May 26, 2023

“We Fix Space Junk” by Battle Bird Productions

“We Fix Space Junk” by Battle Bird Productions

‘We Fix Space Junk’ by Battle Bird Productions follows seasoned smuggler Kilner and reluctant fugitive Samantha as they travel the galaxy, dodging bullets and meeting strange and wonderful beings as they carry out odd jobs on the fringes of the law. A female-led sci-fi comedy sitcom set in the far future, in a high-tech, dystopian world, We Fix Space Junk draws on the sci-fi of the past, following in the footsteps of Harry Harrison and of Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Equal parts love-letter to sci-fi and satire of the present-day, Space Junk is lovingly produced by Beth Crane and Hedley Knights of Battle Bird Productions. The first episode of Season Three sees Kilner, Samantha and Ms Lamb floating unprotected in space inside a neurotic lift. But DAX is on his way, and…

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March 10, 2023

“From Now” by Rhys Wakefield and William Day Frank

“From Now” by Rhys Wakefield and William Day Frank

This week we will be covering “From Now” by Rhys Wakefield and William Day Frank. A famed lost spaceship, the USS HOPE, returns to Earth after vanishing thirty-five years prior. The lone survivor (Richard Madden) disembarks mysteriously​ looking the exact same age as when he left​. Following the ensuing media chaos, he finally reunites with his formerly identical twin brother (now an old man) for a one-on-one meeting. But what starts as a joyful reconciliation soon leads to dark revelations that threaten their relationship — and the future of humanity.  The USS Hope sparks an international frenzy when it mysteriously reappears after a thirty-five year absence. The lone surviving astronaut, Edward (RICHARD MADDEN), looks the exact same age as when he left. Secrets are revealed as Edward (RICHARD MADDEN) is reunited with his (no longer)…

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January 27, 2023

“Oz 9” by Shannon Perry

“Oz 9” by Shannon Perry

Welcome back Fictional Cafe Listeners, up next we have “Oz 9” by Shannon Perry. On an otherwise unexceptional Tuesday in 2042, Gated Galaxies fired off 400 of its Oz 8000™ ships, each with 50,000 “resting guests” tucked into stasis pods, plus a skeleton crew of up to half-a-dozen total no-hopers. It was a win-win for G2, as they’re known, as the Oz 8000 model was about to be declared “unfit for journeying to the nearest 7-Eleven, much less interstellar space” and recalled. G2 had a very large fleet of the 8000s, and a slight head start on the recall, as they’d paid off the head inspector to delay her report by promising the ships would be stripped and sold for parts. Instead, the ships were spit-shined, outfitted with some black market YugoPods™, and space aboard quietly…

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April 22, 2022

“Caalo Xan” by Jude and Keith

“Caalo Xan” by Jude and Keith

Welcome Fictional Cafe Listeners, this week we will be covering Caalo Xan, by Jude and Keith! Caalo Xan provides the listener with a fun-filled Audio Adventure, complete with Original Music, one of the largest diverse cast in Audio Drama, and cinematic style SFX. Twice a month for the last five years we have tried to provide that warm towel of Sci-Fi that comforts and arouses the creative mind. (And like Douglas Adams would always say – “A towel, [The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy] says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have…” After Caalo and Chuck’s mission in Drusk City goes awry, they are pursued by a pack of Norhounds. Caalo and Chuck are surrounded by a pack of Norhounds and must find a way to gain the upper hand. We hope you’ve…

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February 18, 2022

“Carl” by Liz Bartucci

“Carl” by Liz Bartucci

Happy Friday Fictional Cafe Listeners, it’s the week of Valentine’s Day, and if you are already sick of the candy and hearts, here is the perfect episode for you. Presenting 2013 Award-winning episode “Carl” by Liz Bartucci. It’s night, it’s Valentine’s day and we are on a dark highway in the middle of nowhere (or is it everywhere?). Join Jeff Cannata as Aaron and Conrad Allan as our title character CARL as they hit the road on a journey that is, shall we say, “Golden.” Carl is spending the first Valentine’s Day alone after his divorce and wondering who would want to spend any time with a miserable person like himself. And then he finds someone who does want to spend time with him. We hope you enjoyed this episode of “Carl” by Liz Bartucci. If you…

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May 10, 2021

“Demon Road,” A Short Story by Derrick R. Lafayette

“Demon Road,” A Short Story by Derrick R. Lafayette

I lived in a castle made of mud. Solid enough to make you feel caged. Light barely escaped the brown warped walls. The house had so many ancestors pass away inside, that layers of its spirit fought each other seasonally. I was doomed.  I believe it was late autumn when my stomach’s emptiness corresponded with my heart. After fifty-five days in solitude, the hunger monster devoured me. Food was to be acquired. There used to be another person to handle these things during the summer.  However, the sunlight tempted her to search for buried treasure in the cityscape. She thought there were buildings, roads, and regular life beyond the mountains, past the desert plain. All things inside the dome. I located the area map before she did and destroyed it. I thought about her wandering hopelessly every night. Helped me sleep.  The gun seemed to gain ten pounds since the last time I…

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April 9, 2021

“Shadows of Tyranny” by Ruby Fink and Sebastian Prooth

“Shadows of Tyranny” by Ruby Fink and Sebastian Prooth

Welcome Fictional Café listeners to Shadows of Tyranny, an audio drama by Ruby Fink and Sebastian Prooth and one of the first shows this audio barista ever wrote. As a blooming sci-fi nerd at the tender age of twenty, this was my first sojourn—as it were—into the world of audio dramas and podcasting. The journey towards writing the one and only episode of the anticipated 7-part series was arduous, the hours long and frustrating, and by the end of it neither of us had the heart to continue with the rest of the story. But the process wasn’t without merit. In researching the world that Gene Roddenberry had created in 1966 I was introduced to a universe that I fell in love with and continued to learn about for the next . . . well,…

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August 7, 2020

“The Loser,” An Audio Adventure by Strange/Love

“The Loser,” An Audio Adventure by Strange/Love

“The Loser” is a fantasy-sci-fi story from Strange/Love, an audio fiction anthology created, written and Produced by William J. Meyer. While most podcasters out there develop their episodes to follow either a certain theme or storyline over the course of their “season,” Strange/Love prefers to release audio short stories of various genres with different voice actors. For example: “The Loser.” Jordon has always been the girl on the outside, listening to the police cruiser radio with her Mom and dreaming of being a dinosaur. But one weekend she is invited to a sleepover with the richest girls in town. For just one weekend, Jordan hopes to be accepted into the cool girls’ circle. But unfortunately for Jordan, the girls have something else planned. Unfortunately for the girls, Jordan has a trick up her sleeve as…

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July 23, 2020

“Captain,” A Short Story by Zach Piggott

“Captain,” A Short Story by Zach Piggott

The pulsing woke him up from his deep sleep. He hated those blaring alarms and had opted years ago for the pulse. It did him wonders back then. Now he hated feeling it. He hoped for a morning where he wouldn’t feel it.  He groaned, moving his body under the covers. His fingertips grazed the cool metal that had become familiar to him over the past weeks. He swung his feet over the side, his weary green eyes half opened. Where a partner should’ve been had been empty for six years. Too committed to the military. It was just another excuse. The routine was the same since he had gotten home from his deployment: breakfast, shower, shave, dress and wait. Sometimes he waited all day with nothing happening. Other times he received phone calls. Once or twice he was ushered…

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April 3, 2020

“Windfall: An Audio Drama,” by Bob Raymonda

“Windfall: An Audio Drama,” by Bob Raymonda

Windfall is a serialized audio drama created by Bob and Adam Raymonda and Christy Donato. Their story starts when the castle first appeared in the sky above the city of Windfall, its residents have been building upward. Now the city consists of towers where the wealthiest residents live at the top, while the poor eke out a living on the ground. Our podcast follows Cas, Shaima, and Argus, three brothers who live with their Uncle Vern after being orphaned during the grounder rebellion twenty years earlier. They find themselves drifting apart as Argus, the youngest, falls hopelessly in love with the much-older Helina, a foreign merchant haunted by her past. Cas, the middle brother, works in secret for the local crime boss. Shaima, the oldest, struggles to keep their uncle’s scrap shop from going under….

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