In a show where the theme of being “connected” is raised so often, it’s odd that many of us involved can be so isolated.

I decided to do something about that and finally started reaching out the individuals I saw most often crossing my Twitter feed. There I met a delightful confabulation of fellow sci-fi audio-fiction creators, some of whom invited me into the larger community that meets and talks on the Discord server run by Podcast Junkie.

My social world (online, anyway) exploded; now I’m in touch with people from all over the country (and a few outside it!) who have many of the same goals and dreams as I do. And in general I’d say we all have the same wry, language-loving sense of humor.

The big deal, though, is that rather than meandering into a mine-field of competitors, I had found my way into a happy meeting ground of supportive, encouraging, positive well-wishers. We boost each other’s shows, we praise each other’s accomplishments, and have a great time talking about why and how we do what we do.

I was already a fan of some of these shows and their creators before connecting with them this way … others have been happy discoveries to which I’ve been led by the folks in these communities. Some of them you’ll hear in the RELATIVITY: CONNECTIONS series, but here’s an attempt at a list, in no particular order, of the shows about which I’m most likely to say, “You think this is great; you ought to meet its creator(s)!”

• Oz-9 (https://oz-9.com)
• A Ninth World Journal (https://ninthworldjournal.com)
• Girl in Space (https://www.girlinspacepodcast.com)
• Evergreen Sky (https://www.evergreenskypod.com)
• Mission to Zyxx (https://www.missiontozyxx.space)
• Moonbase Theta Out (https://monkeymanproductions.com/moonbase-theta-out)

And I’m sure there are others I’m suddenly forgetting so I’ll be back to update this list from time to time!

If you’d like to get into that Twitter community, just started following me — @relativitypodc1 — and soon you’ll have the whole group on your radar.

To dig deeper, you’re welcome to join the Discord community as well. You’ll need the invitation code from me, so shoot me an email (contact@relativitypodcast.com) and I’ll bounce that right back to you.

I guess my point is, it’s good to have good people in your life.

It may be the best thing.