Short Cuts

By BBC Radio 4Society & Culture Documentary

Short Cuts episodes

October 03, 2023 Echoes
A simple object offers comfort and connection to a grandmother and a long line of Indian women; a wife uncovers the fingerprints her husband left on their world and with them, the microscopic details of grief; and an Urdu language lesson between a father and daughter reveals cultural loss and the father's longing to belong. Josie Long presents short documentaries that reverberate through time.
Silver Cup: A Female Grammar
Written and produced by HJ Radia
With thanks to Laura Barton
In loving memory of J.K Dave (1956-2023)
Fingerprints and Lightbulbs
Written and produced by Amanda Priestley
22 Words
Featuring Safwat Saleem and his daughter
Produced by Safwat Saleem
Produced by Andrea Rangecroft
Curated by Axel Kacoutié, Eleanor McDowall and Andrea Rangecroft
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
30 min
September 26, 2023 The Tipping Point
A small boy accidentally creates a vast new lizard population in his hometown, a sonic storm gathers and a writer takes his family on a precarious family boat trip. Josie Long presents short documentaries about situations tumbling out of control.
Eight Go To Treasure Island
Written and read by Joe Dunthorne
A Mirror
Featuring Steve Urquhart
Produced by Eleanor McDowall
Featuring cellos by incidentalnoise
With thanks to Rosalind Jana for pointing out the poetry of the Beaufort Scale
Lazarus Lizards
Narrated by Addie
Produced by Jennifer McCord and Carrie Ann Welsh
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall
Curated by Axel Kacoutié, Eleanor McDowall and Andrea Rangecroft
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
29 min
September 19, 2023 Signal to Noise
Josie Long presents short documentaries and audio adventures about finding meaning amid the noise.
The poet and audio producer Ross Sutherland seeks to understand the strange echoes in his hearing, a remnant from a house fire is transformed into music and the radio-maker Liza Yeager finds magic in a series of encounters.
Hallucinations
Featuring Dr Theresa Marschall and Lizzy Dening
Produced by Ross Sutherland
The Right Colour Candle
Featuring Annegret Curtis, Ed Dadey and Jan Gehmlich
Produced by Liza Yeager
Stovepipe Wind Harp Summons the Frogs
Produced by Fil Corbitt
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall
Curated by Axel Kacoutié, Eleanor McDowall and Andrea Rangecroft
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
31 min
July 25, 2023 New Word Order
Made up, mixed or invented. Josie Long presents not-so-long-radio sound paintings melting how we use words to make space for who we want to be.
A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening
Produced by Darragh Amelia
Featuring June Katz, Patricia Hirsch, poet Xiao Yue Shan, photographer Anna Francesca Jennings and historian Alma Simba.
The Magic of Waves
Produced by Ève-Marie Bouché
Remember There Is More
Produced by Tej Adeleye
Featuring activist Ngozi Alston, creator of the term Neuroexpansive; Dr Nick Walker, creator of Neuroqueer theory; Dr Ned Hallowell; Dr Keri Opai; Matana Roberts; Aiyanna Goodfellow, founder of Neuromancers and “a darling spook, writer, ghost whisperer, and friend".
Produced by Axel Kacoutié
Curated by Axel Kacoutié, Eleanor McDowall and Andrea Rangecroft
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
30 min
July 18, 2023 Art
Josie Long presents short documentaries and audio adventures rediscovering the contexts that give cause to communities and their art.
An Image Interrupted
Produced by Danny Greenwald
Featuring the voice of Taha Heydari
àlá lo lá (You Dreamed a Dream)
Produced by Tobi Adebajo
Poems: In a Dream, Agbegbe T’ala, Safari Ya Siri
Sound Design by Tobi Adebajo
Music by Akin Euba, Nabalayo, petals and Tobi Adebajo
Banned in America
Produced by Lucy Evans (they/them), also known as the drag king Sir Cum Sized (he/him).
Featuring interviews with:
Angelique Young-Cavalier (she/her), a Trans, Equal rights activist, Motivational Speaker and Drag Queen Entertainer Based in Tampa, Florida.
Jackie Rosebutch (they/them), a non-binary drag Goddex and environmental science enthusiast based in Missoula, Montana.
Maxi Glamour (they/them) @maxiglamour, a multidisciplinary artist at the intersection of high fantasy and social critique. Known as the Demon Queen of Polka and Baklava, Maxi Glamour uses demonological imagery as an allegory for how marginalised people are demonised by society, and wit and magic to examine the structural harm of oppression.
Bella DuBalle (she/her), a Show Director and Host at Atomic Rose in Memphis Tennessee, and also a licensed minister who has performed many weddings. Bella created and hosts “the Mid-South’s local RuPauls’s Drag Race", a competition called War of the Roses.
Bobby Pudrido (he/him), a Texas-based drag king and show producer who uses drag as a way to explore, blend, and showcase his queerness and Latine culture. In his drag show productions, Pudrido prioritises trans, gender diverse, black and brown drag kings and their accomplices as a way to push back against the erasure of these identities in mainstream culture.
Special thanks to Samara Slaughter (she/her), JD Miller (they/them), Butch Mermaid (they/them), Sam Bam Thankyoumaam (they/he), Hugh Mann Race (he/they), Puppi Love (she/they), Dick TransDyke (they/he), Problem Child (she/they), Luxury Bones (he/they) and Andie Sleaze (they/he) from New York the chorus of resistance heard at the beginning.
Produced by Axel Kacoutié,
Curated by Axel Kacoutié, Eleanor McDowall and Andrea Rangecroft
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
31 min
July 11, 2023 Soundscape
From the texture of silence to sonic disappearances, Josie Long presents short documentaries and audio adventures about the soundscapes we inhabit.
Omissa Oloisaan
Produced by Miyuki Jokiranta
A Moonlit Memory
Featuring Salma Ahmed Caller
Sounds from YleArkisto, reinsamba, Benboncan, Julius_galla, Straget, FaireDesVagues and SoundLover16 on freesound.org
Produced by Taqwa Sadiq
Sacha Taki
Featuring Jonathan Grefa, president of the Ancestral Kichwa Population of Kawsak Sacha (PAKKS - https://pakks.org.ec/), Rosa Santi, Education and Health Coordinator of PAKKS, Dr. Paola Moscoso, Director of Voces del Bosque and Graciela Tupay (singer)
With thanks to Amaru Grefa, External communication and media of PAKKS, Pastor Inmunda, ex-president of PAKKS, Didier Lacaze, Director of Sacha Warmi.
Rosa Canelos, Sacha Warmi, Dr. Alice Eldridge, University of Sussex, Gustavo Chiriboga, Voces del Bosque, Sozapato
With recordings from Voces del Bosque
https://www.vocesdelbosque.com/?lang=en
Produced by Mickal Aranha
Curated by Axel Kacoutié, Eleanor McDowall and Andrea Rangecroft
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
31 min
July 04, 2023 Memory
An in-patient in a spinal injuries unit reconnects with herself by learning to cook again after a life-changing injury, friends remember the musician Joe Scurfield and the archive of folk music he left behind, and a radio cantata in memory of 12 civilians killed by US forces in Iraq in 2007. Josie Long presents short documentaries and audio adventures about remembering, relearning and commemorating.
Canto I, Crazy Horse One-Eight
Produced and performed by Gregory Whitehead
Commissioned by Magz Hall for the 2014 Radio Dreamlands project
Feast
Produced by Bronwen Livingstone
The Tunebank
Featuring Tim Dalling and Pete Challoner
Produced by Rowan Rheingans
Music performed by Joe Scurfield, Tim Dalling, Pete Challoner and Rowan Rheingans
Produced by Andrea Rangecroft
Curated by Axel Kacoutié, Eleanor McDowall and Andrea Rangecroft
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
30 min
June 27, 2023 Flow
From professional news watchers who speak each word aloud to melting ice, Josie Long presents short documentaries and audio adventures about the flow of stories through and around people.
Melting
Produced by Jules Bradley
Circulation
Field Recordings from InspectorJ, Zimbot, Dobroide, Tosha73 on freesound.org
Produced by Son Hanson
Bikes Up Ben Nevis
Featuring Iain Lynn
Violin by Eloise Kenny-Ryder
Produced and composed by Calum Perrin
Curated by Axel Kacoutié, Eleanor McDowall and Andrea Rangecroft
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
30 min
June 20, 2023 Geographies
Josie Long presents short documentaries and audio adventures centred on a specific point on the map.
An Arctic voyage that veers off track and echoes for years in the minds of its passengers, a baking hot summer evening in Suffolk, and an audio essay exploring the effect of environmental racism on memories of the West London town of Southall.
At Sea
Featuring Dr Carol Cotterill, Liam Frost, Dan Harvey and the ship’s crew
Produced and read by Vicky Long
8pm, rural village garden, Suffolk, UK on 19th July 2022
Produced by Melissa Harrison
Originally featured on the Field Recordings podcast
The Personal is Political
Written and read by Daljeet Kaur Jutla
Produced by Andrea Rangecroft
Curated by Axel Kacoutié, Eleanor McDowall and Andrea Rangecroft
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
30 min
June 13, 2023 Movement
Josie Long presents short documentaries and audio adventures about being in motion - from scandalising dance moves to taking flight.
The Twist
Extract from Between the Ears: Monument (London 1935 - 1993)
First broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in 1993
Composed by Ian Gardiner
Produced by Alan Hall
Performed by Ensemble George W Welch
With a cast of voices from the BBC Sound Archive
Life Begins in the Stillness
Featuring Gabriel Rodreick
Produced by Julie Censullo
Unknown Person (from Baggage Allowance)
Released on the album A Secret Code
Composed and performed by Pamela Z
Joy of Bundle
Sound design by Axel Kacoutié
Written and produced by Lou Mensah
Curated by Axel Kacoutié, Eleanor McDowall and Andrea Rangecroft
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
30 min