Josie Long presents short Yuletide documentaries and festive audio adventures.  Two women discover their families are tied by the true story behind the classic film It’s A Wonderful Life, and a Ukrainian singing group in Canada remembers loved ones through Christmas songs as war continues in their homeland.  Also, a profile on Father Christmas and a nativity criticism session with its young cast. Profile on Father Christmas
Featuring Raymond Briggs and Janet Cohen
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 1981 Seneca Falls
Featuring Elizabeth Kress and Kathy Williamson
Produced by Andrea Rangecroft Nativity Criticism
Featuring Harold Williamson and children from two schools in Sunderland
Produced by Michael Barton
From an episode of Children Talking called The Spirit of Christmas. First broadcast on Boxing Day 1963. Can We Come Carol?
Featuring Natalia Telentso
The singers are Eli Camilo, Natalia, Carlos, Olga, Vera, Olessia, Briga, Anna and Mira from the Montreal Koliada group that was co-founded by Natalia and Eli.
Produced by Mira Burt-Wintonick Produced by Andrea Rangecroft
Curated by Axel Kacoutié, Eleanor McDowall and Andrea Rangecroft
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4

Season's Greetings

Short documentaries and adventures in sound presented by Josie Long.

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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

Hereafter

Word spirits, back rooms and a reply all-pocalypse - Josie Long presents short documentaries that emerge from the internet. Word Spirits
With thanks to Caroline Hesse, Donovan McGrath, Mary Dolejsi, Nicole Reinsch, Nalini Kumari, Zen Priest & Buddhist Scholar John Stevens (for permission to include his Classical Aikido Kototama Chant), and Critical Sound Explorer & Artist Matt Parker (for permission to include excerpts from The People's Cloud / Field Recordings of Internet Data Centres): https://www.earthkeptwarm.com
Additional mixing by Maitreya
Produced by HJ Radia The Back Rooms
Produced by Mae-Li Evans The Bello Tolls for Thee
Produced by Nadia Mehdi Curated by Axel Kacoutié, Eleanor McDowall and Andrea Rangecroft
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4

Season's Greetings

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