Netherdrome Podcast

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One hundred years in the future.

Through the years, the atmosphere has become more and more poisoned, the earth has grown increasingly barren.

Yet life goes on.

Some people manage to live on the land, but most have retreated to vast mazes of tunnels below the festering surface, living comfortably in huge subterranean cities.

This is a story from that future, a story from the lives of the people on the surface — and the citizens of…
…the NETHERDROME.

NETHERDROME is a 13 part radio drama series. The series consists of nine complete half-hour stories and two continued stories which range from adventures to love stories, murder stories to comedies, all set 100 years in the future.

Each episode not only tells a complete story, but also explores some social, political, or cultural aspect of this possible future.

NETHERDROME was produced by Nebraska Broadcast Theatre for NPR Playhouse and first aired in 1989-90. It was created and written by Barry Anderson, an avid fan of both radio drama and science fiction with experience as a creative director for an advertising agency, a producer for radio and television, and a composer of music for radio, film and live theater.

NETHERDROME sprang from Anderson's desire to write and produce a science fiction series based, not in space or on a post-apocalyptic earth, but rather on a future that might logically follow if current technological, social, and political trends continue.

Episodes

01 The Airman & The Saboteur An innocent man stumbles onto a plot to sabotage the Netherdrome's air system — and has one hour to clear his name and save the city. 28:01 02 Music Hath Charms A security officer investigates why thousands lose their emotional stability — at the same time each evening. 27:38 03 A Sound Defense A weapon that can govern human emotion has gone missing. Foreign power, or terrorists? 27:32 04 Superwheat A genetic engineer breeds a grain that thrives in poisoned air. A boon to mankind — or something else. 25:17 05 His Mind May Wander A young man's astronaut dreams end in tragedy — and begin again somewhere he never thought to look. 26:20 06 The Woman In The Window A man falls for the image of a woman he's seen in an electronic window — and sets out to find her. 28:49 07 Is The Theater Really Death? — Part 1 A notorious kingpin is shot dead in an interactive theater. Three suspects. Two alibis. No way the murder could have happened. 25:46 08 Is The Theater Really Death? — Part 2 The conclusion of the two-part murder mystery. 25:38 09 Nothing In The Rules A failing team's manager gets the perfect pitcher he's always wanted — at a price he didn't expect. 25:11 10 The Tunnel Something moves in the shadows of a newly dug tunnel. A worker has vanished. The entrance has sealed itself. 27:35 11 That They May Face The Winds A dying man returns to his boyhood home on the surface. His grandson goes along — and discovers where they come from. 29:30 12 The Ultimate Vote — Part 1 A man caught between radical saboteurs from above and a ruthless politician below — with no safe ground between them. 27:22 13 The Ultimate Vote — Part 2 Two men race to stop an assassination before an unscrupulous politician can make his move. 27:44