Welcome to Night Vale.

• Author: Mangu-Ward, Katherine
• Position: Briefly Noted - Brief article

What do you get when you combine the dysfunctional politics of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, the creepiness of The X-Files, and the cheerful banality of Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon? Welcome to Night Vale, a podcast that issues from a lost desert town where the paranormal is normal and the city council urges citizens: "If you see something, say nothing and drink to forget."

The podcast isn't overtly political, but there's a lot for a libertarian to love. In one early episode, a mysterious "glow cloud" hovers over the town, raining dead armadillos and other small...