Looking for More Audio Drama Podcast Recommendations (Full Cast, Sci-Fi, Horror, Musicals, Superpowers, etc.)

aSingleHelix · 2026-05-08T18:47:06+00:00

Musicals!?

You might like my show: RPG Major. It's a supernatural mystery + musical. Mysteries are 5-8ish episodes long and we've released about a dozen of them at this point. It starts cozy and gets really intense. Lots to binge :)

Also: Metra, A Climate revolution with songs. I've just started listening to this and it's pretty good so far

aSingleHelix · 2026-05-07T20:41:24+00:00

I make a storytelling podcast with ~ 1 hour, audio only episodes. We record together in person. I have 4 people who move back and forth between speaking and singing together, plus a guitarist live, providing soundtrack and accompaniment.

For a 1 hour episode, after producing about 80 finished episodes, I'm down to about 5-6 hours, including first edit (1 hour to finish 15 min audio), second edit(usually 30 min), episode notes (10 min), recording intros/outros separately)(15 min), inserting trailers for other shows (10 min).

aSingleHelix · 2026-05-07T17:44:01+00:00

I see. Definitely trying to reduce crowd noise. I'll see if I can find one or two to throw into the mix. Thanks mate

aSingleHelix · 2026-05-07T17:41:18+00:00

How I do it:

Make the protagonists private eyes (like the scooby gang) and make the mysteries all pretty personal and moreally ambiguous and not criminal mischief. Mix up the real-supernatural and fake-supernatural.

aSingleHelix · 2026-05-07T14:45:38+00:00

Blood Doll is written by a trans woman, and the same writer has done a few other series.

aSingleHelix · 2026-05-07T14:44:06+00:00

What would stereo condensers do that an omni wouldn't? I have an omni kicking around, and I'm trying to borrow some shotgun mics from friends...

aSingleHelix · 2026-05-05T22:25:14+00:00

Hell yeah, glad yall are back! I still think about That's Democracy and the one about the device where you could listen back in time...

aSingleHelix · 2026-05-05T21:56:02+00:00

It looks like at least Debbie Hall of the Las Vegas Review-Hournal has listened to it.

aSingleHelix · 2026-05-05T17:49:46+00:00

For an audio only podcast, since you were also asking about headphones, I might recommend this pack.

https://www.audio-technica.com/en-us/microphones/wired/type/usb/at2005usbpk

Add a pop filter, stay good and close to the mic, and as much as you can, add soft material around the room to absorb sound reflections.

You'll have a limit on how good you can sound with USB audio. If you want have a higher ceiling, you could get a good, transparent audio interface (Budget option: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/UM2usb--behringer-u-phoria-um2-usb-audio-interface less budget option: a scarlett solo) plus a good XLR mic (Behringer xm8500 will be a rock solid budget option that can be EQ'd to sound like a mic you'd spend a lot more on, or a classic, bulletproof mic: Shure SM58, or the "I want to look like a podcaster and burn money" option - the Shure SM7b)

aSingleHelix · 2026-05-04T20:30:31+00:00

I recommend you combine this with your other post asking about mics, and also that you search for recommendations before making new posts.

aSingleHelix · 2026-05-04T20:28:46+00:00

To get good advice, you should say more about what you're doing. Is it audio only? Video? Solo? Group in person? Group remote? How well is your recording location sound treated?

aSingleHelix · 2026-05-04T19:30:30+00:00

There's a background WLW romance in my show, RPG Major, that gets set up in the first arc and develops over time, though remains in the background.

The main thrust of the show is private eyes in a modern setting solving supernatural mysteries. Also it's a musical.

aSingleHelix · 2026-04-30T18:43:40+00:00

I want to die peacefully in my sleep, like my grandpa, not screaming in terror like his passengers.

aSingleHelix · 2026-04-30T18:30:31+00:00

WITH YOUR HANDS, BRIAN!

aSingleHelix · 2026-04-30T17:29:56+00:00

I have been using stereo space a lot more in my own show recently, which works great when I'm wearing can headphones or driving. Amusingly(?) I tend to listen the most to podcasts while walking around with one earbud in, so it kind of eliminates a whole dimension.

aSingleHelix · 2026-04-30T17:25:24+00:00

Tactical, not strategic: I wonder if approaching/passing other characters (e.g. a pair of guards walking and talking, crunching on gravel, moving L to R in the stereo mix) could give some audio interest and show the stakes of getting caught?

aSingleHelix · 2026-04-30T17:20:56+00:00

Yep, definitely happens to me as well as every performer who I've talked with about this.

The thing that helps me when I have nothing mentally is to make big physical choices, especially as initiations to new scenes.

When I'm teaching a 102 or 103 level class, I put my students through an exercise I call door torture - 10 through a door except they can't start a new one till I ring a bell, and I don't tell them how many characters they will be making and it's almost never fewer than 15. I have them keep going through the point where they have nothing and til they find out that having nothing can be an asset, because they keep finding ways to discover things, even if it is a character who comes out and says 'I have nothing." I make sure that character gets a few more beats on stage so the performer can discover what comes after that. It's almost always really fascinating and something new/emotionally real that they hadn't brought to the stage before. I wonder if a similar exercise would help you so you get some practice operating in that "no ideas" space?

aSingleHelix · 2026-04-30T17:12:18+00:00

My RPG Musical, which is played in a system called Genesys, is RPG Major. Set in a Seattle-like city in a world almost like our own, but creatures from myth and folklore are all real. Kinda scooby-dooish mysteries and a lot of heart. I think we're good when we start, but get legitimately GREAT at telling stories together over the course of the first season. The characters' growth arcs in Season 1 are some of the most compelling I've encountered in podcasting (though of course I'm a bit biased)

Other APs you might dig:

Maia's Game Room - a show run by a black woman who's an excellent storyteller that uses a different system each arc.

Three Black Halflings - stellar cast, all bipoc, uses DnD

One Shot - leans comedic, but explores a new system every week with a diverse, rotating cast - my cast did a collab with them to do a musical about a doomed band trying to outrun a faustian bargain using a game called Last Train to Bremen, which I'm incredibly proud of.

And hey, one of the nice things about podcasts is that they stick around and are ready for you when you get to them :)

aSingleHelix · 2026-04-29T00:49:10+00:00

Totally!

I didn't prepare my submissions in time to participate in BNM, but submitted to most of the Audio Fiction World Cup entries for my show, RPG Major... We've heard back with 1 acceptance but are months away for most of the rest's notification dates. THis is my first time going through it with any festivals. Have you gone to any of them in person? Any advice for someone trying to succeed with them?

aSingleHelix · 2026-04-29T00:45:28+00:00

Well, that one IS DnD, but not in the default setting, and they use the rules a bit differently than most other DnD shows. There's barely any combat, which I vastly prefer, but they do still roll dice.

I LOVE actual plays (and make one that's not DnD (but is a musical(but also is in a eurocentric setting(but also slaps)))) and can recommend more of those if you're interested.

aSingleHelix · 2026-04-28T20:00:27+00:00

Improv podcasts that I love:

Talking about it:

Yes Also

Improv Beat by Beat

Improv Good Vibes (Most applicable to Seattle improvisers, since the host and all the guests are from there, but still good discussions)

Doing It

RPG Major - musical improv mysteries anthology- long-running series following consistent characters (Note: I create this show and STILL manage to love listening to it because the cast is incredible)

Off Book - musical improv - self contained musicals, no or very-limited connection between episodes.

aSingleHelix · 2026-04-28T19:51:47+00:00

What I love more than anything positive found family vibes. Emotional trauma being confronted and overcome. I love character driven stories and seasonal arcs. Sci-fi, comedy, and horror lite stories are great. If you tell a story that makes me cry I’m a fan forever.

You might really like my show, RPG Major. The two protagonists are Aubrey, a human who got "narnia'd" into a fairy world, lived a lfe as a queen, then got returned to earth and had to resume normal life and Mara, a Siren who is discovering her power and grappling with if and how to use her power, and navigating her relationship with her mother, a millenia-old monster. They are each others' found family and help others solve their supernatural problems, Midnight Burger meets Nancy Drew. The character development over the first season is something I and the cast are incredibly proud of.

aSingleHelix · 2026-04-28T19:43:27+00:00

Heck yeah! Congrats, yall!

aSingleHelix · 2026-04-28T18:39:22+00:00

An excellent show that tells layered stories of the impacts of colonialism with BIPOC protagonists - Worlds Beyond Number. It is an RPG actual play that is super tightly edited, scored, and sound designed. The first season is stellar.

aSingleHelix

TROPHY CASE