Sharon Mashihi shows that you can tell a story that mixes elements of documentary and fiction and make it sing. I feel like podcasting often lacks auteurship, but this one has it more than any other. It should be required listening."

- John Perotti, Rococo Punch

Appearances, created by Sharon Mashihi, is a bold, deeply personal work of autofiction that dissolves the line between memoir and imagination. Told through a swirling blend of inner monologue, surreal dialogue, and lush sound design, the podcast captures the emotional dissonance of identity—cultural, familial, and personal—with rawness and formal daring. As its Iranian-American protagonist navigates questions of motherhood, desire, and belonging, Appearances becomes less a narrative than an experience: intimate, fractured, and profoundly human. It’s one of the rare audio works that feels truly auteur-driven, expanding the possibilities of what storytelling in podcast form can be.