CITY LIFE

submissions came flooding in.

“I kept doing it every year, and instead of running out of stories from my audience, there would be more—and they would get more extreme,” he said. “My thinking is that, if I treat these stories seriously and try to tell them in a way that I would any other serious story, more people will come forward to talk about these things. Which has proven to be true.”

As Wagner collected more stories and interviews, he realized he had enough for a spin-o series. When he released the first episode of Otherworld in October 2022, he imagined the passion project as a six-episode season. But the podcast blew up, and stories kept overflowing his inbox. The plan had always been to retire Yeah But Still after its 500th episode, which aired in February. Now, Otherworld has aired 29 episodes and has become Wagner’s full-time focus.

Wagner’s earnest approach to unbelievable stories has been a hit with his listeners. In less than a year since its genesis, Otherworld has taken o in popularity. At one point, it showed up as number seven in Spotify’s top podcasts list. On Apple Podcasts, it has 4.9 stars from more than 1,800 reviews. A Washington Post article called the show the “This American Life of ghost stories,” and delved into the Gen Z fandom spreading across message boards and Discord servers.