Audio Diary

Audio Diaries are the main narrative device of Bioshock. They were recorded by the people of Rapture, either as notes for themselves or as messages for other residents. There are 122 total audio diaries, and all of the diaries must be found to unlock the "Historian" achievement on Xbox Live.

Most audio diaries are optional for the player to listen to or find, as they explain the history of Rapture, and clues about the environment, but don't have a huge impact on the gameplay. A few diaries however contain required information, and the audio is automatically played back when the diary is found.

List of Diaries

Here is a list of all the Audio Diaries that can be found throughout Rapture along with who recorded the diary. For information about how to find the diary, or what was said, click the name of the diary. For additional information, ask me personally.

Note, some of the numbering and information for these came from the wiki-style list of audio diaries on MyCheats.com, and a thread on audio diaries from Xbox360Achievements.org. Locations and transcripts copied with permission from ShadowsDieAway's audio diary guide.

Welcome to Rapture
NOTE: You cannot backtrack to this area, you MUST get these AD's if trying for the Historian achievement.


 * 1) Diane McClintock - New Year's Eve Alone
 * 2) Steve Barker - Hole in the Bathroom Wall

Medical Pavilion

 * 1) Diane McClintock - Released Today - Medical Pavilion Foyer on the reception desk
 * 2) Dr. Steinman - Adam's Changes - Emergency Access on the desk
 * 3) Dr. Steinman - Higher Standards - Medical Pavilion Foyer near entrance on wall
 * 4) Andrew Ryan - Parasite Expectations - Medical Pavilion Foyer near surgery on desk
 * 5) Bridgette Tenenbaum - Love for Science - Medical Pavilion Foyer near health station
 * 6) Dr. Steinman - Limits of Imagination - Medical Pavilion Foyer left of the frozen door near Eternal Flame entrance
 * 7) Andrew Ryan - Vandalism - Flooded alcove with vending machines
 * 8) Dr. Steinman - Surgery's Picasso - Eternal Flame entrance near memorial
 * 9) Bill McDonagh - Freezing Pipes - Medical Pavilion Foyer near bottom of stairs
 * 10) Dr. Suchong - Enrage Trial - Kure-All corner of main room
 * 11) Bridgette Tenenbaum - Useless Experiments - Dandy Dental floor near entrance
 * 12) Dr. Suchong - Plasmids are the Paint -Painless Dental desk in the corner
 * 13) Dr. Suchong - Testing Telekinesis -Dandy Dental on the floor by Gatherer's Garden
 * 14) Dr. Steinman - Symmetry - Surgery Foyer wall by debris pile
 * 15) Dr. Steinman - Aphrodite Walking - Surgery desk in northern O.R.
 * 16) Dr. Steinman - Not What She Wanted -Surgery in the corpse on table the doctor worked on
 * 17) Dr. Steinman - Gatherer's Vulnerability - Lounge on the floor by Gatherer's Garden

Neptune's Bounty

 * 1) Sullivan - Timmy H. Interrogation - Lower Wharf in the water of the interrogation room
 * 2) Andrew Ryan - Fontaine Must Go - Lower Wharf crawl under the metal grating by the pipes after fighting the spider splicer
 * 3) Sullivan - Bathysphere Keys - Lower Wharf under south end of the boardwalk
 * 4) Bridgette Tenenbaum - Finding the Sea Slug - Upper Wharf table by the stairwell entrance
 * 5) Mariska Lutz - Masha Come Home - Upper Wharf from the lower wharf to the upper wharf, when you enter the upper, make a left and it's in the corner near corpse on wall
 * 6) Sullivan - Picked Up Timmy H. - Upper Wharf from the lower wharf to the upper wharf, when you enter the upper, make a left and it's in the corner near Little Sister in the corpse
 * 7) Andrew Ryan - Watch Fontaine - Upper Wharf next to the Circus of Values machine
 * 8) Sullivan - Have My Badge - Wharfmaster's Office on desk
 * 9) Bridgette Tenenbaum - Adam Discovery - Upper Wharf in crate below the wharfmaster's office
 * 10) Bill McDonagh - Eden Leaking - Upper Wharf hallway going towards Jet Postal
 * 11) Bridgette Tenenbaum - Fontaine's Smugglers - Walkway near Jet Postal on bench next to ashtray
 * 12) Andrew Ryan - Death Penalty in Rapture -Jet Postal desk by vending machine
 * 13) Sullivan - Smuggling Ring - Fighting Bill McDonagh center bar table
 * 14) Andrew Ryan - Working Late Again - Fighting Bill McDonagh window bar table
 * 15) Bill McDonagh - Arresting Fontaine - Fighting Bill McDonagh room #6 upstairs
 * 16) Mariska Lutz - Saw Masha Today - Fighting Bill McDonagh room #7 upstairs
 * 17) Bill McDonagh - Meeting Ryan - Fighting Bill McDonagh crawl through the water- filled ventilation shaft towards Gene Bank
 * 18) Peach Wilkins - Putting the Screws On - Freezer Bottom Floor next to safe
 * 19) Bill McDonagh - Rapture Changing - Fighting Bill McDonagh desk in basement office

Smuggler's Hideout

 * 1) Peach Wilkins - Meeting With Fontaine - Storage Cave ground by crates
 * 2) Frank Fontaine - Kraut Scientist - Control Room Lower Floor in locked storage cave
 * 3) Peach Wilkins - Offered a Deal - Submarine Bay on dock towards Arcadia

Arcadia

 * 1) Bill McDonagh - Seeing Ghosts - Tea Garden floor left of entrance
 * 2) Dieter Sonnekalb - Big Night Out - Tea Garden floor near ghost bench (Enter either "Arcadia Glens" door around the waterfall)
 * 3) Bridgette Tenenbaum - Mass Producing Adam - Tea Garden (Enter either "Archadia Glens" door around the waterfall)
 * 4) Professor Julie Langford - Arcadia Closed - Tea Garden on table near Gene Bank
 * 5) Professor Julie Langford - The Saturnine - Lower Rolling Hills cave behind waterfall
 * 6) Mariska Lutz - Shouldn't Have Come - Lower Rolling Hills bench near stairs
 * 7) Andrew Ryan - The Market is Patient - Waterfall Grottos bench near U-Invent
 * 8) Professor Julie Langford - Early Tests Promising - Waterfall Grottos near water wheel
 * 9) Andrew Ryan - Offer a Better Product - Waterfall Grottos near water wheel
 * 10) Diane McClintock - Heroes and Criminals - Waterfall Grottos in locked machinery room
 * 11) Professor Julie Langford - What Won't They Steal - Research Laboratories near entrance
 * 12) Professor Julie Langford - Teaching an Old Hound - Research Laboratories table in second room
 * 13) Professor Julie Langford - Lazarus Vector Formula - Langford's Office in Julie's wall safe
 * 14) Professor Julie Langford - Lazarus Vector - Langford's Office in Julie Langford's body
 * 15) Professor Julie Langford - Arcadia and Oxygen - Tree Farm near crate at entrance
 * 16) Bridgette Tenenbaum - Maternal Instinct - Tree Farm on the steps towards Farmer's Market
 * 17) Andrew Ryan - The Great Chain - Arcadia Metro Station bench right of entrance (On the way back after Farmer's Market)

Farmer's Market
*On the Xbox 360 I have this listed under the Neptune's Bounty/Smuggler's Hideout group, not sure which I found it in though Edit - This AD is where the previous author has stated, however, when you check your audio diaries in the game, it won't be listed under the farmers market tab, but under Neptune's Bounty/Smugglers Hideout.
 * 1) Tasha Denu - Bee Enzyme - Farmers Market ground near pneumo tube
 * 2) Andrew Ryan - Pulling Together - Farmers Market on meat market counter
 * 3) Bridgette Tenenbaum - Hatred - Farmers Market lower storage room desk
 * 4) Andrew Ryan - Desperate Times - Farmers Market in freezer crawlspace
 * 5) Pierre Gobbi - Water in Wine - Farmers Market near winery sign
 * 6) Bridgette Tenenbaum - Functional Children - Winery on the back table
 * 7) Bridgette Tenenbaum - Adam Explained - Silverwing Apiary on entrance counter
 * 8) Andrew Ryan - First Encounter* - Lower Farmer's Market Storage room near Pump room in front of Big Daddy body

Fort Frolic

 * 1) Diane McClintock - Stood Up Again - Upper Atrium top of stairs near Fleet Hall's entrance
 * 2) Sander Cohen - Musical Insult - Projection Room (take stairs in Fleet Hall theater on NE side) near guitar at top of the stairs
 * 3) Sander Cohen - The Wild Bunny - Sophia Salon (Cocktail Lounge) in closet behind counter
 * 4) Sullivan - Artist's Feud - Cocktail Lounge on the bar
 * 5) Martin Finnegan - The Iceman Cometh - Frozen Tunnel left of entrance hall
 * 6) Bill McDonagh - Fontaine's Army - Sir-Prize (north of Eve's Garden) left of stairs in crate
 * 7) Sander Cohen - The Doubters - Cohen's Collection (Upper Atrium south room) downstairs table
 * 8) Cobb - Come to the Record Store - Southern Mall (Cocktail Lounge) on table outside of the restrooms next to the burning chairs
 * 9) Albert Milonakis - Fancy Cigarettes - Le Marquis D'Epogue (Cocktail Lounge) downstairs near corpse
 * 10) Jasmine Jolene - Pregnancy - Eve's Garden under bed behind stage
 * 11) Sullivan - Bump Culpepper? - Pharoah's Fortune (near Sir-Prize) on pool table upstairs
 * 12) Anna Culpepper - Ryan's Stableboy - Rapture Records behind entrance counter
 * 13) Bill McDonagh - Guns Blazing - Robertson's Tobaccoria (Eve's Garden) table near entrance
 * 14) Hector Rodriguez - It's All Grift - Eve's Garden on the bar
 * 15) Sander Cohen - Requiem for Andrew Ryan - Projection Booth (take stairs in Fleet Hall theater on NE side) on office table (must do Cohen's quest first)

Hephaestus

 * 1) Bill McDonagh - Ryan Takes F Futuristics - A little bit outside Hephaestus Bathysphere station, search the crate near the 2nd circus of values vending machines.
 * 2) Kyburz - Scoping the Gate - It's outside Ryan's office, near a different circus of values.
 * 3) Bill McDonagh - Stopping Ryan - Ryan's office (the room with all the corpses pinned to the columns) search the first corpse on the right-hand side.
 * 4) Anya Andersdotter - Going to Heat Loss - Same room as the previous one, search the fourth corpse on the right-hand side.
 * 5) Andrew Ryan - A Man or a Parasite - Ryan's Office Hall, Side Area (Central Control) through door on the right of the room.  The audio diary is on the desk right in front when you enter it.
 * 6) Bill McDonagh - Fontaine's Legacy - Hephaestus core, on the edge of the walkway, it's near the Vita-chamber.
 * 7) Anya Andersdotter - Assassin - Hephaestus core, this one's near the Gatherers Garden.
 * 8) Pablo Navarro - Kyburz Door Code - In the room 'Heat loss monitoring' on the floor in the corner.
 * 9) Bill McDonagh - Genetic Arms Race - Lower Heat loss monitoring, in the flooded area on the desk. However there is an electrical current running through the water which needs to be switched off by hacking the control panel on the left wall.
 * 10) Pablo Navarro - Getting a Break - Lower Heat Loss monitoring, on the desk near the gene tonic.
 * 11) Andrew Ryan - Impossible Anywhere Else - On the very bottom walkway of Hephaestus core, on the desk.
 * 12) Pablo Navarro - Running Short on R-34s - Hephaetsus core, on the desk located outside the entrance to the 'workshops' area.
 * 13) Kyburz - Device Almost Finished - Lower workshops, on the desk opposite the base of the stairs that lead down to the lower workshops.
 * 14) Andrew Ryan - Great Chain Moves Slowly - Kyburz'z office, it's on the desk in the back of the room.
 * 15) Kyburz - The Dream - lower workshops, in the room with the crawlspace that leads to the secret room with the bomb, search the corpse in the center of the floor as you walk in.
 * 16) Kyburz - Assembling the Bomb - In the secret room with the bomb in the lower workshops, on the desk.
 * 17) Pablo Navarro - Market Maintenance Code - Well hidden. Lower workshops, there is a crawlspace left to the entrance of Kyburz's office which leads under the stairs where the diary is hidden.

Rapture Central Control
NOTE: You cannot backtrack to this area, you MUST get these AD's if trying for the Historian achievement.


 * 1) Dr. Suchong - The Vita Chamber - Control Room desk left of entrance next to Vita-Chamber
 * 2) Dr. Suchong - Mind Control Test - Control Room (after crawlspace) on table beneath photos
 * 3) Dr. Suchong - Baby Status - Control Room (after crawlspace) on table beneath photos

Olympus Heights

 * 1) Dr. Suchong - Mozart of Genetics - Olympus Heights Bistro Square snack bar near bulkhead to Apollo Square
 * 2) Dr. Suchong - Fontaine's Human Jukebox - Suchong's Apt. 1st floor (west of main square) on floor in south room
 * 3) Dr. Suchong - Mind Control Antidote - Suchong's Apt. 1st floor (west of main square) on desk in the water, next to tonic
 * 4) Sullivan - Artist Woman - Culpepper's Apartment on corner table in room next to security camera (music sheets on floor)
 * 5) Paparazzi - Fontaine's Breakup - Mercury Suites go up the stairs in the main square to the 3rd floor, near U-Invent machine on the walkway (says elevator code is 5744)
 * 6) Frank Fontaine - Sad Saps - Fontaine's Apartment after the big hall, go up the stairs and turn right, go into room, on coffee table near cigars

Apollo Square

 * 1) Diane McClintock - What's Happening Here? - Apollo Square on the ground near Circus of Values by Olympus Heights bulkhead
 * 2) Diane McClintock - Atlas Lives - Apollo Square near Gatherer's Garden
 * 3) Dr. Suchong - Protection Bond - Artemis Suites 2nd Floor (Suchong's office) West room where you obtain second dosage of lot 192
 * 4) Diane McClintock - Meeting Atlas - Hestia Chambers (Fontaine Home for the Poor) right of entrance inside steamer trunk
 * 5) Frank Fontaine - The Longest Con - Atlas' Headquarters (Hestia 4th floor) to get to 4th floor, head to 5th floor's room and go downstairs. On desk next to tonic
 * 6) Diane McClintock - Today's Raid - Atlas' Headquarters (Hestia 4th floor) to get to 4th floor, head to 5th floor's room and go downstairs. In corpse near the safe

Point Prometheus

 * 1) Bridgette Tenenbaum - Why Just Girls? - Little Wonders Atrium Balcony (Little Wonders) on desk in second floor of orphanage
 * 2) Andrew Ryan - Marketing Gold - Optimized Eugenics Test Subject Storage on machine in right part of room near water
 * 3) Dr. Suchong - Extra Munitions - Optimized Eugenics Plasmid Prototyping NE most room, on the ground near RPG turret (says Protector Lab code is 1921)
 * 4) Dr. Suchong - Protecting Little Ones - Failsafe Armored Escorts Suit Assembly Upper Floor on filing cabinet in SE room
 * 5) Andrew Ryan - Mistakes - Failsafe Armored Escorts Suit Assembly Upper Floor next to Gene Bank
 * 6) Dr. Suchong - Protector Smell - Failsafe Armored Escorts Suit Assembly Upper Floor near computer by center pillar in SW room
 * 7) Dr. Suchong - Missing Boots - Failsafe Armored Escorts Candidate Conversion Area on desk in back of room
 * 8) Dr. Suchong - Cheap Son of a Bitch - Failsafe Armored Escorts in the southern-most room on the map, next to Circus of Values machine
 * 9) Dr. Suchong - Changing Employers - Main Hall 2nd Floor (in-between Atrium Balcony and Optimized Eugenics at Circus of Values machine) across from Circus of Values: melt the ice, enter the closet and search the trash can

Proving Grounds
There are no Audio Diaries in Proving Grounds