20 Fiction Podcast Debuts: January 2020
The new decade brings a new wave.
We’ve entered the new decade and apparently podcasting is just going to come right out of the gate with an avalanche of bright, weird, terrifying, and creative fictions. To illustrate, the selection below has been halved from its original incarnation, so please don’t try to listen to all of these at once — you may be overloaded by heart-stopping lightning strikes of sound. I’ve been covering fiction podcast debuts since 2018. In 2019, I wanted to aim for a broader scope to include more actual plays, but I personally feel like I fell short in that scope. So, for 2020, I’ll be putting the addition of actual play podcasts at the top of my priority list for the debut collections, as I would love for them to get more recognition in critical spaces as legitimate forms of storytelling where we can explore our stories, our world, and ourselves.
Temujin
Temujin is an audio adaptation of the Central Asian epic “The Secret History of the Mongols”, the oldest surviving classic literary work written in Mongolian, which tells the genealogy, life, and conquests of Genghis Khan, who was also known as Temujin. Temujin is told from the perspective of Jamukha, once a sworn brother and now an enemy of the commander, who is now in captivity at Genghis Khan’s camp. This is a gorgeous work of art, adapted with love and care by Roshan Singh, vivaciously performed by a talented cast, and designed so fluidly you will feel the tension of telling a story with a Night Guard’s arrow aimed at your head.
Murmurs
Tom Crowley, Janina Matthewson, Beth Crane, Eno Mfon, Greer Ellison, Jesse Schwenk, Chris Sugden, Jen Sugden, David Devereux, Catherine Robinson, John Norton, James Robinson, Helen Perry
The newest fiction anthology from the BBC is a welcome surprise that lingers in the realm of the weird and unusual in terms of story and sound, helmed by independent podcast writers and sound designers including showrunner Janina Matthewson (Within the Wires). These ten episodes feature different stories about what happens in the UK when reality starts to crack open and something unidentifiable and strange begins to intrude on regular people’s lives. The combination of the delightfully, fretfully surreal and the static-at-the-edges sound design made my toes curl and my heart thump.
Down
Matthew Woodcock, David Knight, Maxamillian John, Tom Dalling
The creators at Definitely Human (MarsCorp, The Infinite Bad) have launched their first dramatic work of fiction, in which we go deep underwater in the Antarctic in a super-advanced, AI-controlled submarine. Absolutely nothing can go wrong. The magic here is Definitely Human’s propensity for injecting exactly the right kind of humor, even when they’re going for something a little more serious, so the trip in the submarine is punctuated by bleak jokes and offbeat characters that rub each other in exactly the wrong way. Oh, and, whatever monsters dwell in the depths of the Antarctic trench of course.
Natural Toonie
Tom Zalatnai, David Hall, Becca Redden, Andy Sherman, Alex Smith
The tagline isn’t kidding: Natural Toonie is set within a fictionalized “magical Canadia”, where employees of the Conception Bay Expeditionary Fishery Commission of Her Majesty’s Royal Navy of Conception Bay (woo, what a mouthful!) go on adventures to chronicle the bizarre world of New Found Land after the great Entangling. This is a fun D&D romp with absolutely hysterical table-talk (“What race is he?” “Big.”), genuinely friendly player dynamics that warm the heart, and expressions of a homebrewed modern fantasy Canada.
Facing Fate
Russ More, Carla Maxted (Johnson), Amy, Tom Laird
Played within the Fate CORE system, Facing Fate is an anthology actual play with 10-episode season arcs by the creators of Dumbgeons & Dragons. The first arc is “Luna Corp”, an alternate near-future where a crew aboard the moon base have to deal with emergencies they haven’t been trained for. This lovingly designed podcast is guided by a roleplaying team that can act and flow seamlessly through whatever crops up in their way (though their characters might be dumbfounded!).
Seren
Seren is an aching small-cast podcast about a Welsh woman on a lonely, long trip through space, accompanied only by a distant and restrictive AI on board the computer. She’s going to terraform a new planet, but it doesn’t seem like she’s been chosen for this mission as an honor or reward. After all, what kind of reward is it to be alone in space, with only your memories for company?
Midst
The Fold: An otherworldly frontier where you can start a new life for yourself amid the strange desert. But then, you know, the moon falls down. Reality starts to break down, charitably speaking. And it doesn’t really get better from there. If you can hear the sound of surreal Western music in the background of this paragraph, good, because that’s exactly what Midst is like. Via the fluid and artful narration, the show’s three performers will lead you on a totally weird, absolutely enchanting story.
Novitero
Sterling Rae, Ali Hylton, Amber Holtz, Jude Reid, Cole Burkhardt, Xander D. Rylie
If you were a princess who had made a fatal flaw with finances and were exiled from your home, what would you do? Would you throw your lot in with pirates to rob a galactic gala? That’s what Princess Cesa does after she’s captured by space pirates, convincing them to rob the host of the ball to line everyone’s pockets. Novitero is the dashing space opera I’ve been waiting for, complete with fortifying and exciting theme music by Benny James.
The Call of the Void
Michael Alan Herman, Josie Eli Lapczynski
The swamps of New Orleans are an easy place to hide a father, and Topher and Simone are desperate to track him down after he’s been missing for forty hours. But of course, the swamps also hide a lot more secrets, and a lot more darkness. The Call of the Void is a horror mystery full of electrifying audio and grimacing shadows of plague and ancient evils; it’s beautiful in its terror.
Shadows of Saint Fleur
Katelin Cornell, Andy, Erik Seguinte, Evan Nyquist, Jeremy Borders, Matthew
This Urban Shadows game in the fictional city of Saint Fleur, Great Lakes, grapples with secretive and growing supernatural activity and the politics of living as shadows. Just after their New Year’s Eve celebrations, the characters slowly but surely get drawn together by business, pleasure, and friendships as the tensions in the cities rise. I deeply appreciate the care with which each character’s life is developed and linked with each other, and the organic manner in which audiences can learn about the system rules as they come into play.
VALENCE
Wil Williams, Katie Youmans, Anne Baird, Julia Schifini
In New Candler, if you have magic, you’re expected to wear a Halo: a device that dampens the effects of magic, It keeps everyone safe of course, and looks classy while doing so. But something’s off about the tech mogul who wants to keep it in circulation, and there are some magic users, or muses if you will, who want freedom — especially Liam Alden. VALENCE is an urban fantasy podcast that cares about data privacy, trauma, the process of healing, and found family.
(Disclosure: The author of this article voice acts as a secondary character in this podcast.)
Fire Bird
Fire Bird is a feature-length audio fiction created from different versions of the famous Slavic folklore of the same name, primarily focused on the story of Prince Ivan Tsarevich seeking out Koschei the Deathless after having battle dreams involving a fire bird who he meets in his father’s garden. This audio is backed with swelling and ebbing music composed with themes from the 1910 orchestration of “The Firebird Suite” by Igor Stravinsky. Spend an hour or so in ancient tales, because here those stories are waiting to take you by the hand.
Radio National Fictions
Fiona Pepper, Camilla Hannan, Sophie Townsend, Richard Girven
This month, The Australian Broadcasting Corporation released Radio National Fictions, a collaboration with writers and creators to design immersive audio fiction. Their first series, “Oz Gothic”, recreates a haunting and gritty Australia where so many things are covered in secrets. These places are hidden just behind the next tree, in your neighbor’s house, and within yourself, because the real fears are where you don’t dare to look.
Passer Vulpes Presents
Erin Kyan, Lee Davis-Thalbourne
Passer Vulpes’s (Love and Luck) new feed comprises one-off sound pieces and stories that don’t fit elsewhere, usually works of sound that they have created for other festivals and presentations. For instance, the sound art “Yesterday” blurs the line between reality and fiction with visceral sound design that grapples with death, grief, and memory. With touching short stories, poetic vignettes, and soundscaped poetry, Passer Vulpes Presents is a podcast for the curious wanderer.
Hit the Bricks
PJ Scott-Blankenship, Chad Ellis, Kathryn Hoss
This highly-anticipated podcast drops us down into the land of Oz, 100 years after we last visited there with L. Frank Baum. Sulky teenager Jessi and her sweet cousin Wallace meet our old friends like Scarecrow and Scraps, and hint that we’ll meet even more of the familiar faces. Hit the Bricks is gorgeously produced, with lush soundscaping that means you can almost smell Oz and original music composition to bring on home the nostalgia and memories of childhood. Michelle Agresti (Wolf 359, Arden) shines as Jessi, and I can’t wait to see Jordan Cobb (Janus Descending) as Dorothy Gale.
The Familiar
Maggie Sulc, Sadie Johnston, Sebastian Biega, Levi Considine, Darren Marranca
How would you respond to someone posting a sad and despondent message on a shared Discord server? Leo136, a travel agent who spends a lot of time on a travel server, gets worried about one of her friends who disappears after doing so, and tries to reach out through her podcast. This anthology comprises all kinds of stories — historical, horror, fantasy — where narrator Leo136 guides her audience through finding the unfamiliar and unusual in the totally ordinary. Your travel adventure might be nearer to home than you think.
Benlunar
In one of the first family-friendly fantasy podcasts of 2020, audiences can follow Lilian Lausanne and her mysteries and adventures in the town of Benlunar on a weekly basis. With original music that is simply perfect for bedtime or quiet moments, Benlunar’s narrator is a calm and enigmatic voice describing all the curious aspects of the town.
Heaps of Unreal Images
It’s like the world heard my call for the weird shit. Heaps of Unreal Images is about someone who runs away all the way to space to find answers to questions so large, there may not even be an answer. The monthly episodes explore space and time by distorting voices, using almost X-Files reminiscent music, inserting newsreel and staticky recording clips to create something transportive. Just close your eyes and drift.
Shattered Sky
Lauren Bond, Nathan Kiss, Claudia Jacob, Markus Maes, Stehp MHC
If you haven’t figured it out by now, I love a good homebrewed universe for actual plays. Shattered Sky is a gaslamp fantasy where the citizens of the city of Sayrem collectively share the unconscious experience of the Dream every night when they sleep. A century after apocalyptic events that unleashed monsters and plague, the characters must band together to defeat the oppressive government. Shattered Sky’s GM Lauren Bond is an engaging, lyrical narrator, and each player clearly loves to be grandiose, amusing, and so creative about how their character reacts to this world.
True Tales of the Illuminati
Max Kreisky, Katherine Cargill, Eric Trageser, William Gianetta
The Illuminati are trying their very best to, you know, help the world and secure the Occult Knowledge, but it’s really hard when you don’t have the budget and you have to keep covering up mishaps. True Tales of the Illuminati is a farcical office sitcom set within the conspiracy organization, following their attempts at preserving secrets and building monuments, and I’m pretty sure my stomach hurts from laughing after listening.
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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