As you explore A Universe of Stories this summer, we’d like to add another storytelling format to your list: Podcasts!
The rise in numbers of Americans who now listen to podcasts has increased considerably in the just past year. A CBS News poll from January 2019 showed that “two-thirds of Americans listen to podcasts at least once in a while, including 23 percent who do so a few times a week.” This is compared to a year ago when the majority of Americans said they “never listened to podcasts.”
Of course we have some podcast recommendations that fit our space science-themed Summer Reading Challenge! More interested in science fiction? We’ve got you covered there, too.
You can access and subscribe to podcasts through a variety of apps or directly from the show’s website. Apple iTunes and Stitcher are among the most popular podcast apps, but you can also try Spotify and Google Play. Podcasts are not necessarily available on all app platforms.
2298
Listen:Apple | Stitcher | PlayerFM
2298 is a classic dystopian sci-fi that feels at home with works like 1984, Brave New World, and Black Mirror. The podcast centers on 24, a man living in a universe completely dictated by social media and government surveillance. 24 doesn’t question this life, until he’s visited by a strange bird, and suddenly, everything starts to change. (Science fiction)
ars PARADOXICA Listen: Apple | Spotify | Google | Stitcher
When an experiment goes horribly awry, Dr. Sally Grissom finds herself stranded in the past and entrenched in the activities of a clandestine branch of the U.S. government. Grissom and her team quickly learn that there’s no safety net when toying with the fundamental logic of the universe. (Science fiction)
Girl in Space
Listen: Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | Website
The main character is stuck on a dying ship floating in space. It’s just her and Charlotte, the ship’s AI. The podcast feels like diary entries. One moment she’s philosophizing about cheese and the next strangers want to take over her ship. They have big guns and, well, she doesn’t. (Science fiction)
Houston, We Have a Podcast
Listen: Apple | SoundCloud | Website
The official podcast of the NASA Johnson Space Center. Learn from some of the brightest minds of America’s NASA space agency as they discuss topics in engineering, science, technology and more. Part of the larger NASA Podcast Network.
Janus Descending
Listen: Apple | Stitcher | Google
What starts off as an expedition to survey the planet and the remains of a lost alien civilization, turns into a monstrous game of cat and mouse, as two scientists are left to face the creatures that killed the planet in the first place. (Science fiction/Horror)
Planetary Radio
Listen: Apple |Stitcher | Website
Raise your space IQ while putting a smile on your face. Each week, host Mat Kaplan visits with a scientist, engineer, project manager, astronaut, advocate or writer who provides a unique and exciting perspective on the exploration of our solar system and beyond. (Nonfiction news)
Space by BBC
Listen: Apple
Stories, opinion and debate from the final frontier – including a guide on how to live in space, 20th century legends and the stories of missions past and present. (Nonfiction news)
Steal the Stars
Listen: Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher
This blockbuster audio fiction blends a romance, a heist, a political thriller, action, and aliens. Dakota “Dak” Prentiss works at a secret government operation to study a massive alien they call “Moss” (named for the moss that covers its body) and the deadly harp-like device found with it. (Science fiction / Thriller)
The Bright Sessions Listen: Apple | Spotify | Stitcher | Website
Therapy for the strange and unusual. You become a fly on the wall during very peculiar therapy sessions. Dr. Bright’s patients are … bizarre. There’s a time traveler who’s fed up with being tossed into the past and future when she least expects it and a man who can get people to do whatever he wants. (Science fiction)
Do you have a particular podcast that you like to listen to? Share with us in the comments.