figure out. It was never finished.

Organism: An alien of some sort learns about the world. Slow, simplistic, boring, with a very strange twist ending.

Ruby and the Galactic Gumshoe (2020): A scifi noir that's a new adventure in a series started in the 80s. Honestly, I loved the narrator and the soundscaping; the feel of this show was amazing. However, I don't recommend it solely because one of the characters is a deeply racist caricature. Ruby has a hi-tech car with an inbuilt AI described as a "big black genie", and whenever he speaks, it's with a thick Indian accent and "mystical" language.

Spines: Amnesiac survivor of a cult ritual tries to find out what happened and where her missing soul mate went by interrogating people with weird powers. Horror. The world is cool, the imagery is very cool, the story is reasonably interesting, but the voice acting is bad. Both voices we hear deliver all their lines, even ones that sound as if they should be deeply emotional, in the same flat, disinterested, apathetic, tired monotone. Not only that, but the pacing and narration destroy any sense of suspense this epic story should have.

Subject: Found: S1 was about a bigfoot hunter, and s2 was about a murderer who loved to kill women. The second story is very much not my thing--especially in light of how s1 treated its main female character--so I only listened to s1. As mentioned, the main female character, the protagonist’s wife, gets her needs constantly deferred or invalidated in favor of her husband’s as part of the story, but he’s the hero so of course he gets the girl. The plot choices that aside are very strange, a bit nonsensical, and the voice acting, main couple aside, is bad.

Dropped:

(Not bad! Just not to my specific tastes.)

Alba Salix, Royal Physician: A grumpy witch tries to keep a kingdom healthy with the help of a fairy and unwilling apprentice. Comedy. I loved Alba, but I’m extremely picky with comedies, and this one wasn’t enough for me to keep with it.

Aqua Marianas: I couldn’t finish the first episode thanks to poor audio quality. From what I heard, it also seemed a bit tropey.

Control Group: A historical fiction about a woman committed to a mental institution for a crime she didn’t commit. I can’t handle this sort of horror; it’s too dark for me.

Counter Worlds: An anthology told audio book style, with narration, which I simply can’t focus on.

Darkest Night: A horror anthology with the frame narrative of a mysterious, suspicious organization doing research into memory. Rather gruesome. Very mainstream sort of horror; some episodes were good, but others indulged too many misogynistic tropes for my taste.

Hector Vs The Future: There was a laugh track and I didn't like that. I didn't make it very far in.

Herbarium Podcasts: A collection of miniseries. Honestly, I can’t even provide an accurate synopsis. My audio processing issues made listening to more than five minutes of this impossible; the inconsistent audio quality was way too distracting and broke my immersion.

Inkwyrm: Intergalactic haute couture. Everything about the concept of this podcast spoke to me on a fundamental level, but I couldn’t even get through all of episode one. The characters didn’t appeal to me, and the sound quality isn’t great. I couldn’t understand the AI character they introduced. When I skipped ahead to see if the audio quality got better, it didn’t, and just like with Herbarium Podcasts above, poor audio is a dealbreaker.

Love and Luck: Two men in love discover they’re witches, told through voicemail. Really, my problem here was just that I wanted more angst. They’re very happy and loving and they work through every relationship problem they have very quickly, and I just plain wanted more conflict and struggle.

Otherverse: Broadcasts from another world where aliens are subjugating humanity. Enjoyable and interesting enough to keep me subscribed, but nothing special. It’s all a little basic, and the audio quality leaves something to be desired. Got bored and the update schedule got sporadic, so I dropped it.

Palimpsest: A girl moves into a haunted house and attempts to cope with the death of her sister. This podcast improved as I listened. The voice acting is solid, but the writing and audio editing in the first few episodes felt very overdone. They picked up as things progressed, and the ending downright surprised me. Season 2 switched protagonists, and the new protag had such a poorly done accent, I couldn’t tell if it was supposed to be Scottish, Irish, or Southern, and that bothered me too much to continue listening.

Poplar Cove: They made an asylum joke within the first five minutes of the first episode and that’s a hard no from me.

Sable: From the episode I listened to, this podcast appeared to be about urban legends and monsters, but admittedly I don’t know much. This podcast is told audiobook style, with a single narrator also performing the character voices and no sound effects. I have a very hard time focusing on those sorts of tales.

Saffron and Peri: Comedy podcast about a fairy godparent school. As mentioned previously,  I’m extremely picky with comedies and none of the characters pulled me in, so I dropped it.

Tales of Thattown: Effectively, it’s Welcome to Nightvale in the south. Yet another comedy podcast that failed to strike a chord with me, though the creator’s a sweetheart.

Thrilling Adventure Hour: A series of standalone stories. No real complaints; the couple stories I tried just didn't catch my interest. 

Tumanbay: A historical fiction podcast surrounding citizens of the imagined city Tumanbay, based on the Mamluk empire in Egypt. Honestly, I'm n the fence on if this should be in my outright "Not Recommended" category. Everything about the production quality was good; the voices and story were interesting. However, this podcast is written and produced by two British men who profess they invented Tumanbay as a separate place because they thought adhering to historical accuracy would be too restrictive and difficult. Little things like the escaped slave who used Slave as his preferred name, or the fact that the more intelligent/cerebral characters all had British accents, while the more brutish ones had Middle Eastern ones, when this is supposedly an entirely Middle Eastern area, got under my skin enough to make me drop it.

Tunnels: A mystery podcast inquiring about a mysterious series of tunnels under a town. The format and tone are rather closely modeled after The Black Tapes, and as I ultimately wasn’t a fan of that, I elected to drop this.

We're Alive: A surviving the zombie apocalypse story. Supposedly, another major pioneer in the rise of modern audio drama. But I didn't realize until I started that the protagonist was a soldier, and I don't care for soldier stories.

Violet Beach: Strange time shenanigans happen to teens when the sun sets purple. The monologues it’s told through tend to meander, and lackluster VAs and no sound design made it especially hard to focus, so I dropped this.

Zoo: An FBI agent attempts to solve the mystery of a traveling zoo home to a variety of cryptids. Lower production value than most other podcasts here and occasionally makes strange choices, but develops its plot steadily and does some interesting things with its premise. Unfortunately, the developments weren’t enough to keep my attention on the long term, so I made the tough choice to drop it.