Illustration: Ben Currie
Definitionally, science fiction is a genre built on the power of imagination—both for those who create it and those who consume it. Though expansive sci-fi films abound, like horror, the genre works just as well—or better—when it unfolds inside your mind, the confines of which aren’t limited by the budget for CGI. That’s why science fiction was such a popular staple of old-time radio, and why there are so many modern podcasts playing around with the same tropes: We can dream up anything, given the sounds to spark our imaginations.
What follows are 15 of the best and most interesting sci-fi podcasts in this reality, representing a wide array of styles and sub-genres: from full-cast productions to stories told by a single narrator, from cyberpunk to adventures with aliens, they’re all the products of talented creators shooting their freaky, whacked-out, forward-looking ideas directly into our brains—via our ears.
