THE PODCAST
The Station 151 audio drama podcast is written and developed by Andy Scearce and Steven James Scearce and is produced by Andy Scearce and Bear Weiter at Pale Matter Productions. You can listen to the Station 151 Podcast on all popular podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and you can follow Station 151 on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. For a deeper dive and even more goodies, as well as exclusive content, you can support Station 151 on Patreon.
THE STORY
Located on Alexander Island, Antarctica, Station 151 is the southernmost continent’s first and only astronomical radio observatory. Built by the Telders Corporation at an estimated cost of $200M USD, Station 151 is comprised of 50 radio antennas arrayed in a spiral configuration. Astrophysicist Wayne Robertson was hired by The Telders Corporation as the sole operator of Station 151, Antarctica for a 12-month pilot to test the station’s cutting-edge radio interferometer. Leaving behind his fiancé in the States, Wayne travels alone to Antarctica to fulfill a lifelong dream to peer deeper into the universe than ever thought possible. But after arriving at the station, Wayne’s hopes of a career defining role are dashed as he is thrust into a strange and unsettling new world. A century later, digital researcher Kaia Adams uncovers the mysteries of Station 151, thrusting her into a battle to save Wayne, and all of humanity, from Michael Telders’ psychotic vision of the future.
THE BACKSTORY
Brothers Steven and Andy Scearce created the web-fiction blogs Station 151 and Unknown Transmission in 2009 with the idea that each blog would tell one side of a larger story that culminated in a clash between the two main characters in each. While both blogs contain enough content to fill a novel, the story wasn’t completed, but never truly abandoned. The Station 151 podcast offers a new medium, and a fresh take on the events at Station 151 and the central characters from both original blogs–astrophysicist Wayne Robertson, billionaire Michael Telders, and JAXA communications officer, Maxim Akihiko Broussad.
RADIO INTERFEROMETRY
Station 151 is a fictional radio interferometer, or radio telescope array, similar in nature to the Very Large Array (VLA) located in Socorro County, New Mexico, and the planned Square Kilometre Array in Australia and South Africa. Instead of creating one massive dish, radio interferometry works by combining the signals of multiple antennas to simulate the resolution of a dish with a very large aperture. For example, the VLA’s 28, 25-meter dishes are equivalent to one dish 22 miles in diameter!
Very Large Array, New Mexico, USA
ALEXANDER ISLAND
Named after Tsar Alexander I of Russia, Alexander Island is Antarctica’s largest island, and the second largest uninhabited island on Earth. Alexander Island is home to only one (real life) research station, the British station Fossil Bluff, constructed in the 1950’s and set into operation in 1961. Pinned below is the approximate (fictional) location of Station 151.
CREATORS
STEVEN JAMES SCEARCE
Series Co-Creator, Voice Actor (Wayne, Dr. Alfieri, others), Contributing Writer
Steven James Scearce is a writer, voice actor, and one of the creators of the speculative science fiction web series Unknown Transmission. He is also a contributor to the companion series Station 151. His printed work appears in a number of anthologies including Rigor Amortis and Cthulhurotica. Mr. Scearce has just completed work on his first novel-length manuscript, a supernatural horror story called Cottonwood. You can follow him on Twitter @ShinkaiMaru5. He lives in the suburbs of Kansas City.
ANDY SCEARCE
Series Co-Creator, Lead Writer
Andy Scearce is a writer, software engineer, and one of the creators of the speculative science fiction web series Station 151. His fiction most recently appeared in the online publication The Fabulist. You can follow him on Twitter @andrewlscearce. Andy lives in Kyoto, Japan.
BEAR WEITER
Series Co-Creator, Producer
Bear Weiter is an illustrator, animator, podcast producer, and writer. He’s also the art director for Monte Cook Games, where he oversees the visual design and production of the various tabletop roleplaying games, crowdfunding campaigns, and more. His fiction appears in a number of magazines and anthologies including Black Static, Atomic Age Cthulhu, and LORE. You can follow him on Twitter @bearthw. He lives in the suburbs of Kansas City.