Hey everyone, Laurence here, and we've got another recommendation for you!

We'd like to introduce you to Josie's Lonely Hearts Club - a semi-improvised audio drama set in the studio of New Mexico’s 3rd-best romantic advice call-in show. On-air, listeners eavesdrop as Josie squares off against top improvisers and her engineer Frank. Each episode’s off-air vignettes chart her journey from melancholy Joanne Holtzinger to nationally syndicated sensation Josie Heller. What results is an often hilarious and surprisingly human show exploring the risks we idiots take every time we fall in or out of love.

It's a really lovely vibe, this show. The performers slip between the scripted and improvised sections so seamlessly that it all just feels so believable, like it was meant to be. This is a cosy late-night drive time listen if there ever was one. 

Season 1 of Josie's Lonely Hearts Club is out in its entirety and Season 2 is releasing weekly right now. You can find it wherever you get your podcasts or by tapping the link in the show notes of this episode.

And now here's episode 1 of Josie's Lonely Hearts Club, called: Let's Jam It Up, Sluts! 

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Another recommend from us! Today, we're bringing you World Gone Wrong, a fictional chat show about friendship at the end of the world.

Malik and Jamie were roommates when the world ended. Now separated by half the country, literal acid rain, werewolves, aliens, and more, they start a chat podcast to stay in touch and work through the increasing uncertainty of their new apocalyptic reality.

Each week, Malik & Jamie will tackle topics like: should I change my office hours to accommodate vampire students? What if the body snatcher that took over my ex is nice? When did the kudzu start humming like that? Malik & Jamie will try to help!

Subscribe to World Gone Wrong anywhere you get your podcasts.

Malik: Michael Turrentine

Jamie: Hilary Williams

Written by Jessica Best, directed and edited by Jeffrey Nils Gardner. Our theme song is "Falling in Love at the End of the World" by Olivia and the Lovers. Created and produced by Eleanor Hyde and Jeffrey Nils Gardner. From Audacious Machine Creative.

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We're delighted to be bringing you one of our long-time favourite audio dramas - the wild and wonderful science-fantasy-western Midst.

But before that, we sat down with the show's three mysterious creators Xen, Sara and Matt, to have a good old chat about the making of both Midst and Mockery Manor! We've been fans of each others' shows from their very beginnings, and it was such a pleasure to finally meet them.

A little about Midst:

The small desert planet of Midst spins on the border between two halves of the cosmos: the dazzling Un and the mysterious Fold. Life is simple for most of the planet’s inhabitants… until an influential civilization known as the Trust takes an interest in Midst and sparks an unexpected chain of events, intertwining the lives of three complicated antiheroes. Also, unrelated to any of that, Midst’s moon is about to fall out of the sky and cause reality to eat itself alive, so that’s not great either. Unsolved murders, cult brainwashing, and supernatural darkness all combine to create a clusterfuck of cosmic proportions.

As always, you can find Midst wherever you get your podcasts.

New Episodes of Midst release every Wednesday on your favorite podcast streaming platform, the Critical Role YouTube Channel, and for subscribers on Midst.co

Subscribe to Midst

Support Lindsay and Laurence on Ko-fi!

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Today we are bringing you another great show from the Fable & Folly Network - it's our pleasure to introduce The Land Whale Murders.

The Land Whale Murders is set in an alternate 1899, where a pair of bumbling scientists turned private detectives, are hot on the trail of a sticky mystery involving a nefarious candy corporation among the political intrigue of New York City.

That's quite a lot to take in in one sentence, so we suggest diving right in. 

The Land Whale is a fast and funny podcast series for fans of Monty Python, Blackadder, pulp novels, silver age comic books, and much more. It's a hugely imaginative world.

What we're about to play you is actually the first episode of S2, but S1 is out in its entirety, and you can find it, as you would expect, wherever you get podcasts.

So here it is, for your delectation - The Land Whale Murders!

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We're delighted to present The Matty Tapes, a bonus Mockery Manor miniseries!

This miniseries won't appear on the main podcast feed until December 2024.

Until then, The Matty Tapes are available for £3.99 from our Ko-fi Shop.

If you become a monthly supporter, you'll get The Matty Tapes (and many other goodies) for free!

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Season's greetings! And welcome to 'A Midwinter Night's Dream', a Mockery Christmas Special! This one-off drama occurs between seasons 2 and 3, in the winter of 1994. 

We made A Midwinter Night's Dream back in 2022, and released it that Christmas for our Ko-Fi patrons, and as a one-off purchase for anyone else. This year we're excited to make it available for you all to enjoy for free. 

We're following the same release format for the Christmas special we're making this year. The Matty Tapes will be out in the first week of December 2023, and like last year, our patrons will be able to access it for free, and for everyone else, we're asking for a donation of £3.99. Next year, we'll release The Matty Tapes for free, for everyone! 

Why are we doing it this way? Well, in a nutshell, the proceeds from the sale of the Xmas Special helps us to keep making audio dramas! And we have a lot we want to do in 2024, including Magenta and Bernard's Paranormal Investigations and season four of Mockery Manor.

In the meantime, sit back with a mug of spiced wine, warm your nutmegs by the fire, and enjoy A Midwinter Night's Dream.

Read the transcript

Support us on Ko-fi <3

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Buy the Mockery Manor S3 soundtrack album and exclusive art print here!

Kiss My Zeitgeist (the culture programme that covers Mockery Manor and no other aspects of culture) is BACK!

Lindsay and Laurence sit down to discuss the S3 soundtrack and writing process.

What are the hidden meanings behind Clayton's songs? Why are bass guitars such a cool instrument for scoring? Which 19th Century American poet unknowingly contributed to Mockery Manor? Which instrument was Lindsay's voice once described as a "drunk" version of? Find out all this and more.

Support Lindsay and Laurence on Ko-fi <3

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Hey listeners, Laurence here! We hope you enjoyed the Mockery S3 finale and we'll have more surprises for you very soon.

In the meantime, we'd like to introduce another Fable and Folly show that we really love - Dirt: An Audio Drama.

Dirt is set in modern day Washington state, and it follows Joseph Elo, a Seattle-based tech celebrity who one day receives a mysterious letter in the mail from his grandfather—who died 30 years ago.The letter contains vague clues about the need to find things that may be hidden in various locations.As Joseph becomes more interested, he struggles to maintain a balance between his newfound obsession and his work responsibilities, and ultimately has to decide what he wants to do with the rest of his life.

This is a really interesting story - essentially an earthbound mystery, but with hints of the fantastical as well. To me it feels very literary: something about the first person narration, the slow delve into Joseph's past and all the family lore, the slight sense of the surreal mingling with some really fun comedy moments - it all feels like a novel that you can't put down. It's a long form, slow burn mystery, and the more time you put into it, the more hooked you'll get. And by the end of the first episode, you know you'll have to keep listening to find out where this bizarre treasure hunt is going to lead. 

And speaking as a Brit, it really makes me want to go and visit the Pacific northwest. 

Tap this link to subscribe to Dirt - An Audio Drama

And now, sit back and go and a mad adventure into Dirt - An Audio Drama. This is chapter 1.

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Support Lindsay and Laurence on Ko-fi! Our sincere thanks to you <3

Read the Transcripts

"Means. Motive. Opportunity. Evidence"

It's the last episode of S3! Strap in!

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Written by Lindsay Sharman

Directed by Lindsay Sharman and Laurence Owen

Music, sound design and editing by Laurence Owen

featuring Hayley Evenett as Bette and JJ, Laurence Owen as Parker, Jenkins, and additional voices, John Henry Falle as Fenwick, Christina Bianco as Kirsteen, Karim Kronfli as George, Luke Capasso as Jacob, Kristi Boulton as Anna Lou and Abilene, James Ducker as Walter, Rufus Walker as Freddie, Madame Magenta and Bernard as themselves... and special guest Beth Eyre.

Mockery Manor is supported by Arts Council England National Lottery Project Grants, and our wonderful patrons on Ko-fi. If you'd like to become one of them, and help me and Lindsay keep making podcasts, tap this link, or go to our website. <3

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support Lindsay and Laurence on Ko-fi! Our sincere thanks to you <3

Read the Transcripts

Previously on Mockery Manor: Bette sent each of the suspects a letter and brought them all to the parlour of the Four Spurs Saloon for a Poirot-style showdown. Sure enough, the currently-comatose Bobby is revealed as the man behind Clayton's many illegitimate kids. Twenty-some years ago, Bobby sold Clay's sperm without the country star's knowledge. What an asshole! One of those kids is revealed to be Clay's assistant, Anna Lou! Not only that, but Anna Lou's mother turns out to be Clay's stalker Abilene, the woman who invaded the VIP lounge on the night of the murder. That's right, folks, Abilene had bought some of Clay's purloined sperm to create her kids! Now, with those kids all grown up, Bette reveals that Abilene had recently been receiving love letters from someone purporting to be Clayton. Golly gosh! As for Jacob - formerly Harry - he claims to have come to the park with the sole purpose of getting his revenge on Bobby for running him out of town all those years ago... but Jacob done changed his mind and let bygones be bygones. And just as Bette was about to reveal who really poisoned Bobby, JJ burst through the doors and confessed!

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Written by Lindsay Sharman

Directed by Lindsay Sharman and Laurence Owen

Music, sound design and editing by Laurence Owen

featuring Hayley Evenett as Bette and JJ, Laurence Owen as Parker and additional voices, John Henry Falle as Fenwick, Christina Bianco as Kirsteen, Karim Kronfli as George, Luke Capasso as Jacob, Kristi Boulton as Anna Lou and Abilene, James Ducker as Walter, and Madame Magenta as herself.

Mockery Manor is supported by Arts Council England National Lottery Project Grants, and our wonderful patrons on Ko-fi. If you'd like to become one of them, and help me and Lindsay keep making podcasts, tap this link, or go to our website. <3

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support Lindsay and Laurence on Ko-fi! Our sincere thanks to you <3

Read the Transcripts

Previously on Mockery Manor: Time is running out as the evidence against JJ mounts. JJ, Bette and Parker gather in the parlour at the Four Spurs Saloon to try and figure out whodunnit. JJ is alarmed to hear someone has been in her room and stolen the letter from Mrs Wainscoat that lured her to the mine train on the night of the murder. Parker tells them how Clay's stalker Abilene gained access to the VIP lounge because of a Mockery security pass. Bette reveals that Abilene's son Brian is the spitting image of a young Clay. Fenwick reveals that Bobby has collapsed, and Harry has been arrested for poisoning him! And that Harry's real name is Jacob, and he used to be a private investigator who was hired for a job ten years ago... that involved infiltrating Clay's inner circle. Hoo-boy, that's a whole heap of revelations! Finally, Bette tells the others to gather the suspects for a Poirot-style showdown.

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Written by Lindsay Sharman

Directed by Lindsay Sharman and Laurence Owen

Music, sound design and editing by Laurence Owen

featuring Hayley Evenett as Bette and JJ, Laurence Owen as Parker and Paul, John Henry Falle as Fenwick and Bobby D, Christina Bianco as Kirsteen, Karim Kronfli as George, Luke Capasso as Jacob, Kristi Boulton as Anna Lou, and Madame Magenta as herself.

Mockery Manor is supported by Arts Council England National Lottery Project Grants, and our wonderful patrons on Ko-fi. If you'd like to become one of them, and help me and Lindsay keep making podcasts, tap this link, or go to our website. <3

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