8 resources to guide you on your quest (see what I did there) to find a fiction podcast you’ll love.
Finding a new fiction podcast to listen to isn’t hard. Not really.
Don’t believe me? Open up your preferred podcast listening app. Find the area that displays/filters by category and look for the Fiction category.
There you go. Literally thousands of fiction podcasts for you to listen to. Easy! See? Podcast discovery is not broken. You just discovered a new podcast!
Now, with that myth out of the way, let me tell you of some better ways to discover fiction podcasts that you actually may want to listen to over the holidays and into 2023. Shall we?
The r/audiodrama Subreddit
Yes, I know Reddit is scary. It’s way too easy to piss someone off or run afoul of an entire community. And Redditors are very good at online fighting.
However, the r/audiodrama subreddit is a welcome oasis from the toxicity for which Reddit is infamous. With 255K members all focused on audiodramas, it’s a treasure trove of information. Many fiction podcasters use pretty heavy self-promotion in the sub, but it works. And that’s coming from a guy who’s hypersensitive to self-promotion.
Lots of comments from fans (and non-fans) help you decide what’s right for you and what isn’t.
I visit the community usually 2–5 times a day. Highly recommended!
The Cambridge Geek
You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who’s been curating audio fiction for longer than Rob, The Cambridge Geek.
Rob goes through great lengths to capture as many debuts for audiodramas and fiction podcasts as he can, rolling them up nicely in a monthly update list.
How many? Well, in the October 2022 debut list there were 172, by my count. ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY TWO! That’ll keep you listening for a while.
The End
A nice balance to Rob’s focus on brand new audiodrama productions is The End, a newsletter that shines a light back on fiction podcasts when they’ve reached the conclusion of a season or the entire series.
OK, yes. I’m the person behind The End. But at least I didn’t list it first! And I’m pretty damned proud of it.
Each issue of The End brings you fiction podcasts that have reached the (or at least a) conclusion. I list all the fiction podcasts that are starting a new season in the next few weeks, a list of all fiction podcasts that recently reached the end (get it?), as well as some of my personal recommendations of outstanding audio fiction. Subscribe now!
Audio-Drama.com
Another invaluable database with a committed curator is Audio-Drama.com.
I’m on this site at least once a day when I’m working on The End, because I display the categories for each story I list. Much better than the weak-ass categories we’re allowed in RSS feeds, ya know?
And you, the person looking for your next radio theater fix, can pick and choose from those categories, narrowing down the database to just what you’re looking for.
AudioFiction.co.uk
Rob, The Cambridge Geek from above, maintains his own database of fiction podcasts on AudioFiction.co.uk.
No, it’s not just for fiction shows from the United Kingdom. 😄 Instead, it features a robust tagging search feature, as well as a quick way to see the “newest” fiction podcasts added to the database.
Fiction Podcast Weekly
Fiction Podcast Weekly is a newsletter from The Podcast Host that is both for creators and consumers of audiodrama in podcast form.
This is a newsletter in the truest sense of the word, as it features not just fiction podcasts, but news about the fiction podcasting world. So if you’re looking for a deeper connection to the industry-side of fiction podcasting, subscribe.
Great Pods
How about a database not just of fiction podcasts, but critical reviews of those fiction podcasts? Check out the fiction section of Great Pods.
Hey, not every audiodrama is for every listener. And sometimes the creators aren’t all that creative when naming or describing their show.
That’s where Great Pods comes in, giving you reviews from critics — actual podcast critics !— to help you decide if a fiction podcast is right for you or not.
Audio Drama Reviews
Hey, speaking of reviews, how about Audio Drama Reviews?
This is a brand new site to me, so I don’t have much to share. I think (though I could be wrong) the reviews on this site are all written by the staff.
Still, they seem pretty detailed to me. So if your tastes line up with theirs, it could be a good place for you.
What Did I Miss?
This article was not meant to be an exhaustive list of all the places you can go to find your next fix for fiction podcasts. However, I’m always interested in connecting with others who help curate the listening experience for others. So if you know of something I should know about, let me know! You can email me or connect with me on Mastodon.
Thanks for reading, commenting, and sharing with your friends!
Evo Terra is a long-time podcaster and podcast enabler who’s recently turned his full attention back to what got him into podcasting way back in 2004 — fiction podcasts.
He curates The End, a newsletter that shines a light back on fiction podcasts when they’ve reached the (or at least a) conclusion. Yes, you should subscribe!
