November 13, 2017
THE LIST
1. Tomorrow's World - "Electric Sheep"
Taking a page from the genre-innovating Flash Forward, Tomorrow's World pushes the boundaries of cross-pollinating forms in this stunning piece of audio. The team stitches together a provocative meditation on the abilities and rights of artificial intelligence by intermixing a fictional story with real-world research and interviews. It is worth noting for its ambitious scope alone, but the episode converges into a meaningful and entertaining piece.
2. Radiolab - "Match Made in Marrow"
There are not a lot of favorable examples of large media outlets engaging with religion in a deep manor, and understandably so. Broad brushes are quicker to produce, and concise headlines more easily garner clicks. Podcasting is a medium that lends itself to merging intimacy and scale, and a show like Radiolab is absolutely primed to deliver nuanced stories integrating faith and culture. It seems highly unlikely that set out with this specific goal in mind, but "Match Made in Marrow" tells a relatable story that depicts atheist and Christian sensibilities in a reasonable and challenging way.
3. Planet Money - "Your Cell Phone's A Snitch"
Large corporations profit from amassing user data. This is nothing new, or at least it shouldn't be, but there are definitely some grey areas surrounding what can and can't be legally shared. Planet Money tells the incredible story of a man implicated by proximity to a crime, and promotes a healthy skepticism of GPS tracking that can be easy to take for granted.
American Suburb - "Chapter 4: Make Great America Again"
SOMETHING NEW
What is the difference between audiobooks and narrative fiction podcasts? Books are often read by an established voice actor, and podcasts in this genre are crafted with one or a number of practitioners. Podcasts lean on rich audio design, whereas audiobooks are far more sparse in terms of production elements. Generally podcasts are distributed free of cost to users, whereas audiobooks by in large are not. Most importantly, audiobooks are inherently an adaptation of an existing work and rarely take much liberty in deviating from the original material. Almost all podcasts, fictional or not, tend to be born out of a creative space. More and more shows are being adapted into TV pilots or novelizations after finding success in portable audio, but recently a publisher endeavored to go all in on a multi-tiered distribution strategy. This summer, revered science fiction publisher Tor launched a podcast called Steal the Stars. All 14 episodes are out now, and Tor plans to release a novelization and corresponding audiobook.
In addition to this radical cross channel production strategy, the show positions itself as a "genre-bending" effort that will curry favor with sci-fi fans as well as the general public. Longtime playwright and exceedingly prolific podcast writer Mac Rogers (The Message, Life After) penned the script, and his inclusion automatically appends credibility to the ambitious project. The story follows Dakota Prentiss, an agent of private contractor Quill Marine. The firm's mission is to guard a top secret site housing what amounts to be alien life. Early episodes in the series follow traditional expository setup and, while a bit of a slog, have the makings of a rich story. The problem is that this takes an inordinate amount of time to lead to any kind of action. Maybe that's a result of unfairly expecting sci-fi to be heavy on pyrotechnics, but it also speaks to the broad appeal the publisher sought to glean. A unexpected love story evolves before any sort of alien tomfoolery bursts on the scene, which is a nice intention that kind of falls flat in the larger context of the story.
Later installments do push the plot development, and the team executes each chapter with a professionality that bodes well for future projects in the medium. The soundscapes and voice acting are superb, and the dialogue leaves little room for criticism. At the macro-level, however, there is not much in the way of exploring how a character's actions connect to higher stakes. All the time spent on world building and character development seems wasted, since the payoff never lands. Without spoiling too much, there is a plot twist that potentially gives service to this need for deeper meaning, but it comes far too late in the story. While it's not the best thing to come out of audio drama in recent years, it is certainly different. The show's downfall is that it has something for everyone but not everything for someone. That lack of specificity is sure to be disappointing to genre fans looking for a true-to-form entry in the budding landscape of the dramatic fiction podcast.
Steal the Stars
From: Tor Labs
Recommended for: Not fans of science fiction.
Drop Schedule: Wednesdays, Weekly (full series available now)
Average episode length: 30 minutes
Rating: Break It
1. Tomorrow's World - "Electric Sheep"
Taking a page from the genre-innovating Flash Forward, Tomorrow's World pushes the boundaries of cross-pollinating forms in this stunning piece of audio. The team stitches together a provocative meditation on the abilities and rights of artificial intelligence by intermixing a fictional story with real-world research and interviews. It is worth noting for its ambitious scope alone, but the episode converges into a meaningful and entertaining piece.
2. Radiolab - "Match Made in Marrow"
There are not a lot of favorable examples of large media outlets engaging with religion in a deep manor, and understandably so. Broad brushes are quicker to produce, and concise headlines more easily garner clicks. Podcasting is a medium that lends itself to merging intimacy and scale, and a show like Radiolab is absolutely primed to deliver nuanced stories integrating faith and culture. It seems highly unlikely that set out with this specific goal in mind, but "Match Made in Marrow" tells a relatable story that depicts atheist and Christian sensibilities in a reasonable and challenging way.
3. Planet Money - "Your Cell Phone's A Snitch"
Large corporations profit from amassing user data. This is nothing new, or at least it shouldn't be, but there are definitely some grey areas surrounding what can and can't be legally shared. Planet Money tells the incredible story of a man implicated by proximity to a crime, and promotes a healthy skepticism of GPS tracking that can be easy to take for granted.
honorable mention
More Perfect - "The Hate Debate"American Suburb - "Chapter 4: Make Great America Again"
SOMETHING NEW
What is the difference between audiobooks and narrative fiction podcasts? Books are often read by an established voice actor, and podcasts in this genre are crafted with one or a number of practitioners. Podcasts lean on rich audio design, whereas audiobooks are far more sparse in terms of production elements. Generally podcasts are distributed free of cost to users, whereas audiobooks by in large are not. Most importantly, audiobooks are inherently an adaptation of an existing work and rarely take much liberty in deviating from the original material. Almost all podcasts, fictional or not, tend to be born out of a creative space. More and more shows are being adapted into TV pilots or novelizations after finding success in portable audio, but recently a publisher endeavored to go all in on a multi-tiered distribution strategy. This summer, revered science fiction publisher Tor launched a podcast called Steal the Stars. All 14 episodes are out now, and Tor plans to release a novelization and corresponding audiobook.
In addition to this radical cross channel production strategy, the show positions itself as a "genre-bending" effort that will curry favor with sci-fi fans as well as the general public. Longtime playwright and exceedingly prolific podcast writer Mac Rogers (The Message, Life After) penned the script, and his inclusion automatically appends credibility to the ambitious project. The story follows Dakota Prentiss, an agent of private contractor Quill Marine. The firm's mission is to guard a top secret site housing what amounts to be alien life. Early episodes in the series follow traditional expository setup and, while a bit of a slog, have the makings of a rich story. The problem is that this takes an inordinate amount of time to lead to any kind of action. Maybe that's a result of unfairly expecting sci-fi to be heavy on pyrotechnics, but it also speaks to the broad appeal the publisher sought to glean. A unexpected love story evolves before any sort of alien tomfoolery bursts on the scene, which is a nice intention that kind of falls flat in the larger context of the story.
Later installments do push the plot development, and the team executes each chapter with a professionality that bodes well for future projects in the medium. The soundscapes and voice acting are superb, and the dialogue leaves little room for criticism. At the macro-level, however, there is not much in the way of exploring how a character's actions connect to higher stakes. All the time spent on world building and character development seems wasted, since the payoff never lands. Without spoiling too much, there is a plot twist that potentially gives service to this need for deeper meaning, but it comes far too late in the story. While it's not the best thing to come out of audio drama in recent years, it is certainly different. The show's downfall is that it has something for everyone but not everything for someone. That lack of specificity is sure to be disappointing to genre fans looking for a true-to-form entry in the budding landscape of the dramatic fiction podcast.
Steal the Stars
From: Tor Labs
Recommended for: Not fans of science fiction.
Drop Schedule: Wednesdays, Weekly (full series available now)
Average episode length: 30 minutes
Rating: Break It
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