The Truth About Audio-Only Podcasts, Inception Point's offensive, The Parable's Allegory, and more

Issue 318 of The Fiction Podcast Weekly is brought to you by The Truth About Audio-Only Podcasts in 2025: What the Data Says, by Katie Paterson.

DON’T BELIEVE THE HYPE! Katie Paterson sifts the data and analyzes the analyses by Rob Walch and Tom Webster to reveal The Truth About Audio-Only Podcasts in 2025: What the Data Says.

News, Roundups, and Announcements

• The Independent Podcast Awards have announced their shortlist for 2025. Congratulations to Broken Veil, Cold Tapes, Ramon Fear’s Terror Tapes, The Scottish Folklore Podcast, and The Three Ravens! The Independent Podcast Awards have created a “room” (? I didn’t know you could do that) on Apple Podcasts, so you can listen to the shortlist now.

• ICYMI: 5,000 Podcasts. 3,000 Episodes a Week. $1 Cost Per Episode — Behind an AI Start Up’s Plan, by Caitlyn Huston for The Hollywood Reporter.

  Looks as though someone’s drawn another line in the AI vs human creators battle. Given that Inception Point’s leader, Jeanine Wright, previously worked for Wondery, could she be trying to troll Amazon and tech investors? Or am I being too generous?

• Podnews succinctly gathered and shared responses to the above article in this expertly crafted paragraph: “Yesterday’s story about the AI slop podcasting company certainly kicked off some discussion. Matt Deegan writes: “My biggest surprise about the Inception Point AI crowd is what a poor job they’ve done with it.” Mark Francis reckons they’ve inflated the number of episodes they claim to be making. And Eric Nuzum says, “It’s all a steaming pile of hot garbage. It is truly, deeply, profoundly terrible.” Seriously, though, how hard would it be to troll major news publications and a lot of investors with one press release and a lot of AI slop? Tell you what: somebody make a fiction podcast about that idea.

• Podnews also reports, “On Air Fest Becomes On Air Presents: Full-Fledged, Year-Round Creative Studio and Events Company.” Founder and director Scott Newman said, “We are broadening our scope and shifting our focus to breaking the next creative barriers, with the same artistic rigor, a stronger creative spirit, and a platform built to shape the trends of tomorrow.”

• TAFCON: The Audio Fiction Convention’s Kickstarter has passed 80% of its fundraising goal in five days. Get your pass while you can!

• The Parable's Allegory Kickstarter goes live on October 1st. Six individuals find themselves trapped within a surreal, ever-shifting library. With no recollection of the lives they led up to this point, they wander the stacks in the hopes of finding a way back. Sign up now to get notifications about the campaign launch.

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Creator Resources

• What we can learn from Indian microdramas: A look at the surging microdrama industry in India from guest writer Sabah Gurmat for Creator Spotlight. “Microdramas are not a fad; they represent a new grammar of storytelling born in the doomscroll age.” 😬 

• A Sound Effect has some good discounts on sound effect libraries right now.

• Robert Dudzic’s videos showing his Foley techniques are almost spiritual.

• I Sold a Screenplay and It Just Came Out on... SPOTIFY?? Nathan Graham Davis sold the audio rights to his screenplay to a company called Audio Flicks. The transcript is available if you want to skip his apologia explaining why audio storytelling is a valid art form and get to what actually happened.

• Patreon has updated Creator pages. If you use Patreon for your podcast and this update makes a big difference to you(good or bad), please write to me at lindsay @thepodcasthost . com and tell me all about it.

• Got screen fatigue? I know I do. Fortunately, you can get the highlights of this very newsletter in audio form. Check out The Fiction Podcast Weekly wherever you get your podcasts.

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Opportunities

• Casting: Audio Drama Advent series. Listing expires 3rd of October.

• ICYMI: Knit one, Flux two… Circuit 06: Creative Tension is now open for submissions through Sept 15.

• Sound Walk September Awards “A sound walk, or walking piece, is any walk that focuses on listening to the environment, with, or without, use of technology, or adds to the experience through the use of sound or voice. This can include a scripted or choreographed score or work that has additional audio elements.” Deadline: 30th of September.

• The Delaware Division of the Arts offers individual artist fellowships and opportunity grants, including financial support for unique professional and artistic development and presentation opportunities for Delaware-based artists. Deadline: october 1.

• The Imison Audio Drama Award is a free-to-enter competition for the best original audio drama script of the year by a U.K.-based writer new to audio drama. £3,000 prize. Deadline: 5th of October, 2025.

Milestones & Debuts

• Project Bläckfisk unravels the lie hidden underneath the streets of Manchester.

  “It all began with a date-sealed box that was delivered to my late grandfather. What I have found, I believe, may be one of the biggest cover-ups in British History.”

• Burn Pattern. In the ashes of a deadly apartment fire, a single survivor’s story is the only official truth. But the facts hide a darker reality. This podcast is the “deeper dive” behind The Watcher Sleeps, now playing in the Philly Fringe Festival.

• The Farm. When a high-powered architect returns home after her father’s sudden death, she uncovers a conspiracy that could cost her the farm—and her life.

• Red for Revolution (binaural edition). Jazmine, an 18-year-old, grapples with her queer identity, first crush, and the delicate task of mending her relationship with her homophobic mother. As Jazmine seeks solace and guidance from her grandmother, we are transported back to 1971, to follow the passionate love affair between jazz singer Lorraine Giovanni and activist Ella Ali.

Keep sharing good stories.

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