Radio in Review: 'Short Cuts', Radio 4 - This English Life?

Now this is an interesting show, which isn’t to say it is necessarily completely accessible or enjoyable. It should be said that not everything works on this show; however it’s refreshing that something that is genuinely experimental is being played on Radio 4.

It’s a Falling Tree production and is described on the website as:

“A selection of brief encounters – true stories, found sound and radio adventures. A new series for BBC Radio 4, presented by Nina Garthwaite”

Nina Garthwaite

In some ways it’s like ‘This American Life’. Each week has a theme, such as “Divided We Stand” or “Misadventure”, with contributors who narrate tales and ordinary folk telling their own stories. However the style is distinctly British. The pieces bear a similarity to the Hackney Podcast, with a focus on captured sound and, unlike American public radio, usually lack the voice of an interviewer/narrator. The absence of the reflective narrator is used to good effect, creating personal relationship between the listener and the interviewee. Nina Garthwaite has a lovely youthful voice and she does is excellently job of linking the sometimes disparate pieces. The clip below is the introduction to the first episode, 'Misadventures'.

It’s a programme that’s willing to showcase experimental pieces, though it keeps them relatively short and accessible (in contrast to the often over indulgent experimentations found on Resonance FM). However some pieces can be slightly indulgent, having an excessive use on ambient effects, which distract you from the main story as opposed to complimenting it. This is particularly true with the first episode which overlays interview tracks with sounds of birds and other ambient nonsense.

Also, some pieces are a bit too experimental for my liking, such as the third piece from episode two, ‘All you need is a separation barrier’. It consists of someone reading a list of countries and the other nations they border on, all with annoying bleeping sounds and typewriter noises in the background. The piece is pretentious and it’s jarring to hear such an abstract art piece right after a fairly conventional radio story. Below is a short sample.

The pieces that came before were brilliant. A couple spoke about how they met and the adversity they faced when the man was forced into an arranged marriage to his cousin by his parents (a short sample is embedded below). Another piece was an interview with an old man who was a teenage fighter pilot during WW2, who spoke about his objections to the class system during the war and his love of singing. Both stories were lovely and simple, going largely without added sound effects, besides a few pieces of well placed music.

In short, I’m going to be keeping an eye on Shorts Cuts. This programme is helping the BBC catch up with the progress that has been made by American public radio.  It is willing to explore new ways of using radio to tell stories and provide space to an array of inventive producers.

Check it out on the Radio 4 website while you still can:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b019m2pj

You can also find out more about the show on the Falling Tree site:
http://www.fallingtree.co.uk/broadcast_history/2012/short_cuts_misadventure

Radio in Review: Queen Mary Radio Archive - 'Radio Show I Guess'

I’d like to write briefly about a short lived show from the days of “Queen Mary FM” old. I came across it again recently whilst looking for the MP3 of my old show. There were quite a few pilots commissioned by Queen Mary Radio when it was starting off and this was my favourite.

It had everything - anecdotes, humour, fantastic music (mopy US indie and folk pop), plus heaps of personality (the “self-hating Jew” and “self-contradictory Socialist”). So it’s a shame that this two part show is all you’ll get of Natalie and Kyle – a pair of Queen Mary students, who are also a romantic couple. Amongst other things you’ll hear tales of trips to America and Hungary, delivered in a reflective self-doubting tone – which is rather aptly summed up in the title.

Here are first two (and to the best of my knowledge the last two) episodes of “Radio Show I Guess”:

Download Part 1 at:

https://sites.google.com/site/mp3hostshauntey/queen-mary-radio-show-i-guess-natalie-ann-and-kyle/radioshowiguess-1.mp3?attredirects=0&d=1

Download Part 2 at:

https://sites.google.com/site/mp3hostshauntey/queen-mary-radio-show-i-guess-natalie-ann-and-kyle/radioshowiguess-2.mp3?attredirects=0&d=1

Well, I couldn’t just have a big chunk of text, so using my crafty skills of investigative journalism I dug up (what I think) is a photo of the young radio making couple. Judging from one of their facebook profiles, I don’t think they are together anymore. So “I guess” that this radio show, along with the facebook photos swilling around cyberspace, is relic of a relationship that has now passed.


Like a photograph, the radio show has perfectly preserved the dynamic between two people in their youth. A picture is worth a 1000 words, but a radio show captures a whole chapter of the presenters’ lives. It speaks mouthfuls about their musical tastes, their personalities, their emotional bonds and their quirks at a particular moment in time. Perhaps it’s the charming and teasing relationship of the hosts that makes it such wonderful radio – and the fact that it’s a relationship that is now gone makes it rather precious and poignant.

Radio in Review: Pop Culture Happy Hour

I thought I might write a few reviews of the radio shows and podcasts that I love. The internet has given me access to a staggeringly large and varied array of audio content – so I’m forever spoilt for choice.

One of the shows that I will listen to without fail every week is NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour. Unlike other NPR shows (such as the nationally syndicated ‘Fresh Air’ and “All Things Considered”) this is not a podcast of show; rather it is only available as a podcast.

As a side note, it demonstrates what is great about NPR. NPR produces great shows that are only available as podcasts (such as Alt Latino and All Songs Considered), which are offshoots of the various NPR blogs. It’s an advantage of NPR's funding model, which is a mixture of federal funding, “underwriting spots”, contributions from member stations and listener donations during pledge drives. They fully embrace the benefits of not having to make scheduled weekly broadcasts for a general audience. The podcast format allows the production of great specialist shows with a dedicated fan base, in the same way that specialised blogs have advantages over traditional print media.

Pop Culture Happy Hour is presented by Linda Holmes (warm and smiling) with her three co-presenters Steven Thompson (funny and mildly unintellectual), Trey Grahams (reflective and gay) and Glenn Weldon (chirpy and flamboyantly gay) - plus the producer Mike Katzif makes an appearance from time to time. 

They are all writers for NPR’s website and I think that the fact they work as colleagues outside of the show makes them completely comfortable in each others company, giving the discussions a rather playful tone.

The initial idea of the show was for it to be like people having a discussion over cocktails (hence the two martinis on the show's site). It sounds like 4 friends in someone's living room - laughing/joking/bitching about films, TV and music. It’s an arts discussion show that lets the presenters show off their personality.

It's a show about popular culture, so it’s on TV, Film, comic books, blogs and podcasts. Actually I have not watched 90% of shows being talked about, but it doesn’t matter because what makes the show great is the structured banter, which is capable of evolving into diatribes on pet hates and other fun loving silliness. There are standard segments, such as the “What’s making you happy this week”, though they will usually devote half the show to a particular pop culture theme (e.g. Guilty Pleasures).

Anyway, can’t recommend it enough – here's the archive:

http://www.npr.org/templates/archives/archive.php?thingId=129472378

And here's the Monkee See blog:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/

I’ve embedded an mp3 of their recent 2012 resolutions podcast, which is a pretty good illustration of their joyfully playful interactions:

In fact, you can hear how comfortable the presenters are with each other from the very beginning. This is the first podcast:

Mental Health Legacy Report for the BBC's '2012 Community Reporter' Scheme

Me and the rest of the BBC Community Reporter gang

This is the report I did as part of the BBC 2012 Community Report Scheme.

I scripted and voiced the TV report, but the audio piece is voiced by another member of my team (three of us worked on the story).




Download it at: https://sites.google.com/site/mp3hostshauntey/olympic-mental-health-story-bbc-2012-community-reporter/MENTALHEALTHLEGACY2012FINALPIECE.mp3?attredirects=0&d=1

I'll be writing more about my experience of investigating the story and the eventful experience of recording the report soon, however I thought I should get the piece on the blog for all to see as soon as possible.

My First Foray Into Radio - ‘Pop in the Dark’ on Queen Mary Radio

This was the first piece of radio I ever did, back when I was a final year student at Queen Mary. I was over the moon when I found out that there was a radio station being set up, so I immediately pounced on the opportunity to embark on the ultimate ego trip... my own radio show.

Me and 'DJ Tang'

Finally there would be justice in the world, as my exquisite musical taste would be given some much needed air time. Of course I would need a sidekick, so I enlisted the help of my trusty friend Jason (aka “DJ Tang”). The show's concept was that DJ Tang would be “in the dark” about my expertly selected tunes. After hearing it, he would deliver some spontaneous witticisms and we would all have a hearty laugh.

He would be the comic relief, while I would be the brains of the operation!

So here is the pilot of ‘Pop in the dark’:

Download it at: https://sites.google.com/site/mp3hostshauntey/pop-in-the-dark-queen-mary-radio-mp3/popinthedark.mp3?attredirects=0&d=1

In case you’re interested, the (unintentionally numerically sequential) track list was:

The new logo

Sixteen by the Indelicates

Thirteen by Big Star

One by Joy Zipper

Millionaire Sweeper by Kenickie

Queen Mary Radio (‘Quest’) never quite got off the ground that year, despite our lengthy planning meetings, not to mention all the work that went into constructing the new studio (and coming up with that god-awfully camp name).

However, not all was lost, since some bright young things in 2011 managed to revamp the station and relaunch it with a brand spanking new logo.

It’s awesome; they’ve got regular shows and everything. Makes me want to go back to Queen Mary! Check it out at http://www.questradio.co.uk/