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If you like science fiction stories and you own an MP3 player, then there's a good chance you'll enjoy Escape Pod.

Escape Pod was born over two and a half years ago in early 2005 and has grown in popularity ever since. The basic concept is similar to an audiobook. It's a podcast which is published on a weekly basis, offering a science fiction story each time. The project was conceived by Steve Eley, who introduces the podcast and often reads the stories. Episodes run at around 30 minutes on average although there is a lot of variation. The story is book-ended by an introduction and a roundup by Steve in which he talks about comings and goings in his recent life, sometimes reflecting on how the story affects him. The roundup tends to deal to some extent with feedback for previous stories and there's occasionally a surprise song thrown in at the end.

The great thing about Escape Pod is that it makes accessing science fiction stories easy and cheap. The podcast is not based on a pay-per-episode model, but invites donations from those who can afford to pay. The stories are almost invariably not on their first outing and Steve generally tells the listeners where the piece was first published - offering a route to finding more of the same if you really enjoy a story. The authors are all paid for their work, and I believe all the readers offer their voice work for free. Another bonus is that Steve is a part of the worldwide science fiction community (which generally dubs itself "fandom") and he talks about things that are affecting the science fiction scene such as recent conventions or book awards. Around the time that Hugos are being voted on, Escape Pod runs nominated short stories which helps potential voters attending that year's Worldcon make an informed decision.

So great was the success of the Escape Pod project, a spin off podcast was created, known as Pseudopod. This is a forum for horror fiction rather than SF. There are also plans for a new spin off named Podcastle which will become a home for short fantasy stories. This latter project seems to have stalled, which is a pity, but the original is still going strong with weekly updates and the occasional extras which may contain only reviews or might be a very short story known as "flash fiction".

Steve seems like a personable guy, and he opens up to his audience so we learn a little background about him, his family and his friends and how science fiction fits into their lives. On top of the access to the science fiction itself, this promotes the community feel within and beyond the world of Escape Pod. As well as the weekly podcast subscription, listeners can join the forums and discuss the stories, access older content, and even buy older stories on CD. Each story is preceded by a warning if it's unsuitable for minors in any way, and the shows are available to be redestributed at will so long as you don't charge to do so.

Of course, not every story will appeal to everyone, and sometimes Steve's character voices can grate a little (when he speaks a female character's words he puts on an awful falsetto, and authoritative figures tend to speak in a painfully slow and condescending kind of way), but overall the minus points are massively outweighed by the plus points. I find it a great advantage to be able to listen to stories as I walk to work, and I like that the decision of what story comes next is made by somebody else, exposing me to stories I might not have bothered to otherwise read.

I really enjoy Escape Pod and, to a lesser degree, Pseudopod. I hope that reading this will encourage you to check them out. Escape Pod's home is http://www.escapepod.org

Learn more about this author, Max Lehmann.
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