#sayer

my audio drama / podcast diary - a complete list of all audio fiction and non-fiction ive listened to for the past few years.

CANINE INFLICTION FOR YOUR DISEASE

Oh score, thanks so much for that, kindred podcast spirit <33 Happy to give some recs.

But if we're talking favorites and not like, best, these all come with caveats. There are several shows I super enjoy except for the fact that they ended abruptly and will probably never conclude, or there's that one actor that's clearly a buddy talking into their laptop while everyone else has an actual recording setup etc. So I'll be making notes like that, but that's part of enjoying small creators making the art they love.

Not necessarily in order of most favorite but whatever:

-Kane and Feels. Paranormal investigators in a psychedelic buddy comedy. The real star here is the relationship between Kane and Feels themselves: the writing is snappy and fun, which gives them a great banter, and a complicated, heartfelt friendship. Character interactions is where is at! The writing itself is also really good, and season 2 is... some of the weirdest shit I've ever heard. So weird you might be mad about it at first. But it's still a lot of fun.

Downside: Sound quality. Sometimes the show likes to layer dialogue overtop other dialogue for reasons unknown to me, and some major plot points are entirely obscured by SFX. Parts of the S1 finale I didn't understand at all until reading the transcripts, ngl.

-SAYER. I talked about this recently I think: a super AI is charged with overseeing workers on a space station in the ultra-capitalist dystopian future. The original "spooky voice in the ear of the protag" podcast. It begins as a very dark, very dry comedy about what it might have been like to work with GLADOS (I originally bailed after S1 because it was too cynical for me, but came back on rec from a friend - bless u @kahtiihma) but later morphs into a sci fi thriller, with a heavy emphasis on personhood and identity. Really good stuff, and the cat & mouse game in season 4 is my favorite in fiction, probably.

And then, STOP. Because the downside is, Season 6 is not finished and never will be. There is a season 5, but it's a prequel, and it retconned a bunch of things in a way I wasn't fond of. So as much I recommend getting to season 4 because of how good it is, let that ending be it!

-Ghost Wax. This is TMA is the Institute were run by competent people who gave a shit, lol. The protag is a necromancer who takes "statements" from the dead about the supernatural things that killed them, and then does something about it. The statements are varied, the characters are extremely likeable, and the pacing is very satisfying. There's a lot going on and a lot to enjoy, and with so many characters and monsters, a lot of great diversity. The season 1 finale was absolutely harrowing.

Downside: the production quality is pretty rough, sorry to say. Because every statement is voiced by the victim, there are a LOT of one off actors, and they vary wildly in quality. Some of the mains, too. The creator is very charismatic and pulls it all together admirably, though.

-Steal the Stars. A very rare het show from me! This is a good old fashioned romance and heist story. The protagonist is an older, military woman who works at a top secret base, who falls for a new, young soldier, and hijinks ensue. The love story is very "we were both hot and that's what love is" BUT the protag is just so good, I loved her a lot. And the thriller aspect was so well plotted, I was just so smitten, I LOVE a tight plot. But the chef's kiss was the ending. Holy shit. I had no idea where it was going and... yeah. Worth it.

-The Beating Heartland. Yeah yeah, I'm in the honeymoon phase. I've yapped enough but for something that starts slow, it goes into SUCH iddy places, I'm very happy with it and I can't wait for season 2. I'll link to my actual rec post if you haven't seen it already.

bonus round

-Shelterwood. I had to add this one because even if I wouldn't say it was the most gripping the entire way through, I'm pretty sure this is the only podcast to have made me cry like a baby in my stupid car. A man goes looking for his missing sister and ends up in hell-suburbia, while making a podcast with his best friend and producer. It's eerie and interesting, and the production value and acting quality are all SUPER high, I could rec it on that, but it's the ending of season 1 that punched me in the stomach. Big shout out to actor Sam Stark for their performance and the way it fucking eviscerated me. It was such a perfect ending I'm scared to listen to season 2 when it eventually comes out.

-I Am In Eskew. The gnarliest horror around, bar none. For some reason I keep bouncing off Silt Verses, but early Eskew really does it for me. It would be a favorite if not for the ending.

-Archive 81, season 3. Season 1 is very rough, season 2 is extremely weird and doesn't really conclude. But season 3 is incredible, one of the best endings in a podcast, absolutely slapped me. Another great performance by Peter Musante.