Favorite audio of 2022

For the past couple years I’ve been trying to make a habit of doing a sort of year in review post of my favorite audio from the past year, mainly for my own memory. So this is a non-comprehensive, unordered list of all the new music and podcasts I extra loved from 2022!

It’s funny to me that there’s only like two standout non-fiction podcasts from this year for me, not because I didn’t listen to a lot of non-fiction stuff (it’s my job) but because I haven’t been as up on new non-fiction shows.

Music:

Dragon New Warm Mountain by Big Thief

Few Good Things by Saba

Renaissance by Beyoncé

Home, before and after by Regina Spektor

Stumpwork by Dry Cleaning

Blue Rev by Alvvays

Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard

Fiction podcasts:

Who Killed Avril Lavigne (Super Normal Media)

Doctor Who Redacted (BBC)

Batman: The Audio Adventures (HBO)

Goblet Wire (indie)

Shipworm (Two-Up Productions)

Quiet Part Loud (Monkeypaw Production + Gimlet)

Two Flat Earthers Kidnap a Freemason (Good Pointe)

Non-fiction podcasts:

Cover Story Season 2: Seed Money (NY Mag)

The Last Cup (NPR + Futuro)

Honorable mention: Suave (Futuro) which came out in 2021 but won a Pulitzer in 2022

bad romance ↪ voltaire high a.k.a. mixte 1963 (joseph descamps x oc initially, eventual jean pierre magnan x oc)

She fell first, but he fell harder.

THERE'S NOTHING LIKE YOU & I a Good Omens season 2 playlist

Quiet, gentle, romantic, and a little bit devastating – roughly in story order. For being lonely together across 6,000 years and aching for the freedom to love.

On Spotify Here

(Previous editions: Soft To Be Strong – Good Omens season 1 | Crowley/Aziraphale upbeat song dump)

Know what, I'm glad I didn't put off watching this episode. Unhinged!Gojou has healed me. MAPPA makes his crazy look so much worse (and by worse, I mean better), and it's a balm to my soul after Ch 236.

Goodbye, you crazy motherfucker. You had an amazing run.

(bridgerton epilogue spoilers? really various book spoilers)

look I’ve been obsessively reading the bridgerton book for weeks now and there’s been moments missing that I want more of (especially of epilogue/second epilogues). like what was everyone’s reactions when violet ran to meet francesca’s carriage and came back with baby john? what was everyone’s reaction to gregory and lucy after the final chapter? one second, he’s walking to clear the air and the next he just shows up with her at his mom’s house being like ‘surprise!’. i need answers and i just might write them.

not people being pissed that The Cave of Two Lovers was included and reframed in season 1, I actually really dig that

also they didn't "miss the point" they just literally took the opportunity to have Katara and Sokka interact and develop more and no it's not fucking icky to say familial love is just as valid a form of love as romantic, are you thick on purpose

also Oma and Shu are LESBIANS now what more could you need

Plenty of people have said how this season was rushed but honestly what there’s me off the most was how little agency the characters all had.

The main plot was brought about by two side characters and everyone else was just along for the ride despite us caring the most about our main group.

There wasn’t an episode that I disliked but I wish there was one that I loved.

Wish it was able to take a breathe.

In another universe, there's a book titled something like The Merchants of Light set in my Starfall universe that follows a sprawling cast of characters from all social classes and explores the themes that arise when the people who gain their wealth by selling the light of the heavens live in a world of glittering opulence that drags them into the darkness of sin, while those who live in poverty cling to and nurture whatever light and goodness they can find in a dark world that tramples them into the dust.

This universe has always been largely a collection of small moments, small characters, intense aesthetic, and big themes, and that's always been a problem for storytelling, until the thought struck me today that that's what the story is. It could be the story of a society, and the ways that we all affect everyone else. Something more like a classic novel than a fantasy story, with a bunch of tiny little intertwining moments that serve as brushstrokes in a larger painting. I don't know what those moments are, or how to weave them into a coherent narrative, which is why it's only an imaginary book, but man, if I don't want to read it.

5oclock in the morning about to watch Past Prologue for the very first time let’s fucking Go 

Audio Drama Sunday: 12/18/22

The Sheridan Tapes

Alright so I’ve officially finished season one of the Sheridan Tapes and I think overall it was a great run. I’d say the first half of it was a little bit frustrating for me but that the last 6 episodes or so really started to feel much more consistent and focused. I get why the first 14 episodes are the way they are but for me it just felt like so much build up that never fully satisfied me. It’s probably my editor brain kicking into gear but there was a lot of early episodes that I think could’ve been simplified.

That said, I think there is an art to writing a podcast that can anticipate fandom and can play off its audience and I think The Sheridan Tapes is an incredible example of that. It’s not really my style of audio drama but the fact that it’s been able to sustain a fan base and grow a community around the story and characters is really inspiring. It’s that fandom that makes other people want to listen and it’s always amazing to watch that magic play out via different corners of the internet. And quite honestly I’m sure the things that I was frustrated by in terms of plot and pacing are what avid listeners love about it. Even if I had some issues with it, I’m glad I finished the first season and gave it a shot! The people who make it are lovely and I’ll probably at least start the final season (which got fully crowdfunded!!)

Shipworm

Two-Up Productions has produced some of my favorite fiction podcasts (36 Questions, season 1 of Limetown) and though I'm not sure this is really the "first" feature length audio drama piece, it might be the most memorable. Something that I think Two-Up does really well with their audio projects is that they treat the listener's position with a lot of care. In the case of Shipworm, the space for the listener is claustrophobically intimate and yet alienating, cleverly using spatial audio to put the listener in a liminal space between technology and consciousness. This relationship between the listener, Wallace (the main character) and the voice that may or may not be real is the main crux of this piece, holding all the character development, causing story twists and fueling a tone of paranoia throughout. The music and scoring is cinematic and impressive, the acting is masterful and even though details of the story could get confusing, there was never a point where I stopped trusting the writing to fill in the blanks and hold my hand. I recommend finding time to listen to it in all one go, I think there are some natural pause points where you'd expect an episode to end or an ad break to break up the flow but it was an incredible experience to absorb the whole story in a 116 min sprint. I can imagine relistening to this a couple times just to experience it all again, the immediacy and style was such an entertaining listen.

Joy to the World

This holiday limited series from audio drama vets like @starplanes and @innbetween is so cute and wholesome, a perfect feel good listen written for all ages. It’s a sweet little collection of audio Christmas cards in the form of holiday conversations shared over the radio waves, hosted by a lonely astronaut, Joy. It’s got some Charlie Brown Christmas references mixed with Delilah-esque intimacy and some nuanced discussions about family, vulnerability and queerness. Each episode is a snack sized scene that melted my heart, there’s 7 episodes out that I listened to all today. Really looking forward to the rest leading up to Christmas Eve! My favorite one so far is “Dorothy, Out at Sea”

Also for me, Christmas and radio is such a classic combo and it’s so cool to have holiday audio drama like this to listen to. I’m curious if there are other holiday-themed fiction podcasts out there?

Edit: didn’t realize they have a tumblr! @jttwpod

Burning Gotham

This week I listened to episodes 6-7 as well as a behind the scenes bonus episode and it unfortunately is just not doing it for me. In addition to all the other critiques I've had of the show over the last few weeks, what I realized this week is that the thing preventing me from liking this show is my editor brain flagging missed opportunities. Of course, this is kind of useless and selfish feedback because the underlying mentality is "this is what I would've done." But I think for my own ears there are a lot of choices in terms of pacing, structure and aesthetic that feel more distracting for me as a listener than engaging. And it just takes me out of the experience. Like why was there sound effects and 1835 scene audio all the way through the bonus episode? I understand the cutting into the scenes for reference but why is it present throughout people's interviews if this is the non-fiction part of the show? I can hear and see the shape of influences like 1865 or even something like NPR's Throughline which is why I was excited to listen but there isn't any particularly strong commitment to a recognizable style to get me excited to keep listening. I think there's only one episode left so I'm probably going to listen to that last one but I probably won't write about it.

Honorable Mention:

This is just sorta becoming my non-fiction podcast corner but I listened through all of the second season of Cover Story and I’m still just floored. NY Mag’s investigative series was one of my favorite podcasts last year and this season is similarly jaw dropping. In the first thirty seconds they say that most of the people they interviewed lied to them and then from there it’s an absolutely bat shit story that I won’t spoil. So many cringey texts and emails, amazing storytelling and brilliant scoring. It’s only 6 episodes and each one is just as addictive as the next!

Got called mopy and moody and an overall killjoy for not enjoying the one (1) party experience I had in February of last year cuz I kept getting left alone at a party so I just sat and had nachos 🤙🏻🤙🏻🤙🏻

I really hope netflix stops doing the shitty batch release thing.... I truely prefer either all at once or weekly release.. both are very nice.

[Our Flag Means Death] Izzy Hands - LOVE

“ L is for the way you look at me O is for the only one I see V is very, very extraordinary E is even more than anyone that you adore ”

It’s funny because back when horikoshi was very drained, it would have been better for him if he had spinner decide to betray afo earlier because it would have made the series shorter than this drag-out. I guess he needed an adversary for every 1a kid when he could have just used a heteromorph from spinner’s division.

I wouldn't necessarily say it would have made BNHA shorter if he'd had Spinner defect. It'd probably be about the same, or even longer. He'd have to do the chapters of Spinner leaving AfO and pleading with Izuku for help saving Shigaraki. Then he'd still have to have something at the hospital or some other location where Kurogiri is freed.

To be honest I think it's the rushing that's causing most of the issues and I can't blame Hori for that given the conditions he writes under. He's doing everything he can to finish the story as quick as possible. I can't see anything that would improve the story while also speeding up the pace. Sure, somethings could have been cut like Star and Stripe, but those were only a few chapters and really only cut his work by a couple of weeks. And to to be honest I think he added the Star and Stripe stuff because he wanted something fun to draw, so cutting might have just made him feel worse in the long run.

At best it might have cut down on the high work load action scenes but I even doubt that since he'd just have to incorporate the turned LoV members helping the Heroes fight. It also adds even more characters he has to find a place for during the climax fight with AfO Shigaraki, something he's already been struggling with, even with the multi-battle split.

welcome to the nexus au

yup! its an actual thing now, i finally ironed out the story beats so this is a proper au/rewrite of the aftermath of season 2, im looking foward to posting more art and comics abt it, but please dont expect a full comic or fic

however asks are more than welcomed! i have a lot of stuff prepared for it and i wanted a proper cover to announce it dsfj

(i wanted to add some symbolism to everyones line of sight, not sure if its noticeable

version without text is underneath cut!