A story that upends gender norms.

“Timothy: An Oral History” by Michael Swanwick (2023) — 3,650 words (about 15 minutes for the average reader)

Published in Clarkesworld magazine issue #205, October 2023.

P.S. The author in yesterday‘s Daily Dose of Empathy has an interview in this month’s issue of Clarkesworld. You can read it in full here. If you like it, consider subscribing to support fantastic short fiction.

A humorous story about a family dealing with dementia.

“The Many Taste Grooves of the Chang Family” by Allison King (2023) — 3,975 (about 30 minutes to listen)

Published on LeVar Burton Reads 6 November 2023.

P.S. The author in has an interview in this month’s issue of Clarkesworld. You can read it in full here. If you like it, consider subscribing to support fantastic short fiction.

A tired father tells his precocious seven-year-old daughter a bedtime story about a quantum singularity in a man’s garden.

“The Hole in the Garden” by Gene Doucette (2023) — 4,353 words (about 18 minutes for the average reader)

Published in Lightspeed magazine issue #160, September 2023.

Transhumanism meets capitalism.

“Upgrade Day” by RJ Taylor (2023) — 2,030 words (about 9 minutes for the average reader)

Published in Clarkesworld magazine issue #204, September 2023.

A young slave and his sister attempt to escape enslavement but a giant robot stands in their way.

“Death Is Better” by Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe (2023) — 1,471 words (about 6 minutes for the average reader)

Published in Lightspeed magazine issue #158, July 2023.

Terminal illness, sentient trucks, and bounty hunters.

“Death and Redemption, Somewhere Near Tuba City” by Lou J. Berger (2023) — 5,470 words (about 22 minutes for the average reader)

First published in Clarkesworld magazine issue #202, July 2023.

A great story of the truth behind a revolutionary group’s founding myth.

“The Unveiling” by Christopher Rowe (2023) — 4,500 words (about 30 minutes to listen)

I first heard it on StarshipSofa podcast, published 28 June 2023.

A single person is chosen for a one-on-one meeting with an alien civilization.

“Vast and Trunkless Legs of Stone” by Carrie Vaughn (2023) — 5,570 words (about 22 minutes for the average reader)

Published in Clarkesworld magazine issue #201, June 2023.