Est. 2006 · The Audio Science Fiction Magazine First podcast Hugo winner · 2010
StarShipSofa
A spacefarer and child walk hand in hand towards waiting rockets

The Audio Science Fiction Magazine · Issue Nº 784

StarShip
Sofa

Short fiction from the finest science fiction writers in the galaxy — beamed out from the North East of England, every week, for twenty years.

Browse 814 episodes
Est. 2006 — twenty years aloft 814 episodes in the archive Hugo Award — first podcast ever to win
§ 01 · This week’s issue

Latest Transmissions

Full archive →
StarShipSofa · Nº 784 · 4 August 2026

Seia Tanabe

“The Unluckiest Man in Ohio by Seia Tanabe”

Seia Tanabe is a horror and weird fiction writer based in Osaka. She won the 15th Japanese Horror Novel Award in the Short Story category for her debut work, "Iki-byobu" (The Living Folding Screen). Deeply inspired by local folklore, ghost stories, and urban l…

47 min
Nº 783 StarShipSofa

T. K. Rex

The Flowers Where 580 Used to Be

21 Jul 2026 · 49 min
Nº 782 StarShipSofa

Scott Edelman

Staring Out the Window at the Undeniable Stars

8 Jul 2026 · 44 min
Nº 781 StarShipSofa

Cat Rambo

A Single Breath Heard Only in My Dreams

17 Jun 2026 · 57 min
Nº 780 StarShipSofa

P. A. Cornell

440 Broad Street, Apartment 4C

3 Jun 2026 · 56 min
Nº 778 StarShipSofa

Will Waller

Public Works Project

22 Apr 2026 · 42 min
Worldcon · Melbourne · 2010

The first podcast ever to win a Hugo Award

In 2010, StarShipSofa made history — the first podcast to take home science fiction’s most famous rocket, the Hugo Award for Best Fanzine.

“To all the authors who have let us narrate your stories, to every volunteer, and to everyone everywhere who has listened — we are the StarShipSofa.”
The full story
Tony C Smith pointing the 2010 Hugo Award rocket at the camera
Tony & the rocket, 2010
§ 02 · Ship’s log

Twenty Years of Signal

2006

First transmission

Tony C Smith and Ciaran O’Carroll fire up the Sofa and talk the giants of SF.

2007

Aural Delights

The audio magazine format lands — fiction, fact and poetry every week.

2010

The Hugo

First podcast in history to win science fiction’s top award.

2012

District of Wonders

The Sofa spawns a fleet: Tales to Terrify, Protecting Project Pulp, Far Fetched Fables.

2017

500 episodes

Half a thousand transmissions, from Moorcock to the newest voices in SF.

2026

814 & counting

Still beaming the finest short SF, every week, twenty years on.

§ 03 · The ship

What is the Sofa?

An audio science fiction magazine: one great short story every week, narrated by a crew of voices from around the world, plus essays on genre history, poetry and the odd transmission from the Captain himself.

About StarShipSofa
§ 04 · Writers wanted

Submissions are open

Got a science fiction story that deserves a voice? The Sofa pays professional attention to every submission — from quiet philosophical pieces to high-octane pulp.

Submission guidelines