University of the Surreal

a FICTION PODCASt

A gigantic Goldfish Bowl, three stories high, has appeared overnight on the university quad. No one knows where it came from. No one knows what it means. But the fish need feeding, a committee has been formed to determine how many subcommittees the situation requires, and somewhere in the Administration Building, a college president is too busy drowning in his inbox to look up.

There was, of course, another campus that once had a similarly-sized snow globe appear in its quad. It eventually consumed the entire campus. But that was another century, another country — so probably not relevant here.

University of the Surreal is a story about the things we learn not to see — and what it takes to finally look.

Season One: Office of the President

University of the Surreal is a serialized fiction podcast, meant to be listened to in order. Each episode is 10 to 30 minutes long, designed for a walk, lunch break, or commute. If you like to binge, the full season lasts about 3 hours. Listen via the player below or on your favorite podcast platform, or download the episode transcripts here.

Meet Alan, university president: he's so exhausted that he doesn't even blink when Googly Eyes sprout from his blueberry scone.
A last-minute dinner is already an unwelcome addition to Alan's calendar; the server who seems to appear everywhere on campus at once makes it considerably stranger.
The consultants arrive with their pitch — Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt — and Alan sees through the spin while being unable to resist its spell.
An invisible wall stops Alan from crossing the street — and the words he overhears from a stranger on a bench land hard enough to stop the world around him.
A literature professor turned president, Alan has spent his career believing the world is a text to be interpreted; standing before the Goldfish Bowl at night, he's no longer sure he knows how.
The elevator stops on a floor that doesn't exist, Alan steps into an office that is almost but not quite his own, and Cassie is already there, waiting for a mysterious meeting to begin.
Three versions of Alan arrive to explain, with great conviction, why a trash can is exactly where it should be — and none of their reasoning quite holds up.
Three more doppelgangers arrive with their explanations for the Goldfish Bowl — and Cassie tries a different approach entirely, one that gets somewhere none of the arguments could.
Cassie reports to the Circle of Elders, who discuss what's coming next; back at the University, the impossible has found a new way in.
Greetings, next steps, and a brief reflective practice from the University of the Surreal's author and narrator.

a FICTION PODCASt

Season One: Office of the President

university of the surreal