So I heard about @sapphic-podcast-fanwork-week (running August 1st-7th 2021) a while back but cut it a little close making this list! There’s an incredible, wonderful amount of (brilliant, engaging, wholesome) sapphic content out there in podcasts, but you may not all know about it!!
Here’s a list of some of my favourite major canonical couples and trios from pods I’ve heard. I’ll give a quick summary, then touch on each pair/trio, and points of interest (how important they each are to the story, when they get together, if they get a happy ending, if their specific orientation is known, characters of colour, trans and nb characters, etc). I’ll try not to get too spoilery in the summaries, but the character sections might give some stuff away.
(Also a little disclaimer, I’m aroace, and a little oblivious to what information might be important to people here: if you have questions or want me to add more details, please let me know! It might be valuable to other people too, so you’re doing everyone a big favour.)
Alice Isn’t Dead: Horror, road trip, weird fiction. A truck driver travels America searching for her missing wife, telling stories of the strange and supernatural encounters she has along the way. The podcast that got me back into podcasts, I owe it a lot. Crisp soundwork, great acting, creative stories and worldbuilding. It’s complete.
Alice and Keesha: The lead and her missing wife. Some of the most gorgeous musings on love and old stories between these two. Apart for most of the story, but they get a happy ending.
Archive 81: Horror (cosmic, body), weird fiction, mystery. A young archivist is hired to digitize a series of strange housing records from the 90s, in a remote outpost. He has a bad time. Heads up that from S2 (E11) this one gets more intense (you may need to check the content warnings), and that each season has a bit of a different genre/vibe. Good queer rep, stunning soundwork and music, interesting characters. The fact my blog name comes from this podcast probably suggests how much I like it. Currently on hiatus.
Melody and Alexa: Also sometimes affectionately called “Sorcerer Wives” this sweet lesbian couple features one of season 1’s leads, Melody, and her girlfriend, and later wife, Alexa. They become minor characters after S1, but get an interesting and ideallic happy ending I am very fond of. One of S3’s leads is heavily implied to be mspec as well.
Arden: Comedy, mystery, “true” crime. A fictional, amusing podcast taking the form of a true crime series, with each season based off a couple shakespeare plays. The hosts (an ex-detective and a radio journalist) both have equally chaotic but very different energies which make for a fun dynamic. It does also cover and address some occasionally intense and serious topics, so it’s not pure comedy. Currently on hiatus.
Bea and Brenda: a lesbian and bi couple, these two leads start off with a bit of a rivalry, become friends, and get together near the end of season 2.
Elixir: Romance, urban fantasy. A lesbian romance set during a fantasy version of the American prohibition, between an apothecar/bar owner, and the daughter of prominent council members. Still airing new episodes.
Elsie and Vera: The two leads, this story is very much focused on them and their romance. The relationship isn’t rapid but not slow to get started either. The story is still ongoing, but I’ll be surprised if they don’t get a happy ending.
Dining in the Void: Sci-fi, horror, mystery. Think Cluedo, but queer and in space. Guests aboard a space station are trapped into playing a serious of stange games by an unknown host. I am admittedly a bit behind on this one, but I adored the amazing worldbuilding, horror-mystery energy, and dynamics of season 1.
Katie Belle and Waverly: Demi wlw, these two start as strangers and get together somewhere near the end of S1.
Haunted House Flippers: Comedy, horror. A couple inherits an apparently haunted house and decides to fix it up. This one’s interesting because it feels a bit het-couple Adam Sandler movie at first but becomes an increasingly more charming story about a bi buff metalhead forensic scientist and her tiny well-meaning idiot ghosthunter husband who are both weird and very supportive of eachother.
Opal and Juniper: Okay, admittedly these two have only featured in a couple episodes so far, but they’re incredibly fun and sweet, and interracial elderly wlw couples are in short supply. They constantly talk each-other up, wear matching outfits, have a wholesome witchy vibe (and a possibly immortal demon rooster), and really look out for their neighbours.
Hello from the Hallowoods: Horror, supernatural. Exciting and character-driven horror podcast that follows many people (in varying degrees of human, and alive) in their journeys in a strange land, and as they cross paths. Amazing lore and worldbuilding, both tragedy and tender moments, delightful narration and writing, highly recommended.
Riot and Clara: Young and reckless, in love from the start but torn from eachother, still searching… Both are major characters.
Bern and Violet: An older married couple we meet early on, leaders and respected in their community. The old, comfortable couple dynamic. Both are fairly major characters.
InkWyrm: Sci-fi, comedy, romance. Slow burn lesbian sci-fi romcom. Mella, the new AI caretaker for intergalactic fashion magazine InkWyrm, finds herself the new assistant to it’s editor as well. Worth noting the recording quality of early episodes, and some of the SFX, are a bit rough, though it improves later (start with episode 1 (redux)). The writing quality is top notch and super funny from the start, though. The show is finished!
Annie and Mella: Oh it’s a comically slow burn for these two. Annie is a bi trans woman and Mella a cis lesbian, and they absolutely do not get along to begin with. A happy ending for both.
Love & Luck: Romance, slice of life, touch of urban fantasy. Queer Australian romance told in voicemails, it had me in love with the leads only a few short episodes in. Set in modern-day Melbourne, it features real community places and events. It also addresses real life issues faced by the queer community, so it has it’s stressful moments, but is for the most part super wholesome, and gives off such a beautiful community vibe. I want a Best of Luck bar in my own city, dammit. Oh, and there’s magic! Currently on hiatus.
Storm, Helen and Mira: it takes a while to meet these three, but they quickly become frequent voices on the podcast once they do. Storm is a suave butch lesbian and she quickly starts dating Helen, a shy, sweetheart trans woman, and Mira, a peppy and energetic cis woman. Helen and Mira aren’t dating, but they are best friends. It’s all so incredibly sweet.
Mabel: Mystery, horror, romance. Anna is hired as a live-in carer for an aging client and tries to get in contact with her grand-daughter, leaving a series of increasingly less professional voicemails about stranger happenings, which are apparently being recieved but never responded to. Slow transition to poetic, body-horror filled fairy romance. Currently on hiatus.
Anna and Mabel: The two leads! Both Latina, I’m fairly sure. They slowly fall for each other over the course of the show, for a strange but poetic and dedicated dynamic.
Midnight Radio: Romance, supernatural. A love story about an old-time radio host and the correspondence she starts with an odd listener who has moved back into the small town they both grew up in. Really gentle and beautiful, cleanly made, well written and acted. The show is complete!
Sybil and Amelia: Two leads. They slowly fall in love over the course of the show. Wistful, open ended story, but trust me, it’s an enchanting one.
Mirrors: Sci-fi, mystery, supernatural. Audio journals of 3 women in various time periods who seem to share little in common, bar the strange inhuman, ghostly figures they have started seeing. Love the setup and mystery for this one, the worldbuilding, how distinct yet connected everything is. Show is complete!
Karin and Sierra: Sierra is one of the three leads, and her wife, Karin is pretty major too. They know and support each other really well, which I really appreciate. Happy ending.
Moonbase Theta Out: Sci-fi. Logs, updates, and messages from Moonbase Theta as they prepare for station shutdown and return to Earth, but not everything may be as it appears on the surface. Interesting cast of characters, this show gladly delivers both wholesome and emotionally devastating content, and it’s good fun to watch the situation reveal itself. Show is on hiatus.
Nessa and her partners: Nessa is a poly, pan, aro woman with a number of long-term female partners and kids. She’s part of the main cast in S2, and we hear from at least one partner in a bonus episode. As well as Nessa, many of the other female cast are wlw. Sad ending for Nessa, unfortunately.
Palimpsest (Season 2): Supernatural, horror, mystery, romance. Each season of Palimpsest is a different story, so you don’t have to listen to all of them if you don’t want. Season 2 follows a young woman looking to find some independence from her family in a new job, to which she ends up as a personal maid to a supposed fairy princess in a house full of imprisoned fae.
Seoirse and Ellen: The two central characters Season 2. To talk about them more gives the story away, but it seems to be a happy ending.
The Beacon Podcast: Urban fantasy/superpowers. Anxious university student Bee discovers she has fire powers and starts a podcast to try and find others like her. Chaos ensues when she discovers she’s not the only odd thing on campus. Funny and endearing series with a wonderful cast of characters and some of my favourite friendship dynamics. The university setting is a great pick and I’m very hungry for more lore. On hiatus right now.
Bee and Fox: Bee is a lesbian ace woman, and Fox a mysterious online friend. A slow romance. There’s also hints of another building romance in this one between a certain charming butch lesbian and sensible bi room-mate.
The Far Meridian: Weird Fiction, magical realism. An agoraphobic young woman wakes up to find her lighthouse home appears somewhere new each day. She takes this as an opportunity to search for her missing brother and takes a journey of self discovery along the way. One of my absolute favourites, cleanly made, charming and strange and whimsical in the way picture books are. Casually queer, clean soundwork, delightful friendships. On hiatus right now.
Peri and Ruth: The lead and her bi childhood crush. They’re a couple by S2 end. Incredibly sweet and I melt a little whenever Ruth, an astrophysicist, calls Peri “Starshine”.
The Lost Cat Podcast: Horror (soft, cosmic), supernatural. A man loses parts of himself, befriends strange entities, and drinks a lot of wine while looking for his cat. I love the optimistic outlook of humanity, the creativity, the willingness to let the podcast be silly and a little cliché (always in the most satisfying way) at times. Oh, and there’s musical features. It’s on hiatus right now.
Morpin and Bojana: Minor/recurring characters from s2 onward, their relationship is subtle but very sweet.
Lisica and Cyraliene: Badass vigilante lady is smitten with charming vampire leader. Lisica appears in S2 as a major character but is the lead of S4. Flirting through swords and combat banter, declarations of love, and falling in love with how cool the other one is. Great fun.
The Magnus Archives: Horror. Easily the most popular podcast on this list, The Magnus Archives is a horror podcast which takes a look into the strange statements given to The Magnus Institute, an organization which investigates strange happenings, and follows the new archivist as he tries to make sense of it. Well written podcast, it is delightful to see all the seemingly unrelated stories connect up over time. The show is finished.
Georgie and Melanie: Introduced as friends, but a couple by S4. Georgie is mentioned offhand from S1 by Melanie, but becomes a major character with her introduction in S3, Melanie starts as a minor character but becomes more major by end of S2. Happy ending.
The Night Post: Supernatural, mystery. After his husband goes missing, Milo is conscripted to take his place as a courier. But nights delivering the mail in and around his city are filled with unexplained strangeness even the other couriers, Val and Clementine, can’t anticipate, and while looking for his husband, they find far more and far stranger. Really well made, acted, written, full of more mystery and intrigue than I can hope to do justice to here. And it’s very queer. Currently on hiatus.
Clementine and Magpie: Okay, Clem and Magpie aren’t actually together any more, but I’m a softie for this podcast, 2/3 leads are wlw, and it’s interesting seeing the results of Clem’s break-up. Plus I’m pretty sure there’s another romance in the works for dear Clementine.
The Pasithea Powder: Sci-fi (space), adventure, conspiracy, mystery. Two old friends, one a captain recovering the war that tore her planet apart, the other imprisoned for her involvement in the creation and subsequent destruction of a memory altering drug, are reconnected when another political prisoner involved in these events is seen walking free. Full of mystery and conspiracy.
Sophie and Jane: The two leads! Start as somewhat estranged old friends, relationship starts mid-S2.
The Penumbra Podcast (Juno Steel): Sci-fi, mystery, noir, action. Noir-style adventures of a detective on future Mars. An exciting, hilarious, and exceedingly queer podcast, it is well made and a lot of fun.
Buddy and Vespa: Major characters in S3, each leading a pair of episodes, and introduced as minor ones in S2. Notable trans party. Start as old loves and are married by S3 end. Incredibly sweet and dedicated.
The Penumbra Podcast (Second Citadel): High fantasy, adventure. The proudest knights in all the second citadel go on various quests to prove themselves and protect the kingdom. Amusing and exciting, well put together.
Sir Caroline and Quanyii: Lesbian knight and her genderfluid witch partner. Major/recurring characters, revealed to be married at the end of S2. Very fun serious and silly dynamic.
The Sheridan Tapes: Horror, mystery. In 2018, famous horror writer Anna Sheridan went missing and left behind a collection of strange tapes. Listen along as a homicide detective goes through them to try figure out what happened to her, and winds up deeper into strangeness than he could’ve anticipated. Really fun horror-mystery with lots of great stories and engaging twists.
Anna and Maria: Anna shares the spotlight as a lead initially, and Maria becomes a major character soon after her initial introduction. Anna is missing, so obviously not a great time for Maria, but they are such a sweet and interesting pair.
The Strange Case of Starship Iris: Violet Liu is the last surviving crew member of the Starship Iris, after the rest are killed in a shuttle explosion. After being picked up by a passing ship, she’s thrown into a high-stakes adventure, and quickly has to come to terms with who she can actually trust. Fantastic show with a fun cast and delicious found family. Great music, sound-work, writing, characters, and a very clever framing device. I think it’s on a brief hiatus?
Violet and Arkady: Two lead characters, one of whom is grey-ace. East and South Asian respectively, if my memory works. They hit it off in episode 1, and their romance slowly develops through S1 and becomes more solid (officially girlfriends) in S2. Really fun relation between well meaning, but complex characters.
Within the Wires (Season 1, Season 2): Alternate history, speculative fiction, relationships, bit of medical horror in S1. Each season tells a different story, S1 is a series of unsetting meditation-style tapes from a mysterious facility. S2 is a collection of audio tour tapes from a museum, made by the now missing artist’s long time friend and partner. Unique and creative, cleanly made.
Claudia and Roimata: A deeply complex romance between a sapphic Māori woman and a West African mspec polyam woman. They only feature in S2, and while they are the two central characters, it has a tragic ending for one of them.
Hester and Oletta: The two central characters of S1, this is a strange relationship, but it’s so clear how much Hester loves her counterpart. A happy ending.
Unwell: Supernatural, mystery. A woman moves to a small town to take care of her aging mother in a supposedly haunted house. The town itself is hardly free off odd happenings. Fantastic cast of characters, really well made, paced, highly recommended.
Marisol and Lily: Lily, a black woman, is one of the show’s leads, and Marisol, a Latina woman, is a pretty major character as well. It doesn’t take long for them to start dating, and they have such a fun and flirty dynamic.
This is by no means a complete list, and if I missed out any of your favourites, I encourage you to add them on!
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