Date launched Aug, 2014
Date finished Dec, 2017
Still running? No
Number of series N/A
Number of episodes p/s 61
Length of each episode 30-40 mins
Summary of content – story? Theme? Topic?
Wolf 359 is a science fiction podcast created by Gabriel Urbina and produced by Gabriel Urbina and Zach Valenti under Kinda Evil Genius Productions. Following in the tradition of Golden Age radio dramas, Wolf 359 tells the story of a dysfunctional space station crew orbiting the star Wolf 359 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 begins as a series of audio logs recorded by Doug Eiffel, showing the life of the skeleton crew 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.
Most notable/funny/moving/shocking moments
Episode 1 – Succulent Rat-Killing Tar: The debut episode is definitely a notable one for far beyond the obvious reasons. Officer Doug Eiffel, communications officer on board the U.S.S. Hephaestus Station, is willing to go to any lengths to procrastinate his work. Tasked with a pointless hunt for alien intelligence, Eiffel would much rather spend his time complaining about the station’s malfunctioning autopilot system and making sure his stash of contraband cigarettes doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. The crew know this and constantly threaten him at every opportunity. “you’d think after a year and a half on this tin can our resident stasis would let up. I get it cigarettes are contraband but it’s not like if I had it I would immediately light it and set the stations air on fire. Again.”
Episode 2 – Little Revolución: When Eiffel discovers that there’s only one tube of toothpaste remaining on board the Hephaestus, he decides that immediate action is necessary. His solution? Steal the toothpaste, barricade the door to the comms room, and hope for the best. “Turns out we had a grand total of one tube of toothpaste remaining. One delicious minty fresh tube of breath saving relief for the remaining 275 days of the mission. Well you know eventually conflicts get bureaucratic around here, so I figured it was necessary to secure my fair share for the sake of equity and morale. Basically, I took the entire tube”.
Episode 16 – Painfully Ever After: Still dealing with the fallout from Hera’s deactivation, the crew struggles to keep the rapidly deteriorating Hephaestus functional. Overwhelmed, sleep-deprived, and constantly faced with new mechanical problems, Eiffel and Minkowski can’t escape the feeling that they are on the verge of a disastrous mistake. Soon things take a turn for the worse and the ship is on a collision course with a star, the team must act quickly to prevent their instant death. “Got it! Got it! Engaging engines on a get out of here factor, everyone hold onto something” announces Hera as they narrowly escape with their lives. A bing bong is heard followed by a supermarket announcement “ladies and gentlemen this is your auto pilot. I’m happy to report we’ve now returned to our regular cruising altitude above Wolf359”. This scene was almost like something out of Ridley Scott’s sc-fi adventure Alien, with amazing use of sound FX roaring in your ears feeling as though the team is about to perish.
Host/presenters/journalist names and bio
– 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.
Description of sound clips sent over
– In this clip the team on board the U.S.S. Hephaestus. Having just survived the deactivation of Hera (the ships A.I.) and after nearly being sucked into a star and after weeks in a state of emergency the team face a new challenging in this clip. Staving off Boredom. In this clip Hilbert and Hera are checking channels searching for the possibility of some life outside the craft.
Anything else interesting about the podcast worth noting? Has it won awards? Is it the “most listened to” in its category? Does someone famous love it? Any controversy? Any fun or quirky facts?
– Wolf 359 made over $3000 per episode from over 900 patrons on Patreon 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.
– It’s won multiple audio verse awards:
– Webby awards
– Parcec awards
– The series also has a live show and a wiki fandom page dedicated to fans of the podcast series.
Opinion
I found Wolf 359 to be a gorgeous, character-cantered audio drama that has themes of mental health, abuse, sentience, the “greater good” vs. the individual, capitalism, isolation, found families, and identity. It has all the trappings of a great science fiction story and a deep focus on empathy and growth. It’s a story about redemption, and it’s a story about perseverance.
The production is beautiful, and the cast delivers some of the best performances in the industry. It’s a mainstay of audio dramas for a reason: as it developed, it definitely set a high standard for audio dramas.