“What Lies In Wait” is a new story-based podcast that released its first episode on April 9 and is planning on releasing a further five episodes in the near future.

The podcast started in December 2024 as a class project with a planned amount of five episodes, but the episode count was expanded to six total episodes. There are 12 students involved in the project, all with different roles such as casting director, audio engineer, line producer, and various cast members. The originator of the idea was Arch Pingel, writer and producer of the podcast, along with Evianca Robinson, producer and editor, and more cast members followed soon after.

The concept, according to Pingel, is inspired by the political and cultural period of 1950s America and Irish and Norwegian folklore and mythology, specifically creatures like fairies and goblins. The plot follows private investigator Eloise McCray as she tries to work a case so that she may one day become a CIA Agent. She arrives in a small, Irish-populated southern town, and must track down the husband of Meabh Casey. 

When it comes to the struggles of creating a project like this, Pingel said, “I think my personal philosophy is if I end up hating the project while I’m in it, then it’s a good project, because that means that I care about it to the point where it’s stressing you out.”

“What Lies In Wait” is available on both Spotify and Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. They also have their own website where you can learn more about the project, the people behind it and get into the mood for something unique and fantastical. You can visit the website here.