Words for Your Ears: Our favorite storytelling podcasts

Dear Books,

We love you! You’re seriously the best. We’ve been through sick days together, on road trips and vacations, and we’ve gone for walks and on picnics. We can’t even count the number of hours and days we’ve spent getting lost in your words and how you’re always there for us when we need a good laugh or to go on an epic adventure.

And, Books, you’ll always be our favorite – no matter what – but there’s this new friend we want you to meet: Their name is Podcasts, and the staff at Indy Reads want to tell you about a few storytelling shows they love:

 

Lydia: Bronzeville

Cinema Gypsy Productions, TateMen Entertainment, and AudioHQ

My favorite storytelling podcast is “Bronzeville”, a scripted audio drama. I enjoy it because it’s short — 10 episodes and only one season, similar to the radio serial dramas of the past — and because it features well-known actors.

The story is set in Bronzeville, a historically African-American neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, in the 1940s. Lots of action, gangsters, drama and suspense.

Favorite Moment (So Far):
The catastrophic event that causes a main character who has “gone good” to reconsider that stance.

bronzevilleseries.com | iTunes | RSS Feed

Christina: REVEAL

The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX

I enjoy this podcast because they dive deep into hidden stories that are impacting our world. It’s all about “revealing” injustices in our society in order to hold those of power accountable. The shows range from 5 minutes to 1 hour so they are great to listen to when driving. They share stories weekly.

Favorite Moment (So Far):
The audio from a video diary of a young man affected by the opioid crisis.

revealnews.org | iTunes | RSS Feed

Victoria: How to Survive The End of The World

The Brown Sisters

This isn’t The Moth, but simply a podcast which uses already written stories to talk about current life and what an apocalypse would be like. It sounds nerdy but it’s… absolutely beautiful.

Through each episode, the hosts (Autumn Brown and adrienne marie brown) take a quote or passage from one of Octavia Butler’s books, and talk about their lives and work, connecting Butler’s work on Afrofuturism to a broad framework of daily life.

Favorite Moment (So Far):
“All that you touch / you change. / All that you change / changes you. / The only lasting truth / is change. / God / is change.”
(From an episode on Butler’s Parable of the Sower.)

Jeremy: The Adventure Zone

The McElroys and Maximum Fun

Three adventurers step out of an advanced transport ship into a bog, thick with trees and buzzing overgrowth. The air around them is heavy, and they get the sense they’re being watched. Danger may be lurking around any and every corner, and… wait – was that a rustle in the trees overhead?

No, that was the sound of one of the hosts having a popcorn snack. It’s The Adventure Zone!

Three mostly inept brothers and their dad build a vivid, sprawling world with beautifully complex storylines while they hilariously bumble their way through caves, on trains, in elevators, and… outer space? Oh, and they’re playing Dungeons & Dragons the whole time, but you do sort of forget about that.

Favorite Moment (So Far):
Any trip to Fantasy Costco.

mcelroyshows.com | iTunes | RSS Feed