12 New Fiction Podcasts
Queue up these podcast debuts from April 2021
Between podcasts, reworking clothes, and gardening, I’ve taken on another endeavor this spring: roofing. You may ask yourself, “Say, Amber is this some sort of new TikTok trend, or perhaps a euphemism for something?” I wish, my dear babies, I wish. As any first generation kid from a working class family can attest, sometimes family bonding is just manual labor in disguise.
My DIY nature didn’t just appear with no warning. It stems from the fact that my parents see no point in hiring help if they have kids and an approximate knowledge of most things. Times are hard, hiring help is expensive, totally understandable. But when I tell ya it’s been an experience, it’s been an experience. The amount of Latin pop I’ve listened to this month — all while lifting shingles until my back ached — feels wrong. This is not the kind of “throwing back” that Bad Bunny was talking about when he made his music.
Honestly, at this point I’m just collecting random skills in some off chance we swap capitalism in for a barter system. Much like many sound designers in the fiction podcast community hoard sound files they may never use again, I’ll be hunched over like a goblin gesturing to my roofing experience as if it’s going to help me someday. Despite being exhausted, this month offered some fantastic debuts that had me laughing through the aches and pains.
Life with Leo(h)
Jeanine is an intelligent and successful lawyer who is gifted a conscious android programmed to love her by her gleeful criminal client. Life with Leo(h) is a delightful sci-fi romance that succeeds in building a futuristic landscape where sentient robots could exist. If you were heartbroken after WandaVision, this tale provides android love with humor and grace.
Far Beyond the Stars
Far Beyond the Stars is an entertaining actual play about the crew of Calamity, a cargo freighter, who bumble their way through a seemingly routine pickup.. Hilarity ensues as things just don’t go as planned and this motley crew of characters get into all sorts of shenanigans, with all the Futurama vibes. The players and GM have a level of comfort with one another that makes the game a total blast.
Gods & Lies
With a dual narrative, Gods & Lies gives us a crime drama set in a modern world where deities are at the forefront of society and humans choose who they wish to devote themselves to. On one side of the coin there is the experienced investigator Iris and on the other the flirty demigod Andy, and they’re both investigating the grisly death of a woman who was once in the good graces of a wind god. The will they/won’t they dynamic is subtle yet entertaining, allowing you to become more immersed in the characters as they attempt to figure out what happened.
Peculiar Turnips
An anthology fiction podcast aimed at kids is hard to come by, but Peculiar Turnips fills that need with charming stories both kids and adults can delight in. The pilot episode is a whimsical tale of a girl named Molly who has sunflowers spring up everywhere she steps foot. With episodes running just under the fifteen minute marker, each story feels like a modern Aesop’s Fables for Children.
Dark Air with Terry Carnation
Paranormal radio host Terry Carnation returns to the airwaves after a very public mental breakdown in this horror comedy starring Rainn Wilson (The Office). Dark Air with Terry Carnation has all the absurdity of a Jared Hess film with a touch of The Frighteners, hitting a very niche audience with its humor. It’s fun and sardonic and knows exactly when to fade from one scene to the next.
The Rez
Preen and Sav are from the future, and when they discover an old smartphone that allows them to communicate with kids in the 2020s, the pair reach out to the past in hopes of learning what they can do to fix their world. The Rez touches on a superficially-driven future not unlike Idiocracy mixed with a bit of Fifth Element, only elevated by plucky sound design and an interactive website with games and activities.
The Stench of Adventure
The Stench of Adventure starts as a slice-of-life, but it pulls the rug from under you and suddenly becomes a sci-fi with alien characters that feel like they belong on an episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Stella is just trying her best but all of that is torn away when she realizes her whole life on Earth was a simulation. She’s left to fend for herself in a world that could care less. The sound design urges you to follow along with Stella as she deals with an existential crisis in space.
Spider King
If given the chance, would you be willing to become a government experiment to get out of prison early? Darnell answered the question without hesitation — it was a resounding yes. Spider King explores the consequences of Darnell’s decision when a spider emerges from his wrist and it becomes clear the experiment was not what he thought it’d be. The body horror and sound design choices lightly graze the back of your neck, like a spider scurrying across your skin. Arachnophobes need not apply.
All the Wrong Magic
Corin Thorne is a new witch in the village, and Rowan Green has decided to become their apprentice. But while Rowan is an eager student who has something to prove and Corin is just trying to figure out how to get home. The immersive sound design in All the Wrong Magic makes you feel like you are in the middle of a forest, with chirping birds and calming rivers, but the story leaves you with more questions than answers and definitely tuned in for more.
The Trial of Memory Fairchild
A med student is on trial for necromancy after accidentally bringing a patient back to life in this modern fantasy. The Trial of Memory Fairchild creates something special using subtle sound design and characters that you can easily relate to in a modern urban fantasy setting. It’s not an easy feat to make the unnatural world feel natural, but Memory Fairchild comes to feel like an old friend.
Someone Dies in This Elevator
Someone Dies in This Elevator is an anthology podcast in which all the stories take place in — you guessed it! — an elevator. The first episode creates a multilayered story beginning with three superheroes walking in an elevator. It’s Clue meets The Avengers with a touch of Groundhog’s Day, a mix that shouldn’t work but does in the most fantastic of ways.
The Attic Monologues
When Nyx decides to practice reading monologues using a mysterious collection found in their attic, things begin to get a little strange. The Attic Monologues is an eerily simple urban fantasy, with a found footage feel that adds to the creeping distress within the monologues. It’s poetic and odd, like listening to someone read a stranger’s diary: you know you shouldn’t be there, yet you stay a little longer wanting to know more.
This playlist was sponsored by Podchaser. Check out Podchaser’s Creator Profiles to find your favorite podcast hosts, producers, editors, guests, voice actors, and more!
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