After almost a decade, Game of Thrones came to a close on May 19. The finale marks an end in a specific part of the zeitgeist, but the show’s legacy is something that’s going to be around for some time.

In the weeks to come, Game of Thrones fans may feel the twinge of longing that they do between seasons, wanting something that scratches that same itch without appointment TV on their calendar. But that feeling will last a lot longer than before.

There aren’t a ton of TV shows right now that tap the fantasy or political thriller genres, or even shows that you know will kill pretty much every character and smash your soul to smithereens. Luckily, TV isn’t the only source of entertainment out there, and when it comes to fantasy, politics, and heartbreaking tragedies, podcasts have your back.

The best part? Don’t worry about having some sort of HBO-like subscription. Podcasts are free.

Here’s a list of some of the podcasts we recommend to fill that void now that Game of Thrones has ended.

The Once and Future Nerd

While The Once and Future Nerd starts out as a comedy, the series winds up hitting so many of the same beats as Game of Thrones. This serialized fiction podcast is a portal fantasy that takes three teens from modern-day Pennsylvania and throws them into a fantastical realm. As the characters grow, they learn more about the world they’re in — specifically, about the political regimes ruling the land and the lies they’ve told for decades to maintain power. There’s massive battles, magic, a huge cast of characters, and the deep understanding that nobody is safe when change is underway.

Alba Salix, Royal Physician

Alba Salix, Royal Physician is a comedic serialized podcast about a healer to a royal family and their citizens. Alba is dry-witted and maybe the only competent person in the entire kingdom, with a vocal rhythm and timbre are reminiscent of Amy Sedaris’ Princess Carolyn from BoJack Horseman — just more Canadian. As Alba starts taking on coworkers like Holly, an energetic fairy, and Magnus, a cocky but wildly inept teenage apprentice, the listener comes to understand Alba’s position in the realm’s politics, as well as the forces that threaten the kingdom.

Join the Party

Join the Party is a Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition actual play podcast, meaning the hosts are playing a tabletop campaign in each episode. The campaign starts with a royal wedding and the adventurers discovering that something is wrong in the cosmos. Even if you’ve never played D&D, Join the Party is easy to pick up: in the first arc, the show includes a listening track for newbies that explains what they’re doing and why. The story has its own built-in post-show conversation, too: Their “Afterparty” episodes are a time for the players to ask questions of their DM, both from themselves and the listeners. They’re just about to start their final season, and they promise it’s going to be, um, better than the final season of Game of Thrones.

ars PARADOXICA

ars PARADOXICA is a serialized fiction podcast about Dr. Sally Grissom, a modern-day scientist who accidentally invents time travel and lands back in the 1940s. Dr. Grissom finds herself working with a shady, secret government organization that plans on using time travel to solve conflicts before they even happen — but what does that mean for the timelines they end? What psychological, even physical ramifications does time travel have? And what does all of this mean when the United States is in the middle of the war? Meticulously planned, plotted, acted, and sound designed, ars PARADOXICA is the best time travel story you probably haven’t experienced yet, and it’s got even more political intrigue than Game of Thrones.

The Hyacinth Disaster

So it’s tragedy you want, huh? The name says it all here: The Hyacinth Disaster is about, yes, a disaster — one that you see coming, one that you know is coming, but one that hurts so much even still. Another serialized fiction, this podcast is about a crew in space that has to survey an asteroid in hopes it’ll be valuable enough to fulfill ransom to their sister ship. The Hyacinth Disaster is a seven-part mini-series, a self-contained story with a planned ending ... so, you know, no dependence on a book series that still needs to end after it does. The finale was planned right from the get-go, so you know it’s solid.

Words to that Effect

If you’re more interested in breaking apart why we love the fiction we love, Words to that Effect is an analytical dissection of how pop culture, science, history, and fiction all intersect. Words to that Effect doesn’t just look into the canon, like most lit classes do; instead, it treats pop culture with the same respect usually reserved for the “greats.” There are episodes on steampunk, domestic noir, and overall pop literature. If you love genre fiction and want to hear about how it works and why, Words to that Effect is the perfect mix of pop culture and analysis.

Slow Burn

Political scandals are an integral part of Westeros — but they’re an integral part of the United States, too. Slow Burn is Slate’s investigative journalism podcast on how some of these scandals unfolded, each season taking on a different story. The first season goes into Watergate and the story of Richard Nixon. The second examines the impeachment of Bill Clinton. The third, recently announced, will take a different angle, looking into the murders of Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G.

Caliphate

Like Slow Burn, Caliphate is an investigative journalism podcast about a very real political fear: how people are radicalized to join ISIS. Hosted by the New York Times’ Rukmini Callimachi, a Times terrorism reporter, Caliphate tries to understand what makes people join, stay in, and sometimes leave terrorist organizations. Callimachi acts as a sort of protagonist, blending her personal experiences in with a genuine emotional connection to the people she’s investigating — and showing both the importance and flaws of that method along the way.

Fall of the House of Sunshine

Stay with me here: Fall of the House of Sunshine is a full musical serialized fiction podcast about a children’s TV show host and heir to a cornerstone family that belongs to a cult of dentistry and, when the show picks up, is being threatened by a society of puppets. Detective Detective Dan Kent — first name Detective — has to look into who murdered the host, given he was killed by a bullet in a spacetime rift. He’s helped by a sasquatch and a woman who thinks she’s a dog.

If that description sounds strange, what’s even stranger is just how much this podcast overlaps with Game of Thrones. The world-building in Fall of the House of Sunshine is meticulous and has such bafflingly accurate internal logic. There’s political intrigue tied in closely with family drama, and people trying to usurp power and an intricate web of lies and conspiracy.

Hello from the Magic Tavern

Hello from the Magic Tavern is a serialized-ish fiction podcast about a man who falls through an interdimensional portal behind a Burger King into the fantastical realm of Foon. Like most dudes who think he and his friends — a shapeshifter and a wizard — are super funny, he decides to make a podcast. Hello from the Magic Tavern is a long-form improv story in which the hosts constantly make up bizarre jokes on the fly that get added to the canon of the story and the world. From some of the minds behind the Jackbox games and guests from a huge spectrum of comedy, Hello from the Magic Tavern is perfect if you need to recover from Game of Thrones by laughing so hard you cry. If the first episode doesn’t grip you, please make sure you at least stick around for the introduction of Flower, a fatalistic talking flower.

Janus Descending

Janus Descending is a serialized fiction podcast set in space, following two characters, Chel and Peter. The episodes alternate in perspective, but also in where they are in the story’s chronology. Inspired by the musical The Last Five Years, Chel’s story is told going forward, but Peter’s story is told in reverse. As the two characters land on an alien planet for research, they discover something terrifying lurking. The result is nightmarish and heartbreaking, and the podcast’s innovative delivery keeps you puzzling things together the whole time.

Wolf 359

Considered one of the cornerstones of audio fiction, Wolf 359 is the story of a small crew and their glitchy AI who, who aboard a massive space station, observe the dwarf star Wolf 359. What starts out as almost a workplace comedy quickly becomes a true space opera, with thrilling, devastating twists and turns along the way. There are mutinies, murderous crew members, discussion of whether the ends justify the means, and one of the most powerful depictions of the aftereffects of trauma in any piece of media to date.

Spirits

Spirits is a conversational podcast between two friends who drink and discuss mythology, folklore, and other tales. One host is an expert, and the other knows basically nothing about the topic at hand, making for a dynamic that’s funny, insightful, and the perfect mix of casual and informed. In Spirits, stories from all over the world are discussed, but they’re treated with respect. There’s no punching down here on cultures whose stories have traditionally been seen as goofy or weird. The hosts also connect these stories with the modern day, and why they’re still relevant and interesting.

Imaginary Worlds

Imaginary Worlds investigates some of the biggest pop culture phenomena, tropes, and pieces of culture, and explains why they’re important with a perspective that’s always interesting. Host Eric Molinsky talks about things like why the Hero’s Journey is so important on Broadway, why The Doctor of Doctor Who is so precious to fans, and why fan fiction is actually pretty legit. Invisible Worlds has looked into Dungeons & Dragons, Dune, the Star Wars franchise, LARPing, and so many other parts of nerd culture that there’s bound to be an interesting story behind some work that you hold dear.

Jarnsaxa Rising

Norse mythology and medieval iconography are the blood of sci-fi-meets-fantasy serialized audio fiction Jarnsaxa Rising. In 2049, humans have completely torn the Earth asunder in their struggles for more and more energy. What they couldn’t have expected is how this would bring back some of the Norse deities like Thor, Loki, Odin, and the giantess Jarnsaxa, who all now want to end their grudges for good, by whatever means necessary.