Author : Jenny Hart Narrator : Katherine Inskip Hosts : Laura Pearlman and Katherine Inskip Audio Producer : Wilson Fowlie This story is a Cast of Wonders and CatsCast original. The Gingerbread House by Jenny Hart The air has only just begun to smell of autumn as I head for Gingerbread Cottage, where I am to house sit two cats for the winter. I have packed warm clothes and antihistamines, and the emailed instructions are both simple and strange. Feed the cats and clean up after them and yourself...
Oct 30, 2024•16 min•Season 1Ep. 26
August, 2024 Author : Carolina Valentine Narrator : Laura Pearlman Host : Laura Pearlman Audio Producer : Dave Robison This story is a CatsCast original. The Invention of a Cat by Carolina Valentine The haunting had started at 2 a.m., and my local Joann didn’t open until nine. I was in the parking lot at 8:30, and while several Joann employees passed by my car on the way to the doors, I kept scrolling on my phone, feigning disinterest, instead of begging to be let in early. Even after the night ...
Aug 04, 2024•29 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Author : Annie Reed Narrator : Summer Brooks Host : Laura Pearlman Audio Producer : Wilson Fowlie This story originally appeared in Pulphouse Fiction Magazine. Queen of the Mouse Riders by Annie Reed Gurgling yowls echoed off the tiled floor in Sarah’s bathroom. Bounced off the ceiling, gaining strength, and intruded on what was turning out to be a very, very nice dream featuring the star of a movie she’d watched just before bed. In the dream, the star turned his incredibly expressive eyes in Sa...
Jul 06, 2024•54 min•Season 1Ep. 24
February, 2024. Author : Dana Vickerson Narrator : Peter Adrian Behravesh Host : Laura Pearlman Audio Producer : Dave Robison This story [originally appeared in Zooscape. A content note: this story deals with themes of grief and loss. The Best Way to Procure Breakfast by Dana Vickerson. If Mama doesn’t get up soon, we’re going to miss our chance to get off Mars. Mama is a human, but I call her “Mama” because she says I am her baby kitty and her special boy. She is sleeping, but I am hungry. It’s...
Mar 06, 2024•2 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Blood Water by J.A. Bryson The blood on Zip’s hands is dried the color of rust and sticks like clay under her fingernails. Mostly, it isn’t hers. Mostly, it belongs to the man she shivved, the one who mistook her for an easy mark. Zip is gray-eyed and hunger-slight. She’s a lot of things – fast, fierce, speechless since birth – but she isn’t easy. The old timers know this. The man waiting at the pits to grab her while she took a piss, he did not know this. He’s a newcomer. His people came when j...
Jan 05, 2024•24 min•Season 1Ep. 22
December, 2023. Author: K. M. Veohongs Narrator: Dave Robison Host: Laura Pearlman Audio Producer: Dave Robison This story originally appeared inTranslunar Traveler's Lounge, February 2022 A content note: there is some death in this one. Kindly, Stop for Me by K.M. Veohongs I rise from my spot by the window in Room 126 of the Sunny Glades Home for Health and Rehabilitation. The sun set an hour ago, so it’s no great loss. My front paws extend, claws out, before I shift my weight forward and kick ...
Dec 23, 2023•4 min•Season 1Ep. 21
Author : Nicole Walsh Narrator : Matt Dovey Host : Laura Pearlman Audio Producers : Wilson Fowlie and Dave Robison This month we’re re-running The Cat by Nicole Walsh, which ran on our patron-only feed in June, 2022. Content note: although it’s not a major theme, there is some domestic abuse in this story. This story originally appeared in Teleport Magazine in May, 2021. The Cat by Nicole Walsh The cat followed him home. Tomas Shine spent three and a half minutes in the stairwell hyperventilatin...
Nov 01, 2023•40 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Description Authors : Nathan Susnik and Monica Joyce Evans Narrators : George Fowlie and Sandy Parsons Host : Laura Pearlman Audio Producer : Dave Robison The Tan One by Nathan Susnik originally appeared in Shoreline of Infinity. Alligators by Monica Joyce Evans originally appeared in Nature Futures The Tan One by Nathan Susnik Some days I pick the white pill. Other days it’s the black. For some reason or another, I prefer the brown pill on Tuesdays. Today, feels like it’s going to be one of my ...
Oct 04, 2023•2 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Author : Ember Randall Narrator : Laura Pearlman Host : Laura Pearlman Audio Producer : Wilson Fowlie This story is a CatsCast original. Match.Cat by Ember Randall They say cats have nine lives, but that’s not quite right. Nine is more of an average--in reality, you get as many as Death gives you, which means it behooves any sensible cat to suck up while they can. Or, at least, that’s what I told myself as I wound around Death’s legs, giving them my best never-been-petted meow--the unmatched qua...
Sep 04, 2023•32 min•Season 1Ep. 18
August, 2023. Author : Jolie Toomajan Narrator : Kat Day Host : Laura Pearlman Audio Producer : Dave Robison This story will appear in Posthaste Manor by Tenebrous Press in October 2023. Content Note: This is a horror story. There’s a little gore. No cats are harmed in this story, but I make no such promises regarding the humans. The Absolutely True and Correct Account of the Honorable Mlle. Cassandra von Archambault, Affectionately and Begrudgingly Known to Her Friends and Family as Echo As tol...
Aug 04, 2023•1 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Author : Nikki Knight Narrator : Dave Robison Host : Laura Pearlman Audio Producer : Dave Robison This story is a CatsCast original. Don’t Mess with The Boss Cat A Vermont Radio Story by Nikki Knight I didn’t want to become the Boss Cat at some radio station in the middle of nowhere, and I definitely didn’t want to have to kill some fool. But you mess with my family, you mess with me. Read the rest on Patreon ....
Jun 05, 2023•27 min•Season 1Ep. 16
Author : Sheryl R. Hayes Narrator : Alethea Kontis Host : Laura Pearlman Audio Producer : Wilson Fowlie The Tenth Life by Sheryl R. Hayes I sit curled on my favorite pillow. My fluffy tail is tucked over my nose so I form a circle of perfect warmth. I am content. My servant is out of the apartment she keeps for me. Something has been wrong with her lately. She looks at my pillow and bursts into tears. My attempts at comforting her by winding between her ankles and bumping my head against her sho...
May 04, 2023•31 min•Season 1Ep. 15
April, 2023. Author : Rayne Hall Narrator : Sandy Parsons Host : Laura Pearlman Audio Producer : Dave Robison A Feline Familiar By Rayne Hall November wind rattles the windows and rain gusts against the panes. The cats have withdrawn to the kennel's heated indoor section and curled up in their cosy donut beds. Some doze with heads on paws, others watch my fingers dance across the keyboard, ears tilted forward as they listen to the rhythmic clack-clack-clack. Several stare intently at the door, w...
Apr 04, 2023•2 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Author : Anya Ow Narrator : Ren Shin Hsieh Host : Laura Pearlman Audio Producer : Wilson Fowlie A Routine Vet Visit by Anya Ow “Murder! Arson! Kidnapping! Help! I’m being oppressed!” As a passing jogger slowed down and cast a suspicious look in their direction, Yunfeng dug her thumbnail into her index finger, drawing blood and pressing another droplet onto the yellow talisman she held in her palm. The jogger blinked and sped up, disappearing around the prominent ‘Cat Specialists – Feline-only Ve...
Mar 04, 2023•26 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Author : S. M. Hallow Narrator : Tatiana Grey Host : Laura Pearlman Audio Producer : Dave Robison Mandy and Lulu Welcome Walter by S. M. Hallow Just for the record, I was very clear. I was literally like, Lulu, I will become your vampire bride on one condition, and she got down on her knees--you know how she is--and she was like, Name the price I must pay for your love. It was super cute, actually--she was so eager for me to finally say yes that she would have agreed to anything, and looking bac...
Feb 04, 2023•17 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Alasdair Stuart & Marguerite Kenner (publishers) Laura Pearlman (editor, CatsCast) Eleanor R. Wood & Shingai Njeri Kagunda (PodCastle Editors) Audio Production: Wilson Fowlie and Dave Robison Visit us at escapeartists.net Support us at: patreon.com/eapodcasts or at our website. Released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives International 4.0 license.
Jan 31, 2023•14 min
Author: Beth Cato Narrator: Valerie Valdes Host: Laura Pearlman Audio Producer: Wilson Fowlie This story originally appeared in the Cats in Space anthology, 2015. Headspace by Beth Cato Something was alive in the crawlspace above aft berthing, and damn it all, it was Akiko's job to slither up there and clear it out. Desperate times called for desperate measures. In this case, illegal drugs. With fumbling fingers, she unwrapped a tranq patch and slapped it on beneath the waistband of her jumpsuit...
Jan 04, 2023•4 min•Season 1Ep. 11
December, 2022. Author : Christina Westcott Narrator : Dom Rabrun The Stray is a CatsCast original. Content Note: There are scenes of violence between humans, a dog, and a cat. As a kitten, my mam told me a cat could squeeze through any hole he could get his head in, but I hadn’t accounted for my body armor. No cat worth his whiskers would travel north into the wilds of Georgia without that extra protection from wolves and feral humans. I tried to back out of the tangle of briers, but a stick sn...
Dec 04, 2022•48 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Author: Andrea M. Pawley Narrator: Wilson Fowlie Host: Laura Pearlman Audio Producer: Wilson Fowlie The Kipnibbles Singularity originally appeared in Electric Spec. The Kipnibbles Singularity by Andrea M. Pawley We see their feet first. Some technician pointed our eyes to the ground long before we woke in our too-small confines. Three female humans, all young teenagers, step into view and look up at our camera on the porch. We know these girls from the lonely ones-and-zeroes time before the hack...
Nov 01, 2022•3 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Halloween 2022. Author : Constance Fay Narrator : Tatiana Gray Host : Laura Pearlman Audio Producer : Dave Robison Love Tokens is a CatsCast original. Content note: This story includes a little light dismemberment. It’s fine. Love Tokens by Constance Fay The cat in my living room has a human finger in her mouth and love in her eyes. This is disturbingly wrong for a number of reasons. First and foremost, I don’t have a cat. Second, I live on a third-floor apartment and the windows are closed. Thi...
Oct 31, 2022•30 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Four short stories, each one stranger than the last. "Lilly", by Melissa Mead. Originally published in "A Quiet Shelter There". "What Color Is a Cat by Moonlight?" by Bo Balder. A CatsCast original. "Your Lives of Uncertain Number" by Laura Blackwell. A CatsCast original. "Ruby Could Be a Cat" by Alexandra Grunberg. A CatsCast original. Read the full text on Patreon .
Oct 04, 2022•41 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Rati Mehrotra (Author), Laura Pearlman (Host), Emily Compton (Front cover photograph), Matt Dovey (Back cover art), Dave Robison (Audio production) Magnificent Maurice, or the Flowers of Immortality by Rati Mehrotra The tree has many names, in many languages: Yggdrasil, Kalpavriksha, Jian-Mu, Ashvattha. It stands at the nexus of worlds, dark matter coiling around its roots, the rim of the universe held aloft by its ever-expanding crown. Its branches bend spacetime, its cordate leaves uphold the ...
Sep 04, 2022•3 min•Season 1Ep. 6
August 2022. Author : Marshall J Moore Narrator : S. Kay Nash Host : Laura Pearlman Audio Producer : Wilson Fowlie Daisies is a CatsCast original. Content Notes: Grief is a major theme of this story. The story also depicts the peaceful death of a beloved cat. Daisies by Marshall J Moore I believe I was the only person on Earth who stayed outdoors on that golden evening, watching the world end. The bombs rose from the far horizon like stars ascending to greet the night. Our bombs, or at least the...
Aug 04, 2022•50 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Laura Pearlman (Host), Kat Day (Front cover photograph), Matt Dovey (Back cover art), Dave Robison (Audio production) The cat followed him home. Tomas Shine spent three and a half minutes in the stairwell hyperventilating. He heard Mrs Helen Acres, the widow from Unit Two, clatter and batter her way out her door, shopping bags in hand. She spotted the cat outside the stairway and reversed soundlessly into her unit. Tomas sucked in a ragged breath, filling his lungs to the brim, and looked up. Th...
Jul 01, 2022•3 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Author: KT Bryski Narrator: Rish Outfield Host: Laura Pearlman Cat-of-the-month photograph: Callie, by Kimberley and Jeremiah Daly Podcast cover art: Matt Dovey Audio production: Wilson Fowlie What Cats (and Dragons) Do is a CatsCast original. Far away in the hill country, there lived a small black cat. Though people enough lived in a nearby town, he belonged only to himself. Sometimes he climbed the town’s old stone walls and prowled its old stone lanes, for he was very fond of sunny window led...
Jun 04, 2022•32 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Charlotte Platt (Author), Wilson Fowlie (Narrator), Bill Shields (Front cover photograph), Matt Dovey (Back cover art), Dave Robison (Audio production). They killed my tin opener. The humans called her Margaret, but what do humans know? She was my tin opener. More than that, she was a witch, and a good one. A crone for the village, a sharp mind, and a healer. She knew the best way to mend broken bones, and how to scratch my ears so that I purred deep and long in her lap. I liked her, and they ki...
May 04, 2022•1 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Author: Jennifer Hudak Narrator: Alethea Kontis Host: Laura Pearlman Cat-of-the-month photograph: Steve Gatlin Podcast cover art: Matt Dovey Audio production: Wilson Fowlie Laurie stands in front of a door. It’s old but solid, as many old things are. Whatever paint once covered it has long since worn away, and the wood beneath is striped, and furred with splinters. It is her very first door, of her very first day, of her very first job. Visit us at: https://escapeartists.net/catscast/ Released u...
Apr 01, 2022•40 min•Season 1Ep. 1
CatsCast debuts April 1! Here's a preview of Season 1, Episode 1, featuring The Cat Lady and the Petitioner by Jennifer Hudak, read by Alethea Kontis. If you support the Escape Artists Patreon at the "Premium Content" level, you can hear every episode on the EA Premium Content feed . Some episodes will also be available on the CatsCast public feed. Visit us at: https://escapeartists.net/catscast/ CatsCast is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives International ...
Mar 23, 2022•3 min
This is the 341st episode of the imaginary version of CatsCast. It ran on all the Escape Artists podcasts on April 1, 2021. so if you were listening to any of them at the time, you may have heard this one already.
Mar 21, 2022•26 min
This is the 289th episode of a long-running imaginary podcast called CatsCast. It ran on all the Escape Artists podcasts on April 1, 2020, so if you were listening to any of them at the time, you may have heard this one already. We also announced that one of our (imaginary) 2019 episodes won an award: “The Cats That Fall on You From Nowhere” was awarded the American Surrealist Society’s coveted Invisible Candle award for “reminding everyone of that Magritte painting with all the men in bowler ha...
Mar 21, 2022•32 min
