Return of the Radio

Everyone loves a good story. That's the way it's always been and I can't imagine the need for them will ever go away. They have always been something for people to gather around, a major component of our social lives. They come in different mediums, new ones appearing every few decades or so. Oration, theater, and books were the dominant storytelling mediums for most of human history. The twentieth century changed the game when it brought radio, television, and film into the mix.

Radio was a popular storytelling medium in the years before most houses had a television set. Every night American households would tune into their favorite programs such as The Adventures of Superman, The Guiding Light (which spent 15 years on the radio before migrating to television where it spent 57 years before it was cancelled in 2009, making it the longest running broadcast drama in history), and The Shadow (which featured the vocal talents of a young Orson Welles).

Radio was overtaken in popularity by television in the mid-1950s, and radio dramas spent the next few decades fading into obscurity until serialized radio-dramas were all but extinct.

Then along came podcasts, and audio-only serialized storytelling came back in vogue.

There are some solid podcasts out there teling serialized stories. Some popular examples are:

Wecome to Night Vale is presented as a nightly news hour on a radio station located in a strange desert town called Night Vale. The town is subject to frequent visits by shady government agencies, paranormal phenomena, and Lovecraftian horrors.

Homecoming is a psychological thriller starring Catherine Keener, Oscar Isaac (whom you might remember as Poe Dameron in Star Wars VII), David Schwimmer and David Cross. The story follows a therapist working at a secret government facility with recently-returned U.S. soldiers, under the auspices of helping them adjust to civilian life.

The Bright Sessions is what X-men would be like if Professor X was a child psychologist. It is about a therepist who helps children with strange and fantastic abilities.

Not all serialized podcasts deal in fiction. Some are based in fact.

Serial is a highly popular podcast produced by NPR. Every season, host Sarah Koenig narrates a story told over multiple episodes. The first season investigated the murder of Hae Min Lee. The second season focused on Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, an American Army soldier who was held for five years by the Taliban, and then charged with desertion.

Dissect is a serialized music podcast that breaks down music in painstaking detail. So far there is only one season, and its entire focus is Kendrick Lamar's album To Pimp a Butterfly.

The way we tell stories is always changing, but somehow staying very much the same. It will be interesting to follow the trajectory and impact of this revived trend.