Here are some of the best.
Comedy
Lets start with the funny ones.
If youve ever readHitchhikers Guide to the Galaxyor Terry Pratchetts Discworld novels, then you will love this show.
Its good for anyone who likes genre fiction and arch British jokes.
UnlikeHitchhikers, the plot is surprisingly meticulous.
Mission to Zyxx: Improvised space parody
A diplomatic space team fails mission after mission.
Theres aBojack Horsemanvibe to this show, where the whole world follows a mad kind of logic.
While the show is made up on the spot, its then heavily edited and cinematically sound produced.
Weinterviewed the creators about their processlast year.
The Offensive: Snappy workplace sitcom
This isVeepbut for the management team of an English football club.
This is mainly a show about people insulting each other in very clever ways.
Gay Future: Wacky dystopia
The year is 2062 and everyone is gay.
This show is buck wild.
Lightly framed as Mike Pences failedDivergentripoff,Gay Futurefollows the straight resistance against President Clay Aiken.
The Amelia Project: Brief interviews with hideous people
The Amelia Project helps people fake their deaths.
Each episode, a different client explains their situation and plans their demise and their getaway.
This is a short, lighthearted show thats getting more sophisticated in its second season.
My favorite sketch, from the pilot, features a James Bond obsessed with nicking the hotel toiletries.
Hello From the Magic Tavern: Goofy fantasy-world chat show
This is likeComedy Bang!
Bang!set in Middle-Earth.
Most episodes just have characters shoot the shit.
But in its third season, the show is following more of a plot.
Theres also a B plot about an inter-dimensional space bunker.
Musicals
Podcasting is perfect for musical theater.
But the other half are funnier because itsinsanethat someone thought them up on the fly.
They use the famous36 questions to fall in loveto get reacquainted.
Its like a quirkier, wider-eyedLast Five Years.
Do you wanna ride inside my love?
Meanwhile the host is trying to date his listeners and offload branded terry-cloth robes.
There are a ton of post-apocalypse audio dramas, but none are this emotionally gutting.
This show can terrify you, and it can make you cry.
H. P. Lovecraft based his horror on the idea that whatever is utterly foreign to you is terrifying.
This showone of the older and most famous audio dramasdoes the opposite.
Weinterviewed the team about their live tourslast year.
Breaked: Witty theatrical one-act
This standalone half-hour piece is likeGIRLSorFleabagbut way gayer.
The sounds are exquisitely engineered, as is thetheme songby electronic artist Bonobo.
In season 1, youre listening to meditation tapes with an ulterior motive.
In season 2, youre on audio tours of various art museums and galleries.
In season 3, youre getting dictaphone messages from your boss in the New World Orders government.
And in a supporters-only season, youre hearing pilot announcements while being smuggled around the world.
The cast includes one-time performers and series regulars, and occasionally one story stretches across multiple episodes.
The show is incredibly intimate, sometimes sexy, sometimes cringe-inducing.
Assorted
There really are tons of shows.
This is like that plus vampires.
Wil Williamsreviews audio drama and tracks industry news.
See, for example, herreview of The Two Princes.
Elena Fernandez Collinsalso reviews audio drama and writes about genre and storytelling.
TheBello Collectiveblog on podcasts includes fiction coverage from Wil, Elena, and others.
Tor Books recently listedeight great queer fiction podcasts.
Theaudio drama subredditis full of suggestions, and new members are encouraged to ask for more.
One post on r/audiodrama includesthis list of audio drama reviewers, who will point you to even more shows.
I have left out so many shows.
Other enthusiasts are welcome to fill in the gaps below.
