As It Turns Out, Trying To Write Your Own Audio Drama Is About 30% Character Creation, 20% World Building,

Looking for Black Nonbinary/Genderqueer VA!

The Mechadova Engine, an upcoming steampunk sci-fi audio drama, is currently casting a main character.

Details in the document below.

Google Docs

The Mechadova Engine - Tinker Casting Call

The Mechadova Engine - Tinker Casting Call DEADLINE: January 20th 2025 About the project Log has spent their entire life, as far as they

Another (4) 1-stars. At this point it really doesn't feel worth it to keep the show up since it wont be seen by anyone on Spotify for all this negative engagement out the door. They have done the same on Apple but I assume that since Apple Pods is tied to your phone number they cant abuse the system in the same way. Sigh. I just wanna tell little ghost stories.

Fiction Podcast Recommendations

These are some of my favorites at this moment in time. Give em a listen and when you leave a rating/review let em know Dead West sent ya! The Grotto -- @grottopod Genuinely one of my favorite shows lately. It's pacing feels like I am reading someone's journal while having my brain chemistry altered by the sublime use of music and sound design. Hear me gush more about this over on my episode of Podmash! Silt Verses -- @thesiltverses My favorite of all time right now. I love the themes, the use of multi-POV, characters are AMAZING, and they knew when to call the story completed. Still one of the only shows that STRESSED me out while listening to it. Sad that it ended but happy that it did.

Remnants @hangingslothcentral @remnantspod GAWDS I love this show. The dynamic of Sir and Apprentice. The way the characters are framed. The way that Apprentice talks is mesmerizing: lilty, sing-songy, caring, and morose all in the same breaths. I can not recommend this one enough.

All at Sea -- @allatseapod Such a neat little show, and I do mean that literally. You can catch up on this show in an hour or two but it is an hour or two well spent. I love the Album art so much and Noah is an incredible narrator. Paddleboat -- Rhys Lawton I found this one a few days ago and DEARY ME it has such a mood to it. They nailed the existentialism and drive it home in each episode. Bravo Rhys, Bravo. The Great Chameleon War -- Justin Hellstrom Found this one recently and I wish I had found it years ago. The sound design is great, story is trippy, and at several points I totally forgot I was listening to a podcast. It is sooooooo good. I would love to see some more long form projects from Justin in the future. AND I JUST FOUND OUT THEY ARE A NARRATIVE DESIGNER ON ONE OF MY FAVORITE GAMES OF ALL TIME HUNT SHOWDOWN!?

New Episode!!!! Dead West, Part 3 is live!

Auggie confronts Conrad. Louis struggles with being a spirit. Conrad meets Mrs Davis who isn't who she appears to be. Oh and Mr Davis? We meet him too. In a manner of speakin' ================================================ LISTEN HERE: SPOTIFY APPLE WEB RSS ================================================ I do this show as a way to stay creative and stay ahead of corporate burn out. Wholly something mine. So, for those of you who have checked it out, thank you! I hope you enjoy the story so far and stick around for the ride. Be sure to send it along to a friend as well!

The audio drama community really be like “this podcast emotionally wrecked me, I have no tears left, I will never be the same again, these characters yeah they go through terrible shit and cant be happy for over a minute, i am in severe emotional turmoil, so go listen to this podcast 11/10 do recommend” and I love it

[UNPAID] Casting Chinese VA to feature in an episode of MERCY!🪼

Howdy friends!

We are searching for VAs with a Chinese background (preferably Chinese-American) who might be interested in playing a role for an upcoming episode of MERCY: A Queer Eldritch Western. As this show is created on a voluntary basis, this will be an unpaid role. However, as a token of appreciation, we offer sound design & writing services for a free voice demo (or whatever the VA wishes!) in return. The details of the role are as below ✨

VA REQUIREMENTS: 18+, Chinese background (Chinese American preferred but not a hard requirement), open to any and all genders. ROLE: Jack Yung (20, masc, Chinese-American) ACCENT: General American, California/San-Francisco specific (not a hard requirement) TRIGGER WARNING: VA must be comfortable with potentially triggering content (eg. trauma, s*icide, historical racism, slurs, racial violence) APPEARANCES: Jack will appear in one short scene at the end of Episode 6. He will feature heavily in the first half of Episode 7 and in a short scene in the latter half. Episodes usually run for 40+ minutes. TIMELINE: Recording deadline for Episode 6 is 13 June. Recording deadline for Episode 7 is 11 July. SHOW PREMISE: MERCY is a queer eldritch audio drama set during the tail end of the wild west. The show follows Wayne Sawyer, a grizzled jack-of-all-trades, who helps the folk of Mercy for a mere pittance. When he meets the bizarre and enigmatic academic, Doctor Daisy Gray, they are both thrust into dangers beyond human comprehension. You can check out our currently released episodes HERE: https://pod.link/1762529135

If you are interested, please submit your audition to the below link. And if you know anyone who might fit the bill and may be interested, please do send them our way!

We look forward to hearing from y'all! 🪼💖

AUDITION LINK: https://forms.gle/pp3oW8Lb4V22QSco9

AUDITION DEADLINE: Friday 23 May (CST time)

Two black actors, one in drag, dance together on stage in 1903.

James Gardiner via Welcome Collection Gallery

The Lost Pardner By Charles Clark Jr.

Religious influences on popular culture have tried to outright erase the existence and impact that queer folks have had on western culture and the perception of the Wild West, but poems such as this are a lovely insight into the real Wild West. I often think about the countless perspectives from the Wild West that were buried, burned, and forgotten in one of the brutal and beautiful periods in American History.

PSA for podcast and audio drama creators:

If you publish a new episode of your show and it never shows up on Spotify, *do not panic*.

If you're using any kind of background music, it might've gotten flagged by their copyrighted content scanner. If it has, they do not notify you directly about it. Instead, they will notify your podcast hosting platform (i.e. Buzzsprout, Acast, Podbean, etc.)

If your new episode doesn't show up on Spotify within an hour or two (as it normally does), here's what you should do:

Create a video of your podcast and upload it privately to YouTube.

Check the 'Restrictions' column of the Content page in YouTube Studio. If the video you uploaded has 'Copyright' in this column, something was flagged and this is the problem. (In my experience, YouTube and Spotify's scanners are aligned).

Hover over where it says 'Copyright' and click the 'See Details' button. This will tell you what got flagged.

Confirm whether this content was legitimately flagged or not. If it was (meaning you can't prove that you have rights to use the music), it's time to replace the track and reupload your episode. (You'll still want to do the following steps after you do that). If wasn't, it's time to document why the flagging was in error. In Metropolis' case, we use a lot of pre-1924 music that is in the public domain per Title II of the US Music Modernization Act of 2018. But rights holders are notorious for not removing things that have aged into the public domain from their claims list. That means we have clear rights to use the music (as does anybody: again, public domain!), but we still have to go through the appeals process.

Contact your hosting provider to get the notice email from Spotify Content Protection. You need to ask their support team if they've received an email for your show from Spotify with a Subject line of "Possibly Infringing - Notification Warning - Claim xxx - ref:_xxx". It usually takes about 30 minutes to an hour for them to receive that notification from when the episode was uploaded. Within the email, there's a unique link to appeal the decision. Note that you only get five days to appeal - procrastination is definitely not your friend here!

Use the Appeal Link from the Email to file an Appeal Notice If you click the link, it will take you to a form to appeal the decision not to post the episode. This is where you need to present your case by either that you've replaced the music in question, or that you have a right to use it. If it's the latter - make sure you present the case as thoroughly and completely as possible (with links and references). (You'll also want to confirm that the track that YouTube spotted is the one that Spotify flagged.)

From my experience, Spotify will usually respond 24-36 hours.

If you took the right steps, it'll usually be a short note that they've published the episode and you're in the clear.

Cheers, and happy creating!

Some affirmations for the day!

Found these at the local park while out with my kids. I was told these were from a celebration of life for a local child who lost their life to abuse. So, let these kids' words sink in and remember you are awesome, you are valued, and you are loved!