I've never done this before, but since it's my last year...
I didn't want to actually nominate, because I felt that would be kind of weird, but now that nominations are closed, I did want to mention a couple of stories that were very close to my heart this past year. Of course, they all meant something special to me, but these even moreso:
1) 324: Without Faith, Without Law, Without Joy by Saladin Ahmed -- Honestly, this is one of the stories I'm flat-out most proud to have run at PodCastle. Joyless regaining his identity so he could stand smiling is about as perfect an ending as I could ask for. I wrote the host spot around the time things were getting even uglier in Ferguson, and felt like this story really captured so much of my feelings on what was happening there. I hoped it might be a light for people in a dark time, the way it was for me.
2) 340: Your Figure Will Assume Beautiful Outlines by Claire Humphrey -- An immigrant, female boxer in a secondary world, and also a love story. YES, CLAIRE HUMPHREY, I WANT YOU TO HIT ME AS HARD AS YOU CAN.
3) 337: Thirteen Incantations by Desirina Boskovich -- Not to take anything away from any of the other stories or narrations we ran, but this was pretty much the perfect story/narrator combo. The sensory details in this one just killed me, as did the love the story. And the mother's love and acceptance at the end was such a welcome surprise.
Also extremely personal for me:
294: Sand Castles by Desirina Boskovich -- which I narrated, cause I loved it soooooooooo much. Road trip, romance, booze. Mmmmmmm!!!!!
308: Gazing into the Carnauba Wax Eyes of the Future by Keffy R.M. Kehrli -- Vomitting peeps so you can (almost) see the future, and always be so disappointed with where you are.
336: Why I Bought Satan Two Cokes on the Day I Graduated High School by Nathaniel Lee -- HOBO SATAN and HIGH SCHOOL FTW
330: DRINK ME (A Flash Fiction Extravaganza) -- both this and Help Summon I just had an absolute BLAST helping put together.
339: Help Summon the Most Holy Folded One! by Harry Connolly
I could list A LOT more. But I'll stop there for now