Wolf 359 (podcast) explained
| Wolf 359 |
| Genre: | Science fiction, space opera |
| Language: | English |
| Creator: | Gabriel Urbina |
| Director: | Gabriel Urbina |
| Num Seasons: | 4 |
| Num Episodes: | 61 |
| Updates: | Complete |
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,[1] [2] 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.[3] After 61 episodes, the show concluded on December 25, 2017.[4]
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.
Content
Synopsis
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.[5] 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
| Year | width=40% | Category ! | width=40% | Recipient ! | width=10% | Result ! | Ref |
|---|
| 2015 | Best Original Composition in an Original, Long-Form Production | "Welcome to Wolf 359" by Alan Rodi | | [6] |
| Best Writing of an Original, Long-Form, Serial Production | Gabriel Urbina and Sarah Shachat | |
| Best Actress with a Supporting Role in an Original, Short-Form, Serial Production | Michaela Swee as Hera | |
| Best Original Long-Form, Serial Comedy | Wolf 359 | |
| Best Original, Long-Form, Small Cast, Serial Production | Wolf 359 | |
| 2016 | Best Original, Long Form, Small Cast, Ongoing, Dramatic Production | Wolf 359 | | [7] |
| Best Performance of an Actress in an Original Ensemble Role for a Long Form Production | Cecilia Lynn-Jacobs as Captain Isabel Lovelace | |
| Best Performance of an Actress in an Original Supporting Role for a Long Form, Small Cast Production | Michaela Swee as Hera | |
| Best Performance of an Actress in an Original Leading Role for a Long Form Production | Emma Sherr-Ziarko as Renée Minkowski | |
| Best Performance of an Actor in an Original Supporting Role for a Long Form, Small Cast Production | Zach Libresco as Warren Kepler | |
| Best Performance of an Actor in an Original Leading Role for a Long Form, Small Cast Production | Zach Valenti as Doug Eiffel | |
| 2017 | Best Music for an Ongoing Dramatic Production | "But How Do We Tell The Children We Are Allergic To Their Smiles" by Alan Rodi | | [8] |
| Best Production for an Ongoing Dramatic Production | Wolf 359 | |
| Best Actress in an Ensemble role for an Ongoing Dramatic Production | Michaela Swee as Hera | |
| Best Actor in an Ensemble role for an Ongoing, Dramatic, Production | Zach Valenti as Doug Eiffel | |
| 2018 | Best Ongoing, Long-form, Dramatic Production | Wolf 359 | | [9] |
| Best Writing of an Ongoing, Long-form, Dramatic Production | Gabriel Urbina, Sarah Shachat, Zach Valenti | |
| Best Performance of a Role in the Ensemble of an Ongoing, Dramatic Production | Zach Valenti as Doug Eiffel | | |
Parsec Awards
| Year | width=40% | Category ! | width=40% | Recipient ! | width=10% | Result ! | Ref |
|---|
| 2016 | Best Speculative Fiction Audio Drama (Long Form) | Wolf 359 "Mayday" by Gabriel Urbina and Kinda Evil Genius Productions | | [10] | |
Webby Awards
| Year | width=40% | Category ! | width=40% | Recipient ! | width=10% | Result ! | Ref |
|---|
| 2017 | Podcasts & Digital Audio – Drama | Wolf 359 | | [11] | |
Notes and References
- News: Podcast of the week: Wolf 359. Griffin. Sarah. The Irish Times. en. 15 April 2019. 15 September 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180915085248/https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio-web/podcast-of-the-week-wolf-359-1.3626856. live.
- News: Lett . Phoebe . 2020-04-07 . Fiction Podcasts to Get Lost In . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-07-16 . 0362-4331.
- News: Drama Podcasts: An overview of the US and UK drama podcast market. Watts. Ella. December 2018. BBC Sounds. 21 April 2019. British Broadcasting Corporation. 16 April 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190416153254/http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/radio/commissioning/Drama-Podcast-Research-Dec2018.pdf. live.
- Web site: Episode 61: Brave New World – Series Finale! . Wolf 359 . 25 December 2017 . 20 February 2019 . 20 February 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190220220945/https://www.wolf359.fm/news/2017/12/25/episode-61-brave-new-world-series-finale . live .
- Web site: Wolf 359 – Seasons 1 and 2 Recap. 2016-02-14. The Game of Nerds. en-US. 16 April 2019. 2019-04-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20190416153254/https://thegameofnerds.com/2016/02/14/wolf-359-seasons-1-and-2-recap/. live.
- Web site: 2015 Winners – The Audio Verse Awards . The Audio Verse Awards . 20 February 2019 . 20 February 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190220145301/http://www.audioverseawards.net/2015-winners/ . live .
- Web site: 2016 Winners – The Audio Verse Awards. The Audio Verse Awards. 20 February 2019. 20 February 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190220145321/http://www.audioverseawards.net/2016-winners/. live.
- Web site: 2017 Winners – The Audio Verse Awards. The Audio Verse Awards. 20 February 2019. 20 February 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190220145348/http://www.audioverseawards.net/2017-winners/. live.
- Web site: 2017 Winners – The Audio Verse Awards. The Audio Verse Awards. 20 February 2019. 20 February 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190220145427/http://www.audioverseawards.net/2018-audio-verse-awards-winners/. live.
- Web site: 2016 Parsec Awards Winners & Finalists. Parsec Awards. 20 February 2019. 20 February 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190220145130/http://www.parsecawards.com/past-awards/2016-parsec-awards-finalists/. live.
- Web site: Wolf 359 -- The Webby Awards. The Webby Awards. 20 February 2019. 20 February 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190220145031/https://www.webbyawards.com/winners/2017/podcasts-digital-audio/general-podcasts/drama/wolf-359/. live.
