This American Life (TAL) is an American weekly hour-long radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internationally, and is also available as a free weekly podcast. Primarily a journalistic non-fiction program, it has also featured essays, memoirs, field recordings, short fiction, and found footage. The first episode aired on November 17, 1995, under the show's original title, Your Radio Playhouse. The series was distributed by Public Radio International until June 2014, when the program became self-distributed with Public Radio Exchange delivering new episodes to public radio stations.
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio files that users can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing. Podcasts are primarily an audio medium, with some programs offering a supplemental video component.
Marcus David Maron is an American stand-up comedian, podcaster, writer, actor, and musician.
Joel Edward McHale is an American actor, comedian, and television presenter. He is best known for hosting The Soup (2004–2015) and his role as Jeff Winger on the NBC sitcom Community (2009–2015). He has performed in the films Spider-Man 2 (2004), Spy Kids: All the Time in the World (2011), Ted (2012), and The Happytime Murders (2018).
Nicole Rene Glaser is an American stand-up comedian, actress, podcaster, radio host, and television host. She was the host of the television series Not Safe with Nikki Glaser, which premiered on Comedy Central and Much on February 9, 2016. She is the star of the 2022 reality show Welcome Home Nikki Glaser? on E!.
Gimlet Media LLC is a digital media company and podcast network, focused on producing narrative podcasts and headquartered in Brooklyn, New York. The company was founded in 2014 by Alex Blumberg and Matthew Lieber, who served as the company's CEO and president respectively until Lieber stepped down in 2022. In February 2019, Spotify announced it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Gimlet for $230 million. In 2023, Spotify announced that they were to merge Gimlet and Parcast into Spotify Studios.
The Black Tapes is a mystery-horror pseudo-documentary podcast created by Paul Bae and Terry Miles. Published by Pacific Northwest Stories, it is part of their series of podcasts set in the same fictional universe which, despite being works of fiction, are presented as legitimate true stories both within the podcast and outside of it; the podcast has no credited writers or performers, as the events and characters are framed as real.
Within the Wires is a dramatic anthology podcast in the style of epistolary fiction. In the first season, the listener, a medical inmate at a place called the Institute, receives guidance from the mysterious narrator of instructional relaxation cassettes. In the second season, an artist named Roimata Mangakāhia communicates with the listener through a series of museum audio guides. The third season, "a political thriller set in 1950s Chicago", is narrated by the bureaucrat Michael Witten; listeners access letters and notes dictated to his secretary.
Julia Chan, is an English actress and presenter.
Tanis is a mystery pseudo-documentary podcast. Published by Pacific Northwest Stories, it is part of their series of podcasts set in the same fictional universe which, despite being works of fiction, are presented as legitimate true stories both within the podcast and outside of it; the podcast has no credited writers or performers, as the events and characters are framed as real. The main character, Nic Silver, is voiced by executive producer Terry Miles.
Night Vale Presents, formerly known as Commonplace Books, is a production company and independent podcast network founded in 2015 by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. In 2016 Night Vale Presents expanded into a network hosting original podcasts other than Welcome to Night Vale. Night Vale Presents is partnered with Public Radio Exchange.
The Magnus Archives is a horror fiction podcast written by Jonathan Sims, directed by Alexander J. Newall, and distributed by Rusty Quill. Sims narrated the podcast in-character as the main character, Jonathan Sims, the newly appointed Head Archivist of the fictional Magnus Institute—an institution based in London centered on research into the paranormal.
The Midnight Gospel is an American adult animated television series created by Adventure Time creator Pendleton Ward and comedian Duncan Trussell. Released on Netflix on April 20, 2020, it is the first animated production from Ward for Netflix. It sets real podcast interviews between Trussell and various guests into surrealistic adventures, typically telling a story alongside the real podcast audio through the environment and extra voice work by Trussell and the guests of the original podcast.
Archive 81 is an American supernatural horror television series developed by Rebecca Sonnenshine, who was also an executive producer for the show, along with Paul Harris Boardman and James Wan. The series was released on Netflix on January 14, 2022. Between January 9–30, the series was watched for 128.47 million hours globally according to Netflix Top 10s. However, in March 2022, the series was canceled after just one season.
Julian Simpson is a British writer and director working in film, television and audio. He is best known for his radio plays for BBC Radio, most of which take place within his "Pleasant Green" universe with loose connections to each other, including The Lovecraft Investigations series, based on the works of H. P. Lovecraft.
Palimpsest is a horror podcast created by Jamieson Ridenhour and Hayley Heninger with music by Ian Ridenhour.
Unwell, a Midwestern Gothic Mystery is a drama-dark fantasy horror podcast produced by Hartlife NFP. It premiered on February 19, 2019, and concluded on September 13, 2023, with the end of its fifth season.
Analog horror is a subgenre of horror fiction and an offshoot of the found footage film genre, said to have originated online during the late 2000s and early 2010s with web series such as No Through Road,Local 58, Gemini Home Entertainment, and Marble Hornets.
Friends at the Table is an actual play indie podcast hosted by Austin Walker. The podcast has been active since September 2014, and episodes are released weekly. The collaboration between the gamemaster and the players is a major component of the show, in contrast to many tabletop role-playing games where the gamemaster has total control over worldbuilding.
Janus Descending is a science fiction and horror podcast produced by No Such Thing Productions. The show stars Jordan Cobb and Anthony Olivieri with music inspired by The Last Five Years. The story is nonlinear and follows two xenoarchaeologists named Peter and Chel who are exploring an alien planet.
