Can anyone tell me what’s happened to The National Audio Theatre Festivals and Hear Now Palooza? I’ve tried contacting them, and the most information I’ve found is a warning message from Chrome. If anyone knows, please write to me at [email protected]. I will respect your privacy.

Speaking of mysteries: last week’s poll, "How can you tell it's AI?” got exactly one entry last week. So, what do you say we try again?

Speaking of polls: The Cambridge Geek says, “You've got a week to come tell me what your top ten fiction podcasts are for the Top Audio Fiction Poll 2026! Come cast your vote!”

Podnews reports: “The Podnews Report Card is the fifth annual piece of research into what podcast creators think of the platforms we all use. Previous years have uncovered significant pain points that have since been fixed by podcast platforms, including an easier submission method for Apple Podcasts and control of comments about your podcast in Spotify. It takes just ten minutes to give us your views; we’ll report back in mid-May at The Podcast Show in London, and in [Podnews].”

Spotify has decided it likes audio now.

The Last Quarter is Sounds Profitable’s latest report, focusing on the 1 in 4 Americans who have never listened to a podcast. As Tom Webster wrote, “Not because they can’t. Not because the infrastructure isn’t there. In most cases, because nobody has given them a good enough reason.” Download the full report, and look at how the numbers skew. These people could be your audience: they just haven’t found your show yet.

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. ​

You can now launch, host, and distribute your podcast with Beehiiv. This could be a good way for audio drama and fiction podcasters to share stories and track audience activity, but right now, this feature is so new that I can’t gauge its effectiveness. Full disclosure: I use Beehiiv to edit and publish this newsletter.

The Center Cannot Hold, by Tom Webster for Sounds Profitable. This article appears to focus on “why are conservatives less fluent and flexible in the podcasting world than non-conservatives?” Keep reading: the real question is, “Why aren’t they getting reliable, positive information about podcasts?”

Storytelling for Social Change is a good one for writers and producers to keep in their back pocket, too.

12 Podcasts Worth Hearing: Battlefield 6 Audio, Frankenstein Sound Design, Project Hail Mary Music, & more. This roundup features 12 episodes from podcasts in the Audio Podcast Alliance.

The 4LO Digital Release Voxium: Real-time Dialogue Noise Reduction Plugin is a “new inexpensive audio restoration plug made by dialog editor, rerecording mixer, and YouTuber Thomas Boykin, who describes Voxium as a ‘real-time dialogue noise reduction plugin built for film, podcasts, and YouTube audio.”

Where are you getting inspiration these days? Tell me how you get inspiration to make your audio drama and fiction podcasts, and I'll share the most interesting and constructive answers in the Fiction Podcast Weekly.

Virginia Queer Film Festival Launches “Queer Ear” Inaugural Audio Storytelling Program. VAQFF is seeking audio-only storytelling pieces under 25 minutes in length from podcast series, anthologies, and stand-alone projects. Submissions may include narrative fiction, nonfiction, or experimental work, with a strong emphasis on innovative storytelling and bold sound design. While submissions are open to storytellers from all backgrounds, VAQFF is particularly committed to uplifting queer voices from Virginia and the broader Southern United States. Send your work to VAQFF on Film Freeway: the early bird deadline is the 1st of May.

Casting Call: Hungry Games, a short NYU student radio drama. Logline: When a restaurant in a summer tourist town experiences its biggest dinner rush yet, the new hostess is forced to learn quickly as she is left on her first day to manage the front of the house alone. Not paid. Listing expires May 2.

Editor Wanted. BAX Productions seeks an editor for 'Dick and Chic,' a new radio show. This is a scripted comedy with stars from movies and TV, including Hacks, Office Space, and AP Bio. Paid job, expires April 19.

Matriarch’s Our Greatness Micro-grants are a microgrant programme for independent, U.S.-based, women of color podcasters. Matriarch defines “independent” as a podcast that is not contracted through any large-scale company or network. You can only submit one application. The Matriarch team reviews applications monthly with rolling deadlines.

The Berliner Hörspielfestival is an international radio drama festival in Berlin. They use the term “radio drama” loosely; they accept any genre, whether it’s narrative, documentary, language or sound experiments, etc. They have three competitions: Das Glühende Knopfmikro (“The Glowing Button Microphone”) for pieces up to 5 minutes long; Das Kurze Brennende Mikro (“The Short Burning Mic”), for pieces between 5 and 20 minutes; and Das Lange Brennende Mikro (“The Long Burning Mic”) for pieces between 20 and 60 minutes. Prizes include audio equipment. Works can be in any language as long as a German or English translation is provided. They also have Der MikroFlitzer (“The Speedster”); in late April they will release a specific sentence or sound and competitors have two weeks to create a radio drama of less than 60 seconds based on the prompt. Prizes include audio equipment. Deadline: 1st of May, 2026.

The Paul Dresher Ensemble Artist Residencies are an opportunity for early-to mid-career Northern California-based artists actively pushing the boundaries of conventional art forms and media. Stipend of $1500, free studio space, and up-to-date equipment to create new work. Deadline: 6th April, 11:59 pm PT.

The Anonymous Was A Woman Environmental Art Grants are grants for women, transgender and gender-nonconforming artists in the U.S. supporting environmental art projects that engage ecological issues through artistic practice. Individual artists leading projects may receive up to $20,000 for works that encourage environmental awareness, ethical engagement, and public dialogue. Deadline: 7th of April.

Households and Humans. 5 dragons roleplay as modern humans in an extraordinarily mundane campaign.

Whalefall. When three explorers find a derelict starship at the far reaches of the universe, they discover something that should have stayed hidden.

Dream Job. The door to your dream job is one sleep away! Let our meditation guide lead you through the inner corridors of your mind to your dream job. Will you accept it?