Young hearts, strange worlds, carefully told.
Cast of Wonders presents young adult stories of the fantastic with a patient, literary ear. Recent episodes move from mountain cold and colonial pressure to ghost shops, bear wives, dystopian censorship, and monsters under the bed.
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Cast of Wonders is a young adult speculative fiction anthology shaped around narrated short stories rather than host banter. Its episodes make room for the tale to take over. Recent selections move through mountain villages, haunted shops, family stories, dystopian schools, strange bodies, and landscapes that feel close enough to touch. The show’s texture is literary without becoming distant. A cold stream can carry homesickness. A cardigan can become a pressure point. A box of firecrackers can hold grief, bravado, and a child’s practical theory of ghosts. The stories often start with something concrete: weather, a room, an errand, a rumor, a household object. Then the world bends. That bend may be magical, frightening, political, tender, or all of those at once. Catherine Inskip appears across the recent main episodes as editor and host, while staff-picks installments bring other crew voices into the introduction before returning attention to the fiction. The result feels curated, not overexplained. Author and narrator biographies give context, content warnings are stated plainly, and the story is allowed to breathe. The anthology’s YA focus does not flatten the material. Its recent episodes touch colonialism, mental health allegory, homophobia, censorship, fascist dystopia, body horror, and childhood fear with a seriousness that trusts younger and older listeners alike. Some pieces are intimate and strange. Others have the snap of urban fantasy, with demon kings, contract-bound spirits, counterfeit immortality amulets, and children improvising their own bad-luck magic. The Little Wonders format adds compact thematic groupings, while staff picks offer a way back into standout earlier episodes with fresh commentary from the team. Cast of Wonders is best understood as a fiction shelf with a speculative spine: many voices, many settings, one steady commitment to emotionally grounded wonder. It rewards listeners who want narrative craft, careful narration, and stories where the fantastic is tied to longing, fear, family, resistance, and survival.
Made for: For listeners who like YA fantasy and science fiction with literary narration, emotional stakes, and a taste for ghosts, dystopia, and intimate character pressure. It also suits adults who want speculative stories that respect younger perspectives without softening the darker material.
What sets it apart: Cast of Wonders stands apart through its curated anthology feel: rotating narrators and crew introductions support the story, then get out of its way. The episodes balance accessibility with craft, letting sensory detail and moral tension carry the speculative turn.
The Young Adult Speculative Fiction Podcast
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Cast of Wonders pairs vivid narration with speculative stories that make transformation, belonging, and sacrifice feel immediate.
Cast of Wonders turns short speculative fiction into focused narrated performances, with Catherine Inskip introducing each author and voice performer before yielding the episode to the story.
A bear wife, an ancient cave god, a phoenix: your bedtime stories have grown teeth.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A cave, a carved figure, and a Duke insisting some things are older than saints.
Cast of Wonders 641, Bells Long Silent, starts with salt-slick barrels, chests, and a cave so dark that even the hauling feels uneasy. From there, it tightens around a carved figure in the wall and the Duke's insistence that it is no saint, but something older than saints,…
A quiet metamorphosis story where motherhood, grief, and animal memory press against each other.
Catherine George's story follows a woman who once was a bear and now has to make a life among children, fossils, story time, and the steady pressure of a world that keeps pushing wildlife to the edge.
A phoenix story about duty, love, and the cost of being chosen.
Cast of Wonders 633 gives its phoenix tale a bruised, intimate shape. The story follows a child who can hold a world together, yet still wants a sister, a school lunch, and the ordinary life that duty keeps out of reach.
A bright, restrained story where a quiet exchange carries the emotional weight.
Cast of Wonders 607 presents Hugh Walpole's "The Little Donkeys with the Crimson Saddles" as a measured story built from shoreline detail and feelings that remain partly unspoken.
A cold, intimate fantasy about belonging, pressure, and the cost of being remade.
Born of the Mountains Chill follows a girl raised on an ice-bound mountain as newcomers arrive with villages, fires, and judgment, pushing her toward their rules and a schoolroom version of life. Its strength is that pressure.
Dice, divine mysteries, and the trouble with good intentions.
Episode 607 opens with an old-fashioned glow.
Cast of Wonders episode 683 presents 'Born of the Mountain's Chill' by Louise Hughes, a 2025 speculative fiction story about a mountain girl sent to work in a colonial valley village where cold is natural and fire is painful to her.
Cast of Wonders presents 'Tongue is a Void' by P.H.
Sarah recognizes another changed woman.
A girl faces the phoenix.
Cast of Wonders 705 presents "Trade You for the Beans," an original story by Kekishan Khalid, narrated by Bill Carson for the 2026 Banned Books Week celebration.
This episode features a young adult fantasy story about a character born in a cold mountain environment who faces disruption from newcomers, exploring themes of colonialism.
This episode features the young adult fantasy story 'The Bear Wife' by Catherine George, narrated by Samantha Lohman.
This episode of Cast of Wonders presents two young adult fiction stories with the theme of coping mechanisms, starting with Elizabeth Ring's original story 'A Chest Full of Storm Clouds' narrated by Valerie Valdes, featuring mental health allegories.
Cast of Wonders 680 presents “Firecrackers on 28 Mott Street” by Angela Liu, a story first published in Worlds of Possibility in February 2024.
This episode features a re-airing of the fantasy story 'Sometimes It Happens That Way' by Jamie Lackey with new commentary from the Cast of Wonders crew as part of their annual staff picks series.
This episode features a narrated short story titled 'It Grows Back' by Grant Collier, with host introduction and content warnings.
This episode features a narrated speculative fiction story titled 'Your Hold Is Ready' by Laura Dewar, with a content warning for homophobia, censorship, and fascist dystopia.
This episode features a reading of the short story 'A Siren Stranded in a Sea of Grass' by Courtney Farr, with host introduction and commentary.
This episode features a host introduction and a personal story about how the podcast helped the host cope with political stress, leading into a selection of favorite episodes from the previous year.
This episode features a staff pick of the story 'Witches Racing Cars' by Nadav Shulkutas, introduced by host Adri Joy.
A young adult speculative fiction podcast presenting an original short story titled 'Blood and Talent' by Jamie M.
A Halloween episode of Cast of Wonders featuring the original speculative fiction story 'It Grows Back' by Grant Collier, narrated by Wilson Fowley.
This episode features the original short story 'Bloom Like Roses, Wild and Thorned' by Jessica Levi, narrated by Catherine Carnier, with a content warning for abusive relationships.
A young adult speculative fiction podcast presents a story about celebrating Sukkot on a generation ship in space.
This episode features a short story titled 'The Archive of Unnamed Joy' by Bella Chacha, narrated by Opie Ogundurum, as part of Cast of Wonders' Banned Books Week celebration.
A young adult speculative fiction podcast presenting a narrated short story titled 'Life According to Tabib' by Ramesh Iyawapim.
This episode presents a narrated short story titled 'Life and Death and Love in the Bayou' by Stephanie Tallon, introduced with author and narrator details and content warnings.
This episode features a narrated original short story titled 'Habitat' by Juliette Beauchamp, introduced with housekeeping announcements.
This episode features the award-nominated story 'The Liar' by Darcy Little Badger, concluding the Summer Spotlight series.
A young adult speculative fiction podcast presenting an original story about witches racing cars.
This episode features a reading of 'Precious Little Things' by Adrian Tchaikovsky, introduced by the host with author and narrator background.
This episode of Cast of Wonders features the short story 'What Good Daughters Do' by Tia Tashiro, a young adult speculative fiction piece.
A young adult speculative fiction podcast presenting an original story about necromancy in a small town.
This episode features a reading of Yoon Ha Lee's short story 'Non-Standard Candles' as part of a summer spotlight series on award-nominated authors.
This episode features a young adult speculative fiction short story titled 'Feeding Spirits' by Emmy Corr, narrated by Tanya Jade.
Cast of Wonders 641, “Bells Long Silent,” centers on a Cornish boy who follows smugglers to a moonlit beach and sees a drowned kingdom called Lioness rise out of the sea.
This episode features Angela Liu's award-nominated fantasy story 'KAOSU, The Last Moving Country in the World' as part of Cast of Wonders' Summer Spotlight series on young adult fiction.
This episode features the award-nominated speculative fiction story 'Window Boy' by Thomas Ha, part of Cast of Wonders' Summer Spotlight series focusing on young adult fantasy and science fiction.
This episode features the original young adult fantasy story 'Whatever Remains of the Dead' by Lindsay Silveira, narrated by Cara Grace.
A young adult fantasy story about a character whose severed tongue returns, exploring themes of identity, trauma, and magical realism with content warnings for homophobia and body horror.