Within The Wires is a fiction podcast. The show's creators are Jeffrey Cranor and Janina Matthewson. Cranor is best known for Welcome to Night Vale, a fiction series about a small desert town. Matthewson also cohosts History is Sexy. That show highlights the more salacious side of figures from the past.

Within The Wires doesn't take place in this world. Its setting is a lot like this one. The familiar aspects make the differences all the more jarring. There is no narrator to guide the listener along. Rather, podcast episodes feel like a collection of found recordings that are cryptic yet revelatory. One set of recordings seems to guide relaxation, but it soon reveals itself to be something else. Another is a set of dictation recordings from a 1950s office. A secret gets out, but what is it, and whose? A third set of tapes is two stories in one. Side A is a woman's audio letters to her daughter, and side B is a tale, "The Cradle."

All the stories in the podcast appear unrelated, but they all occur within the same alternate reality. As the plots unfold, listeners gather clues about this strange and familiar world. In a way, the universe becomes one of the characters. Its very existence is the biggest mystery. Listening to the stories can feel like peeling back the layers of an onion.

The Within The Wires podcast is audio fiction at its most compelling. Listeners follow the plotline like a trail of crumbs, uncertain of what awaits them at the end. People wishing to discover this format may find this show a great starting point. Fans of the genre might enjoy the excellent quality of this program. The storylines, voice acting, and production values are all fantastic.