Feral dogs spray graffiti onto government buildings and a beautiful forest swallows unsuspecting civilians, but when a car honks in front of us, I’m dragged out of Night Vale and back into reality. In order to escape the sounds of my siblings fighting over which Pokémon to catch and my mom chattering away into her phone, I listen to my favorite podcasts that I’ve downloaded for free off iTunes.
“Welcome to Night Vale,” created by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor
Stars dot the night sky, coyotes howl in the distance and a stern voice reminds listeners to not go near the dog park, not to even think about it. Narrator Cecil Baldwin takes on the role of community news anchor Cecil Gershwin Palmer, who updates the fictional desert community of Night Vale’s residents on local happenings.
In this town, a five-headed dragon runs for mayor, a group of six-inch tall people live in a bowling alley and the weather forecast takes on the form of music provided by independent artists. If you are into the supernatural, paranormal or just plain strange, give this podcast a chance, because in Night Vale, anything is possible.
“The Bugle,” created by John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman
The blaring call of a bugle and the recorded laughter interrupts two men’s conversation about Nancy Pelosi and the question she posed to her five-year old grandson. If you watched “The Daily Show” over the summer, there’s one voice here that might be familiar to you: John Oliver, who took over for Jon Stewart for two months, satirizes recent news from the United States and United Kingdom with his co-host Andy Zaltzman.
The two British comedians and satirists cover stories ranging from the government shutdown to Miley Cyrus’s performance at the VMAs to the Syrian civil war. However, if there are two things to warn for in this podcast, they’re Oliver and Zaltzman’s excessive swearing and willingness to mock the status quo.
“Radiolab,” created by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich
Leap into the world of science with Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich’s Radiolab, a biweekly production which consists of regular hour-long episodes focusing on a central theme and twenty-minute shorts. Combining interviews with experts in a particular field, a characteristic production style and numerous sound effects, “Radiolab” makes topics such as morality and astrophysics accessible to many.
They’ve enlisted a choir with over a hundred members to illustrate the range of colors a mantis shrimp can see, which is far greater than that of a human’s, and followed the path that human waste takes through cities and treatment centers after it leaves the body. By meshing previously recorded testimonies with Abumrad and Krulwich’s live commentary to create the illusion of on-air interviews, “Radiolab” definitely takes the road less traveled when it comes to show and tell.