Hello my Freaky Darlings,
Today Alasdair Stuart has hijacked my blog to talk about podcasting, so pull up a chair and listen to the wise man.
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Hello there, I’m Alasdair. I run Escape Artists, a podcasting company. I LOVE my job and will use any excuse to talk about it. Delightfully, Joan has given me that excuse and as ever I’d like to thank her for being a fantastic human. Thanks, buddy.
So! Let’s talk about podcasting!
Escape Artists has got four shows and a magazine. The podcasts cover science fiction, horror, fantasy, YA and the magazine covers all of them with an emphasis on fun. Every podcast episode is free and a magazine subscription is $10 for four issues. The magazine’s about to celebrate its first year and the shows have clocked up 1500 plus episodes between them. We’ve been going just under ten years. That, given I started doing this on a dial up connection and a headset that clicked every time I breathed, blows my MIND.
It also begs the question; where do you start?
Easy. Right here, with me. Below I’ll talk about one of my favourite episodes from each show and a favourite story from Mothership Zeta, our magazine. They’ll be links to subscribe or listen so go explore and find out what we’ve been up to.
Escape Pod
http://escapepod.org/2015/09/04/ep500-the-man-who-lost-the-sea/
I love this story and anyone who knows me will be able to figure out why by the end of it. It’s one of those brilliant, annoying, beautiful puzzles that assembles itself as you listen. Don’t think too hard, just hit play.
Pseudopod
http://pseudopod.org/2016/07/24/pseudopod-500-a-bit-of-the-dark-world/
To celebrate our 500th episode, Pseudopod is spending the next ten months releasing one story from each decade of the 20th century. Most of those will go to subscribers but this one, an epic piece by the incomparable Fritz Leiber, is available to everyone. It’s massive, at 13,000 words but it’s so worth it.
Podcastle
http://podcastle.org/2016/01/26/podcastle-400-giant-episode-night-at-the-opera/
We love the big numbers because they give us an excuse to push the boat out a bit. This elaborate, precisely detailed story about intrigue and spectacle at a VERY exclusive party is no exception and features an all-star cast of some of our best narrators.
Cast of Wonders
http://www.castofwonders.org/2016/03/episode-200-running-on-two-legs-by-eugie-foster/
Eugie Foster was one of the all-time greats, an author who could change gear, or genre without missing a beat. Her work was hilarious, magnificently sweary and filled with incredibly gentle, well observed kindness. This story, about a cancer patient discovering that she can communicate with the animals around her, was one of her last and best works.
Mothership Zeta
http://mothershipzeta.org/2015/11/30/imma-gonna-finish-you-off-by-marina-j-lostetter/
In a world where you live forever, something impossible has just happened; a murder.
Now, a hard bitten and actually kind of grumpy detective catches the first, last and most important case of this version of his life. But can he solve it before he’s consigned to his next job?
This is BRILLIANT. Marina’s got an incredible eye for language and for a story that features violent death and character distress this is really funny. Not to mention inventive, witty, sweet and sure to make you wonder what you’d do with forever…
So that’s us. We’re weekly, we’re entirely donation powered and with Mothership Zeta we’re starting to move into epublishing too. If you like what you read, please subscribe in itunes or your podcatcher du jour and subscribe to MZ here for just $10 a year.
Oh and I’m on twitter at @AlasdairStuart and the company is at @EAPodcasts. Come say hi! Trust me, we’ve always got a good story for you.
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Are you a fan of podcast? Have you listened to any of the ones mentioned here (if not go listen to them NOW!). Let me know what you think of podcasts.
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