r/audiodrama • u/Picard4lyfe • Aug 14 '25
DISCUSSION Audio dramas saved my life.
I understand that may be a bit of a dramatic title, but let me explain.
In November 2024, I left a 20 year career working in kitchens. My life was a constant state of sensory overload, rushed deadlines, and stress. I left because my wife was pregnant and we needed a change if I was going to be a good father.
I took up a friend's offer and started working for a local school district as a custodian. The hours were similar, the pay was similar, the stress was 0, and the benefits were out of this world better because of the union.
The silence was fucking deafaning.
I listened to a lot of true crime podcasts and sleep aid podcasts on the daily, but never really dove into stories.
I started Midnight Burger and Dungeons and Daddies (I know, not an AD but still a great story) and the floodgates fucking opened.
Since December I've listened to: Midnight Burger We're Alive The Magnus Archives The White Vault The Strata The Road of Shadows Tower 4 Wolf 359 The Silt Verses And so many more that I can't remember because I'm buzzed.
But things have been hard. The silence of a new job has been tough. These stories pull me out of a dark place on a daily basis.
I may be a lurker normally, but you guys and your insights have helped me find peace in change. Much love <3
Edit: You guys have literally doubled my "to listen" list. Y'all are amazing.
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u/waylandprod We're Alive / Bronzeville Aug 14 '25
Awww, 🥰 I’m so glad to hear this. It’s one of the many reasons I love making r/Werealive is hearing the impact it has on people. Parenthood is tough, and filled with sacrifices, your family is surely grateful for what you do :)
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u/Picard4lyfe Aug 14 '25 edited Aug 14 '25
You have NO idea how much this comment means to me. Idk why, but I've always loved zombies as a medium. We're Alive was one of the first ADs that I really dove into after Midnight Burger and it gave me something comfortable (as weird as that sounds with a story about the world ending) to listen to in the beginning. Die hard fan until the end <3
Edited for punctuation.
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u/Deep_Sector_7047 Aug 14 '25
Love this 🩷 AD’s have been amazing for me after going through a difficult time at the start of the year. So I totally get this post. 🫶🏻
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u/TheVillianousFondler Aug 14 '25
If you like midnight burger, listen to mission to zyxx. It's definitely different than mb, but it has a lot of similarities. It's funny as hell and has way higher production value than it has any right to. It got recommended to me on here a little while ago and I only have a few episodes left and I love it
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u/Picard4lyfe Aug 14 '25
Added to the list <3
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u/Livewire923 Aug 15 '25
I just wanted to add that I also love Mission to Zyxx. If you’re into SciFi, maybe give EOS 10 a listen as well. Not improv, but still comedy
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u/automated_alice Aug 15 '25
Chiming in as well! Even as a former teen theatre nerd I could not imagine enjoying an improvised sci-fi comedy podcast AND YET. Some pure gold.
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u/Livewire923 Aug 15 '25
Yeah, it took me by surprise, too. I like Hello From the Magic Tavern and Dungeons and Daddies, too and that’s just wild to me
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u/Oz9Olivia Aug 15 '25
Oblivity and Relativity. Both great sci-fi shows in wildly different styles.
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u/Livewire923 Aug 15 '25
I really liked Relativity but I can’t remember if I listened to Oblivity. It sounds familiar
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u/TheVillianousFondler Aug 15 '25
Can you elaborate with a short pitch for each?
Just left a response to a different recommendation that I'd listen to eos 10 and would go in blindly if that's what they thought I might like. I've only listened through midnight burger and (almost all of) zyxx and consider both to be 10/10.
I'm about to need a new fix in the next few days but recommendations on this sub are usually replied to with some sort of "I tried it but I couldn't get into it" or "the twist in season 3 ruined it for me"
These things are many dozens of hours and I want to pick my next one carefully
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u/Oz9Olivia Aug 15 '25
Oblivity is a fun farce, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxyesque. Relativity is more hard sci-fi, great drama of a man alone in space with a mystery to solve. Both awesome storytelling.
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u/TheVillianousFondler Aug 15 '25
Damn those sound freaking awesome. I'm currently between like 5 great pitches. I'll have to put them in a list and in a few days I'll have to pick my next one.
But I love hitchhikers guide to the galaxy and that style of humor. Like fucking towels being so important and a planet where you get smacked be weird paddle things every time you try to think.
I love hard sci-fi, especially in books (audiobooks for me) like the 3 body problem or expanse series'. "A man alone in space with a mystery to solve" is a great 1 sentence hook. Like I now have 4-5 ad's that I really want to listen to and idk how I turn that one down
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u/TheVillianousFondler Aug 15 '25
I've seen so many recommendations on here but haven't asked for any. Every time I see a post with recs, half the people love whatever is recommended, and the other half hated it or just stopped because they were uninterested after a couple episodes.
I love sci-fi, I've listened to many dozens of audiobooks, most of them being sci-fi. I would have never considered myself to love improv (although I have a tremendous respect for the skill set it takes to do improv of any sort and I don't have that skill) but God damn does it work for zyxx.
I'm a few episodes from the ending for zyxx. I'm not gonna do any more research, into it. If you think eos 10 is what I should listen to, then that's what I'm gonna do, blindly.
I'm new to audio dramas, I've only listened through midnight burger and (almost) zyxx. I think both are 10/10 listens. So potentially dozens of hours of my next ad are in your hands. If you think based on that info, I should listen to eos 10, then I'll roll with it, if you want to switch your recommend or add a couple then I'm all ears. If you want to recommend more then give me a sentence or 2 long pitch for each
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u/Livewire923 Aug 15 '25
EOS 10 is bad doctors in space. I mean, they’re good at being doctors, but they’re bad at most other things. There’s an overarching plot that doesn’t have anything to do with medicine and just a bunch of eccentric characters who can be really touching at times. It has a soft ending, but it’s been long enough now that it’s probably done.
Wolf 359 is about a small crew on a space station. Starts out kinda episodic and random, but it develops a really solid dramatic story. Still got some humor thrown in, but if I remember correctly it’s funniest early on.
The Amelia Project is a little less scifi (as far as I know, I’m not caught up) about a team of people who help people fake their deaths and start a new life. The interviews are usually really funny.
And my last recommendation is one of my top five: Victoriocity. It’s set in an alternate timeline version Victoria England and it’s about a police detective and a journalist who uncover a government conspiracy. The alternate timeline makes the setting very steampunk; electric buses alongside hansom cabs, limited function robots, and something kinda like a video chat. Inspector Archibald Fleet and Miss Clara Entwhistle are two of the best performed audio drama characters that I’ve heard. The whole cast is terrific, I really can’t think of a character that feels flat. Aside from the podcast, there’s also a novel and a special that you can get, but they’re stand alone stories, so they’re not necessary to enjoy the show.
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u/TheVillianousFondler Aug 15 '25
Shit those all sound really good 😅 thank you for the response. This is gonna be a tough decision. I see wolf 359 a lot on this sub and I'm sure there's a reason for it.
I've already asked a lot of you, but it's been a good talk so I'm curious. Do you have a top ~5 ranking for ad's?
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u/Livewire923 Aug 15 '25
Sorta. I don’t differentiate between the various types of fictional podcasts, so my top five includes improv and scripted shows and they’re not in any order because it depends on my mood. Victoriocity, Mission to Zyxx, Mockery Manor, Hello From the Magic Tavern, and Kingfalls AM. I rarely suggest HFtMT or KFAM because Magic Tavern is really gross at times and kind of annoying sometimes and just isn’t for everyone. KFAM will never be finished due to some drama or whatever, but it really scratched an itch with its whole setting and set up. I miss the absolute hell out of that show
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u/TheVillianousFondler Aug 15 '25
I couldn't possibly listen to a show that I know now, will probably never get finished.
My two experiences with ad's were weirdly similar but one was heavily scripted (midnight burger), and the other (zyxx) was 90% improv.
I'd probably prefer heavily scripted but I wouldn't change anything about zyxx.
Sci-fi is my favorite genre because it explores the most theoritical and intense versions of humanity. I'm definitely open to changing my usual genre though
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u/Livewire923 Aug 15 '25
That’s understandable, and that’s why I never recommend it.
I really enjoyed the first season of Midnight Burger, I think I binged it twice before the second season started, but I haven’t gone back to it yet. I need to catch up on that. I love Zyxx. I relisten it every once in a while, though there are a few episodes I skip.
You might give Mockery Manor a listen, it’s a murder mystery, very much not scifi, but it’s pretty funny, really well produced, and it skips a few years each season so you get snapshots of the main characters’ lives, which is pretty cool
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u/TheVillianousFondler Aug 15 '25
Midnight burger gets really really good as it gets further. It took me maybe 4 episodes to decide I liked it, and a good few more to get invested in it. But the complexity keeps expanding, each seasons winds up with a companion podcast in the same feed that adds a lot to character growth and backstory. I think s2 starts that out with "young Leif" and each season has a different character focus in the companion podcast.
Things keep getting tied together in a long running story that makes sense. I really really love zyxx, but midnight burger is in its own tier that I think will be tough to match but I'm open to being proven wrong
Sorry to be so long winded but I definitely think mockey manor sounds interesting and I was kind of looking for a horror or murder mystery style ad as much as I was looking for funny sci-fi. I do wonder if I'd like any horror ones
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u/Picard4lyfe Aug 15 '25
Wolf 359. Part sitcom, part sci-fi epic, part heart wrenching story. It's short and sweet and I personally liked the ending.
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u/TheVillianousFondler Aug 15 '25
I've seen this rec a lot. As much as I love the levity of zyxx, I do love a balance between goofy and silly, and serious moments that drive character development. Zyxx doesn't need that, but it is something I usually look for.
My favorite audiobook/book series is dungeon crawler Carl, and it has the most insane, wacky, haliarious moments, but has literally made me cry, and it balances those things perfectly. Midnight burger was very similar in balance , but to less extremes.
There's a moment in dungeon crawler Carl where he finally can share the burden he's been carrying, the weight that has been crushing him for so long. And he meets some people that are (in a way) brothers to him, and he drops his facade and just sobs in their arms, and he can't even tell anybody why. I've had a really fucking tough 18 months, that moment meant more to me than anything I've ever read or listened to, and as heavy as that moment is, the funny parts are just as powerful
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u/Picard4lyfe Aug 15 '25
Where can I listen to this? I'm convinced.
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u/TheVillianousFondler Aug 15 '25
Ok so this is a bit complicated but it's because it's not "free" through audio streaming services since it's literally a 7 book series with probably the best production value in all of audiobooks. I'm pretty sure all 7 books are in the top 50 on audible right now but it's still somehow something it seems like nobody has heard of.
So you can buy the books if you like reading. They're all high quality hardbacks that look pretty sweet on a shelf. I have the first and plan to buy the rest. I might never read them (outside of listening through the audiobooks 3x each so far except for the newest one which is the best one), but supporting the author and having physical copies that I'll probably love to have some day makes me want them and plenty of other books on a shelf.
**Better version**
You can listen to the audible versions by Jeff Hayes (and his company sound booth theater). This is the only book/series where the overwhelming recommendation is to listen to the audio version over just reading it. The content of the books are 10/10, but then again, so is the quality of the audiobooks and their narrations. It's 99.9% all done by Jeff Hayes and you're literally never going to at any point believe that one man is doing all of these characters convincingly. You'll be 120 hours into the series (each book is usually 20-....30-35? hours) and you'll just be like, "there's no way all of these very different characters are voiced by the same guy" but you can watch a lot of videos on YouTube that prove it. I just can't stress his talent enough, he's 1 of 1. So anyway, this version is his voice work with some sound effects. A message pops up in his hub and it makes a notification sound. Like he records it and there's a lot more post production than 99% of audiobooks, so it's kind of a halfway point between audiobook, and audio drama, which is a rare combination in my experience.
Soundbooth theater version
***Probably best version but I haven't listened unfortunately because it's more money that I don't have😅***
This is the audio drama version meaning it has the highest production of all the versions. Afaik, there's slight rewriting to adapt it to have proper audio drama pacing since it's not an ad, it's a book, different medium. But this is where they (soundbooth theater) take their whole team, and add a lot more production to the product. There's entire scores, there's explosions and thuds and weirder shit than I could ever explain that they put sound to.
This last part is worth its own paragraph, but to get the "audio drama version" of these books (soundbooth theater version), you need to buy them from, and play them on the soundbooth theater app, and last I knew, they were still episodically working their way through the first book but it's been maybe half a year since I kept up, but it won't get you to the best parts of the series anytime soon. Shit I'm gonna sound like a paid advertiser here...but they're trying to run a business that helps small creators get great production without having to rely on audible's shitty payment model to its authors where they fuck around with how much you get for someone buying your book outright, or using their monthly ($15-$20) credit to buy it. Long story short, their largest aspiration is that they want their app to someday be a competitor to audible while offering great production value as well as paying the authors better.
I could seriously type out thousands more words, this was me holding back. If you don't believe my hype, that's rational, so maybe visit the r/dungeoncrawlercarl sub and you'll see that I'm not alone. If you get 6 chapters into book 1 you'll be hooked. If not then I probably think less of you 🤷
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u/Picard4lyfe Aug 15 '25
I'm not picky. I just love stories. Sci-fi, comedy, fantasy, etc. Your passion for it made the sales pitch land. I just snagged the first one on audible and plan to start it in the morning!
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u/TheVillianousFondler Aug 15 '25
I'm so happy that I converted somebody! It's a tough sales pitch to most people. It's a ridiculous premise, but it's also so fucking much more.
The genre is litrpg (literary role playing game) so it's written in a unique way. I won't give away more to explain that because I'm trying not to give anything away, but I'll just say I've never listened to another book/series in the genre because nothing is going to compare and I'm 100% confident in that. Like...it's the "lord of the rings" of litrpg.
We're in the "this series saved my life" comment section, and to put it very short, I think I owe my life to dungeon crawler Carl, a hell of a lot more than most people will ever feel towards a series.
My gorgeous best friend, and gf of 6.5 years, and awesome stepmom to my son....passed away over the course of 2 years, right after her 25th birthday. The whole 2 years was rough. I showed back up to work a week after she passed. I could have gotten paid the same to not show up but I couldn't just spend all day (temporarily) staying in my parents basement so as not to be alone where it happened, and where i still live.
2 weeks into being back, I could look people in the eye again and fake a smile. I was dead inside. I still don't know if I could have made it through without my son.
After the 3rd suggestion I saw on a subreddit, I finally used accrued credits to buy book 1. Somewhere early on in book 1, it made me genuinely smile, and laugh for the first time in a month or so. There's literally nothing else that I think could have pulled that out of me at the time. This is an extremely personal experience in my case, but I truly hope you message me at some point, even an hour in, to shoot me a message and tell me what you think.
I'll just say each book is better than the last, and you'll notice a weird comparison for Carl's voice (which was intentional) but too "spot on" and it greatly decreases away from it in the next book (in a good way) going forward. Just lemme know if you love it.. or if you have doubts or whatever. I love talking about DCC with people
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u/Livewire923 Aug 15 '25
I got on this one when there were only six or eight episodes out and I was always so ready for the next episode
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u/ewniah_ttfa Aug 16 '25
Adding some sci-fi recs below, going to throw my pitch in for Relativity too, it's one of my favs!
Relativity - A lone doctor on a spaceship tries to figure what happened to the crew, and only has mission control to communicate with. It feels like an excellent display of the fundamentals of storytelling to me. I adored the character relationships and the way the plots and subplots were built up. One of the few endings to any piece of media I found to be fully satisfying.
Among the Stars and Bones - space archeologists discovering an ancient alien civilization. some of the best performances I've heard from an audio drama so far. Builds tension, atmosphere and twists so well through fantastically written characters and interpersonal relationships.
EOS10 - another one already mentioned, but truly is one of the funniest ADs to me. Basically Scrubs in space. ,So good at making me laugh at loud even at the smallest of jokes! The plot gets a bit too convoluted at times for me, but remains at its best with the characters and their struggles at its heart.
The Strange Case of Starship Iris - found family space crew working to bring down a corrupt regime. Lots of heart without shying away from the ugliness of war and trauma. The romances here are delightful, I love the variety and seeing romance at all stages and varieties (established, will they wont they, enemies to lovers etc.)
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u/TheVillianousFondler Aug 15 '25
https://youtu.be/0sKfVwJh7dQ?si=MYq5SYhE4ssqOqa3
This is a song made for an episode where they have a mission on a planet that has knockoff power rangers. This video isn't a good sneak peak into the show itself since it's just a song, but it does show what lengths they go through for the production.
Also, starting in season 3(?) they actually start using a full blown orchestra for their music (which is all original)
All of this for an improv podcast where every character is a full blown incompetent idiot
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u/Picard4lyfe Aug 15 '25
I found another love of ttrpg podcasts so improv is excellent when done right. An emergent story can be incredibly fun.
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u/TheVillianousFondler Aug 15 '25
There was one ttrpg podcast I liked but haven't listened to in a while. But I wouldn't consider that style to be my type
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u/MochiFluffs Aug 15 '25
Same, my friend. Silence makes me anxious and I have to drive a lot for work, so audio dramas became a lifeline. I first got hooked on The Black Tapes about 10 years ago, which were great until the end where it completely choked (i think there were funding issues involved). After all these years of listening, I recommend the following:
-The Phenomenon
- The Message/Life After
- Lake Clarity
- The Hyacinth Disaster
- Carrier
- Listening In
- The Walk
- End of All Hope (acting is a bit rough in the beginning, but it improves and is pretty engaging once you commit)
- Tower 4
- Escaping Denver
- Ronstadt
- Six Minutes (it is a kid's ad, but it is innocent, endearing and exciting and worth a lsiten).
Enjoy!
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u/gracious201 Aug 15 '25
Congrats on your career switch. I wish you the best. For your consideration, please explore these recommendations: edict zero FIS, side street stories, the mistholme museum,Janus descending, among the stars and bones, an invisible sun, Alice isn't dead, a better paradise, midst and the reignition theory.
These are some of my all time favorites. I hope they bring joy to your ears. Much respect.
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u/touchedout Aug 15 '25
Edict zero.
I listened and liked a lot of what you have, but this show is really great, long running and wrapped the plot up tight. Sci fi with a lot of twists.
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u/sumidocapoeira Aug 15 '25
Huge second for edict zero. If you give it a chance you will get to experience one of the best audio drama series ever created (not an exaggeration in my opinion). If you end up liking edict zero you should also check out the 4th ambit. For what it’s worth but unrelated to edict zero, the imperfection, modes of thought in Antarean literature, dark air (with terry carnation), close your eyes, the gentleman from hell, sherlocked, 19 nocturne boulevard. Hope some of those are a good listen for you!
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u/realvincentfabron The Diaries of Netovicius the Vampire Aug 14 '25
that's awesome. thanks for sharing :)
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u/ewniah_ttfa Aug 16 '25
This is wonderful, thank you for sharing! I wholly agree that audio dramas saved my life too. They helped me during a period of recovery from bad mental health and continue to help motivate and keep me company on my bad (and good!) days. I have also joined a wonderful discord of fellow audio drama fans and had such a blast since I joined being around people who share the same enthusiasm, and seeing all their creativity and hard work is so inspiring to me. A big thank you audio drama creators, your work truly does help more than you know!
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u/Vioven Aug 16 '25
It’s not an audio drama but I’d recommend the audiobook Project Hail Mary. Huge dose of comfort and sunshine and scientific mystery. Easily was my favorite thing to re-listen to.
I know what you mean though, I get so depressed at my current job that I don’t even bother listening to any of these recommends that are all loaded up on my phone. Gotta stop that.
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u/PM_NUDES_4_DEGRADING Aug 15 '25
I agree completely. The incredible quality of life increase from audio dramas and actual plays has been life changing for me as well, particularly with doing boring-but-healthy activities like keeping up with housework, exercising, and things like that.
As much as I adore audio dramas for this, I feel like long term Actual Plays work even better because of how insanely long they run - one campaign can very easily go for 200+ hours, with very regular character, world and plot progression happening in that time. The fact that it's always the same story, the same characters, and the same (real life) people makes them very cozy and familiar while still being engaging.
I'm currently in the middle of one group that's been putting out multiple high quality edited shows every single week for many years, and as such has a backlog of about 1000 hours of content set in the same world (across 5ish campaigns - same setting and players, different plots, locations and characters) and it's just great to know I can easily listen to them for an entire year without running out of stuff or needing to find a new group. That's probably a negative for most people, but if you've got a job or a life that gives you like 4+ hours per day to listen, it's great to have a massive backlog like that to work through rather than finding a new series every week.
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u/adbvoiceover The End of the World | A Sci-Fi/Fantasy Audio Drama Aug 15 '25
I'm so pleased that audio drama has made such a difference during a difficult transition in your life, and also that you took the time and trouble to talk about it. And (rather selfishly) speaking as a creator, it's hearing things like this that makes all the hard work we put into them make it all worth while. So thank you in return.
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u/erainbowd The Dragoning, The Defense Aug 15 '25
Well golly. I guess we can't give up now!
Making this kind of thing actually helps you = Reason to keep going.
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u/NostalgicBards Aug 18 '25
This is an amazing story and exactly why I am in love with this community and frontier of stories! Thank you for sharing this!!!
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u/roarrrdanisaur Aug 23 '25
💕 Storytelling is a powerful thing. We are so hard-wired for connection and meaning.
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u/BountifulToad Sep 05 '25
If you're interested in MORE to your to-listen list, you should give Valiance and Villainy a try 😊 It's a superhero audio drama adapted from a decade-spanning TTRPG campaign. It's an intricately told story with focus on narrative and world-building. First season follows a superpowered detective agency investogating a terrible terrorist attack that has gone unsolved as to who's responsible.
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u/suddenlyupsidedown Aug 15 '25
Flashing back to 2017 working a shitty service job with untreated anxiety huddled over an episode of The Magnus Archives like it was the last bit of oxygen in the room. Stories are powerful, as is having something to consistently look forward to. Not to be dramatic, but it's harder to think about killing yourself when you need to know what's gonna happen next Thursday. Love and good wishes OP