Podmass_In [Podmass](https://www.avclub.com/c/podmass),_ The A.V. Club _sifts through the ever-expanding world of podcasts and recommends the previous week’s best episodes. Have your own favorite? Let us know in the comments or at [podmass@avclub.com](mailto:podmass@avclub.com)._ 
As 1865 comes to a close with this 13th episode, it’s tempting to wonder if this is the best audio fiction podcast of all time. While it’s impossible to weigh all such programs equally against some golden mean, few of the genre’s works approach the same heights as this series. Writer-director Steven Walters’ dramatization of the power vacuum that nearly swallowed Washington following Abraham Lincoln’s assassination is so thoughtfully realized that it approaches the level of one of Shakespeare’s history plays, made all the better by its serialization and length. The narrative winds as tightly as piano wire around two deeply flawed men, President Andrew Johnson and Secretary Of War Edwin M….
