Radio Drama Revival

Scholar and dramatist Lance Dann joins me as we play the first episode of his techno-thriller, BLOOD CULTURE. It's a trans-media project, consisting of not just a radio drama, but of an AR game that begins with this in-world website (as well as plenty of goofy easter eggs in the credits page). Blood Culture is the story of A'isha, an employee of an enormous biotech firm called Meta. Meta's interns are falling ill and dying at an alarming rate, and it's up to A'isha, and her childhood...

We're premiering INHALE, the latest miniseries by Rick Coste, the unstoppable, unbelievably prolific audio drama producer from New England. Tracy Tanner is an unassuming librarian in the small town of Hemlock, Massachusetts—but Tracy isn't her real name, and she isn't just a librarian. Tracy is a superhero—and she's not supering anymore. Join me as we dive into Tracy's secrets in this exciting new miniseries! Rick Coste Productions

This week, we explore EOS 10, a medical comedy in space. Dr Ryan Dalias is a young doctor, recently assigned to a posting on EOS 10, a station in deep space. Dalias's job, ostensibly, is to manage his alcoholic superior, Dr. Horace Urvidian—a brilliant but curmudgeonly xenobiologist. Together with Nurse Johns and Levi, a disgraced prince-turned-chef, the four of them have numerous wacky hijinks. This episode, "Up, Up, Up," contains adult situations and themes of, well,...

It's a spine-tingler this week, as we dive into the twisted world of Darkest Night with a little story called "Horns Limo Service". Darkest Night is a horror anthology series from the Paragon Collective, and what makes it special is its binaural recording setup. It's similar to what Campfire Radio does: it puts you inside the action. Not a lot of audio drama companies do this, and it's really neat! After the feature, I have a chat with Alex Aldea, the director and producer of Darkest...

Why do we climb? Why do people look at the tallest mountains in the world -- vast, inhospitable places -- and say, "I want to climb to its summit"? When you're up there, what do you become? What do you give up? We're exploring those questions today in a new drama by JJ Wang from Netizen Playhouse: The Embrace: Nights on Killer Mountain The story follows an Australian mountaineer, Zoe, who wants to be the first woman to summit Nanga Parbat, one of the deadliest mountains in the world, in...

This week, it's the Stories of Mahabharata, retold by Sudipta Bhawmik, a multitalented playwright, storyteller, and engineer. With music and immersive sound design by Avi Ziv, Bhawmik animates this ancient Indian epic, rendering it in English to delight those that have never heard it before as well as those who were raised on the stories. The Mahabharata is thousands of years old, and originally in Sanskrit. It tells the story of two groups of warring cousins -- the Pandava brothers and...

This week, we dive into the fabulous world of The Axe and Crown -- (our very own) Eli McIlveen's spinoff miniseries from Alba Salix, Royal Physician. It's a fantasy world where the most immediate dangers aren't dragons or wizards, but yuppies threatening to gentrify your neighborhood. Gubbin is a salty old troll who runs a tavern called The Axe and Crown. It's a dive bar on the bad side of the river. Stan is a human, and the naive new landlord who thinks he can renovate the place. What...

Writer/director/producer Jessica Best joins me to talk about her new science-fiction mystery adventure, THE STRANGE CASE OF STARSHIP IRIS. Best is part of the recently-formed Procyon Network, a podcast network whose mission is to create inclusive fiction. All of them are fabulous people. We're going to play Episode 2 of Starship Iris, which is a sometimes-funny, sometimes-tragic, deeply thoughtful adventure in space. Imagine FIREFLY with a mostly-female cast and a badass Hufflepuff for a...

This week, we play an episode of an experimental podcast called PODCAST MEANDER, which kind of skirts the border between autobiography and fiction. Dan Leone plays/is a character, also named Dan, who has thrown away his old life (or attempted to). After secretly saving for years, Dan quits his job in Connecticut and heads west, unsure of what he wants to do with his life. In the episode you'll hear today, Dan comes to suddenly on a train, unaware of where it's going, why he's aboard, or...

This week, line producer Matthew Boudreau hooks us up with some binaural horror from the Wireless Theatre Company with The Autopsy. For more great audio from the Wireless Theatre Company, including the stunning Springheel'd Jack Saga, visit their website at http://www.wirelesstheatre.co.uk A couple of notes: Binaural sound attempts to authentically recreate how we hear. Listening to this episode with headphones is highly recommended. The Autopsy contains some visceral and graphic audio...

This week Matthew continues hosting for David as we feature B.I.L.I. from London's own O'Neill and Freeman. For more O'Neill and Freeman https://soundcloud.com/oneillandfreeman Check out James O'Neill's terrific sculpture work: http://aplaceforclay.wixsite.com/sculptor

Line producer Matthew Boudreau takes over while David Rheinstrom is away in France. This week's story is A Dread Light Shine in the Serpent's Sky, a collaborative audio fiction piece created for 11th Hour Productions by the folks at Audioblivious Productiobs, Jim Robbie and the Wanderers and Koach Studios. 11th Hour Audio - http://www.11thhouraudio.com Audioblivious Productions - https://www.audioblivious.com/ Jim Robbie and the Wanderers - http://jimrobbieandthewanderers.com/ Koach...

Professor Neil Verma joins me to discuss his essay series, “The Case for Audio Drama”. He’s a professor of Sound Studies at Northwestern University, and a longtime scholar of audio drama. We discuss the history of the form, and areas of his particular interest: radio drama from the 30s through the 50s. But we don’t just talk about old stuff! Professor Verma is as excited as I am about the audio fiction being produced today. Join us as we connect the styles and conventions of the vibrant...

This week, Alexander Charles Adams of SMASH/CUT joins me to discuss their piece, “Hi, I’m Mattie (HIM)”. Matthew Cavan is an actor and drag queen in Belfast, Northern Ireland; he came out about his HIV-positive status in 2010, and has since faced a torrent of criticism, shaming, and even death threats. The piece we’re playing today, “Hi, I’m Mattie”, is a verbatim piece -- that is, the script is taken word-for-word from interactions that Mattie had on the gay dating app Grindr, where he...

Ahh, ancient Greece. Hot nymphs, raging orgies, much wine, song, and occasional transformations into a goat. All well and good, right? Well things are more wacky than ever in the sizzling and scandalous interpretation of the myth of Orpheus done by Roger Gregg, The Stuff of Myth. This great production won a Gold Ogle in 2007 and has gotten rave reviews as a stage play. Now hear what the buzz is all about in Parts 3-4 of The Stuff of Myth.

We conclude our two-part conversation series around The Handmaid's Tale, which you can find in an Audio Drama form over at Secrets, Crimes, and Audiotape. This week, I had the great pleasure of talking to Mallory Ortberg, a writer, culture critic, and advice columnist. She's Dear Prudence over at Slate, and she used to run a magnificent site called The Toast. In this episode, we discuss: * The Handmaid's Tale and White Feminism * How to avoid becoming an Internal Expat * Fending off the...

Podcaster, culture critic, and ne'er-do-well Margaret Willison (of Appointment Television and NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour) joins me to talk about THE HANDMAID'S TALE -- specifically, the 2000 production by John Dryden that ran recently on Secrets, Crimes, and Audiotape (our sibling show on the Wondery Network). Join me and Margaret as we alternate between quality goofs and serious discussion. Margaret's newsletter, TWO BOSSY DAMES: tinyletter.com/twobossydames Margaret's podcast,...

Today RDR from the Vault launches a series of episodes highlighting Roger Gregg, playwright master of Dublin, Ireland. Roger pioneered his own audio sound, a wacky blend of Captain Beefheart sonic assault and an intimate, fine theatre sensibility. He produced for RTE - that’s the public radio of Ireland- for the better part of a decade and since parting ways with them has continued on mostly on stage but ocacsionally gracing us with an audio piece. What we’ll hear today is one of the...

This week, things are going to get spooky at Radio Drama Revival as we delve into the world of horror audio fiction. David talks to Marc Sollinger and Dan Powell, the evil minds behind Archive 81 and The Deep Vault. They discuss the horror fiction that makes them tick, how to construct audio fiction that’ll make your skin crawl, and what it’s like to collaborate with one of your closest friends. We’ll also take a listen to the first episode of their show Archive 81, which is about a young...

Re-play of the 2012 BBC Series "The Mumbai Chuzzlewits," adapted by Ayeesha Menon from the Charles Dickens novel "Martin Chuzzlewits," and transposed to Modern India. Produced by John Dryden of Goldhawk Productions. Convinced his relatives are after his money, miserly old recluse Martin Chuzzlewit (Roshan Seth), adopts orphan girl, Mary (Nimrat Kaur), to be his carer. As she will inherit nothing upon his death, he believes she will do her utmost to keep him in good health. But when his...