I’m not familiar with podcasts. What’s the deal?
First: Welcome to the wonderful world of podcasts! Trust us when we say that you’re in for a treat.
While some people consider “podcast” to be a genre, it’s more accurate to consider it a medium—like books or movies. The simplest explanation for what they are is that they’re an audio experience recorded and then uploaded somewhere for people to listen to. That’s a pretty broad category, but for good reason! Podcasting is a vast, expansive medium that includes both nonfiction and fiction (sometimes called “audio dramas”), with dozens (if not more) of subcategories within each of those. If you’re a fiction person, you can find romance, adventure, sci-fi, action, comedy, fantasy (like our show, Twilight Over Midgard), and even more. If you like tabletop roleplaying games, there’s even podcasts where people record and upload their campaigns! Nonfiction is similarly expansive—news, true crime, parenting, interview, music, comedy, and things that you don’t even consider could exist until you see them and think “holy shit, why didn’t I know this was a thing?!”
Oh, and did we mention that most podcasts (including ours) are completely free?
And if you’re deaf/hard of hearing, have auditory processing disorder, or otherwise struggle with audio, you can still experience podcasts! Many podcasts include transcripts for their podcast on their site.
Cool! How do I listen to them?
Now we’re getting to the fun part! Generally speaking, you can find podcasts on dedicated podcast streaming services (also called “podcatchers”)—they’re like the podcast version of Netflix or Hulu, but most of them are free. There’s plenty out there to choose from! Many of them have both a desktop version and a phone app version. If you find yourself becoming a fan of podcasts, you’ll probably experiment with a few different ones until you find one that you like. However, if you just want to get started quickly, we recommend Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify!
You can find the trailer (and, in the future, full episodes) of Twilight Over Midgard on our website—just go to the Episode page where you can listen to and read transcripts for episodes! You can even download episodes and transcripts straight to your computer if you know you’ll want to listen somewhere where you won’t have internet access. If you want to explore all of your podcatcher options, you can go to that page for a list of all of the podcatchers where you can find our show.
Podcasters: Do you like this page? If you're a podcaster who would like to have a page like this on your own website, you're welcome to copy the text here! We just ask that you credit Starlight Audio Productions somewhere on the page. If you have any questions, please email [email protected].
Whoa, podcasts sound cool! do you recommend any others?
Fuck yeah, we do. The list below includes recommendations from the full creative team at Starlight Audio and will expand as time goes on.
Non-Fiction
If you like music, try…
Heat Rocks | Two hosts sit down with a guest once a week to discuss their favorite album.
If you like comedy, try…
My Brother, My Brother, and Me | Three brothers give unconventional and hilarious advice.
If you like parenting, try…
One Bad Mother | Two mothers talk openly, honestly, and with great humor about the ups and downs of motherhood.
If you like media analysis and discussion, try…
Empty the Queues | “Empty the Queues is about showing people we love the things we love. […] Join Wil as they introduce Elena Fernández Collins (they/she) and Gavin Gaddis (he/him) to The Good Place, Caroline Mincks (they/them) to Avatar: The Last Airbender, Josh Rubino (he/him) to Community, and David Rheinstrom (he/him) to Beastars.”
Still Scared | “A podcast in which one film lecturer and one scaredy-cat discuss creepy, spooky and disturbing children's books, films and tv.”
Across the Spectrum | An interview podcast where the host, Mark Spark (they/them), interviews autistic people about their special interests.
If you like art and writing, try…
Scoring Magic | “… a podcast by Hug House Productions documenting every step of their process. Seasons 1 and 2 of Scoring Magic follow Anne Baird, Katie Youmans, and Wil Williams as they make their first fiction podcast, VALENCE. They share tips, tricks, and resources, but also what it’s like to work on a massive creative project with friends.”
Write Now with Sarah Rhea Werner | “… a weekly podcast for writers of all ages and skill levels looking to find a healthy work, life, and writing balance. Chock full of the encouragement, honest advice, and inspiration you need to pursue your passion & write.”
If you like architecture and design, try…
99% Invisible | “… a sound rich, narrative podcast hosted by Roman Mars about all the thought that goes into the things we don’t think about — the unnoticed architecture and design that shape our world.”
Fiction
If you like sci-fi, try…
Girl in Space | A young woman alone on a research vessel gets her life turned upside down when a government ship finds and boards her.
Dining in the Void** | Six alien celebrities are trapped on a space station and forced to reveal their deepest secrets as they struggle to survive.
The Penumbra Podcast (Juno Steel) | The misadventures of a brooding private investigator on Mars as he tangles with an homme fatale and slowly gets his life turned upside down.
Wolf 359 | “Set on board the U.S.S. Hephaestus space station, the dysfunctional crew deals with daily life-or-death emergencies, while searching for signs of alien life and discovering there might be more to their mission than they thought.”
Prototype World of Tomorrow | “They say the new millennium began the day Progress was finished. A domed metropolis of the world's greatest minds, a permanent showcase of American ingenuity, built on the swamplands of Central Florida. In this self-styled city of the future, fifty thousand temporary residents, live, work, and occasionally, die.”
This Planet Needs a Name | "Imagine a handful of scientists and engineers setting out to terraform a planet - a world - for the frozen people they've got in tow. Just a few people, carefully chosen, who will live out their lives building something they'll never see. That's us. We're building a future.”
Primordial Deep | “Primordial Deep is science fiction action/thriller, set in the expanded universe of Janus Descending. When a long extinct sea creature washes up on the shores of Coney Island, marine biologist Dr. Marella Morgan is contacted by a secret organization to investigate the origins of the creature’s sudden and unnatural resurgence. Soon, she and a team of experts find themselves living on the research station The Tiamat, traveling along the abyssal plains as they search for answers far below the waves. But there are dangers in these ancient waters. Reawakened, prehistoric monsters are rising from the deep -- jaws wide and waiting, and in the darkness, something is stirring.”
If you like magic and fantasy, try…
The Far Meridian | A young woman wakes up one morning to find that the lighthouse she lives in teleports her to a new location every day.
Valence | “In the city of New Candler, magic is scarce by design. A tech mogul wants to keep it that way. And a magic user wants freedom.”
Kalila Stormfire’s Economical Magick Services | “Kalila Stormfire's Economical Magick Servies is an on-going fantasy audio drama about a witch’s documentation of her clients and how she deals with a mysterious saboteur who is trying to destroy her magick business. If you like stories about minority witches in modern-day working class neighborhoods, meddling love goddesses, and morally ambiguous spellcraft… this is the tale for you.”
Desperado | “Desperado takes place in a world almost like ours, if myths and witchcraft were alive and thriving. The story is told by 3 character, each chosen by the god of Death of their respective culture, as their powers awaken.”
Sidequesting | “Sidequesting is a scripted fiction podcast about avoiding the main plot and doing sidequests instead. It follows Rion, an adventurer who’s willing to help anyone out - as long as they’re not being asked to deal with the scary wizard that everyone keeps talking about.”
If you like horror and ghosts, try…
The Magnus Archives | “… a weekly horror fiction anthology podcast examining what lurks in the archives of the Magnus Institute, an organisation dedicated to researching the esoteric and the weird.”
The Way We Haunt Now | “Eulalie Elizabeth Reed is haunted by lots of things. Paths not taken. Failed relationships. Mistakes. Fears. Hopes. But she’s never been properly haunted before. That’s about to change. The Way We Haunt Now is a lighthearted horror audio drama about female friendships, found family, and fighting the narratives that try to define us – even in the afterlife. Oh, and ghosts. Did we mention ghosts?”
Unwell | “Lillian Harper moves to the small town of Mt. Absalom, Ohio, to care for her estranged mother Dorothy after an injury. Living in the town's boarding house which has been run by her family for generations, she discovers conspiracies, ghosts, and a new family in the house's strange assortment of residents.”
If you like tabletop roleplaying games, try…
The Adventure Zone* | A multi-season actual play podcast with a different story each season, thus far including (among several others) a trio of fantasy adventurers trying to recover lost relics (Balance) and a charlatan, a park ranger, and a magician investigating cryptids in modern-day West Virginia (Amnesty) .
Quest Friends | “Things got strange after a billion years. Eight great societies rose and fell, alien visitors from across the universe found themselves Earth-bound, and sporks became the prominent form of silverware. But as much as things have changed, humanity hasn't, fumbling along from self-made crisis to crisis in the way it always has. And like it always has, humanity faces these crises with the one hope that has never died: That maybe this time, we can get it right.”
Venture Maidens | “… is a veteran all-female and Nonbinary 5e D&D actual play podcast set in the homebrew world of The Planes. Our four heroes have been tapped by the fates themselves, and swept into the machinations of a mysterious organization known as the 'Sisters of Sorrow.' Join us for an epic tale full of character-driven role-play, with new episodes posting every other Sunday. Until then, venture away.”