Screaming Panda

Sup, tumblos? (* taps microphone*)

Logline — In futuristic dreampunk NYC, a radio host's live-streamed nightmares come true.

(this place sure is an oasis compared to twixxler, et. al. pardon the radio silence.)

anyhoo... on the last day of august we published a new reimagining of our starting point — "Cypher — Sabotage Exposed!" (Episode 0) — which is now THE official gateway episode for our award-winning comedy fiction cyberpunk audio series.

in addition, this month we launched Hell Gate City Season 2 — Codename COMPANION. so, the streets of Neo Amsterdam are abuzz.

huzzah!!!

"Unboxing" (Episode 11) introduces Season 2, and "Tabula" (Episode 12) properly kicks it into gear.

it's been almost 2 years in the making. I even wrote an entire--third(?) season, TBD

so, if you love funny sci-fi that doesn't suck, i hope you'll give Hell Gate City a whirl. it might suit ya.

(a full show description follows.)

Show Synopsis

Award-winning science fiction comedy podcast about the dreampunk denizens of a futuristic hellhole NYC.

New Episodes Thursdays!

Also, a new 'Glitch in the Matrix' bonus tale drops on Patreon!!

And, Dreamwalkers get next week's episode and glitch!!!

Show In Detail

On the surface, Hell Gate City is an epic audio drama offered in the style of a local radio show for the fictional metropolis of Neo Amsterdam. But as the show’s host plumbs his unconscious mind using a Cyber Lucidity Dream-streamer on-air, he encounters a sinister web of evil stretching from his past into the present. Will he pick up the thread and follow it into the unknown, or stick with the program?

Season 1

After a dream-streaming device intended to increase ratings accidentally broadcasts his repressed memories of an eldritch murder, radio jockey Kirby Bevins embarks on a journey where he must overcome dark forces and folly to solve the crime before he becomes the next victim.

Season 2

The next installment ushers listeners into the phantasmagorical side of Neo Amsterdam like never before by way of a recording – for quality assurance purposes – of a customer support call from a denizen trapped in a metaverse gone awry. Cruise the seamy underbelly of a virtual world beyond the veil.

How to Listen

The award-winning first season is complete and available wherever you listen to podcasts, or here. It features full audio production with narration, multi-character audio drama, voice-acting, sound design, and original music. If you’re new to it all, the mysterious 30-second video trailer is a good lead-in. Then to savor the full flavor of Season 2, listen to Season 1 beginning at our starting point, which got a huge makeover when I gave it a full reimagining on 2023-08-31 – this Pod-link has most podcast apps/platforms + the RSS feed "Cypher (Sabotage Exposed!)" (Episode 0). Relish the sunbeams!

"Goldmine" (Glitch 15) is the ‘Glitch in the Matrix’ bonus audio story patrons received when we released "Fugazi" (Episode 15) yesterday.

Preview: https://bit.ly/goldmine-glitch

Starting at 18¢ a day, you can gain access to it — and all glitches — by joining our motley yet dignified band of supporters in the Inner Legion (our Patreon page).

No blood pact required!

A new glitch drops with each new episode on Thursdays. Members of the Inner Legion on Patreon get hooked up. Every pledge is part of the life force that propels the show into being. 👇

P.S. By joining us, you'll be helping to make it possible to continue the labor of creating a weekly show and allowing us to budget in some kick-butt contributions, like the lovely sound design and original scoring and music composition you can hear in Season 1, Ep. 5-10, from our former collaborators Dom Storrs and Cheska Navarro. This show really hums with a team. And I have a deep conviction that ad-free indie-produced art tells *fundamentally* different stories than we get from Megacorp behemoths. Do you?

P.P.S. Heck, just three hedge funds appear to have turned the USA into a plutocratic oligarchy (what's the equivalent in your country?). Blackrock, State Street, and Vanguard control $22 trillion in investments. That's equivalent to the size of the entire American GDP. They are the largest stockholders in the major banks in this country. They're majority shareholders in 96% of the S&P 500 companies. And that includes most of the big media firms and publishers. You think that has zero impact on what artists and writers in their employ say? I truly hope so... But, I also say there's real value in supporting a counterpoint... Give me till the end of the year to prove it.

P.P.P.S. Join up for mega-cool bonus stories like "Goldmine" and let us wow you with what we make next. I guarantee it will be mad peachy. ❤️ 🎧 🦾🍑

From @hellgatecity: TEASER: An excerpt of Glitch 11 - Boxed In: Listen quickly, as it will only be available in the Feed for a short time💜

Hi, audio drama fam! CrowdUltra narrowed it down from 1,000 nominations to these top five new audio fiction shows, and I guarantee we are the most indie title on that list. Many, many thanks for listening and supporting the show!!! If you're unfamiliar, here's the new logline for Hell Gate City (Comedy Fiction):

After using new technology to live-stream his nightmares for ratings and *accidentally* broadcasting a repressed memory of his dad’s murder, a news radio host in Hell Gate City, a dystopian cyberpunk NYC, must solve the crime before he becomes the next victim.

Season 1 is out and binge-able. Back to work on wrapping up Season 2!

P.S. Screaming Panda is our production co. But I'm torn about whether we should launch a blog named Hell Gate City. We have a handle it on for other socials; it's just the exhaustion of maintaining everything. Launch a Hell Gate City blog here or stick with Screaming Panda? 🙏

Freakin' artificial intelligence thinks it knows everything in Hebrew year 6021. So what's the view from my window, bit-box? REALLY?! Not cool... I #amwriting – not trying to get swatted. -Kirby Bevins