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Bobby's Snacks Vol. 32: Sweater Weather
Bob Raymonda
November 10, 2024
Happy #AudioDramaSunday Folks!
Although, I’m sure if you’re a part of my little corner of the internet, happy likely isn’t the word you’ve been feeling this week (or for the last year+). But… I just can’t engage with the world in that way right now. It’s certainly not something I feel qualified enough to comment on in any real way other than sustained despair, but more frankly: that’s not what y’all came here for, and it’s not why I’m here doing this either. So I’ll just ask you to be as kind to yourself as you possibly can, and to figure out whichever small ways you can be of service to your community, whether that’s donating to a mutual aid group, or volunteering with at-risk populations. We are truly all that we have.
In happier news, I’m feeling extremely full of love and part of my own community right now. More than I have in a while, actually, because I just hosted my first NYC Fiction Podcaster meetup in quite some time, to celebrate Ella Watts from Camlann’s brief journey to our neck of the woods! We had appearances from Marc Sollinger and Dan Powell from Archive 81, Gabriel Urbina and Sarah Shachat from Wolf 359, Jordan Cobb and Julia Schifini from Janus Descending and Primordial Deep, Crystal Storm from Vampire Beginnings, Jordana & Sean Williams from Give Me Away, Christian Kelley-Madera from The Once & Future Nerd, Sivan Raz from Re: Dracula, Richard Seneque from Visionaries, Ned Donovan from Encounter Party, Klaudia Amenábar from Bloody FM, and Roshan Singh-Sambhi from Temujin.
It was truly unreal to be able to be in one place with so many creators and artists who I love and admire so much, and reminds me why coming together in person is so important. Obviously we spent time talking shop, we always do, but we also shared our commiserations and our wins both professional and personal, and gave each other some really stellar hugs. It’s genuinely a massive boon for me to be able to share my love of this medium with other people who are so enmeshed with it, and to be able to call them my friends is a gift.
On that note, I had the kind of dissociative two weeks where I quite literally had to be listening to pods nonstop, so this is gonna be another doozy:
How the hell has my favorite comedy podcast of all time just released one of, truly, the most affecting Halloween specials I’ve ever heard in fiction pod history? Milky Man was truly next level: taking us outside of the booth in a way this show has rarely (if-ever) done, and creating a next-level horror sensation out of the concept of milk delivery. The ending? Absolute chef’s kiss. I’m not even kidding when I say this one gave me chills which is just… insane. Please go listen.
Going week to week on this one now that I had my marathon before our last update, and it’s continuing to absolutely do it for me. There’s the mysterious disappearance to solve, sure, but also the question of why everyone who first reported seeing the unidentified objects hovering in the sky has begun to deny what they first saw. And on top of that: a really tender plot about the Deputy’s inability to come out of the closet to his mother, the hard nosed Sheriff whose shadow he works under, who is incapable of recognizing that her son may in fact be onto something, and that her tried and true ways may not be the best way to do police work after all.
I only had one episode left on this one after our last update, and can confidently say, this season is absolutely worth your time. The horror is chilling, the resolution is satisfying, and the sound design (to the surprise of no one when you have Fred Greenhalgh involved) is second-to-none. I’m honestly really looking forward to digging deeper into the stories told in this anthology as a whole. I think I’m gonna go and tackle the werewolf-tale Blood Forest next.
The newest episode of Jeremy Ellett’s fantastic anthology takes us deep into the reaches of space, and introduces us to the kind of unsettling creature who can quickly turn from interesting curiosity to a terrifying conundrum. With an adept and horrifying script from H.R. Owen and a stellar performance by Méabh de Brún. I’m obsessed with how this series can really be whatever it wants to be on an episode by episode basis, which I understand is part and parcel with an anthology, but what’s nice is that it doesn’t seem like there’s a required formula in order to feel like a solid part of the greater whole, in the way some other anthologies require.
Fuck yes, my favorite demons are back to cook up nasty fast food and make unwitting weiner puns in this 90’s-set mall goth masterpiece. Kristen DiMercurio finally unveils the long-anticipated return of one of the most beloved sitcoms in our genre, and damn, have things escalated in the time since we’ve been gone. Rather than a refuge for a small group of demon misfits, the mall now serves as a home to just about all of the demons of hell… which has created a whole lot of chaos and work for our bandmates, and their new demon-convert employees. There are two episodes out already and both of them had me full of gut-busting laughter. Can’t wait to see where the rest of the season takes us!
Talk about another hotly-anticipated show… we’ve got the first two official episode of D.J. Sylvis’ follow up to Moonbase Theta, Out. And to the surprise of absolutely no one? Things are off to an eerie, exciting, and tender start, as we wander the world and discover the truth about monsters… and what it takes to be one. I want to shout out Tina Case for her work as Yvonne here, who always stunned as Wilder in MTO, and continues that trend here. Also, massive props to my pal Caro Mincks for some pitch perfect sound design on the series so far! The sonic landscape is well-defined and pulled me in immediately. Excited to see what happens next.
We’re five episodes deep into this follow up to Midst, and it’s already in contention for my favorite fiction podcast of the year. Granted, the show was tailor-made for me: continuing the story of the cosmos, while allowing all of the beloved characters from that original series to have their end without having to pick up lingering threads. Moving this series as far along the timeline as it has, and choosing to root it not in the socio-political underpinnings of the Upper Trust and Stationary Hill, but instead on a deep exploratory mission of the Un? Truly perfect. Our three narrators are a well-oiled machine as they slowly, patiently unravel the drama to be found by our new cast of characters. And good god, that livable cavern in the chest of a crystalline bird in episode 5? Unreal.
Now that more of the shock of working with her ex-wife has worn off, celebrated children’s performer Kat Waterford’s starting to realize things on this job aren’t quite what they seem. The propaganda machine required for the Society to run itself in the way it does is puffing along quite nicely, and she’s playing her part, even if she is beginning to have a lot of questions about who this content could truly be for. Again, in my humble opinion, the world of this show is the best thing to come out of the Night Vale Presents family, which also very much extends to its in-universe novel spinoff, You Can Feel It Just Below the Ribs, which takes the cake for the best fiction podcast book I’ve ever ready.
Things are getting dire for Lewis as Ify begins to consider whether or not it’d be more useful to surrender him to Jason and the other horrors out among the ice, or if they should keep him safe for proof of Mika’s death, like Adele wants. Meanwhile, the family comes together in Cairo to prepare for the greater conference, but have some sneaking suspicions that there might be some spying afoot. Another fantastic release from Fool & Scholar Productions, who are genuinely some of the most talented people who have ever worked in this medium.
There’ve been some substantial updates to the recently released Detours ride-sharing app, some of which are welcome, others… not so much. Granted, the interface is better than ever, and actually summons a vehicle to where you’ve requested it shows up… but there are a whole lot of other people in there. And boxes. Things that are being driven somewhere off far in the desert that’s in the complete opposite direction from where you were going in the first place. But hey! At least they’re showing up now, right? And they’ll get you where you’re going eventually, though you’d probably be better off walking… if you want to get anywhere in a timely manner.
I continue to believe that Season 5, Part 3 is the most impactful work that the Imploding Fictions team has ever made in their entire career. I’ve listened to the last two episodes this week and they were both stellar. From Øystein Brager’s Dudo, which shows that The Brotherhood of the Phoenix has had to contend with bumbling competitors for far longer than we every may have expected, to Julia Morizawa and Tristram Lowe’s Tomo Gozen, which introduces Arthur to a lauded tenth century samurai who is currently prepared to end her life in the most honorable way possible: seppuku. That episode specifically was so stunningly beautiful that it took my breath way more than once. I can’t wait to see where else in the history of the world this show takes us next.
Here’s another one where I had two episodes to catch up on in the lead up to today’s newsletter, and as always? They were both hilarious adventures through a steampunk wonderland. From the ever present threat of an unwilling body swap, to a family of drug runners posing as vampires in order to keep folks away from their foreboding manse. Any adventure that this world sends Collette, Taqi, and Telesphore on is bound to be a rollicking good time! Love to my pal Josh Rubino forever. He rules here. Along with every single other person in the entire cast.
I’m three episodes deep into the newest season of Night Vale Presents’ hardboiled Audible Original noir, and I’m so thrilled that it’s back in my queue. Unlicensed PI’s Lou Rosen and Molly Hatch are back to solve the disappearance of a GhostTok influencer and the murder of a beekeeper that may or may not just so happen to be connected, even if the powerful elite of Los Angeles have no interest in them succeeding in their quest. The chemistry of the core cast of this show is unmatched, and Disparition’s score continues to make a perfect backdrop for the world it explores. So stoked to listen to the rest!
And just like that… we’re at the end of the third batch of this post-apocalpytic chat show podcast! While it feels impossible for this show to top the absolute perfection that was the Mystery Hut or that heartbreaking Samhain special, this finale feels like it might just come close. Jamie and Malik experience some low stakes time travel, forcing two past versions of themselves who have yet to meet into the frame, and exploring whether or not they’d still love each other the same if they’d come into each other’s lives at a completely different time. Lucky enough for us, (and them), the answer seems to be yes! Really looking forward to the next batch of scripts here, as I know for a fact they’re coming from the inimitable Gabriel Urbina!
An important magic puppet has gone missing. It’s up to our Security team to find it, and the answer to this mystery is quite heartbreaking indeed. The things a kid will do in order to keep themselves and their loved ones fed in a harsh world that would rather put them to work for pennies than care for them adequately is understandable. And good god, that ending? Where the team realizes what’s truly happening, and who's really responsible for what’s going on? Chef’s kiss
Speaking of Gabriel Urbina, I’ve been anxiously awaiting this Image Comics adaptation announced all the way back in 2020. Lead by an incredible cast including Laz Alonso from The Boys and Martha Higareda from Altered Carbon, this show is the perfect blend of gritty crime thriller and supernatural horror. I’m only two episodes deep so far, but it’s full of Urbina’s trademark wit, and some truly unreal production. I’m anxiously awaiting having the time to tear my way through the rest, as well as to read the original comic it was based on!
October was such a blur for me that I only just remembered that this show released its final two episodes last month! I tore through them both while doing some chores on Friday and hot damn, did this show stick the landing. Jordan Cobb is one of the preeminent sci-fi/horror actors in the indie fiction podcasting medium, so to see her getting to play in such a massively beloved IP sandbox was wildly satisfying, especially with scripts as strong as this one. Ben Counter took everything you could have ever loved about those games and delivered a taut, original story set in their world that both gives some greater context into how these horrors developed, and also, how they continue to persist unchecked thanks to the continued efforts of the Unitologists. The whole show is absolutely worth your time.
This show is one of the most consistently high quality long-running shows out there at the moment, and their fabled return to Goldengate was no different. We got tearful reunions, we got unnerving looks to the the world ahead, and we got the chemistry we’ve come to know and love. I was thrilled to take a quick meeting with series creator Damian Syldo recently, as I’ve pitched an idea for their upcoming third season that has me incredibly excited to get writing and play in someone else’s sandbox again. It’ll be a long way out before I can tell you any more than that… but I can promise you, it’s gonna be special.
The final season of this show continues, and for the first time ever, Joseph is closer to the end of this mystery than he’s ever been before. With an unsettling visit to an old family property that is shockingly, being kept up just as he remembered it despite now being owned by the State, and the simple directive to just ask for the caretaker’s assistance, rather than sneaking under cover and trying to steal what he’s looking for himself, unlocks a way forward in his quest to solve Aimo’s scavenger hunt. An incredible episode all around!
BONUS SNACK
Dylan Marron from Welcome to Night Vale killed it for years hosting Conversations With People Who Hate Me, and has spun that off into one of the most beautiful and caring miniseries I’ve ever heard. Granted, (as you all know), I’m a complete sucker for all things Star Wars, so I couldn’t help but diving in to the first couple of episodes last night, and Marron uses his empathetic, sweet, and inquisitive nature to shine on a light on one of the most maligned characters that series has ever created. Ahmed Best, like and Amandla Sternberg and Moses Ingram in more recent years, suffered some absolutely heinous vitriol from the worst of the fandom, and has a chance to earn the flowers he truly deserves for what was then (and still is now) an historic contribution to the world of filmmaking magic. I absolutely recommend this!