The Audio Drama Show
Bringing you the best of original and adapted English language drama, literature, autobiography, and poetry - classical and modern - from talented independent writers and producers.
Episodes
Loneliness, personal tragedy, and the enduring power of friendship combine in this moving, modern short story. Two women from different cultures, Kath and Suzu, together deal with the consequences of random circumstance and life-changing loss.
Doctor Charles Smith is a scientist and dreamer. He has a revolutionary idea for how the human race can develop itself and the planet.
With the fruits of his work about to be revealed, Smith receives a visit from his commercial sponsor, who gets more than he bargained for in an explosive, life-threatening (and perhaps life-changing) encounter, as the horror of his vision is finally revealed.
Alphonse and Emina have become lovers. His desire to please her makes him drop his guard and appear in public places. As a double act they go to local villages, beginning to make money and plans for the future: until the past catches up with them...
By chance, young dancer Emina meets equally youthful, trumpet-playing soldier Alphonse in a barn in the mountains of war-torn Southern Spain. They are both innocent and experienced in entirely different ways. Initially wary, they tell each other stories that weave fact and fiction. She lies and he believes her. He tells the truth and she mistrusts him. But when he plays and she dances, they understand each other perfectly.
...
After the dramatic series of arrivals and events at the Knap on marriage engagement night in Part 1, the triangle of relationships between Sally Hall, her ex sister-in-law Helena, and Farmer Charles Darton becomes tangled still further by marriage, death, and more courtship interloping.
The path to an eventual denouement highlights the problematic position of women in 19th Century Victorian society, reflecting protofeminist themes t...
On a dark night, Farmer Charles Darton and his friend Japheth Johns are riding on their way to The Knap to meet Sally Hall, Charles' bride-to-be. Losing their way is the prelude to a series of unexpected arrivals and events that potentially changes lives forever.
Having ended Part 1 with his business plan "in the air", Jimmy 'Skiver' McIver at last gets the backing and support of his old school friend and businessman Roger Soul and Denise, Roger's glamorous PA. They launch the dry cleaning business with a fanfare.
Sadly, the venture has attracted renewed attention from loan shark Mo Greensmith, who has hatched a dastardly plan of deceit and revenge-by-exto...
Jimmy ‘Skiver’ McIver is back! Last heard from in “Ashes to Ashford”* sunning himself on a Caribbean beach, “Crudely, Badly, Cheaply” takes us back 15 years to less lucky times for our feckless Cockney wheeler-dealer.
In Part 1 of the prequel, Jimmy bumps into old school mate and businessman, the decidedly-successful Roger Soul and pitches a money-making idea for a dry cleaning business to him. But with no stake of his ow...
On a dark, stormy Victorian night atop a Wessex hill, Shepherd and Mrs Fennel are holding a christening party at their cottage for a second-born child. Proceedings are interrupted by the consecutive arrival of three strangers to shelter from the elements. One of these men is not who he seems – but which one is it?
There 's nothing like a good biblical story...and this is NOTHING like a good biblical story!
Mary Poppins jokes aside, this is a short story relating how Pharoah Contraraoh fared whilst trying to Make Egypt Great Again (MEGA). It contains one or two ripe parallels for our 21st century world - delivered with humour.
Talking humanity creeps into the chance encounter at the Women's Institute between uptight Lydia and the educated but impoverished itinerant Colin. Then external reality arrives: the WI guest speaker cannot make it. Shakespeare's words provide the platform for a replacement speaker and hope to emerge, before tragedy strikes.
Episode 2 of 2
Taking shelter from the rain in a village hall somewhere in England, an educated, homeless man is confronted by Lydia, a "formidable" member of the local Women's Institute. Under threat of expulsion, he engages with the lady as she tries to organise the evening's meeting events. Mutual personal revelations follow. But will he be allowed to stay?
Episode 1 of 2
In this final part of the series, called "His Wonderful End", our waitering hero Mr Christopher returns - and he is a worried man. He has successfully sold the stories discovered in Somebody's luggage to a publisher. Now he waits in fear lest the author should show up and claim them as his rightful own. A new guest does arrive; the fateful Room 24B is mentioned; the tension mounts. Is he Somebody? Will Mr Christophe...
In the second and final part of "The Tale of the Obliging Mr Blorage" (discovered in His Hatbox), Dick Blorage is still not on board with the revelatory properties of Lady Verita's magical Chair of Truth. There is a harsh lesson to be learned from her, before Dick grows a pair, deals with those who exploit his niceness, and finds his true partner for life.
Episode 6 of 7
"The Tale of the Obliging Mr Blorage" is the amusing contribution of female Victorian writer Julia Cecilia Stretton to Dickens' "Somebody's Luggage" short story compendium.
In two parts, Part 1 (discovered in His Portmanteau) introduces the listener to Mr Richard Blorage - probably the nicest man ever to succeed in business: a quality which, sadly, does not translate into a happy love life. D...
"The Story of the Fine Artist" (discovered in His Brown Paper Parcel)
Thomas is not just an artist, but a Fine Artist in Victorian London. He is a riddler. He is highly strung. He has a friend who is quickly lost. He acquires a girlfriend who decides to leave him. Both object to his attitude to the work of other artists. Why? What is the truth about Thomas, the Fine Artist?
Episode 4 of 7
This is the third of our short-story adaptations from Charles Dickens' "The Pickwick Papers" and his first Yuletide supernatural tale. It tells of Gabriel Grub, a morose, lonely and drunken gravedigger who hates people, particularly during the festive season.
One Christmas Eve, while at work in the graveyard, he encounters a startlingly scary Goblin Queen (and her many subjects), who terrorises and whisks...
Charles Dickens' classic Yuletide tale is presented in a two-part adaptation that gives you more of the story, focusing particularly on the corrosive effects of early Victorian capitalism.
In Part 1, we see Scrooge in all his business and money-focused selfishness - until Jacob Marley and the Ghost of Christmas Past show up, confronting him with long-forgotten events that end with violent consequences.
Episod...
Having seen off the first ghost, Scrooge's education in the current lives of others during the festive season proceeds to the houses of the Cratchit family and his nephew, courtesy of a jolly Ghost of Christmas Present.
With a grim parting from him, the final, mysterious spectre appears to show Scrooge a series of visions for life after death, in which his focus on money and gain "leave not a wrack behind"...
"The Story of the Iceberg Shipwreck" (discovered in His Dressing Case) is an exciting and ironic tale of disaster and derring-do on the high seas. Its narrator Monkhouse tells of the sinking of the good ship Golden Dream around Cape Horn after colliding with a massive iceberg. Cast onto the iceberg, Monkhouse discovers a group of other passengers as they battle to survive, led by quirky Able Seaman Tom White. How they i...
Popular Podcasts
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.
"SmartLess" with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, & Will Arnett is a podcast that connects and unites people from all walks of life to learn about shared experiences through thoughtful dialogue and organic hilarity. A nice surprise: in each episode of SmartLess, one of the hosts reveals his mystery guest to the other two. What ensues is a genuinely improvised and authentic conversation filled with laughter and newfound knowledge to feed the SmartLess mind. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of SmartLess ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!