I'm Elena Fernández Collins

upward photo of a helicopter in the sky, surrounded by smoky clouds and dark grey blue sky.

First Look: “Timestorm” Celebrates Puerto Rican History for Young Adults

Elena Fernández Collins December 9, 2018

I got an advance listen of @cocotazomedia's TIMESTORM and if you want great representation, fun young adult audio, and consideration of the interlocking of current and historical events, this is the podcast for you.

black and white photo of a pair of white headphones standing upright in the open spine of a book, sunlight cast across the bottom half.

What’s up with book to podcast adaptations?

Elena Fernández Collins December 2, 2018

We’re all aware, possibly painfully so, of that podcast-to-TV adaptation pipeline and the possibility of podcasts being made solely so that they can be picked up by a movie and TV studio for development. We absolutely have to be wary …

header image with HOMECOMING across the middle which gets blurry at the end, against a dark image of crossing pineapple fronds. Above "Gimlet" and Below "Now a Prime Original TV Series".

We Watched “Homecoming” and Have a Lot of Questions

Elena Fernández Collins November 13, 2018

Co-written by Elena Fernández-Collins and Wil Williams. It’s really no secret that we — Wil Williams and Elena Fernández-Collins — are not fans of Gimlet’s fiction podcasts so far. We both wanted to take at least a look at the …

a photo of an empty auditorium, brightly lit, with wooden chairs in the middle and two aisles going up on either side.

What does the wave of podcast conventions mean for audio fiction?

Elena Fernández Collins November 5, 2018

We’re hip-deep in the winter convention season! I’ve recently returned from the podcast track at the Austin Film Festival, Vancouver is gearing up to have their first festival in a few days, and several cities are gearing up for their …

a photo of 3 potion bottles arranged on top of a paper with calligraphy on it, casting deep shadows across the foreground. The closest bottle contains foggy pink liquid, and the other two bottles are blue and green.

“Alba Salix” Returns with Familiar Fantasy Comedy and Sincere Evolution

Elena Fernández Collins October 26, 2018

Alba Salix‘s return is a second season three years in the making; the much-beloved medical sitcom set in the fantasy world of Farloria is dropping for the public on November 2nd. The podcast focuses on the eponymous character of a …

Photo of a bridge lit with yellow lights, focused on the stone supports underneath. At night.

On Supporting People of Color in the Audio Industry

Elena Fernández Collins October 24, 2018

There have been a lot of changes, big headlines, and ground-rumbling in podcast-land lately. For me, one of those earthquake moments was Phoebe Wang’s speech at Third Coast. I wasn’t present, but I was following as soon as I saw the first tweet …

Photo from the ground, focused on foregrounded pair of white over-ear headphones lying on the ground, on a dirt path. Path is lined with grass and many dead trees. A human, wearing a black hoodie, is walking away down the middle of the path.

5 Podcasts I Escaped the Garbage Fire of Reality with This Week

Elena Fernández Collins October 24, 2018

I’ve been attempting to write reviews, and how-to articles, and my thesis for a long time, but I keep getting bogged down by the news, by the state of my homeland and the United States, and by trying to find places …

photograph of an old brick church surrounded in fog. In the foreground, an ancient cemetery, and in the background, a foggy forest. Solitary, spooky, haunted atmosphere. (St. Anne's church & graveyard on the Channel Island of Alderney.)

13 Podcasts to Spook You on Your Way to Halloween

Elena Fernández Collins October 19, 2018

We are more than midway through October and what I sometimes jokingly call ‘Halloween-month’. In fact, there are thirteen days left right now! I’m a ‘spooky content all year round’ kind of person, Halloween notwithstanding; in fact, I’m not really …

panoramic shot of the Worcester Art Museum lobby entrance, where there is a musical performer singing to the right and people standing around all the edges and balconies and sitting on stairs, listening. There is a large mosaic in the center floor.

“Accession” Beautifully Recontextualizes Physical Art into Audio

Elena Fernández Collins October 17, 2018

The concept of experiencing visual art through sound seems, at face value, to be a difficult proposition to bring into being. How do you get someone to see a work of art in their mind’s eye if they’ve never seen …

A landscape of a decrepit and abandoned wooden railway, with dead leafless trees on either side and a dark sky with only a faint, thin, blurred line of light in the distance. Creepy, haunted atmosphere.

Genre Discussion: How do we discuss mental illness in horror?

Elena Fernández Collins October 11, 2018

Content Warning: I’m talking about mental illness and its depiction in horror (as someone with a mental illness); as such I make mentions of ableist language, various symptoms, and gamifying mental illness. I spent all weekend at a horror film …