EAR*WAX Magazine

00:00:00 Promo: Holy Roller - support the Indiegogo for Holy Roller here!

00:01:00 "Starbucks in Blue" by T.H. Ponders

00:05:02 In This Issue

00:06:11 Editorial: Why You Should Write Comedy, by Max Kreisky

00:16:16 Professor Van Driesen Discusses Open Mike Eagle's Doomed

00:19:16 Sad Girl Summer, Part 1: Roundtable

00:30:49 Five Picks of the Funniest Audio Fiction Ever

00:35:05 Review: Depressed Horse

00:40:00 Professor Morris Discusses MF Doom

00:42:30 For Further Reading: Best New Songs of August

00:45:29 Sad Girl Summer, Part 2: Roundtable

00:57:28 Run for Cover: "Coat of Many Colors" (Dolly Parton original and Sierra Ferrell cover)

00:58:47 Credits

• Issue 3 of EarWax Magazine was written by Jeff Van Dreason, Adam Cecil, Neil Johnson, Bee Lidstone, Oliver Morris, Rihanna Stevenson, Jordan Stillman, Hannah Wright, and Wil Williams.
• "Starbucks in Blue," written and produced by T.H. Ponders.
• Editorial on comedy and audio fiction by Max Kreisky. Produced and scored by Oliver Morris. Huge thank you to Max, and remember to check out True Tales of the Illuminati Season 3, coming around Thanksgiving.
• Sonic branding, artwork and transition sound effects by Neil Johnson.
• Other segments produced by Jeff Van Dreason and Oliver Morris.
• Music by Neil Johnson, Oliver Morris, and Jeff Van Driesen.
• Holy Roller ad music by AudioCoffee: https://www.audiocoffee.net/
• We need your support. Patreon at patreon.com/earwaxmagazine. You'll get access to bonus playlists, audio fiction recommendations, and more.
• Visit us at earwaxmag.com to subscribe to our newsletter, and check out our social media pages on Instagram, Bluesky, and Tumblr.
• Check out our other shows on this feed, including Infinite Mixtape, Drama Club, and Any Major Dudes. New episodes release every Wednesday.
• EAR*WAX Magazine is a Third Sight Media production.

Oli and Jeff take on one of the greatest debut albums of all time - Can't Buy A Thrill.

The club discusses what makes a good character, whether they're a good character, and more audio fiction fun.

Our first proper episode, and I had the honor of swapping mixes with Erin (@IndieScientist) who is a specialist in new music. They curate a blog called Central Tendancy which highlights new music. We recorded this back in June so it's a couple months old, but it was focused on the best music of 2026 SO FAR. Plenty of worthy listening.

You can find Erin's Mix Here:

• Spotify
• Apple Music
• Qobuz
• YouTube

You can find My mix for Erin Here:

• Spotify
• Apple Music
• Qobuz
• YouTube

Subscribe for our newsletter to get all our shows and music recommendations right in your inbox at earwaxmag.com.

Happy listening!

Tracklist:

• Advertisement for Audio Fiction FM (0:00 - 0:30)
• SHH…Listen (Eastern whip-poor-wil) by Neil Jordan and (0:30--5:50)
• Editorial The Audio Fiction Conference (TAFCON) by Jordan Stillman - (6:35-13:52)
• 10 Song Recommendations of Songs of the Summer - 2026 - Side A (13:52-19:55)
  • Track 1 - Big Sis - Big Sis Summer
  • Track 2 - Surfbort - Hot Dog
  • Track 3 - Bug Hunter - Bottle Rocket Astronaut
  • Track 4 - Alewya - Maktoub
  • Track 5 - Fred again and Jamie T - Lights Burn Dimmer

• Best Audio Fiction of 2026 So Far (20:25-26:03 )

  • Witchpunk

  • The Cold Punge

  • Fantastic Castle

  • Dominus

  • The Reality Shaper

  • Absolutely No Adventures

  • Dungeon Economic Model

  • G.O.B.L.I.N.S

  • Radio San Lazaro

• An Interview with Christine Aturio of Little Low - by Michael Melia (26:15-37:25)
  • Little Low - Dark Beer Archives (37:30-40:25)
  • Little Low is on tour starting TODAY August 26th! Check out their tour dates with Five Hundred Bucks here!

• Alleyoop: Extended Edition Review by Hannah Wright (40:25-45:13)

• 10 Song Recommendations of Songs of the Summer (Summers Past) - Side B (46:00-50:59)

  • Track 6 - Fun- Some Nights
  • Track 7 - Chapelle Roan - HOT TO GO!
  • Track 8 - Hot 8 Brass Band - Love Will Tear Us Apart
  • Track 9 - Mcfly - Happiness
  • Track 10 - Teen Daze - Shine On You Crazy White Cap

• Run for Cover: Cover Battle - Anthem for a 17 Year Old Girl by Yeule (2026) vs. Anthem for a 17 Year Old Girl by Broken Social Scene (2002)

• Credits (51:34-55:28)

Volume 1, Issue 2 of EARWAX MAGAZINE was written by Jeff Van Dreason, ItMe!, Neil Johnson, Bee Lidstone, Tal Minear, Oliver Morris, Rhianna Stephenson, Jordan Stillman, and Hannah Wright.

Shh…Listen from produced by Neil Johnson, Brad Murphy, and the Eastern Whip-poor-will

Sonic branding, artwork, and transition sound effects by Neil Johnson.

Other segments produced by Jeff Van Dreason and Oliver Morris.

Music by Neil Johnson and Oliver Morris.

Little Low interview by Michael Melia

Dark Beer Archives by Little Low from their album Sunshine Guilt

Marketing, Communication, and incredible Organization by Jordan Stillman.

We need your support! Patreon at patreon.com/earwaxmagazine. You'll get access to bonus playlists, audio fiction recommendations, and more. Visit us at earwaxmag.com to subscribe to our newsletter and check out our social media pages on Instagram, Bluesky and Tumblr.

Links to music curation in this episode here:

• Spotify

• Apple Music

• YouTube

• Qobuz

EARWAX Magazine is a ThirdSight Media production.

From EAR•WAX comes: a Steely Dan fancast. Audio fiction creators Oliver Morris and Jeff Van Dreason discuss their relationship with Steely Dan before launching into an album-by-album take in future episodes.

Visit our website to subscribe to our newsletter. Support us on Patreon (we could really use your help). Check us out on Instagram, Blue Sky, and Tumblr, where we'll be posting the best Dan memes the internet has to offer.

From EAR•WAX: Four audio drama creators discuss what they're working on, what challenges they're facing, and strategies for how to get heard - both via social media and in their actual podcast.

Featuring Tal Minear, Jade Madison-Scott, Oliver Morris, and Jeff Van Dreason.

Learn more on our website, and support this and other EAR•WAX shows on our Patreon to earn access to our Discord, bonus playlists, audio fiction recommendations and more.

A music discoverability podcast where Jeff and a guest decide on a them, make a couple of dope mixes, and share it with each other (and you). This first time out, Jeff is flying solo, discussing a mix he made using only opening tracks from albums.

The full mix can be found here:

• Spotify
• Apple Music
• Qobuz
• YouTube

For more information, check out earwaxmag.com. Please consider supporting us on Patreon.

Tracklist:

• Vinyl by Oliver Morris (0:00 - 1:15)
• Table of Contents (1:17-1:58)
• Editoria AntI: The Curse of Human Intelligence - Jeff Van Dreason, music by Oliver Morris. (2:01-7:05)
• Audio Fiction Review of Higher Grounds by Rhianna Stephenson (read full review here). (7:07-8:39)
• 10 Song Recommendations of new songs from 2026 - Side A (8:39-15:18)
  • Track 1 - Haute and Freddy - Dance the Pain Away
  • Track 2 - Thumper - You Didn't Hear This From Me
  • Track 3 - Gelli Haha - Klouds Will Carry Me to Sleep
  • Track 4 - Mollie Elizabeth - Run Rabbit
  • Track 5 - Deante' Hitchcock - Electric Revival
• Interview with Lauren Shippen (15:26-24:41)
• Audio Fiction Review of Somethings Amiss at Juniper's House by Hannah Wright (24:48-31:30)
• 10 Song Recommendations of new songs from 2026 - Side B (32:10-38:45)
  • Track 6 - My First Time - Picture of Health
  • Track 7 - ผ้าอ้อม99999 - Captcha
  • Track 8 - Sophie Hunter - Cups 2
  • Track 9 - Melanie Baker - Sad Clown
  • Track 10 - Miki - It Stings a Little Though
• Interview with Lauren Shippen (Continued) (39:10-52:45)
• Run for Cover: Cover Battle - Pepper by the Butthole Surfers (1996) vs. Pepper by S.G. Goodman (2026)
• Credits:

Volume 1, Issue 1 of EARWAX MAGAZINE was written by Jeff Van Dreason, Neil Johnson, Oliver Morris, Rhianna Stephenson, Jordan Stillman, and Hannah Wright.

Vinyl by Oliver Morris, produced by Jeff Van Dreason. Voiced by Alex Keswick, Rae Lundberg, and Rick Wheaton.

Sonic branding, artwork, and transition sound effects by Neil Johnson.

Other segments produced by Jeff Van Dreason.

Music by Jim Johanson, Neil Johnson, and Oliver Morris.

Marketing and Communication by Jordan Stillman.

Big thanks to Lauren Shippen for speaking with us. If you want to hear the entire hour long interview with Lauren, support us on Patreon at patreon.com/earwaxmagazine. You'll get access to bonus playlists, audio fiction recommendations, and more.

Visit us at earwaxmag.com to subscribe to our newsletter and check out our social media pages on Instagram, Bluesky and Tumblr.

Links to music curation in this episode here:

• Spotify
• Apple Music
• YouTube
• Qobuz

We'll be back the first Wednesday of August with our new show Infinite Mixtape, a music discovery playlist about making a dope mix and sharing it with others.

EARWAX Magazine is a ThirdSight Media production.

Coming summer 2026 like a meteor to your ears - EAR•WAX Magazine will focus on independent music curation, indapendent audio fiction, prose, poetry, soothing tones and new noise. Subscribe now at earwaxmag.com!