Thank you to everyone who responded to last week’s poll about RSS feeds! The results of the RSS poll are ready for you. The majority of respondents are committed to RSS feeds, but The Fiction Podcast Weekly’s editorial policy remains unchanged. Productions that use a non-RSS delivery method will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

What Should AD/Fiction Podcasters Do in Times of Strife? New poll, just for fun. It’s one multiple-choice question. If this poll gets more than 700 unique responses, I'll send the results to Podnews. Poll closes Jan 29, 2026.

A new podcast awards raises questions, by James Cridland for Podnews. We’ve all seen podcast awards that aren’t rewarding, but this one is like a Portlandia sketch. It’s almost as good as The COLA Awards, but with less encouraging intent.

Congratulations to the Fiction nominees for the Ambies: Murder on Mars, Purple Heart Warriors, Red for Revolution, StanLand, The Good Life, Two Thousand and Late, and You Feeling This?

Libsyn temporarily stops some 301 redirects, by James Cridland for Podnews. (Yes, I know, there are other news outlets besides Podnews, but who else is doing this daily and succinctly?) Libsyn says it’s a temporary technical issue: in the meantime, it’s difficult (if not impossible) to remove your episodes from Libsyn and keep your show where your audience can find it easily.

Anticrastination’s Kickstarter is so close to its goal. You know you love it when people who make multilayered drama or horror turn to comedy. Now’s your chance to get in on the ground floor.

The Top: Be the main sponsor of an issue for $99 per week or $340 for four weeks.

The Middle: Purchase a Classified Ad for $28. These sit in the middle of the email and have no accompanying graphics.

The Bottom: Get your link and logo in our Supporter Gallery for $4.99 a month or $50 a year. New Supporter Gallery sales are temporarily suspended while I figure out recurring payments. Thank you for your patience. ​

What Would You Do If You Actually Loved Podcasting? by Tom Webster for Sounds Profitable. Take his framework and apply it to fiction storytelling. Picture a specific person that you know, who’s hurting right now. If you can give them a gift to make them feel better, and that gift is a story, what would that story be?

What Is The Artist's Responsibility In Times Of Struggle? This is not recent, and it’s a long read by a photographer, but it’s relevant to the present moment. Pour yourself a good beverage and settle in.

Generate tones and noise in Adobe Audition. If you need to add a layer of background noise, signals, or spatial stereo, even if you don’t use Adobe Audition, I’m pretty sure anyone who knows their way around a DAW can reverse-engineer this for their preferred workflow. Or, if you’re like me, you can read this, apply the information to other searches, and learn how to use it in your preferred DAW.

Why You Should Listen to Other Podcasts in Your Niche, by Katie Paterson for The Podcast Host

You Still Need a Podcast Website in 2026: Here’s Why, by me, Lindsay, for the Alitu Creator Craft blog. Where do you suppose search engines are getting the data they use to make the AI-crafted summaries at the top of the search results page? Blog posts and web pages. You’re welcome.

Telling Stories with Sound - A short exploration in choosing sound effects is a three-minute video by Ian Pringle, about how to assign the right sound to the right moment.

The Villa Albertine Residency is a residency for creators, researchers, and culture professionals with a project in the field of arts or ideas that requires an immersive stay in the United States. Deadline: 29th of January.

The Sonic Arts Forum Call Out is an opportunity for international creative people, working with sound as a significant element in their practice, to introduce their work, and receive feedback in a supportive environment. The Sonic Arts Forum 2026 will be held at De Montfort University in Leicester on 18th April. Deadline: 30th January.

The Audio Fiction World Cup is a series of festivals that want you to submit your audio drama or fiction podcast in some form or another. Details vary, so check it out.

In particular, the deadline for Baltimore Web Fest is January 31st, so if you’re interested, go get’em, Tiger.

Casting Call: Blood of the New World. Deadline: February 1, 5 pm PST.
Casting Call: Ylem Media is trying to find Nemo. The casting call closes January 31st at midnight.

The Madness of Chartrulean has reached 200K downloads! Congratulations to Packhowl Media!

A Fox’s Guide to Deurbanisation. After his father’s sudden death in a taxi accident, Rusty, a naïve London fox, sets off on a journey to the Forest of Dean in search of his long-lost family.

The RomCom Formula. She’s narrated dozens of spicy romances, but nothing prepared her for weaponizing the “forced proximity” trope in real life. One meddling sister, one hot neighbor, and a whole lot of cheese dip. Welcome to the romcom multiverse.

Struggling to find new podcasts? Me too. Fortunately, Evo Terra has curated loads of binge-worthy collections at The End, for those of us who are forced to hibernate due to ice or frozen water. And if you’re in the Southern hemisphere… send us all some warmth, could you?