Which audio drama podcasts do you recommend?
You might be able to tell by my username which is my favorite audio drama. If you haven't heard of it, Wolf 359 is a space opera dramedy focused on a cast of deeply likable characters who find themselves carrying out mysterious research onboard a space station owned by a soulless corporation. Heads up, the whole thing is very enjoyable but the creators say the real story doesn't get going for real until about episode 9 and I would agree. It's funny and entertaining but gets pretty serious around there. Don't worry, the early episodes are super short and still good.
Other audio dramas I highly recommend are:
Bronzetown
1865
Limetown
Edict Zero FIS
Station 151
Archive 81
The Magnus Archives
Theater of Tomorrow
The Hyacinth Disaster
Life After / The Message
I listened to the Left Right Game a couple months ago for the first time. I've never been hooked by anything so quickly. I listened to the entire 10 episode run in less than 24 hours. Was fantastic. Highly recommend.
Awesome. Can't wait to listen! Added to my list but it might take a while to get to it since I have so many recs. I don't know though, I might bump this one up a bit since you're saying it hooked you quickly.
Previous recommendation thread: https://tild.es/16z6
Ars Paradoxica - modern-day scientist gets transported to the start of WWII
The Bright Sessions - A psychologist who specializes in people with super powers
Vast Horizons - a woman wakes up alone on a
spaceship that's falling apart. She's guided by the AI system but all isn't as it seems.
Starship Isis - actually pretty complicated but generally future spy stuff.
We're Alive - zombie survival story
The Box - A woman finds a weird box of journals and reports from members of a secret society of psychic ghost busters
Magnus Archives - transcriptions of supernatural reports. Starts as a series of isolated stories but builds up into a long running narrative
Adventure Zone - D&D stuff
Edited to add actual descriptions
Seconded for Adventure Zone, specifically the Balance campaign for drama.
For anyone reading that starts it, it's a comedy podcast where three brothers and their dad play dungeons and dragons, but about halfway in, there's a dramatic shift in tone.
The boys have a fitting quote in the last episode of this campaign. It's the story about 4 boys playing dungeons and dragons so good, they make themselves cry. Very fitting.
Awesome. I see a few of my favorites on here and a few I haven't heard. That's a good sign. Sounds like I have some new listens on my plate.
I was prepared to answer with a huge list, but you already mentioned most of my favorites in your post. I'll just suggest a few more.
Seconding Ars Paradoxica. It's truly fantastic and I'm still thinking about it over a year after I first listened through it.
Great suggestions. Especially the program. Obviously ars paradoxica is a classic too. Funny enough, I haven't heard within the wires even though I have heard all the others. Fully intend to start listening to that one tonight.
I really enjoyed the seasons out so far of The White Vault. Quite liking Old Gods of Appalachia as well, though I don't have the same kind of investment in the characters I developed with Vault.
Old Gods have been my favorite of any podcast so far but I'm from the region and probably have a bias.
I think the stories are more like journals too so it can be a little bit harder to relate to the characters directly until you get one of their personal journals.
Also when they started doing voices for each it got a lot better rather than when it was just Steve or Cam as it was in the beginning. Though I do really enjoy both of them and their voices.
Yeah, it's a different experience than Magnus and Vault, which are the ones I got to it from (somehow-- following a recommendation list somewhere), but that's not a mark against it, I'm just getting used to the change. I'm only at episode 7 so far, I'll look forward to some additional voices (though I do like them so far!).
I'm legit excited for you! I still recall it that fun rush as the story emerged as I got a recent re-listen to a lot of them as I got my partner into the show too.
Would highly recommend joining the patreon too and getting the subscriber only shows a good listen too like Door Under the Floor and Build Momma a Coffin which are both superb. As someone that listened to what is about current without Patreon and then went back, you can definitely do that too if you want to make sure you'll enjoy it all first, though there is an order to them but they'll pretext each episode with that information too.
Brother Bartholomew could read me the dictionary and I would hang on every word.
"Ever upward, ever onward, eh?"
Yuri's probably been my favorite voice, though I do enjoy the Walker sisters and Deeley quite a lot. Reminds me of my folks.
Getting to see Yuri do that voice live was quite the experience!
Well, hello there family!
I was hoping, but not expecting, to see another old gods fan. Being from the Appalachians, it’s awesome to listen to a podcast like this and feeling a deep connection. I’ve gone to both of their live show tours, and it’s the only thing I am a patreon of.
Soooooo good
So, not podcasts but broadcast audio drama. Use get_iplayer to format shift to a more accessible format.
BBC Radio Sounds
They have a lot of crime. But here's their list for science fiction and fantasy
I love radio dramas, especially OTR. So many good OTR podcasts out there, many with remastered episodes. Will definitely check out this list btw
Wow. We have pretty similar listening histories!
Limetown, Archive 81, Life After / The Message we’re all great. Those are usually some of my recommendations in these types of threads. I’ll have to check out the other ones you mentioned!
Folks have already mentioned Ars Paradoxica and We’re Alive - but I’d like to heartily second those recommendations.
Some other podcasts I’ve loved are:
Rabbits - A modern folk story about an ageless ARG.
Polybius - A retro conspiracy around an urban legend of an arcade machine.
I love We're Alive so much. Should have had it on this list.
I haven't heard of Rabbits or Polybius before. Well, I've heard the urban legend of Polybius in real life but never that there was an audio drama about it. I'm very excited. Thanks so much!
Also seconding We're Alive - amazingly done, great cast.
The Amelia Project - About a secret organization that helps people fake their own deaths. It will occasionally have stories about more famous deaths and there's an interesting throughline as well.
Love this one!
Please consider listening to The Deca Tapes and Leaving Corvat. They are both absolutely brilliant, but unusual and unsettling. Not space related at all, which has been absolutely done to death in the podcast world imo. Branch out, and enjoy~
The Deca Tapes is simultaneously criminally short and the perfect length. It's a quick listen, feels tied up at the end, and I wanted another series like it right away. The Program Audio Series has a similar vibe, but for a single narrative the Deca Tapes is superb.
Leaving Corvat is also great with a very different feeling. It feels nostalgic and is pretty fun. Both great recommendations!
You've intrigued me. Added to the list
Those both sound right up my alley. Do you have any others like those?
You might also like The Program Audio Series if you like The Deca Tapes. They have a similar tone/vibe though The Program is more computer sci-fi while The Deca Tapes is future sci-fi. The Program also isn't a single narrative, rather separate stand alone stories in the same universe. Still, may also be something you'd like!
I JUST started the Program, and it's a very interesting premise, I also recommend it.
I highly recommend The Fourth Ambit, and The Terrible Business of Salmon and Dusk. They are both ancient in terms of podcasting, but that's what makes them so original. Both are science fiction, but Salmon and Dusk moves into the realm of the fantastic, whereas Ambit feels like it's something Asimov could have dreamed up.
There's this one good one by radiolab about polybius and a conspiracy surrounding it. If you find that that's my recommendation.
Bubble is a very good, single season comedy from maximumfun.org. Also on there is Mission to Zyx, I haven't listened but it's a longer running sci-fi series.
Loved Mission to Zyx. Old Derf! You'll get it when you listen.
Since last time I posted about this very same topic, I listened to "What Happened in Skinner" and it's one of my new favourites! If you're at all interested in faux "true crime" amateur investigations, and don't mind a bit of a supernatural twist, it's very easy to get lost in the world it paints. It's almost like a more modern, Americanized version of "The Secret of St. Kilda," which is also wonderful and highly recommended!