30 Best Magical Realism Book Podcasts to Listen to (2026)

Bodega Botanica Tales: Short Story Podcast takes place in the same fictional neighborhood. Each episode is an original short story inspired by the gossip I heard in bodegas, those times I visited the botánica and the cultural myths and folklore that shaped me. Although many of the tales are rooted in Latinx or Latino culture, you don't need to share or know that heritage to enjoy this storytelling podcast. If you enjoyed listening to your family or friends discussing traditions, legends or superstitions that made you uneasy or curious, this short fiction podcast is for you. more

Edited by bestselling anthologist John Joseph Adams, LIGHTSPEED is a Hugo Award-winning, critically-acclaimed digital magazine. In its pages, you'll find science fiction from near-future stories and sociological SF to far-future, star-spanning SF. Plus there's fantasy from epic sword-and-sorcery and contemporary urban tales to magical realism, science-fantasy, and folk tales. Each month, LIGHTSPEED brings you a mix of original short stories and flash fiction featuring a variety of authors, from the bestsellers and award-winners you already know to the best new voices you haven't heard yet. When you read LIGHTSPEED, you'll see where science fiction and fantasy have come from, where they are now, and where they're going. The LIGHTSPEED podcast, produced by Grammy Award-winning narrator and producer Stefan Rudnicki of Skyboat Media, features original audio short stories 6-8 times a month. more

PodCastle is the world's first audio fantasy magazine. Weekly, we broadcast the best in fantasy short stories, running the gammut from heart-pounding sword and sorcery, to strange surrealist tales, to gritty urban fantasy, to the psychological depth of magical realism. Our podcast features authors including N.K. Jemisin, Peter S. Beagle, Benjamin Rosenbaum, Jim C. Hines, and Cat Rambo, among others. Terry Pratchett once wrote, 'Fantasy is an exercise bicycle for the mind. It might not take you anywhere, but it tones up the muscles that can.' Tune in to PodCastle each Tuesday for our weekly tale, and spend the length of a morning commute giving your imagination a work out. more

SYGNYL: A General Mystification Vol. 1 Mystic Elegy, Orphic Yarn, or Dire Warning? The varied texts of SYGNYL have at times been lost, found, translated, forged or otherwise mishandled. Listener discern. File under: magical realism, participatory arts, immersive nonfiction, esoteric wisdom, new vessel. Begin with the Prologue, and listen for cameo appearances by:  H.R. of Bad Brains, Wavy Gravy, Pamela De Barres, Marky Ramone, Jason Segel, Lonnie Anderson, Dougie Fresh, Cherie Currie, Money B, Damien Echols, and…   you. more

Join longtime friends Marci and Ako for their bi-weekly podcast where they discuss fiction, fantasy, and magical realism written by writers from colorful and diverse backgrounds! Come for the honest discussions, stay for the complete and utter tomfoolery. Also, no worries if you haven't read the books, we've got you covered! more

The Glimmering is a serial podcast mini series about living in a state of magical realism.

The Shrill Collective presents: 'The Rat King' by L.R. Wild. 'The Rat King' is a serialized, thriller, fiction podcast that weaves magical realism with urban mythology.CW: Contains adult content including descriptions and instances of stalking and violence. For resources: https://www.stalkingawareness.org/ The Shrill Collective is women-led independent nonprofit theater company dedicated to incubating new works, challenging the cis-male-dominated canon, and using art to benefit community organizations. www.TheShrillCollective.com/ IG @TheShrillCollective /https://tinyurl.com/shrilldonate more

Edited by Christie Yant and Arley Sorg, FANTASY is a digital magazine focusing exclusively on the fantasy genre. In its pages, you will find all types of fantasy—dark fantasy, contemporary urban tales, surrealism, magical realism, science fantasy, high fantasy, folktales…and anything and everything in between. Fantasy is entertainment for the intelligent genre reader—we publish stories of the fantastic that make us think, and tell us what it is to be human. Every month FANTASY will bring you a mix of original short stories, flash fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. When you read FANTASY, it is our hope that you'll see where fantasy comes from, where it is now, and where it's going. The FANTASY podcast, produced by Grammy Award-winning narrator and producer Stefan Rudnicki of Skyboat Media, is presented twice a month, featuring original audio fiction. more

A convict is sentenced to the strange town of Coventry, where mysterious occurrences and political strife make his sentence more dangerous than he ever could have imagined.Better Men Elsewhere is an American thriller with elements of the supernatural, magical realism, and gothic fiction. Follow Jason Miranda, a prisoner sentenced to the mysterious mountain town of Coventry for 10 years for his crimes. Coventry is not your usual town and it is not your usual prison. While the townsfolk must cope with a convicted criminal in their midst as part of this unconventional arrangement, Jason must also have his wits about him as he traverses this even stranger, upside down and mysterious corner of the world.Check out https://www.chiralstudios.com/bme for more info. more

The podcast where you'll get your dose of magic and dash of writing advice all in one juicy elixir. Join a couple of authors in our ramblings about all-things fantasy, paranormal fiction, and magical realism. Our goal is to help you iron out your mystical world and open up the floor to a weird and witchy conversation. ★ Follow us @writingthebroom and get in touch: ****@gmail.com / writingthebroomstick.com ★ Hosts: Katrina Tortorici Anglehart (K.T. Anglehart) is a freelance editor and author of teen/YA urban fantasy 'The Wise One'—the first of 'The Scottish Scrolls' series. She enjoys laughing at her and Genny's shenanigans while trying desperately to maintain her composure. ★ @kt_anglehart | ktanglehart.com ★ Genevieve Methot is a freelance writer and emerging author of new adult fantasy trilogy 'The Needle of Ingress' (release date TBD). She is often called out for being self-deprecating and breaking out in song during awkward moments. ★ @genny_met more

'Serial Tales' are set in Littleburg, the Hudson Valley hamlet that time forgot, until time remembered it.In Littleburg, the veil is so thin that the other world is in your face, and half the population are shamans. The psychic old guard must incorporate the post-Covid newbies , which leads to some powerful collective hallucinations, including, perhaps, the Second Coming. As a result , local hotel owner Vince and millionaire pop star renter Cobbler Martin think they have been given the mission to fight the darkness with light. Magical realism full of twists, laughs, and gut-punches told with a velvet voice, these stories owe a debt to Philip Pullman, MR James, Saki, John Wyndham, and 'Lady Asquith's Third Ghost Book' These spoken serials began in September 2021 on Radio Free Rhinecliff with 'The Companion Fog' , an 8-chapter novella about a cloud you have custom-made to protect you from bad news. Season 1 of Littleburg is available at radiofreerhinecliff.org/joan-juliet-buckrsquos-serial-tales.html .Laurie Anderson's disquieting theme music sets the tone. Graphic design by Betsy Sarles.Produced by Matty Rosenberg & Joan Juliet Buck @ Radio Free Rhinecliff© 2022 Joan Juliet Buck more

Weekly stories across speculative science fiction, fantasy, surrealism, magical realism, and more narrated for your auditory pleasure from Foofaraw Press, a zine of surreal storytelling and worldly observations. more

Let the UHID enfold you within its embrace. Allow yourself to be subsumed by the bizarro soundscapes. Enter a world of magical realism, fairy tales, horrible little fables, and sound effects, all with a delicious original analog synth music base. It's going to get weird... we're going to make this weird. more

Are you a fan of Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung? Do you like digging deeper into the psyche and learning more about yourself?Thistle and Seed explores Archetypes through short, original folktales written by Chani Petro. Many involve tales of transformation, fantasy, and magical realism. If you're a fan of Hayao Miyazaki, Neil Gaimen, or Christian Anderson, you'll be delighted as you delve into these tales of symbolism and inner knowledge. more

Humorous, magical realism tales from the wine-making province of Mendoza, Argentina.Visit THE OCTOPUS WARS Website: http://emsfsu.podomatic.net/ more

The companion podcast for Mr Waugh's Level 2 NCEA 'Magical Realism' English course. This podcast works in parallel with the course materials regularly published on the Magical Realism website. Listening to the podcast will help illuminate the course, and offer an aural record of some of the more challenging ideas we cover throughout the year. more

Subscribe and join our mailing list for new episodesBird Woman, a magical realism, multi-episode audio drama series, is set in the early West. Bird Woman, Sacajawea, discovers her shape-shifting powers as; part Woman & part Eagle. She fights alongside the Expeditioners making heart-wrenching choices between the Native world & Clark's world, discovering her full powers & true destiny on our Expedition, as Bird Woman. more

After more than half a century with the characters of One Hundred Years of Solitude living freely in the minds of its readers, the new Netflix series based on this book is about to give them a body and a face. Before the power of audiovisual media changes the experience of reading it, Nadia Celis, writer and professor of Caribbean literature, invites you to a collective reading experience that will renew your vision of García Márquez's world and bring this novel into the 21st century. more

A Radio Program Designed for Those Young at Heart. The Enchanted Forest Radio is a storytelling podcast filled with woodland mystery, magical realism, curious questions, and old-world wonder. Each episode invites listeners into a forest of imagination, where stories, symbols, and hidden wisdom wait beneath the trees. more

A short fiction podcast for gothic horror, magical realism, and modern allegory.

Multi award-winning Irish film maker and writer, Declan Cassidy, reads his novel, Pins and Needles, in regular instalments. The book was number 3 on the Hodges Figgis Best Seller list in Ireland when it was published in 2017. According to the Dublin People newspaper, it is 'a mystical journey full of wonder, wisdom and self-discovery.' The novel is set against the backdrop of Spain's world-famous Camino de Santiago. According to a review: 'this superbly crafted novel introduces an exciting new genre in literary fiction Celtic magical realism.' more

Dive into the enigmatic realm of the occult and the supernatural with 'Secrets of Dr. Taverner,' where the boundaries of reality are blurred by the mystical and the uncanny. This podcast invites listeners to explore a rotating collection of audiobooks that reflect the rich tapestry of psychic adventures and magical realism. Each episode unveils a new complete audiobook, guiding you through intriguing narratives that combine elements of detective fiction with the esoteric arts. As you accompany Dr. Taverner and his insightful assistant, Dr. Rhodes, you will encounter mysteries that challenge perception and invite deeper contemplation of the unseen forces that shape our lives. This is not a single story, but a series of unique explorations that promise to captivate your imagination and expand your understanding of the mystical world. Join us to discover a new book with every episode and unlock the secrets that lie beyond the ordinary. This show includes AI-generated content. more

Magical realism with a message and motivation for the day-to-day.Maria Rotger's blog stories.Read the stories in my bilingual blog here: mariarotgerauthor.com/magic-seekers-blog-and-podcast/ more

GODS & MONSTERS a novel- read by the author E.E. King 'King is marvelously inventive, wildly funny and deeply thought-provoking. I cannot recommend her highly enough.' - Ray Bradbury This dark fantasy, a fusion of literary fiction and magical realism explores destiny and the human psyche. Does fate control our future? Do our beliefs shape reality? Unravel the mystery one installment at a time … more

Mystic Ink Publishing is an independent publisher focusing on works of a spiritual, shamanic, new age, or transcendent nature as well as dramatic works of Phantastic Fiction © in the paranormal genres of magical realism, horror, supernatural thrillers, and science fiction. more

Train to Elsewhere is a surreal, poetic journey through the borderlands of consciousness where memory, dream, and myth converge. Part fantasy, part philosophical fiction, and part psychological allegory, it follows Bob the Black Cat, Ms. Understood, the Head Librarian, and Bearton Rogers - aboard a sentient train that moves not only through space and time, but also through meaning. Blending literary fiction, magical realism, and metaphysical adventure, the story explores the shifting landscapes between the real and the imagined - a world where the Library of Y'all hums with infinite echoes. more

Marina Warner, Anna Della Subin, Adam Thirlwell and Chloe Aridjis traverse the great parallel tradition of the literature of astonishment and wonder, dread and hope, from the 1001 Nights to Ursula K. Le Guin.Marina Warner is a writer of history, fiction and criticism whose many books include Stranger Magic, Forms of Enchantment and Once Upon a Time: A Short History of Fairy Tale. She was awarded the Holberg Prize in 2015 and is a contributing editor at the LRB.Texts include:The Thousand and One Nights Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's TravelsThe Travels of Marco PoloItalo Calvino, Invisible CitiesLewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-GlassThe stories of Franz KafkaJames Hogg, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner: Written by HimselfMikhail Bulgakov, The Master and MargaritaMary Shelley, FrankensteinJorge Luis Borges, FiccionesLeonora Carrington, The Hearing Trumpetand works by Angela Carter, J.G. Ballard and Ursula K. Le Guin more

I write original magical realism fiction for adults and also love to share stories from mythology, history and popular culture. I also write some songs. more

Dream Slurry is a podcast where I, filthburger (she/her), explore and celebrate works that are surreal, abstract, or have a focus beyond literal reality. I'll be joined by my smart and talented friends, and in each episode we'll discuss one piece of fiction that digs into weirdness. We'll also explore the real life context that inspired its author(s) and the way it might relate to other pieces of fiction. Join us for spoiler-filled dives into weird fiction, absurdism, surrealism, cosmic horror, magical realism, and similar genres across multiple mediums! more

A novel draft, unfolding in podcast. A love story and soul story gently bumping the edges of magical realism, and the magic of the real. poembypoemchapterbychapter.substack.com more