If ballistic missiles were bearing down on you, how would you spend your final moments on earth? David Singer knows what he’d do: listen to records in the basement of his Kilbourn Park bungalow. “I mean, I’m definitely panicking,” the veteran writer, director, producer, and musician clarifies. “I’d close up some of the vents. But I feel like the odds of me making some moves to escape my fate are pretty slim.”

That same dire scenario drives Singer’s new eight-episode podcast series, Incoming, in which characters in disparate circumstances and locations react to their impending annihilation. Written with Australian film writer Chris Pahlow, with original music by Singer, the anthology debuted on Wondery+ in late August and will be available elsewhere this fall. Singer came up with the concept after reading about how in 2018 Hawaii’s emergency management agency mistakenly issued a ballistic missile alert that had island residents scrambling for safety — and no doubt pondering their mortality.

With top-notch sound design and a terrific cast of accomplished actors from stage and screen — Tracy Letts, David Pasquesi, Marilu Henner, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Paul Adelstein, Amy Landecker, Brad Morris, Matt Walsh, and Rusty Schwimmer, among others — Incoming drops listeners into alternately funny, sad, scary, and violent settings that involve everything from a loony doomsday cult and a 1960s Wisconsin farm family to a former gangster in witness protection. The third installment, “What’s Wrong With Me?,” is entirely improvised. “The vibe in each one is intentionally very naturalistic,” Singer says. “We wanted it to feel like overheard conversation.”

Incoming drops on all podcast platforms November 21.