The Strange Recital

Tom Newton and Brent Robison
  • 4.9 (13)
  • BOOKS
  • UPDATED BIMONTHLY

The Strange Recital is an audio forum for short fiction. We delight in perceptions of reality that twist and fold in unexpected ways. Each podcast episode runs about 30 minutes and includes a story reading (the Recital), a musical interlude, and an author interview (the Post-Recital)... with a twist. Subscribe to get a new episode once a month.

  1. Tidal Lock

    JAN 4

    Tidal Lock

    "The last time I saw my father I barely saw him. Now that morning seems sharp as shears but I know it wasn't. I was half-asleep. I think I made my way to the kitchen. I think my father was already starting to leave. We may have hugged."   An enigmatic young woman tries to make sense of her life alone in an unnamed city full of demolitions and abandoned buildings. This metaphor-driven new novel from an award-winning author follows its narrator's fragmented insights on a path toward understanding.

    33 min
  2. Naked Singularity

    12/07/2025

    Naked Singularity

    "For three years, we knew Dad had a lump in his throat. He had trouble swallowing, and several times a day, he would be possessed by a mad coughing fit that would leave him clutching the furniture for support."   In this opening from a highly-praised novel, an adult daughter begins to face her father's chronic pain, his impending death. How will she respond to his request for a merciful release?

    34 min
  3. The Constable's Second Autobiography

    11/02/2025

    The Constable's Second Autobiography

    "The scent of cardamom wafted from Father. Mother wore a liripipe of azure silk that drew out her narrow chin, hazel eyes, and the grey streaks in her hair. I watched Father's gaze dart among the hills. Columns of smoke crept through a windless sky."   In this novel excerpt, a young man feigns madness, trades vision for vision amongst ruffians in a dark tavern, and meets his raven companions. But is this really his life story?

    31 min
  4. Found Objects

    10/05/2025

    Found Objects

    "'Listen to this,' he said. What sounded like a wind chime filled the room, a wind chime on a farmhouse porch, restless in a shifting tempest. I could feel a change in barometric pressure and a subtle increase in humidity as the sound floated on the breeze. The feeling was vast and lonely as though isolated on an American prairie."   A recording engineer explores amazing new techniques. Can we capture the deep music made by nature? Can we invite the plants to help us? What could go wrong?

    20 min
  5. The Right Moment

    09/07/2025

    The Right Moment

    "The crowd that had gathered on the quay to watch the departure of Shadow Rose held no collective opinion as to whether she would return. Now that the chronology of those events has become so jumbled, it might be said that she never left."   A sailing ship, a sunlit city, a young man's search. This reading, excerpted from a new collection of richly atmospheric short (and very short) stories, suggests unknown histories and unseen realities.

    39 min
  6. Zone 23

    08/03/2025

    Zone 23

    "In a world of comfort and infinite abundance, Valentina Briggs was sitting quietly, doing nothing, trying to detach... kneeling on the floor, her buttocks resting on her upturned feet, hands forming an oval in her lap, thumbs ever so lightly touching, trying her best to think of not thinking. Thoughts were racing through her mind."   If meditation isn't working, what's a Variant-Positive Normal woman to do? A possible future of genetic "correction" to establish peace on Earth is explored in this satiric novel by an outspoken critic of authoritarian government.

    36 min
  7. The Zodiacal Light

    07/06/2025

    The Zodiacal Light

    "The zodiacal light is very faint and so are we, from hunger, a hunger for the stars, the stars we can never reach. Yes, it is faint and so are our hopes, but that doesn't matter if we enjoy the standing and reaching, on the shoulders of our friends, on a ladder, on chairs piled on chairs. We are nearer the stars that way."   Like a few gems in one's palm, here are several very short fictions that explore, from angles you've never seen before, the signs of Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo...

    39 min
  8. The River Between Us

    06/08/2025

    The River Between Us

    "For what must have been the hundredth time that long day I studied the second hand of my watch, a heavy blue-faced Bulova that my wife had spent way too much on for our first wedding anniversary. It had outlasted our marriage and was still keeping perfect time, which was no small comfort."   As this novel begins, a divorced, depressed architect is about to embark on a life-changing project. A crumbling riverside mansion awaits, along with its challenging inhabitants. What happens when we attempt to face the trauma of our past?

    32 min
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4.9
out of 5
13 Ratings

About

The Strange Recital is an audio forum for short fiction. We delight in perceptions of reality that twist and fold in unexpected ways. Each podcast episode runs about 30 minutes and includes a story reading (the Recital), a musical interlude, and an author interview (the Post-Recital)... with a twist. Subscribe to get a new episode once a month.

Information

  • Creator
    Tom Newton and Brent Robison
  • Years Active
    2016 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2016, Tom Newton, Brent Robison, and respective authors
  • Show Website
    The Strange Recital