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Roy Kaplan: Out of Sight

What’s the deal with Roy Kaplan: Out of Sight?

If you need something found or something found out, Roy Kaplan is the man for the job. With the ability to talk to ghosts and bypass any lock, there’s no mystery beyond his reach and no trouble that’s big enough to scare him off.

In Out of Sight, Kaplan, with the help of his ghost roommate Wes, takes on mysteries from the missing persons to the murders and everything in between. But as Kaplan keeps an eye out for trouble, he’ll soon find there’s trouble with an eye out for him…

The Pinwheel Lab proudly presents to you: Out of Sight, the first season of Roy Kaplan (or Roy Kaplan, Private Investigator if you prefer), consisting of twelve original and intriguing audio mysteries, 30-40 minutes long each. Join Kaplan–private investigator, ex-burglar, and psychic–as he takes on strange cases across the city and uses his sharp observations, his psychic lock cracking and ghost speaking abilities, and the occasional assist from his ghost roommate Wes to unbury the truths that nobody else can.

Roy Kaplan is a paranormal cyberpunk detective audio drama which focuses heavily on investigation. There are no magic answers here–Kaplan puts his feet on the pavement and his wits to the test to unsnarl the cases that come across his desk. The series is written episodically–each episode more or less can be listened to on its own without requiring knowledge of other episodes (though it is still preferred to listen in release order). It is heavily inspired both by old time radio classics like Richard Diamond as well as 1930s to 1950s hardboiled detective fiction. It is written, edited, and produced by Jesse Peng (that’s me!) and features the voice talents of 35 voice actors across the season as well as an original soundtrack courtesy of Beacon.

How to Listen

Roy Kaplan is hosted on Pinecast, which will allow you to listen to the show on any podcast aggregator which supports RSS, including places like Amazon Music and Spotify. (Apple Music appears to be having some issues right now.) Additionally, you can listen to episodes on YouTube, which also lets you comment on episodes if you so desire, or by supporting us on Patreon, where you can get higher-quality audio and listen to episodes a week early.

Alternately, listen directly through your browser using this website by going to the corresponding pages linked below! You will find the episode player, the episode credits, and the full transcript, which should all be equally accessible on desktop and mobile.

Be sure to subscribe so you’ll never miss an episode! You can use whatever method you like best, whether that’s subscribing to the YouTube channel or subscribing directly to the RSS, but if you’d like to get episode notifications directly to your email, you can sign up for The Pinwheel Lab’s newsletter:

Rest assured, the only emails you’ll get are episode notifications, and then major project announcements like if I finish writing my novel or something.

Out of Sight Episode Listing

Below are the episode release dates, as well as the episode summary within the accordion. Out of Sight releases every two weeks on Saturdays, with Patreon supporters able to listen to episodes one week early. I’ve put in all the links so they’ll be ready when release time comes around, but (obviously) they won’t work until the scheduled release date.

The main page for each episode includes the audio player, full credits, and episode transcript. Corresponding commentary blog posts will be linked under their respective episode.

Episode Quick Links

Trailer – 01 – 02 – 03 – 04 – 05 – 06 – 07 – 08 – 09 – 10 – 11 – 12

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Trailer – November 8, 2024

Trailer – Main Page

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01 – Bomber Blackout – December 28, 2024

01 - Bomber Blackout Episode Blurb
Kaplan is ready to take the surest bet of his life–on Bomber Baron, one of the best pilots in the anti-gravity racing league. But in the middle of the Baron’s last race of her career, the cameras go black, and the Baron vanishes. It’s up to Kaplan to figure out what happened and why.

Bomber Blackout – Main Page

Writer Commentary

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02 – Murder By Proxy – January 11, 2025

(Patreon early release: January 4, 2025)

02 - Murder By Proxy Episode Blurb
A ghost comes to Kaplan with an interesting request–to prove the friend who murdered him is actually innocent. Kaplan investigates the case of a man with a robot body and a guilty conscience, and learns a little bit more about the dirt behind the minds who made cybernetics a reality.

Murder By Proxy – Main Page

Writer Commentary

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03 – Bait and Stitch – January 25, 2025

(Patreon early release: January 18, 2025)

03 - Bait and Stitch Episode Blurb
An old face comes back into Kaplan’s life with a dire request–to steal a piece of incriminating evidence before she catches the heat. For Kaplan, theft is easy, but unraveling the deceptions and motivations behind it all is a little harder.

Bait and Stitch – Main Page

Writer Commentary

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04 – Dead Man’s Safe – February 8, 2025

(Patreon early release: February 1, 2025)

04 - Dead Man's Safe Episode Blurb
Walter Knightsbridge has a problem. His father has recently died and willed a safe which contained an important secret. However, upon opening the safe, he finds the message has vanished. He asks Kaplan to help, but how is Kaplan supposed to find something when he doesn’t even know what he’s looking for?

Dead Man’s Safe – Main Page

Writer Commentary

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05 – Foul Spirits – February 22, 2025

(Patreon early release: February 15, 2025)

05 - Foul Spirits Episode Blurb
There is a new psychic who claims he can call up the dead and knows things only the dead should know, but Kaplan is skeptical. How will this psychic stack up against Kaplan’s real psychic abilities?

Foul Spirits – Main Page

Writer Commentary

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06 – Random Access Memory – March 8, 2025

(Patreon early release: March 1, 2025)

06 - Random Access Memory Episode Blurb
Notion, Kaplan’s old friend and tailor, needs some help. They’ve found records of a job they’ve done but can’t remember doing it, nor evidence they’ve been paid. It’s up to Kaplan to unravel the plot, but is this just part of a larger trap?

Random Access Memory – Main Page

Writer Commentary

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07 – Family Dysfunctions – March 22, 2025

(Patreon early release: March 15, 2025)

07 - Family Dysfunctions Episode Blurb
A ghost wants Kaplan to find out who killed him and bring them to justice. What originally looks like a straightforward case quickly becomes entangled in the family’s strained relations.

Family Dysfunctions – Main Page

Writer Commentary

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08 – Sleep Well, My Darling – April 5, 2025

(Patreon early release: March 29, 2025)

08 - Sleep Well, My Darling Episode Blurb
A stranger in the city comes to Kaplan looking for an old flame. Kaplan offers to help, but soon realizes there’s something larger and darker hiding beneath the surface.

Sleep Well, My Darling – Main Page

Writer Commentary

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09 – Calling Card – April 19, 2025

(Patreon early release: April 12, 2025)

09 - Calling Card Episode Blurb
When a rash of burglaries hits the city, Inspector Fletcher calls in an expert–Roy Kaplan, private investigator and ex-career burglar. But as Kaplan investigates the burglaries, he sees these are no ordinary thefts, but perhaps an echo from his own past…

Calling Card – Main Page

Writer Commentary

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10 – Doctor’s Orders – May 3, 2025

(Patreon early release: April 26, 2025)

10 - Doctor's Orders Episode Blurb
Kaplan bites off a little more than he can chew on a missing persons case and ends up hospitalized. Wes takes it upon themself to finish the case instead.

Doctor’s Orders – Main Page

Writer Commentary

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11 – How to Date Your Dragon – May 17, 2025

(Patreon early release: May 10, 2025)

11 - How to Date Your Dragon Episode Blurb
A client comes to Kaplan with an unusual situation: his favorite hostess at a costume club has suddenly stopped working and he’s worried that she is being pressured or hurt. Kaplan isn’t much for clubs, but he’s willing to take a trip and find out what’s hiding behind the mask.

How to Date Your Dragon – Main Page

Writer Commentary

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12 – Memento Mori – May 31, 2025

(Patreon early release: May 24, 2025)

12 - Memento Mori Episode Blurb
There’s another psychic in the shadows, dogging Kaplan’s every step. An old friend brings a case that will force Kaplan to face the truth, but is this the finale or the start of something bigger?

Memento Mori – Main Page

Writer Commentary

Enjoy Out of Sight? Consider supporting us!

Roy Kaplan is a project which I want everyone to be able to get the full experience without having to pay for it–I really dislike paywalling things, or deliberately making the experience worse to incentivize people to spend money to make it less worse, which is why Roy Kaplan contains no ads and there are no paid episodes. If you enjoyed Roy Kaplan, great! Show your love by commenting on the YouTube episodes, or joining the conversation in the Discord server, or sending asks to the roykaplanpod Tumblr, or (probably most important) by sharing the show with your friends.

That said, Out of Sight is a passion project, and not exactly a cheap one. Out of Sight ended up costing 3300 USD (without counting hosting fees), which all came out of pocket–almost all of that money went to paying our voice talent (and the reason it’s not significantly higher is because I voice Roy). While I very much enjoy Roy Kaplan and would like to make more seasons (there are outlines for a total of four seasons), it’s not sustainable for me to spend thousands of dollars as well as over a thousand hours of work for every season. So if you like what you hear and would like a season 2, consider supporting production! The main ways you can support us are as follows:

  • Patreon – You can buy individual episodes or you can make a monthly pledge, either of which lets you hear episodes early. Does require a Patreon account.
  • itch.io – You can buy the promo pack (which allows you to pay what you want) to make a one-time donation. Does not require an itch.io account.
  • Pinecast – You can contribute to the tip jar. I believe it allows one-time and recurring donations, and does not require an account?
  • Digital downloads – At the end of the season, I will release digital downloads: the full season bundle in higher audio quality, the annotated script book with essays and commentary, and the art book which includes cover art sketches and character art as well as my commentary. These will be available on both Patreon and itch.io. Links will be added here at the end of May.

I am using these methods instead of a crowdfunding campaign because I don’t want to ask people for money without having something to show in return, especially when I can’t really guarantee that Roy Kaplan will be produced by a specific date. I don’t want to be in a situation where I’m sitting on money for a project that’s been horribly delayed due to whatever unforeseen circumstances. So please understand that these support methods are primarily to recoup the costs of season 1, and by extension make it possible for me to produce a season 2 without breaking my own bank.

For more information about Roy Kaplan and the full list of relevant links, check the main Roy Kaplan page. Happy listening, and I’ll see you on the other side!