Tanis is a mysterypseudo-documentarypodcast. Published by Pacific Northwest Stories, it is part of their series of podcasts set in the same fictional universe (such as The Black Tapes and Rabbits) which, despite being works of fiction, are presented as legitimate true stories both within the podcast and outside of it; the podcast has no credited writers or performers, as the events and characters are framed as real. The main character, Nic Silver, is voiced by executive producer Terry Miles.
In the podcast, Silver undertakes a search to discover the meaning of "Tanis", a word of unknown meaning that seems connected to various elusive individuals and organizations, leading him to unearth a web of conspiracies with the help of an internet "information specialist" known only as "Meerkatnip".
After its premiere on October 13, 2015, episodes of Tanis were released every two weeks during the first four seasons and weekly during the fifth. Critical reception of the show was positive and it peaked on the U.S. iTunes podcast download chart in the eleventh spot. A television adaptation of the podcast was planned in 2017 and the fifth season of the podcast premiered on September 2, 2020.
Content
Synopsis
Nic Silver, a former radio host, discovers references to something called Tanis in two disparate sources. He begins hosting the podcast in an effort to determine what and where Tanis may be, quickly enlisting the help of an "information specialist" known via the username Meerkatnip. Silver comes to believe that Tanis is currently somewhere in the Puget Sound area. His search, aided with information provided by Meerkatnip, leads him to confront a variety of mysterious groups and organizations: Tesla Nova Corporation, a group Silver calls "The Cult of Tanis", and a group known as the Grackles.
Format
Tanis is a mystery horror podcast released every two weeks on iTunes and other services.[1][2] Terry Miles, with the production company Public Radio Alliance, serves as the show's executive producer and provides the voice work for Silver, who Miles refers to as his "cousin" and who is listed as the show's other executive producer.[1][3] Episodes of the show take approximately one week to plot and write, another week to record, and two weeks to mix, edit, and score. Dialogue is recorded where it occurs in the narrative, such that a scene which takes place in Tanis in a living room would be recorded in an actual living room. Tanis is scored with backing music and features a musical intro song by Miles's former band, Ashley Park. Financial support for the podcast comes from listeners via Patreon and sponsors, for whose products and services ads are integrated into the production.[3]
The podcast was described as "deep fiction" by The Guardian because, while it blends real-world and fictional events and people into its narrative, the show's creators and characters never acknowledge that the podcast is fictitious.[1][4] The podcast, according to Molly Osberg in Vice, occurs in a world that "isn't so much an alternate reality as [a world] that hovers comfortably adjacent to ours."[5] In addition to the regular episodes, Miles also produces a variety of supporting documents and interviews which he posts on the show's official website in order to lend plausibility to the notion that the events of the show may be real.[3]Tanis mimics the successful format of the earlier nonfictional investigative podcast Serial, notably its "unpretentious narrative style and mystery 'plot'".[2] It is one of a spate of podcasts released in the wake of Serial'sfirst season in 2014 that remixed those elements of Serial with the horror and mystery genres, other such podcasts including Alice Isn't Dead, ars Paradoxica, and Tanis sister show The Black Tapes.[2]
Themes
Themes of powerlessness and uneasy alliance with a (possible) enemy are present in Tanis's narrative.[2] Michael J. Collins described a pattern in mystery horror podcasts of narrators existing within uncertain personal or professional situations, such as Silver's inconsistent work and sleep schedules, which mimic "the lifestyles of overworked, yet unremunerated, Millennials."[2] Collins wrote that Tanis evoked millennial economic unease when Silver accepts aid in his investigation from Tesla Nova Corporation and thus becomes complicit with the organization Silver believes may be responsible for the goings-on he is investigating.[2]
Episodes
The first season of Tanis premiered October 13, 2015, when the first two episodes were released. The third episode was released on October 19 and subsequent episodes have generally been released every two weeks, although episodes were released weekly in season five. The second season premiered April 20, 2016, and season three premiered February 21, 2017. The fourth season premiered February 28, 2018, with the fifth premiering September 2, 2020.[6]
Tanis received critical acclaim. Melissa Locker, writing in The Guardian described the podcast, as well as sister show The Black Tapes, as "compelling and wildly addictive."[1] The scholars Danielle Hancock and Leslie McMurtry described the podcast as "elegantly illustrat[ing] the new Gothic horror podcast paradigm" on account of its production value, attentiveness to the possibilities of the podcast format, and in-universe connections with traditional elements of Gothic fiction.[7] In Bustle, Lucia Peters praised the melding of real-world and fictional elements in Tanis's narrative, calling the podcast "a fascinating, if somewhat confusing, ride."[8]Tanis peaked on the U.S. iTunes podcast download chart at number 11.[9]
