As audio dramas become more and more prominent, bringing soaps back to their radio heyday, the independently owned SoapKast Productions on Tuesday unveiled plans to modernize the soap opera format starting with “World’s Apart,” a first-of-its-kind, thrice-weekly serial that features 20-minute episodes dropping every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, starting Monday, July 6, 2026, with an ambitious 156 episodes to be released yearly.
Created and written by writer and producer Andrew Pemberton-Fowler (“Soapy Hosted by Rebecca Budig and Greg Rikaart,” “The Official Gilded Age Podcast”), the new series follows three core families in the fictional Bedford Hills, a manicured suburb within Chicago’s North Shore:
- The Livingstons, an old-money, London-polished, and returning family who believe Bedford Hills still belongs to them;
- The Russes, who built something from nothing, and their ambition makes the town deeply, quietly uncomfortable;
- The Greenfields, who are working every angle just to stay in a town that keeps making it harder to live there.
The series kicks off with worlds fractured as Ian Greenfield’s (Benjamin Corsi; “Hometown Summer”) friendship with Sylvia Russ (Deanna Rowland; “Sugercreek Amish Mysteries,” “Buried in the Backyard”) and Robbie Livingston (Brady Ryan; “Harold and the Purple Crayon,” “Black Phone”) unleashes an unforeseen tidal wave that will consume everyone in its path. Meanwhile, the future of the Livingston family’s two-centuries-old business empire will alter the fortunes of everyone in town… and around the world.
Episodes of the character-driven audio soap that explores life, class, race, and the invisible lines that tell people exactly where they belong will be released every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 12:00 p.m. ET, wherever podcasts are available and on the official SoapKast website.
In addition to Benjamin Corsi, who plays Ian Greenfield, Deanna Rowland, who plays Sylvia Russ and Brady Ryan, who plays Robbie Livingston, the cast also includes voice actors Chris Devlin (“Beef”, “9-1-1”) as Abe Greenfield; Erin Frigo (“Stuck with You”, “Party of Five”) as Talia Livingston; Jeff Gendelman (“Guiding Light”, “Loving”) as Jacob Livingston; Deon Griffin (“Scent of the CEO’s Lost Love”, “Love Ages Like Fine Wine”) as Frederick Livingston; Mara Kassin (“The Foxes of Hydesville”, “American Hostage”) as Francine Greenfield; Stacey Moseley (“Banksters”, “Station 19”) as Diane Livingston; Adam Pilver (“Beef”, “Heartglass”) as Oscar Livingston; Damian T. Raven (“The Chadwick Journals”, “Cash Collectors”) as Holbrook Russ; Preston Sabharwal (“Indecent Goodbyes”, “Night Shift”) as Seth Cohn; Julia Tolchin (“FBI: Most Wanted”, “Moments of Youth”) as Wendy Greenfield; and Renn Woods (“Roots”, “Hair”, “The Wiz”) as Madeline Holbrook Russ.
Listen to the “Worlds Apart” audio trailer below.
“Worlds Apart” is produced and distributed by SoapKast Productions, Inc., with Pemberton-Fowler producing and editing by Trae Budde (“Soapy Hosted by Rebecca Budig and Greg Rikaart,” “The Official Gilded Age Podcast,” “Days of Our Lives: Inside Salem”). Pemberton-Fowler and Budde also served as executive story editor and supervising sound editor, respectively, on the audio drama “Montecito,” which was created and executive produced by Emmy nominee Grant Rutter.