Slow Radio

Sleeper Train


Listen Later

In 2017, audio producer Phil Smith travelled to Ukraine to attend his friend's wedding. There, somewhere between the cities of Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv and Odessa, he fell in love with the soundworld of the sleeper train: its steady hypnotic rhythms, the melody of hurtling through time and space, the calls of distant tannoy speakers drifting across platforms in the dead of night, the chorus of snores from sleeping passengers. Revisiting these recordings, seven years later, this Slow Radio journey offers echoes of a country in calmer times, when such trains were not a means of logistics transportation or symbol of desperate escape (as witnessed in the February of 2022) but conduits of restful imagining.

From the opening establishing shot - the sound of whistles and shunting engines, off in the distance - we are moved along in a river of wheeled luggage through the cathedral acoustics of a station building to take our seat in the carriage of the overnight train. The scenes are unhurried as bunks are unfolded and brief snatches of conversation overheard. We set off - a gentle accelerando of wheels and rails - and time stretches: there are no voices now, just the music of the train's motion through the night.

Produced by Phil Smith

A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Slow RadioBy BBC Radio 3

  • 3.9
  • 3.9
  • 3.9
  • 3.9
  • 3.9

3.9

182 ratings


More shows like Slow Radio

View all
In Our Time by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time

5,412 Listeners

The Documentary Podcast by BBC World Service

The Documentary Podcast

1,843 Listeners

Global News Podcast by BBC World Service

Global News Podcast

7,914 Listeners

6 Minute English by BBC Radio

6 Minute English

1,782 Listeners

Learning English Conversations by BBC Radio

Learning English Conversations

1,050 Listeners

The Infinite Monkey Cage by BBC Radio 4

The Infinite Monkey Cage

1,925 Listeners

Newshour by BBC World Service

Newshour

1,081 Listeners

Sleep With Me by Silver Sleeper Productions LLC

Sleep With Me

16,084 Listeners

I Can’t Sleep by Benjamin Boster & Glassbox Media

I Can’t Sleep

984 Listeners

13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle by BBC World Service

13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle

4,121 Listeners

Americast by BBC News

Americast

742 Listeners

Guided Sleep Meditation & Sleep Hypnosis from Sleep Cove by Sleep Hypnosis, Meditations and Bedtime Stories

Guided Sleep Meditation & Sleep Hypnosis from Sleep Cove

2,263 Listeners

You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

You're Dead to Me

2,989 Listeners

12 Hour Sound Machines for Sleep (no loops or fades) by 12 Hour Sound Machines for Sleep | Achieve Restful Sleep, Soothe a Baby, Mask Unwanted Noise, Calm Your Anxiety

12 Hour Sound Machines for Sleep (no loops or fades)

1,064 Listeners

Get Sleepy: Sleep meditation and stories by Slumber Studios

Get Sleepy: Sleep meditation and stories

9,324 Listeners

Drift Off - Bedtime Stories for Adults by Joanne D'Amico

Drift Off - Bedtime Stories for Adults

1,551 Listeners

Sleepy Stories: To help you sleep by Sleepy Studios

Sleepy Stories: To help you sleep

345 Listeners

Just Sleep - Bedtime Stories for Adults by Bedtime Stories with Taesha Glasgow

Just Sleep - Bedtime Stories for Adults

691 Listeners

The Sleepy Bookshelf by Slumber Studios

The Sleepy Bookshelf

3,291 Listeners

Sleep Wave: Sleep Meditation & Sleepy Stories by Sleepiest: Meditation for Sleep Podcast

Sleep Wave: Sleep Meditation & Sleepy Stories

1,142 Listeners

Calm History - true bedtime stories & trivia for relaxing or sleeping. by Harris | ASMR & Insomnia Network

Calm History - true bedtime stories & trivia for relaxing or sleeping.

599 Listeners

Night Falls: Bedtime Story, Sleep Story, Sleep Podcast by Sleepiest: Bedtime Story, Sleep Story, Sleep Podcast

Night Falls: Bedtime Story, Sleep Story, Sleep Podcast

546 Listeners

Sleep Magic: Sleep Hypnosis & Meditation for Sleep Podcast by Sleepiest: Hypnosis for Sleep Podcast

Sleep Magic: Sleep Hypnosis & Meditation for Sleep Podcast

1,446 Listeners

Lights Out Library: Sleep Documentaries by Olimpia Pérez

Lights Out Library: Sleep Documentaries

407 Listeners