5 Fiction Podcasts From Around the World 🌎

Travel around the globe AND into different fictional worlds with these podcast recommendations

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…by way of several EarBuds readers who I’ve met IRL (ahem, thank you, Andy S.) that many of you want to curate a list for this newsletter, you tell yourself you’re going to submit the form, and then you forget or just don’t get around to it. THIS IS YOUR SIGN to do it. 

Remember: 1. It’s free to curate, 2. you get to share your fav podcasts, 3. If you’re a podcaster yourself, you can include one of your own episodes. ‘Tis a no-brainer.

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Arielle Nissenblatt, EarBuds founder

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Podcast Picks

Curated by Roshan Singh Sambhi

Here’s why Roshan chose this week’s podcasts:

Andas Productions is a Singapore-based audio fiction team, and we’ve been fortunate to connect with listeners eager to hear work from beyond just the U.S./U.K. hubs. This hunger makes absolute sense: audio fiction lets you immerse yourself in any place, perspective, or voice you can dream of. It’s an incredible tool for stretching the imagination, practicing radical empathy, and basking in world-building specificity. Diversity, in every sense of the word, makes the listening experience richer.

But global audio fiction shows can be difficult to find, even for those who actively seek them out. We hope this list can be a nice start, and an affirmation to listeners and creators alike that great shows can come from anywhere.

Roshan Singh Sambhi, November 2025 EarBuds curator

🌏Global Audio Fiction Podcasts

catskull podcast cover art

catskull

Ram is invisible to the city he calls home, and his prospects are bleak — until the day he puts on a mask to protect his best friend, Kass — who is determined to make a difference at any cost.

catskull is a subversive neo-noir thriller set in modern-day Singapore, about the darkness that festers in a city cast exclusively in bright lights. Made by our team at Andas Productions, it’s a faithful adaptation of Myle Yan Tay’s award-winning novel, scored by Emmy Award-winner Marcus Bagala and Jamie Leidwinger, with sound design by Nathaniel Mah.

Dos: After You podcast cover art

Dos: After You

Deck can’t stop leaving voice notes for Sil — someone he loves, someone missing, someone who may be more than human.

Told through his recordings, Dos: After You is a bilingual queer horror-fantasy from Spanish creator David Orión Pena, released in both English and Spanish — a one-of-a-kind feat in indie audio fiction, and a bold gesture towards the show’s cultural and creative ambitions. It’s intimate and unsettling, steeped in the kind of slow-burn obsession that calls to mind the hauntingly dreamlike Hannibal TV series while carving out a mood entirely its own.

Hi Nay podcast cover art

Hi Nay

Filipina immigrant Mari Datuin thought her folk-occult upbringing was behind her — until an act of rescue drags her into a world of cursed objects and rich immortal mystics hidden in Toronto, in plain sight.

Hi Nay, created and led by Motzie Dapul, is a Filipino-led, analog-style supernatural folklore horror podcast produced in Canada and framed through Mari’s calls to her mom (the show’s title translates to “Hi, Mom”). The show proudly centers Filipino diasporic experience in a way that feels lived-in, culturally rooted, and unapologetically stylish.

Private Affairs podcast cover art

Private Affairs

Vee is a Zimbabwean expat in Melbourne trying to navigate both love and ambition amidst the messy intersection of race, culture, and class that shapes her new life.

Private Affairs, created by writer-director Christine “Kix” Mwaturura, is an Australian romantic dramedy inspired by her own move from Zimbabwe to Melbourne. The show is sharp, funny, and exactly as heartfelt as you'd hope from the best of this genre.

Sayang podcast cover art

Eko is a Bornean forest warden on the edge of losing his sight. He is torn between his duty to protect one of the world's last remaining natural habitats and the threat of exile for using forbidden technology that would bind him to it forever.

Co-created by Singaporean writer Nicholas Chan and director Renee Yeong, Sayang is a solarpunk one-shot that’s as gentle as it is ambitious — a love story about the environment, our community, and what it means to let go.

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Bryan Harris closed a $10,000 client… using nothing but a Google Doc

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You know what it feels like to pour months into creating something… only to see someone else make big moves with the simplest tool imaginable.

At first, it feels frustration. But then you realize — sometimes it’s not about building more. It’s about showing up with clarity and making the offer.

Community

🎙️The Cancer Caregiver Podcast brings evidence-based tools and compassionate storytelling to those caring for someone with cancer. Each episode helps caregivers protect their health while navigating the demands of caregiving.

🎧Podcast Club at Brooklyn Public Library is back on November 12th. Find out which podcasts will be discussed and join for a live conversation. RSVP free here.

💖In Podcast The Newsletter, Lauren Passell recommends The Secret Life of TK Dutes. She writes: “This is real shit but also entertaining and hilarious. Hopefully we get some dry cleaning content soon. Or whatever makes TK feel free. Or wherever these producers take her.”

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Podcast news from Podnews

Spotlight

Twice Displaced podcast cover art

When queer Arab musician Lem Zakharia arrived in Sydney heartbroken with two weeks of clothes, a Christmas visit became an asylum journey.

This four-part collective memoir features her ex-girlfriend, family, and friends sharing raw accounts of the same pivotal moments. From almost getting caught by police in Jordan to Arabs Got Talent, from heartbreak to unexpected love — this is the messy reality of being displaced twice.

Extra bits

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