2015 is becoming increasingly known as “the golden age of podcasts.” From the crafted storytelling that sets apart Serial, to the number of women hosts we’re starting to see atop the iTunes charts, today’s podcasts are becoming what Seth Lind, producer slash host of Cast Party and director of operations at the public radio show This American Life, calls a “powerhouse medium.” One podcast fueling this idea is certainly NPR’s Invisibila (click here for a recap of a past episode).

Invisibilia premiered its first episode back in January. Co-hosted by Lulu Miller and Alix Spiegel, who’ve also contributed to This American Life and Radiolab, the weekly program “explores the tangible forces that shape human behavior — things like ideas, beliefs, assumptions, and emotions… a glimpse into a world you can’t see.” To date, it’s been downloaded more than 42 million times.

“It’s totally insane,” Miller told Medical Daily. “What’s most exciting is [the discussion of] human behavior and mental health. You don’t always talk about it in polite company… [so] we’re shining a light on this stuff and making it less scary.”

Miller is sharing a story on behalf of Invisibilia during Lind’s Cast Party tonight, July 28, at New York University’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts Center (and screening in select movie theaters this week), alongside other hosts of popular radio programs. In between each story, Lind will feature original videos, music from the horn quartet The Westerlies, even dance by Cocoon Central Dance Party.

That it’ll screen in select movie theaters is why Miller wanted to represent in the first place.

“I love the idea of just going to the movie theater and getting the popcorn to see people on the radio you don’t usually see — a variety show of storytellers,” she said. “It makes me feel even if our story bombs, the event will still be good.”

For the record, Miller didn’t bomb; I attended the dress rehearsal of Cast Party last night, and she impressively told a story of a man on a mission to break the four-minute mile… in four minutes. This piece, she said, is relative to a “whole big episode” she and Spiegel are working on for season two.

“One of the topics we’re looking at for season two is personality and whether that stays consistent over a lifetime” she said. “There’s a boatload of research [that says it] may not be consistent, which is a little terrifying. This piece [features] a guy who deals with a potentially inconsistent self…it’s just a neat tale. I love a good, dramatic story.”

In order to bring those dramatic stories to life, Miller says she and Spiegel “study emotion seriously”— an area of focus that for whatever reason is less legitimate” than economics and chemistry. Recently Miller came across a study on the influence psychosocial and biological factors have on the ways in which we communicate. Turns out, things like, hostility and criticism can trigger relapses in people with certain conditions.

“There it was,” she said, “[evidence] these little emotional forces can have biological repercussions. It’s so interesting to see the world does work that way.”

Miller and Spiegel are making their mark on an otherwise male-dominated field. In 2013, Bitch Media reported 71 of the 100 most popular podcasts were hosted by men; nine were hosted by a man and woman; and nine “were either NPR or BBC news aggregation podcasts with alternating hosts and reporters.” And these numbers are worse for women of color. Podcasts, like The Read and BuzzFeed's Another Round are tackling the lack of diversity in public radio.

Miller has noticed this underrepresentation in the podcasts she listens to. Of her dynamic with Spiegel, she feels some of the success has to do with the fact “the female buddy comedy is a thing right now.”

"Here are two women not talking about boys or clothes…a fun dynamic and discussing science,” Miller said. “But we’re also not trying to hide that we’re women. We make references to rom-coms because we watch them and we love them. We end our show with a dance party, because we love those too. And one of our favorite comments online has been from a young woman saying, ‘Oh my god, I turn on the radio and I hear myself, and I hadn’t heard that before.’ I like someone feeling like they’re hearing a good story.”

When asked if any other listener feedback will influence season two, Miller said there wasn’t really any. People have mostly said they want more episodes sooner rather than later, but that’s all part of production. Miller and Spiegel aren't willing to "sacrifice the quality."

And what, ultimately, makes for a good quality story?

“Suspense, surprise, new content, emotion, and irreverence… the kind of story that leaves the world feeling less stuck and strange.”