I did a lot of traveling in July, including a quasi-road trip. There was definitely a trip and I was on the road for it, but it wasn’t what I think of as a road trip. A road trip is a car full of friends, fun, and good music. This was a long journey to the Midwest to visit my family. I was thrilled about the seeing family part, less thrilled about the two day drive.
When I hit the road, I like listening to podcasts. I should listen to podcasts all the time but then I think what if I don’t have anything to listen to next time I travel? Here’s some of my favorite podcasts. Because I am that person who is literally incapable of not making everything gay, most of them feature queer characters.
Official Synopsis: WELCOME TO NIGHT VALE is a twice-monthly podcast in the style of community updates for the small desert town of Night Vale, featuring local weather, news, announcements from the Sheriff’s Secret Police, mysterious lights in the night sky, dark hooded figures with unknowable powers, and cultural events.
Turn on your radio and hide.
My thoughts: Yes, everyone already knows about WTNV and loves it. I’m saying it anyway. It’s the first podcast I ever listened to and it spoiled me by being delightful and weird.
Within the Wires – Official Synopsis: Season One takes the form of an audio course on full body relaxation issued by The Institute to you, (the listener) a nameless medical inmate. Who is this narrator? Is she relaying something more than just relaxation techniques, and is she to be trusted? And are there subliminal messages hidden within the music? As listeners move through the relaxation curriculum a deeper and more personal story unravels.
My thoughts: This is one of the Night Vale Presents podcasts that’s made by some of the same people. I was really bummed when I couldn’t get into Alice isn’t Dead, horror is just really not my thing, but my lack of interest in that one is made up by the intense affection I have for WTW. It’s beautiful and there’s lesbians. I mean, what else do you need? Nothing. Well, a lot more of it, but otherwise nothing.
Official Synopsis: The Bright Sessions is a science fiction podcast that follows a group of therapy patients. But these are not your typical patients – each has a unique supernatural ability. The show documents their struggles and discoveries as well as the motivations of their mysterious therapist, Dr. Bright.
My thoughts: It’s a solid plot and interesting world and it gets better as it goes. There’s supernatural stuff, cute gay teens, and an asexual character, so it’s all right up my alley. This one is finished (mostly), but there’s bonus episodes and upcoming books and maybe even a TV show.
Official Synopsis: ars PARADOXICA is a love letter to physics, fiction, and the future. It’s a disorienting journey through spacetime and the Cold War. It’s a tome of secret history you stumbled across in a library in the dead of night.
When an experiment in a time much like our own goes horribly awry, Dr. Sally Grissom finds herself stranded in the past and entrenched in the activities of a clandestine branch of the US government. Grissom and her team quickly learn that there’s no safety net when toying with the fundamental logic of the universe.
My Thoughts: I have no idea what’s happening in this one at any time ever as the science stuff pretty much goes completely over my head but it’s compelling and a great mystery. This is the only podcast on the list that isn’t gay as far as I know, but to be fair, it could be gay and I just haven’t gotten to that part yet.
These are my favorite podcasts. What are yours?
My absent father wanted to speak to me, maybe meet up, and I… I could barely stand to think about reconnecting or whatever.
Your enthusiasm is touching, so I’d be happy to share with you. I’m working on the sequel for 
Do you own a dictionary? I’m not sure I do. The internet takes care of that for me. The only problem is that you can’t flip to a random page of an internet dictionary and start looking for challenging words. You need an idea of what you want to look up. Typing in “hard words” just gives you the definition for ‘hard’ or ‘words’.
An hour ago, I was livid. Now, I’m content. There’s just you and me. I existed only in the space between your arms.
Gay Paranormal Romance 