A shared experience of sonic joy crosses over the boundary of a prison wall, a conversation across generations explores being alive to the present moment, and an audio artwork from the archives plunges a listener into the sensation of time speeding up.  Josie Long presents short documentaries and audio adventures that hold you in the present tense. The Evenings of Certain Lives (two extracts)
Produced by Barry Bermange
Composition by Delia Derbyshire (Radiophonic Workshop) Listening / Reminiscing
by Lavender Suarez
(via the producer Kalli Anderson) In The Moment
Produced by Amalie Sortland Prisoncast!
These sounds were originally recorded for Season 4 of the Motive Podcast from WBEZ, hosted by Shannon Heffernan
WBEZ’s Lauren Frost and Alex Keefe headed up the original Prisoncast! broadcast, which was hosted by Ayana Contreras. But a big team of producers and editors came together to record and mix the sounds.
This Short Cuts edit was created by Shannon Heffernan Curated by Axel Kacoutié, Eleanor McDowall and Andrea Rangecroft.
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4

Present Tense

Short documentaries and adventures in sound presented by Josie Long.

Personal Journals

Society & Culture

History

Philosophy

Places & Travel

Life and love. Josie Long presents short documentaries and audio adventures exploring the language of care. Life or Death
By Marc Kalani
Featuring Cessie Alfonso and Carmeta Albarus author of The Making of Lee Boyd Malvo: The D.C. Sniper.
 
Buzz
By Luca Evans (they/them)
Featuring Joules Huang Duze (they/them) and Smokey Black (he/they)
Additional recording by Aisha Lomax (she/her).  
Joules is a part-time organiser with Jews for Racial and Economic Justice and The LUNAR Collective, a volunteer with the Black Trans Liberation Kitchen, and a community educator for the Early Relationship Abuse Prevention Program. 
Smokey is a barber at Mutiny in Brooklyn NY. @Smokey.Black
Please listen with headphones. Patient as the Horizon
By Tej Adeleye
Sarah Long from London Equine Therapy and Astrologer, Psychic Medium and Animal Communicator, Jessica Lanyadoo Curated by Axel Kacoutié and Eleanor McDowall
Produced by Axel Kacoutié
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4

Devotions

In water, on wheels or explained over the phone - Josie Long presents short documentaries about moving our bodies. Field Notes
Featuring Hannah Kezema
Produced by Jess Shane and Kristine White Instructions for Returning to My Body
Gamelan music courtesy of Nusantara 
Produced by Kia Miakka Natisse The Pink Flamingo
Featuring Peter Prijdekker
Sound Recording by Edd Kentish
Produced by Hunter Charlton and Vicki Carter Curated by Axel Kacoutié and Eleanor McDowall
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4

Body Movements

Two men on different continents share a love of butterflies, a swimming instructor seeks solace in the water and we dive inside an inner landscape. Josie Long presents short documentaries and audio adventures that emerge from the earth, water and sky. Psalm
Featuring Emil Blicher Bjerregaard and Mudar Salimeh
Inspired by the poem Psalm written by Wisława Szymborska 
Music by Simon don Eriksen and Gregor Quendel
Mix by Lærke Soedring Nielsen
Produced by Nanna Hauge Kristensen My Body is of Earth
Created by Zara Zimbardo and Lily Sloane 
With editorial support from Keisha "TK" Dutes and sound consultation from Adriene Lilly Finding Freedom in the Water: Gaza’s Swimming Teacher
A version of this story first aired on BBC World Service's Outlook in March 2023 ('My Life in Seven Swimming Pools') and in an updated version in April 2024 ('Finding Freedom in the Water: Gaza's Swimming Teacher) presented by Jo Fidgen
Sound design by Joel Cox
Interpreter Youssef Taha
Producer Louise Morris Curated by Axel Kacoutié and Eleanor McDowall
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4

Earth, Water, Sky

A grand piano slowly climbs the stairs in Glasgow, a man in Brighton keeps finding his upright pianos going missing, a piano decays slowly in the woods while a grandson finds himself thrust into the role of a ship's pianist. Josie Long presents short documentaries and audio adventures with a piano at their heart. Pianos Aren't His Forte
Featuring Mark Campbell
Produced by Phil Smith
Including piano performances from Mark Campbell and Songs Without Words composed by Felix Mendelssohn and performed by Vassily Primakov from the Free Music Archive Piano in the Woods
Written and produced by Ross Sutherland
Featuring performances from the project Piano in the Woods by the improviser, artist and curator Sam Bailey. You can learn more about the project at pianointhewoods.com Two, Three, Hup
Produced by Steve Urquhart
Featuring piano performances by Steve Urquhart Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall
Curated by Axel Kacoutié and Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4

A Piano

Chrononormativity, duppies and post-colonial thought. Josie Long presents short documentaries and audio adventures exploring beyond the past, present and futures.  Language in the Land of Duppies: Exploring the origins of Jamaican folklore as a gateway to understanding the legacy of slavery on the island.
Produced by Laura Carty
Special thanks to Alexander Powell, Carmen Johnson, Natalia Downer, Kandice Thompson and Jean Smart. All my friends are turning into Stars
Written and performed by David Amber Devereux
With Dr Matthew Temple, Research Fellow,
Universidad Diego Portales
Additional voices by Lou Sutcliffe and Alessa Catterall
Featuring quotes from De Profundus by Oscar Wilde, Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, and In A Queer Time And Place by Jack Halberstam Interjections on the future: There is not currently any obvious path to reconstructing a popular faith in political, economic and even some social institutions but while it might not always feel like it today, the unwinding of colonial modernity is underway and accelerating. 
Produced by composer and researcher, Sara Rahman.
Featuring psychiatrist Isabel Valli and writers and artists Fer Boyd and Maedeline Stack. Curated by Axel Kacoutié, Eleanor McDowall and Andrea Rangecroft 
Produced by Axel Kacoutié
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4

Present Tense

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