Audio Innovators Celebrate 50th Anniversary with Release of Free Podcasts
Influential media-makers ZBS adds two beloved, innovative series, "The Incredible Adventures of Jack Flanders" and "Ruby the Galactic Gumshoe," to Apple, Google, and Spotify podcasts.
FORT EDWARD, N.Y., July 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ZBS Media, known for game-changing radio dramas "The Fourth Tower of Inverness" (1972) and "Moon Over Morocco" (1974), has released two of its classic series as podcasts. "The Incredible Adventures of Jack Flanders" is an immersive audio adventure that begins when a mysterious green velvet armchair becomes a portal to fantastical landscapes and realms of inner consciousness. "Ruby the Galactic Gumshoe" combines Blade Runner-esque sci-fi with zany humor and spiritual wisdom. Both feature multilayered soundscapes and stunning music. It's no surprise that podcast listeners are leaving 5-star reviews: as audio drama producer Fred Greenhalgh observes, ZBS was "podcasting before podcasting existed."
ZBS ("Zero Bulls***") started in 1970 as a media commune operating out of a farmhouse in upstate New York. Its founding mission to raise consciousness through radio remains intact today, still based in the studio that welcomed icons like Laurie Anderson, Philip Glass, Ram Dass, and Allen Ginsberg. Writer and Producer Tom Lopez has been the genius behind the soundboard from the start, reinventing the classic radio serial for the baby boomer generation. Jefferson Airplane's record label, Grunt Records, funded the first ZBS series, "The Fourth Tower of Inverness," which aired on 430 radio stations. It captivated listeners with the metaphysical journeys of Jack Flanders in a mashup of Golden Age radio drama, state-of-the-art multitrack production, and New Age philosophies, from past-life regression to Sufi wisdom to Tibetan Buddhism. Lopez pioneered the use of on-location field recordings: "Dreams of Rio" for example, builds a narrative around sounds captured in Brazil and the Amazon. After 50 years, Lopez is still creating vibrant audio explorations.
"There's a new generation of listeners excited by fiction podcasts and audiobooks who are hungry for a more cinematic and inspiring experience," says Jacob Smith, Director of Northwestern University's MA in Sound Arts, and author of a recent article about ZBS. "ZBS's archive is a treasure trove of ear-opening sound design and creative storytelling." Smith thinks the timing is perfect for ZBS's offerings: "During this difficult global pandemic when travel is restricted, public entertainment options are limited, and our eyes are tired from screens, there's no better time for the theater of the mind."
ZBS has remained a vital force in shaping the art of sonic storytelling for the past 50 years and has always evolved with the changing media landscape. In 2016, Lopez created a streaming subscription service that offers hundreds of hours of ZBS's audio content to subscribers: https://www.zbsmedia.com/. With the release of these seminal series on podcasting platforms, this remarkable work is now more widely accessible than ever before.
The Incredible Adventures of Jack Flanders Apple | Google | Spotify
Ruby the Galactic Gumshoe Apple | Google | Spotify
Press Contact:
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