Within the Wires

Within the Wires is a science fiction anthology podcast created by Jeffrey Cranor and Janina Matthewson. Set in a dystopian society in an alternate history, it is presented as in-universe audio files such as relaxation cassette tapes or museum audio guides. Each season follows a new storyline and characters, all set in the same world.

The series has been produced by Night Vale Presents since 2016.[1][2] For its first five seasons, the podcast aired bi-weekly, but changed to a weekly release starting with Season 6. Cranor and Matthewson have written every episode, as well as the novel You Feel It Just Below the Ribs (2021), which is set in the podcast's universe.

Production

In an interview with CBC Radio's Podcast Playlist, Jeffrey Cranor explained that the initial idea behind the podcast was to use pre-existing audio guides as a template for storytelling, with the first season taking the form of a relaxation cassette program. Cranor had read and enjoyed Janina Matthewson's book Of Things Gone Astray, and they first met when he messaged her on

Episodes

Every episode is written by podcast creators Jeffrey Cranor and Janina Matthewson.

Season 1: "Relaxation Cassettes"

In the first season, the listener, a medical inmate at a place called the Institute, receives guidance from the mysterious narrator of instructional relaxation cassettes.[5][6][7][1][8]

Season 2: "Museum Audio Tours"

In the second season, an artist named Roimata Mangakāhia communicates with the listener through a series of museum audio guides.[9] Every episode in this season features a guest star voicing the curator of the museum. Prior to the season premiere, three trailers composed of preview segments from the season itself were released, on August 15, August 22, and August 29, 2017. Donors of $50 or more to the production of the second season received a special prologue episode, "Cassette 0: Karikari Contemporary (1969)", on August 22, 2017, with the release of the second trailer.[10]

Season 3: "Dictation"

The third season, "a political thriller set in 1950s Chicago," is narrated by the bureaucrat Michael Witten; listeners access letters and notes dictated to his secretary.[11]

Season 4: "The Cradle"

Season Four, "The Cradle," is a story about a mother and daughter as they attempt to lead a family-centric commune surviving on the fringes of society. The leader of The Cradle — an anti-government commune hidden deep in a Scandinavian forest — escapes arrest and travels the globe to build her following. This 10-episode season is told via tape recorded letters home to her daughter and sermons to the commune.

Season 5: "Voicemail"

As well as the main narrator voiced by Amiera Darwish, this season featured a secondary narrator voiced by Norma Butikofer at the end of every episode.

Season 6: "Caregiver"

Season 7: "Scavenger Hunt"

Season 8: "Leadership Seminar"

Season 9: "Audiobook"

Season 10: "Research Island"

Bonus: "Black Box"

Within the Wires' Patreon includes an exclusive season called "Black Box", released four times a year, on solstices and equinoxes. The season tells the story of an unnamed pilot (narrated by Cranor) through his black box recordings.[12]

Live

Within the Wires ' first live show was performed by Janina Matthewson at the London Podcast Festival on September 13, 2018.[13] They did two live shows starring Lee LeBreton, one at Largo at the Coronet in Los Angeles on April 27, 2019[14] and one at PodX in Nashville, Tennessee on June 2, 2019.[15]

format	Surrealism, science fiction, anthology, epistolary fiction
starring	Janina Matthewson (S1) Rima Te Wiata (S2) Lee LeBreton (S3) Mona Grenne (S4) Amiera Darwish (S5) Leah Minto (S6) April Ortiz (S7) Joey Rizzolo (S8) Robin Virginie (S9) Meg Bashwiner (S10) Jeffrey Cranor (Black Box)
language	English
first aired	June 21, 2016
num episodes	100 (plus 11 bonus episodes)
website	http://www.nightvalepresents.com/withinthewires/