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The year was 2019. I was scrolling through Pinterest as I often do when I have time or, you know, actual work to do when I came across an interesting piece of art. It was a distinct shade of purple, with a giant glowing cloud in the centre, with the bizarre sentence “All hail the glow cloud” lighting up in the centre. This original discovery was followed by a series of related artwork about someplace called ‘night vale’, someone called Cecil, a bunch of eyes, angels, and sweet-looking old ladies, and I was intrigued. A quick google search later, I had a name and context. Welcome to Night Vale ( or WTNV)– a fiction podcast that has been up and running since 2015. Question solved and answer in hand, I decided it was time to finally give podcasts a try.

You see, I had put off everything to do with podcasts and podcasting as a medium for the longest time. I saw them as nothing more than either interviews in audio format or as an audiobook adjacent ( which I have never really gotten into). But the discovery of Night Vale changed it all. For I realised, as I listened to the first episode and the second and the third… that this was unlike anything I had experienced before, let alone expected. Similar to how reading a book allows the reader to visualise scenes as they will in the confines of their minds, podcasts (more specifically fiction podcasts) allow listeners to visualise scenes based on sound and narration. A blend of movie-level sound design and novel-worthy narrative descriptions coming together to create a highly immersive experience. It’s fascinating to see how sound association can be used to paint as clear a picture of a scene in the minds of those listening as words or visuals are known to do.

And from there, there was no going back. WTNV served as the gateway drug, and my curiosity pushed me further down the hole that is the world of audio fiction. It’s whacky, imaginative, and honestly offers a breath of fresh air in the world of entertainment, as creators are free to explore everything they wish to, without the need to curb their storylines for the sake of executives sitting up a corporate ladder. So for those looking for new stories, complex characters to follow, and new formats for storytelling. Take it from me. Take the plunge and pick up a podcast.