There need to be more quality fiction podcasts. While it’s great to learn things about society and nature and the world we live in through non-fiction podcasts and radio, sometimes we just need an escape.

I stumbled upon my first fiction podcast by accident. I was scrolling through the “Popular” section on my podcast app when I came across Homecoming, produced by Gimlet Media. When I read the brief synopsis, I was intrigued. Here’s what it said: “Homecoming centers on a caseworker at an experimental facility, her ambitious supervisor, and a soldier eager to rejoin civilian life – presented in an enigmatic collage of telephone calls, therapy sessions, and overheard conversations.”

From this summary, I recognized that the storytelling in this podcast would be driven mainly by dialogue. That’s a hard thing to do! It’s difficult to write and perform dialogue that comes across as realistic. I was curious to see (hear?) whether they could pull it off. For that reason, I hit play.

Overall, I was not disappointed. The sound design, especially in the “overheard conversations” between characters, was realistic and immersive. I also enjoyed the non-linear plot, which alternates back and forth between our forgetful protagonist’s present and her elusive past. The use of dialogue to selectively reveal past events allows the listener to draw their own conclusions, to speculate and make connections without the truth being thrown in their face. Even in the medium of a podcast, without any visual supplement, the creators manage to show instead of tell.

And I can’t forget to mention Homecoming‘s star-studded cast, which includes Catherine Keener, Oscar Isaac, David Schwimmer, and Amy Sedaris. Their performances are magnetic and engaging, and convey the evocative power of the human voice and a good script to direct it.

Homecoming, with its use of dialogue, nonlinear plot, and fabulous voice acting, shows us that the days of audio dramas are far from over. You can listen to it here, on Gimlet Media’s website.

Helena