I got into Night Vale earlier this year. I have no idea how it escaped my attention for so long, given that I love both Lovecraftian horror and The Onion and this podcast is a combination of both. I suppose the key word there is “podcast.” I barely had any idea of what those were before Night Vale and certainly didn’t seek them out. I found Night Vale only because a Facebook friend posted a Top 10 list of best same-sex couples in speculative fiction. Carlos and Cecil intrigued me, and now here I am: a fan of great podcasts.



My job involves a lot of routine and tedium at the computer, so podcasts are practically a godsend. There are really only so many music mixes one can listen to. So without further adieu, here is a list of my favorite smart, cerebral podcasts for a Geek Girl at work.

In no particular order:

The Black Tapes is a fictional documentary series modeled on Serial, a spin-off of This American Life. Alex Reagan is a broadcast journalist in Seattle looking to start her own podcast after years with the popular radio show Pacific Northwest Stories. Her premise is to showcase interesting people with interesting lives, which leads her to Dr. Richard Strand, an infamous skeptic whose Strand Institute has a prize of $1 million for anyone who can prove, beyond any shadow of a doubt, the existence of the supernatural. Dr. Strand has a shelf of VHS tapes in black boxes containing footage he believes we simply lack sufficient technology to account for. What follows is an increasingly esoteric investigation into apocalyptic symphonies, sacred geometry, Satanic monks, ominous shadows, upside-down faces, and the case of Dr. Strand’s missing wife. This podcast is original, intelligent, and something you’ll listen to over and again. It has recently completed its first season and I can’t wait!

Tanis is a new spin-off of The Black Tapes starring Alex’s producer Nic Silver in his quest for the mythical entity know as Tanis. Whether it’s a place, a person, or some other outre thing, Tanis is clearly a source of both religious awe and soul-shattering terror. At first glance, the elements of the story - the Deep Web, numbers stations, ancient conspiracies, a building that is bigger on the inside than on the outside, Elisa Lam, Aleister Crowley, and even a reference to Atlantis - appear to be quite the cliche storm. But I think that’s because Tanis is a work of metafiction. "I’m talking specifically about the myth of Tanis,“ says Nic in the debut episode. ”Tanis as mystery. Maybe one of the last pure mysteries left in the world. One last chance to be truly surprised. I’m talking about the Freemasons, the Templars, the Illuminati, and the Doukhobors. About the Deep Web, Tor browsers, and black sites. I’m talking about old VHS tapes passed from college dorms to conspiracy nuts in brown paper bags. Notes surreptitiously left in old phone books and stories told over decades via classified ads. I’m talking about whispers in the dark, standing next to a stranger, waiting for a subway train in the middle of the night. One word: Tanis.“

The Lost Cat was inspired by Welcome to Night Vale and mimics its bizarre otherworld setting where the weird and terrifying are accepted parts of everyday life. It is written and performed by London-based folk singer A.P. Clarke. Similar to Night Vale’s “weather,” each episode features one of Clarke’s original songs, signaled by someone breaking out the wine. The common thread is both the narrator’s search for his missing cat and the theme of empathy - for friends, neighbors, strangers, monsters, and alternate selves in parallel universes. This podcast doesn’t get nearly enough love so I made it a TV Tropes page.

Limetown could easily be set in the Black Tapes/Tanis universe and it wouldn’t surprise me if there was crossover fan fiction where we learn that Alex Reagan was one of Lia Haddock’s role models. Limetown is Lia’s investigation into the mass disappearance of all the residents of Limetown, an idyllic yet isolated community of scientists gathered together for some unknown purpose involving study of the human brain. The debut just sucked me in right away … and then they made me wait another month for the next episode and yet another month for the third! Oh well, it’s totally worth the wait. Again, this is one you’ll want to listen to more than once.

There’s actually nothing creepy about Connections with Evan Dawson, which is broadcast every weekday on WXXI News and available on the Internet as a podcast. It’s just a great roundtable show for Rochesterians interested in local issues and goings-on.

So that’s my current favorites list. The Black Tapes subreddit also has this list of recommended podcasts, which is how I found most of the ones here.