Wil Williams Writes

This Week in Podcasts is a weekly roundup of mini-reviews of all of the podcasts I’ve listened to in a week. If you see any podcasts that you feel are missing from my list, there’s a good chance I haven’t listened to the show yet! You can see my current list of podcast subscriptions here. Feel free to give me recommendations–as well as any feedback or discussion!–in the comments below or on twitter. 

This week, I finally updated my list of subscriptions. This week was also the debut of the much-awaited StarTripper!!, as well as the release of the trailer for the upcoming The Magic King Dom. NBC’s The Good Place: The Podcast also launched.

As a note, next week will not have a This Week in Podcasts or a newsletter; I’ll be out of town for the Join the Party live show!

Highlights

StarTripper!!
“The Dreaded Gauntlet of Xinpho”
“Maximum Freshness”

I’ve been excited for the release of StarTripper!! since the link first showed up on the Whisperforge website about a year ago. That excitement bubbled up again when listeners got its formal announcement on the ars PARADOXICA stream, and then even moreso when I interviewed writer and creator Julian Mundy for Discover Pods. I was almost a little worried that StarTripper!! couldn’t live up to the vision I had of it in my mind, but I was so happy to hear how misguided that worry was. StarTripper!! is exactly what it claims to be: funny, exciting, new, and sweet. It’s already an audio drama for someone who loves podcasts that are exciting but don’t necessarily want the massive emotional stakes of so many others. It feels somewhere between Futurama, Galaxy Quest, and Cowboy Bebop–a combination of things I didn’t know I wanted so much until now.

The Amelia Project
“Tara & Lily – Season 1 Finale”

The Amelia Project is one of the most interesting, innovative, strange, and well-produced audio dramas I’ve listened to, and this finale episode is no exception. This audio drama has a knack for selling the listener completely ridiculous situations by making them completely believable in production. In this episode, the clients have a completely natural conversational rhythm, speaking over each other and giving minimal responses without muddying up the audio. The design itself is unobtrusive, doing just enough to plan the listener in the room while not detracting from the dialogue. What makes this episode stand out, though, is what it does for the greater plot of The Amelia Project–something that has existed in a vague sense but hasn’t been the focus. The suspenseful twist the episode takes is the perfect cliffhanger to end this incredible first season.

This Week’s Ratings

Sunday, 5/27/18

• Nancy, “We Can Be Friends”: B
• ATHENA., “1.04 / / 31 / 8 / 1940”: C
• The Cryptid Keeper, “Episode 57- Unicorns”: C
• Conversations with People Who Hate Me, “Teens and Guns”: B

Monday, 5/28/18

• ArtCurious, “Episode #35: Rivals- Lee Krasner and Elaine de Kooning vs. Their Husbands”: B
• Terrible, Thanks for Asking, “37: Fairy Dust”: B-

Tuesday, 5/29/18

• Love and Luck, “Episode 39 – Tom and Brandon”: B
• My Brother, My Brother and Me, “MBMBaM 408: Come and Get It”: B-
• The Amelia Project, “Prelude: Jumbo Pepsi”: B
• 99% Invisible, “309- The Vault”: C+
• Pop Culture Happy Hour, “Cobra Kai Is a Surprisingly Good Karate Kid Reboot”: C

Wednesday, 5/30/18

• Han and Matt Know It All, “#72: Han and Matt Air Their Grievances”: C
• Spirits, “Episode 79: Jiutian Xuannü”: B
• Fall of the House of Sunshine, “Season 2, Episode 7: The Ballad of GG Scrumptious Part 1”: C
• The Bright Sessions, “The AM”: B-
• Wonderful!, “Ep. 36: Two-Story Toilet”: B-
• The Infinite Now, “ECSTATIC UNKNOWING”: B

Thursday, 5/31/17

• The Adventure Zone, “Amnesty – Episode 9”: B
• Caliphate, “Chapter Seven: Mosul”: B-
• The Amelia Project, “Tara & Lily – Season 1 Finale”: B+
• Pop Culture Happy Hour, “Law & Order and What’s Making Us Happy”: C+
• Kalila Stormfire’s Economical Magick Services, “Case Eight: Healing”: B

Friday, 6/1/17

• The Good Place: The Podcast, “Chapter One: Mike Schur”: C
• Radiolab, “Poison Control”: C+

Saturday, 6/2/17

• StarTripper!!, “The Dreaded Gauntlet of Xinpho”: B
• StarTripper!!, “Maximum Freshness”: B
• Oh No Ross and Carrie, “Ross and Carrie in Spiritual Ecstasy: Crystal Skull Edition”: C+

These weekly roundups are some of my favorite to write, but they’re also some of the most exhausting posts to write. Keeping up with all these podcasts is time consuming! These posts are brought to you with deep thanks to my Patreon supporters and people who have supported me via Ko-Fi. Becoming a supporter will get you access to my planning blog, customized podcast playlists, and the ability to request reviews for podcasts you love. Find out more here!