The short-fiction podcast from Radiotopia that presents one-act plays and often-surreal stories is The Truth.
The Truth is an anthology fiction podcast created by Jonathan Mitchell and associated with PRX’s Radiotopia network. Rather than following one continuing cast or storyline, it builds each episode as a self-contained audio drama. Its stories range from speculative and eerie premises to comic, emotional, and surreal explorations of ordinary life.
The project grew from collaborative work by Mitchell, Hillary Frank, Ed Herbstman, and improvisers connected with New York’s Magnet Theater. An early story, “Moon Graffiti,” became the podcast’s first episode and had previously won the 2010 Gold Mark Time Award. The show’s title echoes Ralph Waldo Emerson’s idea that fiction can reveal truths reality obscures.
The Truth began in 2012 and stopped production in 2023 after the episode “Pariah.” It produced 125 episodes and featured performers including Jesse Eisenberg, Scott Adsit, F. Murray Abraham, and James Urbaniak. It is sometimes confused with documentary podcasts because of its realistic sound design, but its stories are fictional.