Midst

Midst is a semi-improvised space-western audio drama focused on "three protagonists – a crotchety outlaw, a struggling cultist and a diabolical bastard – as their paths intersect in unexpected ways"[1] in the town of Stationary Hill after the mysterious civilization known as the Trust becomes interested in the islet of Midst where the town is located.[5]

Midst was originally produced by the studio Third Person which was made of the podcast's three anonymous narrators and was inspired by a campaign setting the narrators created for a tabletop role-playing game they played together.[4][6] It was originally released from January 2020 to April 2022.[2][3]

In March 2023, the science fiction podcast was purchased by Metapigeon, the film and television production banner of Critical Role Productions; this is the first time that Critical Role has acquired outside intellectual property. Critical Role began to rerelease Midst in April 2023. This rerelease includes remastered audio, a new video format and a planned new third season. It also has an ad-free subscription option that includes an early release schedule and other bonus content.[1][7][5]

When asked in an interview on how the production changed after acquisition, Third Person narrator Xen opined that the upcoming third season will be "on another level" as it will be the first season the group works on full time as opposed to the first two seasons where they were "hobbyist producers" with limited time.[8] Narrator Matt also highlighted the transition of working on the podcast during the group's hobby time versus now working on it full time. Narrator Sara highlighted the art of the new YouTube edition:

Midst is an audio drama, but even when we were indie, we were very gung-ho about making it "more than just a podcast" – creating as many supplements as we could, the appendices, character portraits, episode icons, etc. So having the opportunity to visualize our world through the styles of so many different artists has been a dream come true.[8]

The nineteen episode first season ran from January 7, 2020, to May 1, 2020, and the nineteen episode second season ran from July 30, 2021, to April 29, 2022.[2][3] In March 2023, all episodes were removed from various podcast platforms.[9]

On April 11, 2023, Critical Role released the first remastered episode and then released two more episodes that week. Following the initial three episode release, the remastered episodes for the first season were posted weekly on "every subsequent Wednesday".[9] The remastered episodes are available on various podcasting platforms and the Critical Role YouTube channel; subscribers have access to an ad-free early release version.[9][1] The remastered second season is scheduled to premiere on August 23, 2023 with subsequent episodes released weekly on Wednesdays.[10]

Rashika Rao, for International Podcast Month in 2020, stated that the style of Midst is "reminiscent of Gravity Falls" and that the podcast "combines the unapologetically weird with the frighteningly real to create one of the most original fictional worlds out there right now. Do yourself a favor and speedrun season one—you won't regret it".[11] She also highlighted the world's Valor system which is based on a "person's inherent goodness" with inheritable debt resulting in many people spending "their entire lives trying to rack up enough good deeds to end up at a balanced zero".[11] Rao commented that the Valor system heavily impacts the narrative along with the motivations of various characters and becomes "a brilliant criticism of capitalism because of how closely it aligns to reality".[11]

Midst was included as an "interesting pick" on Vulture's "The Best Podcasts of 2022, According to People Who Make Podcasts" list – the article stated that the podcast is "a consistent entry among producers who either work in the genre or pay close attention to it".[12] Lauren Shippen highlighted that it has a "rich and full sound design" with a spin on the "concept of an exclusively narrated podcast"; "a lot of podcasts throw around words like immersive, but Midst actually delivers – you feel like you're inside the world the narrators are building for you".[12]

Caitlyn Ng Man Chuen, for CBR in 2023, called Midst "creative and original" with a "world that listeners just can't get enough of".[13] She highlighted that the setting mixes "elements of science fiction, fantasy, and drama" – "beyond this, it also has interesting elements related to the world's political system and economy, which adds a lot of political intrigue to the show".[13] Chuen stated that the podcast "is an excellent display of interactive and creative storytelling that's rare to see done with such professionalism. The story has everything from murder mysteries and brainwashing cults to magic and love, all in a distinct world with interesting characters".[13]

• Archive of original website (via the Wayback Machine)