March 3, 2024
Goldfish
Philip Marlowe, one of the toughest of the noir detectives of the 1940s, is after the Leander Pearls. They were stolen decades ago, and the thief was caught, but the pearls were never recovered. You just know there’s dames, and intrigue, and double crosses involved.
The story was written by Raymond Chandler. The production comes from Otherworld Media, adapted by David Ossman, produced by Judith Walcutt, and starring Harris Yulin as Marlowe, and Harry Anderson as the very dangerous Sunset. Recorded on location in the Pacific Northwest, where the original story was set, so listen with your headphones for the full effect. March 10, 2024
Houston, Houston, Do You Read?
Three astronauts embark on a trip around the sun, but on their return the only people who respond on the radio from Earth are women. They find they have somehow been flung into the future where a plague has killed all men on Earth. The women send a ship to rescue them, and find there are bigger problems that arise. Story themes revolve around feminism, environmentalism, and male violence.
Original story by James Tiptree, Jr., and won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Science Fiction Novella in 1977. Production is from the Sci-Fi Radio Series on NPR, and is listed in the Mark Time Science Fiction Audio Hall of Fame. March 17, 2024
The Space Merchants
In the future overpopulated, corporate controlled world, the advertising companies hold the most sway. Fowler Shocken is the biggest. Mitchell Courtney is in charge of the account to convince people to take the “opportunity” to colonize Venus, without telling them it’s a hellhole. But Courtney’s position is not secure: there are those who want his job.
A Classic science fiction novel by Frederik Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth. Excellent SF satire, and noted for its use of invented language: such as first use of “try-Di” to mean three-dimensional, “R and D” for Research and Development, “Muzak” as a generic term. and first use of “survey” as a term to mean taking a poll.
The production is from the CBS Radio Workshop in 1956-57. Film rights were sold, but a movie version was never made.
Listed as one of the best SF Novels of all time, Pohl wrote a sequel in 1984 titled The Merchants War. Three other books by these authors are similar in satirical style and in plot outline - Gladiator At Law, Wolfbane and Search the Sky.
March 24, 2024
From the Darker Side
The Nephews
The Nephews are islands off the coast of Maine. There is a reason there that no one goes to visit the lighthouse on one of the islands.
From Audio Comics (at Pocket Universe Productions).
The Dark Road To Nowhere
tt was a dark and stormy Halloween night; Simon and Felicia were cruising along a lonely country road when suddenly something jumped out in front of their car. Was it a Halloween trick, an illusion, or the beginning of a nightmare?
Written and directed by Joey Ouellette, produced by Voices in the Wind Audio Theatre, in Canada.
Time Is Money
Yap Audio Productions in Edinburgh, Scotland tells a tale that takes its title very literally. March 31, 2024
Tales with a Twist
King Me
An original play from Robert Arnold of the Chatterbox Theater in Memphis, TN. He thinks he’s planned the perfect crime that can’t come back to haunt him.
The Hockey Bag
Sometimes you want a good friend to just listen and not try to fix it.
Written by Jeffrey Adams, director of the Icebox Radio Theater in International Falls, MN.
After Twenty Years
An adaptation of a short story by O. Henry by the Chatterbox Theater. April 7, 2024
Very different views of science fiction audio.
The Moonlight Contingency
Producer Robin Schild sends us this tale of a scientist who has been trying to hide the capabilities of an Artificial Intelligence, but the AI has other ideas of its own.
Arakis Newswatch
A news program broadcast from the planet Arakis, home of Atreides family.
I really don’t know where this came from. I’ve had it for more than 30 years, and it has no credits on it.
What On Earth
The Home Office checks in on a research project that has been going on for a long time. It doesn’t seem to be going as well as they had hoped, so there is some discussion that drastic measures may have to be taken. The early aspects of the experiment involved dinosaurs, and these more recently there has been an unfortunate trend toward war.
A science fiction satire from YAP Audio Productions in Scotland.
Krator and the Death Ray
A short piece from Wisconsin’s own Radio Pirates.
Please take a moment to help support Sound Affects, and KFAI Radio by making a donation to the station during our Spring Membership Event.
April 14, 2024
Support community radio. Local radio IS important.
The Last Coyote
Brian Price’s poetic take on the consequences to local fauna of climate change.
He’s been working with producer Marjorie Van Halteren, and doing pieces for the Electroacoustical Poetical Society.
Heroes, Don’t Ya Know
It’s admittedly a strange kind of super power, and what kind of a costume would you make for it, anyway?
A delightful piece from the Icebox Radio Theater, in International Falls, MN. And perfectly contrast to…
The Evil Genius At Home
Yeah, we always see that side of super villains. A short work from the Chatterbox Theater in Memphis, TN.
Captain Audio and the Space Cassettes
From the old Shockwave show here on KFAI. The Shockwave Riders take on the Not So Nice in a silly space adventure from their Spindizzy album.
Hobson’s Choice
Twin Cities author Roy Close wrote this for the Twin Cities Radio Theater Workshop in 1997. It was broadcast live on both KFAI and U of MN radio KUOM, and used all local writers, actors and musicians.
A Day At the Library
Everybody stands in line to use the new 3D Printer at the neighborhood library, even if they don’t know how to use it, or even what it’s for.
Performed live at the Radio Playground show, a KFAI Benefit performance at the Hook and Ladder stage in Minneapolis, in May of 2019.
It is the KFAI Spring Membership event, so we want you to become more than just a listener part of the community radio community, and be a contributing member. It’s so much more satisfying, you know. April 21, 2024
All Hail the Bad Guys and Hoodlums
Home Is Where the Song Bird Sings
A new Rum Runner Sue mystery from the Icebox Radio Theater. It’s a dangerous time under the Volstead Act in the country in 1927. Sue has tried to keep her friends Up North away from her past, but they insist on helping her.
Killing Mother
It seems that he never really liked his mother ruining his life, so he had plans for her. But she had plans, too.
Recorded in live performance at the Twin Cities Radio Theater Workshop, and featuring KFAI volunteer John Black.
Lighter
Putting the suspects in a Line Up is part of finding the perpetrator. But there’s really more to it than just identity.
From the DeadLine series by Jack J. Ward at Electric Vicuna Productions in Nova Scotia.
Dead Air
A 2 Minute Film Noir tale from ZBS, regarding that worst thing that can happen on radio – when there’s nothing to hear. April 28, 2024
The Only Bird In Her Name
A hunting expedition raises a lot of emotions and questions as they are going after what might be the very last member of the species – The Forgetti. It’s a future Australia in the story by Terry Dowling, an Australian writer and journalist. Adapted and produced by Yuri Rasovsky for the 2000X series on NPR. The story is reprinted in Dowling’s Rynosseros collection.
Ruby 12 Sample
The new chapter in the Adventures of Ruby, a Galactic Gumshoe. It’s about a city in the desert of Summa Nulla. The story is “Can We Ever Turn Into Light?”
ZBS wants me to wait to broadcast this chapter until the next chapter is finished, as they all are part of a continuing story. So, darn it, we’ll wait. But I can give you a teaser.
Uncle John’s Troubles
Uncle John is old but he can accurately predict the future. Which means they will treat him as seers have been treated through history – they’ll put him away.
One from the Act One Audio Sci-Fi collection by Jim French Productions in Bellevue, WA.
