Hi friends! I am so excited to announce It’s Storytime with Wil Wheaton, my new podcast. Our first episode drops on March 26th.
This idea emerged from my creative self the same way that Tabletop did. It spung, fully-formed, into my face when my friend who has been writing since we were in high school told me that he had finally been published.
I was so excited for him, and I loved his story so much, I thought it would be cool to narrate it for him, one friend to another, in celebration of something that’s been such a long time coming. As I pulled my mic out of the closet, and opened up Audacity to do one of my signature DIY, lo-fi thingies, a voice in my head said, “Hey, man. I think this could be the basis of a podcast. Hear me out: you’re a respected and acclaimed narrator. What if you looked for new works from great authors who haven’t yet found their audience, and narrated them? What if you used the privilege you have earned to help boost other people’s creative voices and careers?”
This was a good idea, I thought. But I didn’t know that anyone else would agree, so I attempted to tackle it entirely on my own.
Two miserable, frustrating months later, I concluded that I am not cut out to be a slush reader, or a content editor, and if I was going to move this from idea to thing, I needed help. So I asked some friends who had relevant experience, and built an all-star creative and technical team to do all the things I couldn’t, which allowed me to focus on narrating the stories, which is the part of this I know how to do.
I’m going to yadda yadda over the next year, which was marked by starts and stops, enormous technical challenges, and lots of very good work that kept me going through all of it, and jump ahead to last summer, at the Burbank airport departure terminal A.
I was there with LeVar Burton, waiting to board our flight to a convention.
LeVar had just finished his podcast, which I loved and listened to regularly. When I went looking for a similar podcast to replace it, I couldn’t find one that checked all the boxes that his did … and that’s when I realized I was making the podcast I wanted to hear, profoundly inspired by him and all of his work. I absolutely wasn’t going to move forward without his blessing; he’s family and I’m not going to step on his toes.
So I told him all about it, and asked him if he was cool with it.
To my utter delight, he was as excited about it as I am, and he encouraged me the way a loving parent or family member encourages their kid to follow their dream. Even if this podcast doesn’t find its audience, and only lasts one season, that moment will stay with me for the rest of my life.
I’ve been doing lots of press, and I’ll share those links when they are released. For now, I’d love for you to see the video I made of myself recording the trailer that dropped today:
Here’s everything you need to know, copied from my official podcast page:
You may recognize Wil Wheaton’s name from his acting work in television shows like The Big Bang Theory, Leverage, and Star Trek: The Next Generation, or 1985’s timeless classic, Stand By Me. You may recognize his voice from one of the many audio books he’s narrated, including number one New York Times bestseller, Ready Player One, John Scalzi’s award-winning Collapsing Empire Trilogy, or even his own bestselling memoir, Still Just A Geek.
Now, Wil brings you It’s Storytime, with Wil Wheaton, a weekly audiobook podcast, featuring stories that Wil loves, pulled from the pages of Uncanny, Lightspeed, On Spec, and others. You’re going to meet authors you don’t yet know you love, including some who are being narrated for the very first time. Listeners will travel through time, meet some gods, watch people fall in and out of love, and more, brought to life by Wil’s remarkable narrative voice.
It’s Story Time With Wil Wheaton is available wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes drop every Wednesday, beginning March 26.
Subscribe now at
I hope you’re as excited about this as I am, and I hope you’ll help me let other people who would enjoy this, know that it exists. The easy part was narrating all these stories and writing all the stuff that went with it; the hard part is helping it reach its audience.
I’ll be checking comments for the next few hours, if you have any questions.
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I cannot tell you how much I needed this good news right now. I am so excited! YAY!
I’m looking forward to your success story…this sounds ambitious and awe-inspiring!
I love it! I listened to LeVar’s podcast avidly (found it during gallbladder-ectomy recovery), and have been looking for something new.
Just subscribed to the new podcast, thanks!
Oh, I’m very excited. A lovely story podcast is exactly what I need.
I’m super stoked! I rarely listen to podcasts, but this will be worth exploring. Congratulations!
I love this idea so much. Guess I listen to podcasts now
I can’t wait! So happy for you and these wonderful authors!
In for 1
This is so exciting!
Awesome! I’m looking forward to it. Will they all be works that haven’t landed a publisher book deal or lesser known published works?
This is so exciting! I have been looking for a podcast for running, and this sounds perfect. I can’t wait to give it a whirl! Congratulations, you sound very happy about this. Go you! And yay for the rest of us!!
I’ve been looking for new good podcasts and things to listen to. This one’s now at the top of my list. Thanks in advance!! 🥰
I love this for you! (And for us, because we get to listen!)
Oh man this is soooooo awesome. What a great fit, and I love that you’re carrying on LeVar’s legacy.
What a fantastic idea!
Ready Player One is an all time favorite. Your narration provided comfort on my journey moving across the country in 2018. Congratulations and good luck ❤️
Oh this is the best news I’ve had in a long time!! I was literally saying to my other half the other day that I wished you did more audiobooks and narrations, because I could listen to you read my bank statement and enjoy it…
Very cool, and I can’t wait to hear it! Will you be talking about your selection and curation process? I’d love to know how you decide that a story is right for you.
Subscribed right away! I’ve listened to you narrate many books countless times (I often listen many times for my favorites). I’m very excited to see you doing this because you are a natural at this!
While I have your attention, I wanted to say that my family and I really loved watching The Wil Wheaton Project shows and were stunned when it didn’t continue. It was like The Soup but for SciFi and it was so entertaining.
So, back to the podcast! I very eagerly (and impatiently) await the first episode. Congrats once again! You really are an incredibly good person and are amazingly talented. Well done!
Wil, I think you’re finally getting me to listen to a podcast. I don’t know why they’ve never been my thing, but I have been wanting to get into audiobooks more, so this sounds perfect for my world right now! Will these be mostly short stories, or some longer novels?
As a writer and reader, I could not be more thrilled. I was so sad when LeVar ended his podcast. It’s great to know you’ll be taking up the mantle. Maybe you’ll even come across one of my stories in one of those mags. Maybe even very soon. 😉
Ah, great news! Another way to listen to you narrate, AND a way to discover new authors. 👍👍
Exciting! I’m in! Also have questions such as: are these short stories, or snips of longer stories? Will there be ways for us to read more or are they teasers of future works that will hopefully be published someday?
They are all short stories. Each episode is right around 45 minutes. I will include links in the show notes so listeners know where to go see more from that week’s author, including where their story was originally published.
Woot Woot! I’m so excited to hear this. Following on Spotify 🙂
I am so excited for you! And us!! I was frozen with indecision after reading your email – what do I do first?!?! Do I comment about my excitement, or subscribe to the podcast! AHHH!! (This comment won). Now off to Spotify to subscribe. Can’t freakin wait. Thank you for following your dreams and sharing them with us!
Oh this is so exciting! Congrats!! And thank you for making it available on so many platforms. Do you prefer any platforms in particular? Meaning, how can we listen in a way that best supports you? If that makes sense. No worries if you prefer not to say!
Oh, I don’t care where you get it, as long as you get it. Thank you for asking!
I love your narrations! I look forward to you being my first podcast subscription.
Does this mean you’re going to finish the “Invisible Man”?
That was during the pandemic on Radio Free Burrito, and you only made it to chapter 10.
Inquiring minds want to know!
You know, I felt like nobody listened to that stuff when I was doing it. Like it just never found its audience, even though tiny the audience that found it seemed to love it. It got to a point where I felt like I wasn’t enjoying it, that I was doing it for the wrong reasons.
I think it would be cool to finish it, though, just on principle. But if I’m being totally honest, I hope that I don’t have time to do it, you know?
Congratulations Wil! I look forward to listening to the podcast; I love your work and hope you continue to put out new projects and content often!
Best of luck!
Bill Newberry
Sounds like a win-win-win (Creators-You-Audience)! I’ll be interested to check it out! Thanks
I subscribed to this within 2 minutes of seeing the launch trailer. So excited! I have a particular love of short audio fiction, and absolutely adored LeVar Burton’s podcast. I can’t think of anyone better to pick up that mantle than you, Wil.
Hi wil as a fan of yours from the uk, I got to say I love your old casts especially when I was working 2 jobs, I listened to your previous casts. I have actually been listening to just a geek (your rework) I love it.
I have also been watching tabletop again. Just been on a wil Wheaton kick I guess. You are a legend and in many away a hero…..
You having a new cast is seriously exciting. So keep going and thanks for all your hard works.
I am a fella suffer from depression and anxiety high levels and you have helped me define my shadow as I call my beast.
Please remember you have an extended family out here. Sending love and respect from the uk in Nottingham. Llap
Very cool. Working with the online SF&F fiction sites means you’ll have a lot of great stories to choose from.
This is epic! Absolutely subscribing and can’t wait to tell my friends and family about it, too!
Subscribed! Can’t wait.
Congratulations Wil – I am so happy for you. Thank you for putting love, light and joy out into the world and making it part of the work you do. I love the podcast artwork – is it yours, or if not are you able to name the artist? Thank you 🙂
Will you have a simple RSS feed on your site, or do we need to climb someone else’s garden walls?
Unless there is a Business (puke) reason that I can’t, yes. I just have to clear that with the people I pay to help me be better at Business.
I don’t think it will be an issue, though. Unless things are massively, fundamentally different from when I was doing my little indie podcasts, you should be able to grab the RSS we use to populate the services directly from me. Check back on the podcast page in a day or two, because that’s where I’ll link it.
Here ya go! https://feeds.megaphone.fm/itsstorytime
Sounds amazing. I am horrible with podcasts (my brain can’t seem to pay attention for more than 30 minutes), but I promise I will give it a try!
Good deal—Sounds awesomely exciting.
Of course, I will expect readings on the great short stories “How I fixed My Broken Flight Stick on My Arcade1Up Tron Video Game” by K. Flynn, “How to Break 500,000 on ‘Mr. Do’ by Level 30” and “Am I Really Going to be Banging My Head Against the Wall for the Next 3 Years and 10 Months?” by Eric D. Sharpe. All stellar reads.
Insert wall-banging noise here.
Whooooooo! kermit flail
I have a very short list of things I’m subscribed to on Spotify, and this podcast has been added to that list.
This sounds very cool! I’ll be looking forward to my next business trip so I can listen to it.
This sounds awesome!
So where is the RSS feed for us old fashioned nerds who want to import it into our own podcast app like Pocket Casts?
I am incredibly stoked for this. I have difficulty with some function, notably reading, writing, audiobooks and podcasts so it may take time to get through each episode but I will try.
Be well. Enjoy your burrito.
Subscribed! I’ve never really been into podcasts but this brings two of my favorite things together: books and you narrating. This is going to be great!
Very excited for this, Wil!
What is your favorite type of story to narrate? Is that different from your favorite type to read?
Stories that have clearly-drawn characters who I care about (I don’t have to like them), a narrative that surprises me and holds me until the very end, clever prose, and meaningful themes are all things I look for. I don’t particularly care about the genre, as long as those criteria are met, though my career has ended up in the speculative fiction aisle (to my delight).
A good dialog scene with strong characters allows me to use all of my performance muscles and skills. I absolutely adore those scenes. John Scalzi writes them so well, I’m always excited when he asks me to do one of his books.
I am 100% unknown and have written an autobiography. Was that the wisest decision? LOL!
In all seriousness, I needed to document my life growing up in the Silicon Valley so that my ailing mother would have something to listen to before she passed on to the great beyond. The unfortunate thing is that cognitive dementia is completely different from Alzheimer’s so, reading to my mom didn’t work. But, (damn it all), I have this book now at least
Hi Will,
Please list the link to Pocket Cast as well, this podcatcher is fairly popular between Android folk.
https://pca.st/nbfxdukj
Thanks
We are working on that now.
(*Wil)
ETA: here ya go! https://play.pocketcasts.com/podcasts/9911a4f0-e72b-013d-46fd-02bb5ef11301
Thanks! Very excited for the podcast, I just finished Starter Villain and was already missing your voice. I’m starting to believe that half of the reason I like Scalzi’s books so much is your interpretation of the audiobooks (no offence John! 😉).
And sorry for double l, I blame autocorrect and no edit button. 😉
Interesting to see what stories you curate, and listening to your narration.
Curating the list must have been difficult, given how easy it is for AI to plagiarise authors. Kudos.
This is fantastic news, and I can’t wait to listen! I’m a big SFF short story fan; there is so much great work out there! Can you give us a sneak peek of any of the authors you’ll be featuring? 👀
wilflail.gif! Subbed!
Now that is a deep cut.