My Latest Delights!

What I've been delighted by lately

I love the idea of sharing the things that delight me in life. Hence the name of this Substack.

What’s been delighting me lately are audio drama podcasts! I have been in a rabbit hole of subscribing and listening to them. When I was in my 20s and 30s, I was seriously hooked on listening to Old Time Radio Shows, and I feel like these audio dramas are a modern version of that.

What is an audio drama?

Note: I use Apple Podcasts to listen to all podcasts (since Stitcher broke my heart two years ago and discontinued their podcast app).

Now that you understand what an audio drama is, let me share some that I have been listening to lately.

Bunker 8 - a sci-fi audio drama from Dean Smyth and The Midnight Mystery.

The show centers on Jack, a man isolated in a mysterious bunker with no idea how he got there or what its purpose is. As he digs deeper, he uncovers chilling secrets about the bunker, the organization behind it, and himself. It’s a suspenseful journey full of twists, paranoia, and moments that will have you questioning everything.

Leylines - It began with disaster... It's been one year since Dr. Anthony Harbor's experiment caused a blast that ruptured the foundations of MIT, destroyed his reputation, and cost him his life. Now, estranged brothers Ethan and Milo Harbor come together to uncover the mystery of their father’s work. Weaving science fiction and spirituality, Leylines is an adventure across the globe as the Harbor brothers confront billionaires, the US government, and each other to save their father and Earth as we know it.

Midnight Burger - I AM OBSESSED WITH THIS DRAMA!

Midnight Burger is an audio drama about the adventures of a time-traveling, dimension-spanning diner...

When Gloria took a waitressing job at a diner outside of Phoenix, she didn't realize she was now an employee of Midnight Burger, a time-traveling, dimension-spanning diner. Every day Midnight Burger appears somewhere new in the cosmos along with it's staff: a galactic drifter, a rogue theoretical physicist, a sentient old-timey radio, and some guy named Caspar. No one knows who built Midnight Burger or how it works, but when it appears there's always someone around who could really use a cup of coffee.

At the Nexus of all things, there is a diner. We open at 6.

The Road of Shadows - It's 1984, and Daniel Knox is on the run. He's spent his entire life evading mysterious creatures that are disguised as everyday people - the ones he calls 'Shadows'. Preying on humans in secret, the Shadows are an enigma even to Daniel. But he knows one thing for sure - the Shadows' true nature can't be seen by anyone but him.

As he seeks refuge in a remote mountain community, Daniel crosses paths with a traveller who is investigating the disappearance of her sister in the same town. Gradually, the secrets begin to unravel - and for Daniel - life will never be the same again.

Woodbine - Beatrice Ashe is living a quiet life as an assistant at the Woodbine Agency, a small detective firm in the east end of Toronto. But things change for her quickly when she is brutally attacked and left near death. Now, her boss Grace Hawthorne has a choice to make: let Bea die or… give her a second chance. A second chance that brings Bea into a new world of shadow…

I have been gobbling these audio dramas up! I listen to them whenever I’m driving, at work, and in the shower. I have a Bluetooth speaker in my shower, and I love listening to them while showering and doing my skincare routine.

Here are a few others I have in my Apple Podcasts library that I haven’t listened to yet, but will soon.

Beyond the Dark - Atmospheric sci-fi stories. You might find yourself in the heart of a cyberpunk metropolis, a post-apocalyptic wasteland, or an alien world. Each story features its own original music score for a truly immersive experience.

The Strata - In a dystopian city, an ageing courier is forced to go into business with an underworld ganglord in order to pay for the treatment that keeps him alive.

In a society segregated by checkpoints and divided into rich and poor, the characters who inhabit The Strata must come to terms with the hardships of the city by whatever means they can. For some, this means outsmarting those around them. Others rely on grit and determination. And then there are those who know only one way - violence.

Broken Road- Abandoned by a modernizing military, veteran Emmett Lee wanders the countryside in search of replacement parts for his obsolete military-issue prosthetics. Each step is made more difficult by his failing battery and corrupted memory files. Emmett finds himself at the mercy of Rebecca Clark, a widower struggling to keep her farm afloat with the help of her rebellious daughter Carly.

As Emmett quickly discovers, all but the most stubborn townspeople have been driven out of business by agritech behemoth Chem-O-Grow and its ruthless enforcer Arlin Frey. Chem-O-Grow’s genetically engineered soy plants have poisoned the soil so only their seeds will survive. As the company price-gouges what few independent farms remain, Arlin squeezes the destitute farmers for protection money which he uses to pay for his own extreme body modifications.

Bonding over their similar plights against corporate and governmental corruption, a friendship grows between Emmett and the Clarks — and soon, a plan forms. With the help of a few brave neighbors, Emmett and Rebecca undertake a dangerous scheme to free the town from Chem-O-Grow and its cruel enforcer Arlin Frey once and for all.

But Arlin won’t go down without a fight. Despite obsolete prosthetics and failing implants, Emmett must face the more advanced Arlin to save Rebecca’s farm and the town.

Deep Space: Deep Cover - Set in the expansive universe of the Dead Space games – Emmeline Ayuba is a journalist looking for her sister. After last hearing reports of her sister joining the local Unitologist’s church on Ganymede, Ayuba follows in her footsteps.

Derelict - Something has been found at the bottom of Earth's ocean. An ancient artifact that can only be described as a giant door on the sea floor, known as the Vault; an enigma, buried 19,000 feet down; but some doors should never be opened.

Elias The Caretaker - A failing podcaster inherits a mansion that belonged to his estranged parents, and discovers that the strange caretaker of the property may be connected to a notorious murderer that supposedly haunts the property. As he tries to debunk the haunting in a podcast, he discovers there's more to Elias, the caretaker than meets the eye.

Moonbase Theta, Out - It is 2098. The Moonbase program has been determined unprofitable. The last base, Theta, is twenty weeks from being decommissioned. Most of the crew is in stasis awaiting retrieval. Five remain – Roger Bragado-Fischer, Nessa Cheong, Ashwini Ray, Michell L’Anglois, and Wilder.

Join the crew of Moonbase Theta as they reach out to share the beauty, the isolation and frustration, the love and enmity, the humour, and the tragedy, as all count down to the operation’s end … and what comes after.

Oakbridge - When the U.S. government erects a nuclear power facility, Oakbridge transforms from a sleepy town into a hotbed of unexplained phenomena. The discovery of two dead teenagers propels Sheriff’s Deputy Jack Harris into a dangerous investigation. As Jack digs deeper, he uncovers secrets that threaten not just his life but the safety of everyone in Oakbridge.

Primal - Bruce Greenwood (The Fall Of The House of Usher) stars in this horror thriller podcast. A detective investigating a bizarre serial killer stumbles upon a conspiracy by a thousand-year-old vampire to return humanity to its "superior" primal capabilities.

Sanctuary - Starring Lily Rabe (American Horror Story). A woman wakes up on a future terraformed Mars, only to discover her husband has become the dictator of Mars, and the only way she can secure a free and peaceful future for the planet is to kill him.

The Third Threat - Our worst fears come true... on the home front. An ordinary woman is swept up into an extraordinary plot against America, by Russian domestic terrorists. She's overheard key details of the plot, but does not speak Russian... until she undergoes an experimental procedure, and becomes America's unlikely best chance against enemies hiding in plain sight.

VEGA - In a fantasy futuristic world, Vega Rex is employed by her government to kill off the world's worst criminals. She's never met a criminal she couldn't catch...until now. Join Vega as she journeys through a world of bumbling apprentices, powerful technogods, and her biggest challenge yet. Hosted by Ivuoma Hall.

Now that I’ve inundated you with audio dramas, let me know if you’re listening to any that aren’t listed here.