''Wolf 359'' is a
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
created by Gabriel Urbina and produced by Gabriel Urbina and Zach Valenti under Kinda Evil Genius Productions. Following in the tradition of
Golden Age
The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during ...
radio dramas,
''Wolf 359'' tells the story of a dysfunctional space station crew orbiting the star
Wolf 359
Wolf 359 is a red dwarf star located in the constellation Leo, near the ecliptic. At a distance of approximately 7.9 light years from Earth, it has an apparent magnitude of 13.54 and can only be seen with a large telescope. Wolf 359 i ...
on a deep space survey mission. The show starts off as lighthearted comedy that focuses on character dynamics before becoming more of a thriller.
After 61 episodes, the show concluded on December 25, 2017.
''Wolf 359'' made over $3000 per episode from over 900 patrons on
Patreon
Patreon (, ) is a membership platform that provides business tools for content creators to run a subscription service. It helps creators and artists earn a monthly income by providing rewards and perks to their subscribers. Patreon charges a co ...
before the series ended. As of 2018 the podcast had over 6 million downloads.
Urbina regularly participates in panels and workshops regarding audio dramas and their future.
Content
Synopsis
''Wolf 359'' begins as a series of audio logs recorded by Doug Eiffel, showing the life of the
skeleton crew
A skeleton crew is the minimum number of personnel needed to operate and maintain an item such as a business, organization, or ship at its most simple operating requirements. Skeleton crews are often utilized during an emergency and are meant to ...
on board the U.S.S. Hephaestus.
Doug Eiffel's job on board the station is to scan for signs of alien life, but instead he finds recordings of classical music from Earth. After realizing the recordings are too old to have come from Earth, Dr. Hilbert, the station's science officer, sends this information to Goddard Futuristics, the company funding the mission.
The crew finds out that they were never intended to leave the station, and the show focuses more on the rest of the ensemble cast as it becomes a dramatic science fiction adventure.
Characters
*Doug Eiffel – voiced by Zach Valenti. Communications officer and primary narrator of ''Wolf 359'', Eiffel is a consummate slacker who prefers finding creative ways to ignore his duties to actually performing them.
*Renée Minkowski – voiced by Emma Sherr-Ziarko. Commander and navigations specialist of the U.S.S. Hephaestus mission. A straight-laced former Air Force pilot, Minkowski is fulfilling her dream of commanding a deep space mission.
*Hera – voiced by Michaela Swee. Hera is an intelligent supercomputer tasked with managing the station's many automatic systems, but with a concerning propensity for glitches.
*Dr. Alexander Hilbert – voiced by Zach Valenti. Chief science officer. Dr. Hilbert is a reserved and reclusive man and a towering intellect. He is on the Hephaestus mission to experiment on microbes utilizing Wolf 359's unique radiation.
*Marcus Cutter – voiced by Scotty Shoemaker. Director of communications for Goddard Futuristics. The de facto head of Goddard Futuristics, Mr. Cutter takes a personal interest in the mission to Wolf 359.
*Isabel Lovelace – voiced by Cecilia Lynn-Jacobs. Commander of the previous U.S.S. Hephaestus mission.
*Warren Kepler – voiced by Zach Libresco. Director of intelligence for Goddard's Special Projects division.
*Daniel Jacobi – voiced by Noah Masur. Demolitions expert with the Special Projects SI-5 unit.
*Dr. Alana Maxwell – voiced by Michelle Agresti. A.I. specialist with the Special Projects SI-5 unit.
*Dr. Miranda Pryce – voiced by Michaela Swee. A.I. specialist implied to be the inventor of A.I.s. Creator of many biotechnical modifications to both her and Cutter's bodies.
Accolades
Audio Verse Awards
Parsec Awards
Webby Awards
References
External links
* {{Official website, https://www.wolf359.fm/
2014 podcast debuts
Audio podcasts
Science fiction podcasts
Fiction set around Wolf 359
American podcasts
Scripted podcasts