Happy #AudioDramaSunday Friends!

I’m late to the game here, but all I wanted to do this week was play Baldur’s Gate 3. It came out just before my birthday last year, and while I put a few hours into it at the time, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 came out right around the same time and ate up all of my time instead. Both of these games have meant a lot to me for their own reasons, but primarily the way in which they’ve helped me reconnect with some of the happiest parts of my childhood. Swinging around the streets of New York City, listening to Bruce Campbell narrate the original PSOne Spider-Man games, or recruiting Khalid, Jahiera, Minsc, and Boo outside of the titular city of Baldur’s Gate on the first PC installment of the series on our clunky desktop home computer. I’m currently about 2/3rds of the way through and wow do I understand why nobody could shut up about this thing. Larian Studios has done something extremely special and I’m already thinking about my second play through!

I’m playing as Conster, a Blue Dragonborn Bard, styled off the character I’ve been playing since my first (and only, at this point) D&D campaign started back in May 2020. And while this doesn’t give me the option to go quite as off the rails as I can with my party, it’s been fantastic to see them brought to life, deceiving horrifying monsters into dispatching themselves rather than having to lift a finger, or playing songs to help comfort a group of scared children. The adventuring party is full of complex characters to connect with, but right now I’m currently most obsessed with my pals Karlach and Wyll.

Suffice it to say, my podcast listening has been siloed to marathoning for the past couple of days in order to have enough to write about today. Yesterday, Sam and I drove to out to Mystic, CT in order to spend some time among the belugas and penguins at the aquarium, browse kitschy book shops, and eat brunch before heading home, which offered up the perfect opportunity to get through a bunch.

So! Let’s get right to it:

Camlann

The newest episode of Camlann is one of the few things that I actually did pause my gameplay for earlier in the week. The drama is ramping up as our intrepid heroes disagree over whether or not they should keep their fires burning bright enough to serve as a beacon for any who may come to find them, because while there could be friends out there searching for a place to stay, there are plenty of less desirable interlopers who could come across their tiny safe haven. A special shoutout this week goes to Felix Trench (Wooden Overcoats, The Amelia Project), who stuns as always, especially in an episode that specifically quotes the very first show we all know him from!

Breaker Whiskey

Oof. This week’s worth of Breaker Whiskey minis was brutal. Our intrepid hero finally finds the location of another person who survived into their erstwhile apocalypse… only to have died some year-ish before she shows up. I can’t imagine the feeling of wandering alone for so long, only to be that close to another person, before having the rug ripped out from under you all over again. There’s still the question of who exactly sent along the coordinates that sent her on this journey, and what their motivation was. Was it Harry, sending Whiskey on a cruel wild goose chase? Was it Birdie? Did she know that Leanne would be dead by the time that Whiskey arrived? We won’t know unless we keep listening to find out.

Among the Stars & Bones

This show will always have a special place in my heart, since it released right around the same time as Windfall season one, and both shows take place on the exoplanet Proxima. Among the Stars & Bones is a wonderful production that I’ve been eagerly awaiting the return of, and while I still need to listen to their recently released New Years Day prequel special, I couldn’t help myself but dive into the official season 2 prologue. I’m already SO STOKED to return to this cast of characters, and was excited as always to hear the voice of Emma Sherr-Ziarko (Wolf 359, Unseen).

Welcome to Night Vale

So much could be said about how Welcome to Night Vale has lasted this long and still continues to put out some of the best written episodes I’ve ever heard. What I’ve really loved about this year’s offerings is that they’ve given us recognizable story beats from the series past with an updated twist for this, the twelfth year of their incredible run. When I got to the end of The New Branch and found out that the savior of the day in the fight against the monstrous librarians of Night Vale wasn’t Tamika Flynn, as we’d come to expect, but a new trio of teenage heroes who have no idea who this old lady is (even though she’s only 23). Such a fantastic riff, and got me to finally get around to purchasing ticket for their upcoming show at White Eagle Hall.

People Who Knew Me

My big marathon this week was BBC Sounds’ People Who Knew Me, adapted by Daniella Isaacs from the novel by Kim Hooper, executive produced by Sharon Horgan, and starring Rosamund Pike, Hugh Laurie, Alfred Enoch, and Kyle Soller. I’ve been meaning to dive into this one since I first saw it announced, as a diehard Horgan fan, and used their recent 2024 Ambies Nomination as motivation to finally do so. The premise, which follows a woman who faked her own death on 9/11, only to have to come clean 14 years later after a cancer diagnosis threatens her daughter’s potential future, is bleak and certainly not for the faint of hearted, but handled deftly. The episodes are succinct and punchy, which fantastic performances and solid sound design. It’s definitely worth a listen!

Posession

Another marathon culled from the 2024 Ambies nominees was the Audible Original Posession starring Lamorne Morris, Kylie Bunbury, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. I’m only 3 episodes deep into this one, but already loving everything about it so far. There’s young married couple moving into a new house that just might be haunted, an affable unhoused neighbor who serves as a cautionary tale, and some killer musical stingers. This is another one produced by friend of the newsletter Briggon Snow for At Will Media, and I can’t wait to hear how the rest pans out!

Forgive Me!

I’m extremely excited to have finally released last year’s Forgive Me! live show, One of the Dogs! Writing this episode with my co-writer, Jack Marone, was an absolute joy, and even more fun once we got actually bring it out in front of an audience. This is something we’re hoping to be doing a whole lot more of in the future, and we’ll keep you all updated first on when and where that will be. In the meantime, I hope you’ll enjoy this trip to the Salty Dog Central New York Canine Expo!

Ask Your Father

This week also saw the release of Ask Your Father episode 3! What I love about this show, aside from the wonderful sound design, performances, and music, is how much its a true family affair. Sean Williams created and stars in the series, directed by his wife Jordana, and featuring their children Barnaby and Marlena in co-starring roles! Here, Lem and Mikey work together to try and fix something on the outside of the ship, and briefly get into it when Lem neglects to acknowledge the AI’s contributions to its final designs.

Starfall

I am so excited for the cozy troupe behind the traveling circus of Starfall to return for a second season later this year. In the meantime, series creator Claudia Elvidge (The Beacon) is gifting us with a series of bonus minisodes while they crowdfund; speaking of which, you should consider donating! This is a special show with a wonderful creator who is one of the true champions of our medium, and deserves all the support in the world. I’ve only heard the first of their bonus releases so far, a sweet epistolary food tour, and can’t wait to listen to their second release, Rosendots & Colden Stern, next week!

BONUS SNACK!

Laura Jane Grace - Hole In My Head

I didn’t really fall in love with Against Me! until after Laura Jane Grace publicly transitioned and released the absolute banger of an album Transgender Dysphoria Blues in 2014, but have since gone back and run roughshod through their entire catalog. That being said, sometimes, LJG’s solo work is where she really shines. I was a gigantic fan of her 2018 record Bought to Rot, the 2020 EP Stay Alive, and now her first full length since, Hole in My Head. These songs are loud, fast, angry, and urgent just like the rest of her catalog, and yet feature a great mix of acoustic and full band tracks that harken back to her days playing Punk Rock In Basements (which also just so happens to be the title of my favorite track on the record).

That’s all for this week! Next week, I plan on doing my first full re-listen of Windfall in years while we continue to work on producing season 2, catching up with Academy, and maybe getting back on the Old Gods of Appalachia bandwagon. In the meantime, take care of yourselves!