Transmissions
Radio Armed Response
Claudia Wegener (ZA 2007)
Produced by Claudia Wegener (ZA 2007)
60 min
London based artist Claudia Wegener from Radio Continental Drift walks the streets of two suburban communities in Johannesburg S.A. In door to door interviews, at times through intercom systems and across gates, she asks questions related to public safety and a privatised security system. The result is a radio artwork mixed from what the artist likes to call dramatic field recordings. In surprisingly intimate, often humorous conversations, narratives of a complex urban patchwork of communities unfold before your ‘very eyes’. Yet what unravels, far beyond ‘issues of security’, social and urban divisions are shared concerns, questions, stories and visions about living together.
Producer: Claudia Wegener
The original half hour audio piece from 2005 is reframed in recent footage for London’s art radio station Resonance104.4fm
Recommended by Paris based sound artist Dinahbird
Guardians Of The River : Ep 1 Power To Protect
Guardians of the River (US 2021)
House of pod / Wild Bird Trust (ZA/US 2021)
43 min Episode 1 of 8
This is the story of the guardians of the Okavango water system. These guardians have a monumental task: safeguard a remote, near pristine environment facing threats from all sides. Join the adventure as the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness scientists and tribe members embark on an epic four-month expedition to follow a trickle of water 1,500-kilometers across Southern Africa. As their journey unfolds, they realise their real quest will take trust, a team, and an alliance with a legendary snake-like demon named Mukisi.
It brings to life the sights and sounds of the Okavango, its animals and people and gives local tribes the chance to finally be heard and participate in one of the world’s most important conservation initiatives.
Directed and narrated by Kerllen Costa
Produced by House of Pod and the Wild Life Bird Trust (South Africa)
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We Were Always Here: They Weren’t Us
Hana Walker Brown - Broccoli (UK 2021)
Produced by Hana Walker-Bown at Broccoli (UK 2021)
28 min Episode 1 of 6
During the 1980's, Marc Thompson found his feet and his people as a young Black gay man in Brixton, South East London, enjoying everything that life and his community had to offer; family, parties and a safe space to express himself. At the same time, reports of a strange cancer that had been affecting young white gay men begun to emerge from America. It was like a mist, slowly creeping into the consciousness of Marc and his friends. But it was over there and these were white men, so there wasn't anything to worry about it, was there?
Producer and Sound Design: Hana Walker-Brown
Broccoli Productions
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Tender: Ep1 Something Burning
Broadwave (AUS 2021)
Produced by Broadwave (AUS 2021)
19 min / Episode 1 of 6
Tender takes listeners on a personal journey through what happens when women leave abusive relationships. Each season follows one woman’s story as she pieces herself back together.
In this season we meet Roia Atmar and the crucial moment of deciding to leave her abusive husband begins in a burns unit hospital bed. Not an easy listen but Roia’s bravery and poetic wisdom shines through as we follow her journey to freedom.
Co-producers: Madison Griffiths and Beth Atkinson-Quinton
Lead Storyteller: Roia Atmar
Sensitivity Editor: Shakira Hussein
Assistant Producer: Danae Gibson
Sound Designer and Engineer: Jon Tjhia
The Confidential Briefing
Fari Bradley (UK 2017)
Produced by Fari Bradley (UK 2017)
49 min
The third episode of ‘The Far Becomes Near‘ series examines the social and political history of early radio in the United Arab Emirates. It comes as a cassette tape, handed to you, a member of the British diplomatic core, as you board a chartered jumbo jet for the emirate of Sharjah in the UAE. Set in 1978, the scenario imagines that as you settle down in your seat, heed the ‘permission to smoke’ announcement, you put the headphones of your Sony Walkman on. The cassette is background information in preparation for the International Telecommunications Expo to which you are headed, taking place in Abu Dhabi.
You can also hear Fari Bradley on her weekly with Six Pillars radio show on
Resonance 104.4fm
Producer: Fari Bradley
Commissioned by the Sharjah Art Foundation
A brief Eulogy for a commercial radio station (The Memory Palace)
Nate DiMeo (US 2017)
Produced by Nate DiMeo (US 2017)
10 min / Episode 115 of 190
A Eulogy for a very American experience of commercial radio from Nate DiMeo, however the rest of the world can relate through the Hollywood export of the importance of those songs the car radio throws up on road trips.
Written, narrated and recorded by Nate DiMeo,
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XMTR Radio Hour Ep15
Social Broadcasts (UK 2021)
Produced by Social Broadcasts (UK 2021)
60 min / Episode 15 of 15
The next hour will be showcasing some audio works featured on xmtr.fm as well as some works produced by Social Broadcasts over the past year. The first piece you’ll hear is from a series of Audio Postcards commissioned for the Wild Eye Project by Invisible Dust in Scarborough who work with artists to explore the environment and climate change. Here are some sounds sent from the North Sea. Produced by Lucia Scazzocchio with sound design by Silvia Malnati.
Next, we travel down south to London and more specifically Hackney’s Ridley Road market where May Robson meets the local traders who are struggling with the imminent changes and inevitable gentrification.
Produced by May Robson with Tamara Stoll who is working on the save Ridley Road campaign. It was broadcast as part of the online magazine The History Workshop
Now, close your eyes and get ready to experience something a little more ethereal as we enter the cosmos through a rich tapestry of sound by Belgian artist Adrien Pinet. This is just one of the many sound works you can hear on xmtr.fm’s Francophone cousin, Radiola.be. It’s an amazing resource.
Our final selection of this hour is from an oral history project Lily’s Legacy, celebrating the life Lily Montagu a magistrate, social worker, writer and co-founder of the Liberal Jewish movement in the UK. Here are some memories of Lily. Project produced by Liberal Judaism with the National Heritage Lottery Fund. There is plenty more to listen to and watch on lilyslegacyproject.com
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Ridley Road
May Robson - History Workshop (UK 2021)
May Robson (UK 2021)
19 min
Ridley Road Market has been around for almost 140 years and has been described as a “hub of connection, interconnections and social interaction”. Historically and today, the market is run by and for diverse communities and forms a public space which is political. Like many markets, however, Ridley Road is at risk from "regeneration", gentrification, and social cleansing.
May Robson works with Tamara Stoll a photographer and oral historian n who works in Ridley Road Market and is part of the Save Ridley Road campaign to speak to local residents' memories of Ridley Road's anti-fascist history and about the struggles that market traders face today - from gentrification to lockdown.
Produced by May Robson for The History Workshop
Riskland: Ep1 Tragedy
Aubrey Calaway (US 2021)
Produced by Aubrey Calaway (US 2021)
27 min / Episode 1 of 3
Riskland is a three part podcast documenting the impact of climate change on a small community in Pucayacu in Ecuador. Cyclical flooding from a nearby river means that they are on the edge of disaster.
In this episode the community of Pucayacu must play the game of disaster. A prophecy is foretold, a family uncovers an invisible threat, and a local leader recounts a multigenerational story of unfulfilled promises.
Written and hosted by Aubrey Calaway for Earth Refuge
The Lost Carnival Ep 1 : A Present From The Past
Geoff Bird (UK 2015)
Geoff Bird (UK 2015)
23 min Episode 1 of 5
Arthur Bird a radio documentary maker (Geoff Bird), discovers a mysterious parcel that leads him to investigate the incredible story of a carnival lost in time.
This series was the clever audio accompaniment to real live circus performances in Dunham Massey known for its historical links to the mystery and magic of the circus.