Who are you and what’s Wyrd Woman about?

I’m the author of three books, and the co-creator of Broads and Books Productions. Wyrd Woman is a show that I wrote, produced, and performed.

It’s about a woman who’s isolated herself from an increasingly terrifying outside world, and who, over the course of nine nights, experiences visions and visitations of women throughout time.

What’s the first podcast you ever listened to?

My very first podcast was something like The Daily from the New York Times – just a news show. But my first audio fiction was The Bright Sessions. I was hooked, and so impressed! The ability to tell such a rich and full story via audio really stuck with me.

Why did you decide to start podcasting in the first place?

My friend Erin and I are book nerds. And in 2018, she had the idea that we should start a book podcast. We spent months researching our niche and teaching ourselves how to do it, and in early 2019, we launched our first show, Broads and Books. We gave book recommendations on a theme, and infused the show with our strange sense of humour, resulting in lots of offbeat stories, funny tangents, and more.

We ran that show for four years, then decided to expand. We formed Broads and Books Productions in 2023, with a number of new shows under our umbrella, including Wyrd Woman.

Which podcasts do you take inspiration from?

I love a good limited series with a narrative nonfiction thread. Classy was so well done from a content and technical perspective – thoughtful, explorative, kind, and truthful in how class impacts not only our lives and futures, but our sense of self. It really hit home, echoing some of my own experiences.

In fiction, I am so inspired by the epic, funny, dark, touching show that is Midnight Burger. I also find The Silt Verses so amazing – how they work with sound to create internal and external horror in a fully imagined world is so cool!

Where did the concept for Wyrd Woman come from?

In early 2023, I was making final edits for my memoir, A Grotesque Animal. The book is about class, gender, sex, generational trauma, and more, but was initially sparked by my discovery at age 43 that I’m autistic. In the process of writing that book, I dove deep into the feeling of being different and never understanding why until middle age. In one of the sections, I did some research into key historical moments, including today, where being different, or weird, was dangerous.

And then that summer of 2023, I was feeling really scared. In the U.S., Trump was back with a vengeance. My state, Iowa, was taking a hard right turn, banning books, outlawing abortion, and, like so many other states, criminalizing being LGBTQ. I was looking at a future where Trump won again, and how these dangers would only increase. I thought about history, all the times that people had a chance to run before they were captured, hurt, or killed, and wondered if this was the time. It was terrifying.

I’d been wanting to try my hand at audio fiction. And all of these things came together into a story that crosses time and connects women who are different. I brought in characters from Viking times, the Middle Ages, the Victorian era, the USSR in the 1930s, and more, all of whom were living through terror, and who were targeted for living outside the norm. I think more than anything I was writing this for myself, a queer, disabled, deeply weird woman, to give myself hope in a dark time. And I wanted to share that with all the others like me.

You’ve also written a short story collection – Exile in Guyville – how do you decide which of your writing should be a short story and which could go on to be an audio drama? What do you think that audio can add to the art of storytelling?

I wrote the stories of Exile in Guyville in 2019, and at the time I was not yet considering audio as a storytelling mechanism. So I threw everything I had into writing.

These days, I’m still figuring out when a story will be written and when it’s audio. There’s something ineffable about what divides and dictates the two. I’m finding that if something feels inert on the page, or it’s not working in some way, it might be needing a soundscape.

In addition to Wyrd Woman, you have two other podcasts, Fuzzy Memories, and Midwest Weird. Could you tell us more about those?

Midwest Weird is an audio literary magazine featuring strange stories. Like a traditional print literary magazine, writers submit their stories or essays, and we choose the best fit. But instead of putting that story in a print magazine or online, we turn it into a podcast episode with narration and soundscape. So a story like “36 Hours in the SPAM Museum”, which would be wonderful enough as a print story, is made even more rich and strange with the author’s intonations and music and sound to enhance and punctuate. I do the sound design, and it’s such a fun and intense experience, being able to bring another writer’s weird story to light in an equally weird way. We specifically feature writers from the American Midwest, as it’s a region that is often written off as backward or boring. But as our writers show, it’s also a region of hauntings, surprises, and the uncanny.

Fuzzy Memories is pure comedy and heart. I host the show with Erin and Heath, two of the funniest people ever. And we talk about pop culture from the 1980s and 90s. Whether it’s the utter inanity of 1987’s “Jaws: The Revenge”, 1989’s cutthroat world of fast food pizza, or 1997’s actual football jail, we find the best, worst, and just bizarre. It’s an excellent laugh, and we have so much fun doing it.

Across your work there is an emphasis on the concept of “weird” – could you tell us what being weird means to you?

When I was a kid, we didn’t have much reading material at home. But my mom subscribed to a few women’s magazines, and I tore through them. And at ten years old, I understood some of the tropes and the messages being sent. So I wrote a parody, called “Weird Woman Magazine.” It was about girls and women that don’t fit in the pages of “normal” magazines. I made little business reply cards, and ads for tonics, and quizzes testing your weirdness. I thought it was hilarious and true, but no one else seemed to get it. Or maybe they just didn’t like the idea that I could be proud of being a bit strange and different.

Then, and later, and now, I always felt different. I always felt weird. I found lots of words to help me understand that difference – feminist, queer, autistic – but it all boiled down to abnormal. Atypical. Odd. And in the grand tradition of retaking ownership of words used to denigrate, like the LGBTQ community reclaiming the old slur “queer,” I often summarized those identities into a word that had been an insult, and now I tried to wear proudly.

“Weird” means seeing things others don’t. “Weird” means creating things others won’t. “Weird” is perspective, and identity, and value. It’s content, and creation, and community.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt so far as a podcaster?

To just teach yourself the thing, and work at it, and fail and try again. In the past I often found myself waiting for some kind of permission to start a creative project. Nobody is going to grant that, and nobody should. Podcasting is such a unique and immediate art form, one that lets creators experiment without the gatekeepers of publishing. And that’s an incredible opportunity for people willing and ready to create!

Where can the Pod Bible readers find out more about you?

You can find my books and shows at www.amyleelillard.com!

Listen to Wyrd Woman on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other popular podcast apps >>

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The show’s fifth season takes the death faking concept and gives it a historical twist – each episode is set in a different historical time period…

In this interview, co-creator Philip Thorne gives us a hint of what to expect from the upcoming Season 5, Part 2.

POD BIBLE: Did you always intend to write a historical season?

PHILIP: We knew from the beginning that The Amelia Project is an ancient organisation that has been faking deaths for many centuries…

Oystein and I often speculated about mysterious deaths and disappearances from history (Elvis, DB Cooper, Flight 19…) and would wonder: were these Amelia clients?

Then we came across some incredible real-life death faking stories, such as the case of Joan of Leeds, a 14th century nun, who got bored with monastic life, feigned mortal illness, constructed a dummy of herself, left it in her death bed, then escaped to pursue a life of “carnal lust”, as the records put it! How could she not be an Amelia client?

We first dipped our toes into historical waters with the Season 2 episode Cleo, which takes us back to Ancient Egypt and reimagines Cleopatra’s famous death by snake-bite.

But now with Season 5, we are taking it much further, each episode taking us deeper into The Amelia Project’s past!

How far back will you go?

P: We can’t reveal that! All we can say is that there is a lot of ground to cover. Which is why we’ve divided the season into three parts.

Part 1 is out already and takes us from 2001 to 1944. Part 2 will will pick up in the lead up to WW2, but you’ll have to listen to find out how far back it goes!

Finally Part 3 takes us all the way back to The Amelia Project’s mysterious origins.

What were the challenges of writing stories in other time periods?

P: A lot of research went into this season… and it’s a challenge to know when to stop too! Occasionally we’d ask ourselves “what was a fashionable beverage at this moment in history?”, then fall deep down a research rabbit hole and only emerge days later!

Are the stories based on real or fictional characters?

P: Some episodes reimagine the deaths of famous historical characters. Without giving too much away, we will radically reinterpret the death of a notorious female monarch, and tell the “real” story behind a celebrated 17th century playwright who died on stage during the final act of his play…

We also meet fictional clients… in two senses of the word! Clients we have invented, but also fictional characters from famous novels, who wander out of their literary homes and into our death-faking agency!

Did you have a favourite historical period to write in?

P: I have always been fascinated by a strange 18th century instrument called The Glass Harmonica. It was invented by Benjamin Franklin and for a brief period it was very fashionable. Even Mozart composed for it. But then it acquired a dark reputation… It was charged with invoking evil spirits, driving listeners mad, and sending its players to an early grave.

When I found out that one of the first pieces composed for this instrument is known as “Amelia’s Aria”, well, I just had to write an episode about that! The episode now bears the same name, ‘Amelia’s Aria’, and I really enjoyed digging deeper into the history surrounding this extraordinary instrument.

How different is this season to previous seasons of The Amelia Project?

P: In one sense it is a very classic season of the show. Each episode introduces us to a new client who wants to disappear. Like the early seasons, it’s almost like an anthology in that way. At the same time, the different historical periods give us a new set of references, textures, sounds, music, and archetypes to play with.

We also uncover some of the lore surrounding The Amelia Project, things that have only been hinted at previously…

And eventually, in the final part of the season, there will be some big reveals about our main characters.

You did your ‘advent’ series over December which was a great point of entry for new listeners. Would you say this historical series is also a great place to start for people just discovering The Amelia Project?

P: The best place to start with any fiction podcast is the beginning. Having said that, if you’re a new listener and a particular historical character or period grabs your attention, you can absolutely start with one of our new episodes and take it from there!

The Amelia Project combines a gradually unfurling mystery with standalone stories about clients. This means most of the episodes can be listened to out of context, and you can still enjoy them, even if you miss some of the details or don’t follow the framing plot.

Maybe avoid the first and last episodes of Season 5 Part 2 (as these are more plot heavy) but other than that, jump in wherever you want and enjoy your time with the world’s oldest (and most ridiculous) death faking agency!

Listen to The Amelia Project on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps >>

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Imaginary Worlds is hosted by Eric Molinsky, who spent over a decade working as a public radio reporter and producer. He uses those skills to create thoughtful, sound-rich episodes about science fiction, fantasy, and other genres of speculative fiction. We heard about this podcast from Sam of 90 Minutes Or Less Film Fest, who recommended this one on episode 97 of the Pod Bible podcast. (We also learned the fun fact that Eric also used to work on the Rugrats TV programme!)

We caught up with Eric to ask more about why he moved over to podcasting,, and how Imaginary Worlds came to be…

What was the first podcast you ever listened to?

I started listening to podcasts on my click wheel iPod back in 2004. I was working at WNYC, and On The Media was one of the few shows at the station that put their entire program in their podcast feed. It felt like a big experiment back then, and I loved the fact I could listen to Brooke and Bob any time, even when I was underground on the subway.

Why did you decide to start podcasting in the first place?

I wanted to be a host, but public radio stations had so few slots for hosts. Podcasting felt like a revolutionary way to declare yourself a host even if you started without a built-in audience. I also thought that narrowcasting worked well in podcasting. So, I brainstormed what my focus would be and I remembered that I had a lot of ideas for radio stories which I didn’t even bother pitching because they were too geeky for a general audience. I wrote them all down and realized I had a first season of a sci-fi fantasy themed podcast.

Which podcasts do you take inspiration from?

My initial inspiration for Imaginary Worlds was 99% Invisible. I often found myself wanting to tell stories about fictional characters or works of culture. I admired the way that Roman Mars could turn a work of architecture or a piece design into a character that you cared about. But the show was still about people. They willed that inanimate thing into existence, they reacted to it negatively or positively, they changed it over time, and they ultimately gave it a character arc.

Who’s your dream guest for the podcast?

Having said all that about doing episodes on works of culture or fictional characters, I also enjoy doing full episode one-on-one interviews with novelists. Nnedi Okorafor is one of my favorite sci-fi authors. I’ve read all of her books, and I’d love to talk with her.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt so far as a podcaster?

When I was working in radio or reporting for other podcasts, fact checking was something that would often happen organically throughout the writing, editing and production process with my editor or the team. In making episodes from start to finish, I’ve come to realize how important it is to constantly fact check myself or get someone to fact check my scripts. That’s especially true when reporting on subjects like Star Wars or Marvel that I know very well – or think I know very well.

Which episode would you say is the perfect introduction to your podcast?

My first episode ‘Origin Stories’ is still a perfect thesis statement for the whole show, and it sets up the tone of how I wanted to cover sci-fi and fantasy. Although when I started out, the episodes were much shorter with fewer guests, and I’ve learned a lot about mixing and sound design. A good recent episode to start with would be ‘Neurodivergent Futures‘, where I talked with autistic fans and writers about why science fiction feels particularly relevant or meaningful to them.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Shows like mine can fall into an uncanny valley where they’re big enough to be actual shows. Producing them is a full-time job, and the audience is sizable enough to attract advertisers. But the show isn’t at that superstar level. And as the podcasting landscape keeps becoming more corporate and celebrity driven, it’s harder and harder to be discovered by new listeners. So, I appreciate the fact that you’re spotlighting indie podcasts!

Listen to Imaginary Worlds on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps.

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Let’s kick things off – how did your podcast come about?

I started Rusty Quill, the production company that makes The Magnus Archives, in 2015 — but Magnus didn’t really begin until 2016, by which time I was already running our first podcast (Rusty Quill Gaming).

With one show up and running, I was looking to find some creative allies to work with on a new show, while simultaneously working on a number of freelance gigs in addition to full-time night work. So, as you can expect, it was tricky to find the time.

At the night job I met Jonathan Sims, the writer and lead performer of Magnus. We spent a few unprofessionally long coffee breaks discussing fiction, and he eventually invited me to attend a gig he was running that year at the Edinburgh Festival.

I was already going to work on other projects, so while I was there I decided to take him up on his invite. That’s how I found myself watching a bunch of elaborately clad space-pirates singing about drunken sailors and dying mega-cities. The group was called The Mechanisms and it was a Sci-Fi Musical Cabaret led by Jonny that was exactly as elaborate as you’re imagining.

I hadn’t seen anything like it, and the nuances of the storytelling really piqued my interest — so I made a point of contacting Jonny to discuss whether we could collaborate on something. We met in a quiet coffee shop basement off The Royal Mile, and that was when he first pitched me The Magnus Archives.

The original pitch was significantly different from the finished project we now know and fear. For one thing, it was first conceived as a pure anthology of original Creepypasta written and narrated by Jonny. I pushed for a broader overarching narrative with an ensemble cast that would run throughout the podcast, connecting all the stories, and that was when Jonny suggested The Fears as a concept (I can’t say any more on them without spoilers).

We talked for way longer than either of us had planned, and by the end of that first meeting we already had the shape of the show. Looking back, that’s pretty much the ideal pitch scenario, isn’t it?

What do you love about making a podcast?

The fact that the sky’s the limit. Anyone can make anything of any scale.

Right now, podcasting is at that interesting pivot point between the passion projects of pure innovation that characterises a new artistic medium, and accelerating external interest from major players — which means there are lots of resources flying around for weird and wonderful projects that could never be realised at any other time.

Speaking to audio fiction specifically, you can make an enormous epic from the ground up with a relatively modest budget compared to Film or TV, meaning there’s space for smaller independent organisations such as ours. That in turn means there’s more competition, so projects don’t end up as homogenised as in other media. Projects get to be weirder. In a good way.

Of course, I wouldn’t go so far as to say there’s no price of entry. It still requires technical expertise, equipment and hard work, but the barrier on the first two is dropping ever lower, as new technology allows people to use their phones as a one-stop-shop for near-professional-grade audio recording, editing and distribution. So, if you’re an over ambitious creative like me, there isn’t really a better medium to get stuck into and let your imagination run wild.

What’s the process for creating an audio drama podcast? How do you write and plan an episode?

First we’ll have an initial story workshop where the showrunner, lead writer and the rest of the writing team will hash out the main story points for the season: what happens, when, and why. All these juicy story secrets are then added to a ‘series. Once this overarching structure is in place the writers go away and each write a few episodes with the lead writer overseeing things and ensuring everything holds together.

While all that is going on, the showrunner (the creative lead on the project) will be consulting with the writers and the producers to build the direction and style of the show. That again is added to the series bible, along with work from our sensitivity team and marketing, so everyone’s on the same page.

The showrunner will then work with the producer on a casting call, which is where we allocate performers for roles. As you’d expect, this has been particularly difficult during a pandemic because we don’t just need to make sure everyone’s a good actor and available for recordings — we also need to provide every single performer with their own remote recording kit and schedule video calls so they can perform scenes together. It’s been a huge logistical challenge which has taken massive amounts of coordination, and I’m immensely proud of our team for doing such a good job.

Once all that’s done, and everyone is equipped and scheduled, and you have your finished scripts and Series Bible, you can finally start recording.

Once it’s recorded, what’s the process for getting it out to your listeners?

First we back up all of our recordings to an encrypted, remote computer server, because there’s nothing as frustrating as losing original recordings.

Once that’s done, our vocal editor goes through the raw audio and cuts it into shape according to the notes provided by the showrunner, before the vocal cuts are passed to a soundscape editor who adds all of the background ambience and sound effects — passing traffic; opening drawers; massive, fire-breathing dragons. It then passes to the music editor who, depending on the project, will either compose original music to accompany the episode or insert pre-made tracks from an original collection we keep for each series.

The last stage of the editing process is through an audio master, who assembles the project and makes sure all the different elements are working together as intended, under the direction of the showrunner.

After that we do a final set of checks for sensitivity then pass it to distribution, who make sure it’s made available on everybody’s podcatcher of choice.

How do you connect with and engage with your listeners?

We use a broad range of ways to engage, and it’s always evolving. When we first set up Rusty Quill in 2015, I personally set up the most retro forum you could possibly imagine — but we moved on from that pretty quickly.

Now we maintain the standard social medias you’d expect, like Twitter (@TheRustyQuill) and Facebook, which people use to contact us. We also maintain an official Discord server with more than 11,000 members, which allows fans a space to discuss our content with the creators and each other in more depth. Beyond that, our fandom has been terrifyingly organised in setting up Reddit communities such as R/TheMagnusArchives and R/RustyQuill.

We also stream video content via Twitch (twitch.tv/rusty_quill), which often features performers and employees from the company, and that allows fans to directly engage via live chat.

Weirdly enough, I think one of the biggest forms of engagement we see from fans is thanks to our licensing. We use a type of Creative Commons licence that allows people to generate fan-made content and, although that stuff can’t be sold or anything, it’s allowed a massive community of fan artists to grow in spaces such as Tumblr — which happened entirely organically.

What’s one hot tip for the budding podcaster out there?

There’s no “secret sauce.” Sorry that’s a bit blunt — I should probably explain.

I often encounter people looking to start podcasting, who feel that they can’t succeed without some secret industry knowledge — some technical wizardry or business flair that will guarantee a hit — but truthfully there isn’t one. As I said before, podcasting is a younger creative medium that is still defining itself, and that means diligent work is still the magic ingredient. All the tips and tricks in the world won’t make up for focused creativity, professionalism and perseverance.

That said, I would say most people underestimate the conception part of the process. If you get that aspect right, instead of just diving in with no real plan, you’ll have a much easier project. You want to take some time before you start creating your masterpiece and really try to pick out the core reasons you want to make it. What is it you’re trying to achieve? Who does it serve? What does success look like? What does failure look like?

Ideally, you’ll want a clear answer to all these questions before you even start work. If you do, you can use that knowledge to guide you to a finished product you can be happy with. Trust me, it’s much easier to make a decision on some complicated production problem if you already have that roadmap to refer to, especially if you’re aiming high.

The Magnus Archives is a weekly horror fiction podcast examining what lurks in the archives of the Magnus Institute, an organisation dedicated to researching the esoteric and the weird. Join Jonathan Sims as he explores the archive, but be warned, as he looks into its depths something starts to look back… The final episode of the story was released on March 25th 2021, but you can tune in for behind-the-scenes chats. Listen now >>

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