there is an absolutely fantastic podcast that a good friend of mine was recommending for me to listen to for months and I finally did and just. damn. it’s only eight episodes long; I meant to listen to one episode and I accidentally binge-listened to the entire thing in an evening. highly enjoyable, 10/10 recommend. seriously if you have ever trusted my judgement put aside a long car ride or an afternoon of chores or even just an afternoon of nothing and make your life that much of a cooler place for having listened
The Strange Case of Starship Iris is a really badass sci-fi thriller told like an epistolary novel except I guess that makes it an epistolary podcast, which is to say, every piece that you listen to is an in-universe transmission that is being played. The characters are fantastic. (and incredibly diverse, and it casually touches on diversity issues and classism issues and all that jazz in really solid ways) The worldbuilding is fantastic. The plot is fantastic and honestly each episode gets more exciting than the next and just I could scream about the voice acting and the use of medium and the writing is so good and seriously this is probably the best podcast I have ever listened to, just from the clever useage of the medium alone, epistolary podcasts are my new favorite thing.
The official description is
In 2189, Earth narrowly won a war against extraterrestrials, but at a tremendous price. Two years later, in a distant patch of space, a mysterious explosion kills nearly the entire crew of the science vessel Starship Iris. The only survivor is Violet Liu, an intrepid, sarcastic, terrified biologist. But as Violet struggles to readjust to life after the Iris, questions abound. Was that explosion really an accident? If not, just what is going on? And why does every answer seem to get more bizarre and more dangerous? If Violet and her newfound allies want to untangle the truth, they’ll need courage, brilliance, and luck - and honestly, a couple of drinks.
it’s on iTunes and google play and http://procyonpodcasts.com/starship-iris/ and there are transcripts for all the episodes too and there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t listen it is SO GOOD do yourself a favor then come scream to me about it