With somewhere in the neighborhood of 1 million active podcasts currently in existence, it’s safe to say there’s something for everyone in the podcast world. A little corner of that world I’ve recently been exploring? Sci-fi podcasts. Of course, not much beats a good novel or anthology, and a well-done science-fiction podcast shouldn’t be all that different from an audiobook — though some series are doing great things with sound design and voice casting. Take for instance DUST, the science-fiction podcast series from production company Gunpowder & Sky. Having now released three seasons, DUST kicked off in 2019 with an anthology series called Horizons featuring seven stand-alone short-story episodes — including “Beyond Lies the Wub,” the very first science-fiction story ever published by late genre luminary Philip K. Dick, and “Pendulum,” an early work from Ray Bradbury and his co-author Henry Hasse. Most DUST authors are far more obscure, and if you crave a piece of long-form fiction, dive into the series’ second and third seasons. Season 2, Flight 008, focuses on a nonstop flight from Tokyo to San Francisco that mysteriously lands its passengers 20 years in the future. That one features voice performances from Dan Stevens, Calista Flockhart, Alfred Molina and more. For my money, however, the best thing DUST has put out is its third season, Chrysalis, a 14-part series written by enigmatic Reddit poster S.H. Serrano. Featuring outstanding voice performances from Matthew Wolf, Corey Hawkins, Toni Collette, Lance Reddick and others, Chrysalis centers on an A.I. being who awakens on Earth after humanity has been wiped out by an unknown alien race. What follows is an enrapturing pangalactic journey that bounces between the perspective of the A.I. and the various civilizations that must reckon with the powerful sentient being seeking vengeance on behalf of a now-ruined Earth. It’s great storytelling that is terribly easy to binge — fingers crossed Season 4 comes soon. Listen via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts D. PATRICK RODGERS
Listen to the Sci-Fi Podcast Series DUST
