An intriguing short note  Wednesday on Twitter tipped us off to SteamPod, a new podcast series  “using the steam powered Victrola to listen to stories from the era called Steampunk.”

For those not familiar with steampunk, it is a sub-category of fantasy or alternate-history fiction which first gained popularity 20 – 25 years ago. Many steampunk works draw from historical, fashion and mechanical elements of  the Victorian era (when high-tech meant steam-powered devices, hence the name). The genre also makes use of fantasy or real-life technological developments (computers, flying machines, etc).

A feature article about steampunk, including a slideshow of steampunk fashion, recently appeared in the NY Times.

Steampunk is kind of related to the sci-fi/fantasy genre cyberpunk, but Podcasting News does not pretend to be knowledgeable enough to embarrass itself with trying to articulate that distinction. We just know we enjoy reading and hearing these kinds of stories.

The first episode of SteamPod features 7th Son and Obsidian mastermind JC Hutchins reading the story, “The Fabulous Junkyard,” by David X. Wiggin. SteamPod is looking for submissions of short (2,000 – 7,000 word) stories. The feed for the whole series is here.

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