Short Cuts

A two-decade long commitment to writing a new Christmas standard, an Icelandic documentary fairytale and the comedian Mark Thomas feature in Josie Long's festive documentary special.The Night Before the Night Before Christmas Featuring Seymour Sarnoff Song performed by Jennifer Sheehan, arranged by Peter Millrose and written by Seymour Sarnoff Produced by Alex LewisSolla Decorates for Christmas Produced by Rikke HoudDad's Christmas Featuring Mark Thomas Produced by Sarah CuddonSeries Producer: Eleanor McDowallA Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in December 2017.

Josie Long explores the way our collections and accidental archives define us. Diving into a head full of palindromes, love letters, artistic accidents and family recipes.Featuring the writer Nikesh Shukla, the illustrator Ralph Steadman, love letter writer extraordinaire Janet Gallin, and Martin Clear, the winner of the World Palindrome Championship.Janet Gallin Interview by Lina Misitzis Originally broadcast in The Heart episode Love Letters produced by Kaitlin Prest http://www.theheartradio.org/audio-smut/lovelettersRalph Steadman: Better than Being in a Tent Featuring Ralph Steadman Produced by Leo HornakYoko Is Not a Palindrome Featuring Martin Clear Produced by Miyuki JokirantaFamily Recipe Featuring Nikesh ShuklaSeries Producer: Eleanor McDowallA Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in December 2017.

Falling from a great height and last words across a telephone line - Josie Long hears stories of relationships stretched across space.From the crossover between skydiving, Soren Kierkegaard and falling in love, to the final words uttered into the ear of a loved one on another continent.Rafadan Yumurta Produced by Phil SmithOn Top Produced by Maria DonvangAlfred and Katie Featuring Dr Alfred Aidoo and Katie Stakolich Produced by Andrea RangecroftSeries Producer: Eleanor McDowallA Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in December 2017.

Josie Long hears stories from within hidden worlds - a doctor living in quarantine, the founder of a time travellers convention and a radio DJ offering a lifeline to prisoners.On The Inside Featuring Bruce Aitken Produced by Eliza LomasThe Time Traveller's Convention Produced by Jeff Emtman Originally made for KCRW's Here Be Monsters Music by The Black Spot https://www.hbmpodcast.comQuarantine Featuring Dr Adaora Okoli Produced by Andrea RangecroftSeries Producer: Eleanor McDowallA Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.first broadcast in November 2017.

Josie Long hears stories spell craft, poetry and art coming to life.What can a poet learn from a consultant sorcerer? Ross Sutherland explores the poetic possibilities of spell craft. A fragment of Sappho's poetic longing is unpicked alongside a reading by Anne Carson. And at night, in a gallery, art springs to life.Incantations Featuring Ross Sutherland and Dr Alexander CumminsAfter Fragment 31 Featuring Anne Carson and Jennifer Metsker Produced by Stephanie Rowden and Jennifer MetskerNocturne Produced by Neville Edwards and Cathy FitzGerald On behalf of Antenna International for The National Gallery, London Original poetry by Jacob Sam-La Rose and Aoife MannixSeries Producer: Eleanor McDowallA Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in November 2017.

Josie Long hears stories which come out of nowhere. A story of creation, time and disappearance; a writer takes a precarious drive down an icy road imagining the dive into nothing at the edge of her vision, and the unexpected kindness of a stranger pulls a man back from the brink. Thin Air Feat. Laura BartonThe Water Produced by Rikke Houd Originally broadcast on CBC's Love Me http://www.cbc.ca/radio/loveme/the-island-and-the-sea-1.4234588The Kindness of Strangers Produced by Claire CroftonSeries Producer: Eleanor McDowall A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in November 2017.

What can we learn from the humanity of others? From seeing ourselves reflected in someone else? Josie Long presents stories of role models."You know, vampires have no reflections in a mirror? There's this idea that monsters don't have reflections in a mirror. And what I've always thought isn't that monsters don't have reflections in a mirror. It's that if you want to make a human being into a monster, deny them, at the cultural level, any reflection of themselves... Part of what inspired me, was this deep desire that before I died, I would make a couple of mirrors. That I would make some mirrors so that kids like me might see themselves reflected back and might not feel so monstrous for it." - Junot DiazWater Fleas Featuring Akira Sakata Produced by Phil SmithMirrors Featuring Nikesh ShuklaNadia Produced by Sophie TownsendIntolerants Not Welcome Featuring Mark Thompson Produced by Alan HallSeries Producer: Eleanor McDowallA Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in September 2017.

Secret languages, loving acts of translation and musical instruments with an unrecognised power - Josie Long presents new documentaries about translation.From the man who introduced a poet to Iran through a tender act of love for his father, to a debate about breaching the peace.The Stash Featuring Lou Savelli Music by the Cabinet of Living Cinema Produced by Sarah CuddonBe Myself Featuring Joe Benjamin Produced by Tayo PopoolaDays of Razors, Nights Full of Rats Featuring Sahand and Ali Sahebdivani Produced by Maartje DuinSeries Producer: Eleanor McDowallA Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in September 2017.

Escape artists, losing control of your body and losing yourself in water - Josie Long takes a twilight stroll across Hampstead Heath while she presents stories of movement.Pond Featuring Jessica J LeeMovement Featuring Ian Waterman Produced by Rachel Simpson Original interview recorded for the Empathy MuseumLake Featuring Jessica J LeeEinstein Produced by Rikke HoudSea Featuring Jessica J LeeSeries Producer: Eleanor McDowallA Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in September 2017.

A disembodied voice, digital ghosts and the contraptions we build that alter our humanity - Josie Long presents new short documentaries about machines.We hear from the voice of Siri in the UK about losing control of what you say. Also - the story of a digital version of yourself outliving you and our relationship to the tools we build and the scars they leave.Daniel Produced by Andrea RangecroftReplika Produced by Charles Maynes and Mika Golubovsky15 Years Produced by Shereen Ashman, Michelle Macklem and Daniel GuillemetteSeries Producer: Eleanor McDowallA Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in September 2017.

Josie Long hears stories of heartbreak. Difficult love, women encoded in music and rebuilding yourself after you've been broken.Laura Barton offers a tender exploration of complex, enduring love, Natalie Kestecher rebuilds herself after a sudden shock and we dive into the sound of heartache.Tough Love Featuring Laura BartonTwenty-Three Produced by Alan HallKintsugi Dog Produced by Natalie Kestecher Mix by Steven TilleySeries Producer: Eleanor McDowall A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.

Josie Long hears stories of duets, the perfect conversational dance and gatecrashing honeymoons. She also talks to the other half of her long-running comedy partnership - Robin Ince.The poet John Osborne delves into late night radio phone in conversations, the artist Duncan Speakman invites the listener to engage in a duet and Phil Smith intrudes on a romantic moment.Towards Produced by Phil SmithA Duet for Here and There Written and produced by Duncan Speakman With conceptual development by Tineke De MeyerLate Night Radio Phone In Written by John OsborneSeries Producer: Eleanor McDowallA Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in August 2017.

A memory caught in a childhood drawing and a repeat encounter which offers hope at a point of despair - Josie Long explores the afterimage left by moments that touch us.We hear from Sion Jair who climbs mountains as a way to cope with disappearing memories. Sophie Townsend finds an image from her daughter's childhood, which captures a difficult moment from their past. And Dylan Park, five years after his first deployment to Iraq, finds an unexpected reminder of his first tour in Arizona.Brahim Featuring Dylan ParkMr Fix-It Produced by Sophie TownsendMountains Featuring Sion Jair Produced by Andrea RangecroftSeries Producer: Eleanor McDowallA Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in August 2017.

Josie Long hears stories of bearing witness - from glimpsing the moment a parent changes to escaping a violent storm.Witness Featuring Lois Gibson Produced by Andrea RangecroftTornado Featuring David Walker, Lindsay Martindale and Tobey Walker Produced by Ibby Caputo Music SFX from theming, digifishmusic, wjoojoo, davethetech, fridobeck, InspectorJ and Robinhood76Scaffold Featuring Mark Thomas Produced by Sarah CuddonSeries Producer: Eleanor McDowallA Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in June 2017.

Josie Long hears stories of our desire to pause - from dismantling a house which seems stopped in time to the difficulties of watching your child grow up.The House by the Creek Produced by Sophie TownsendPony Produced by Ibby CaputoPrivate Black Motherhood and Public White Protest Originally made for the Hope Chest podcast https://stacialbrown.com/tag/hope-chest-podcast/ Produced by Stacia BrownSeries Producer: Eleanor McDowallA Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in June 2017.

Defiantly staring down neo-Nazis, unwanted family portraits and a photographer searching for his subject years later - Josie Long presents new short documentaries inspired by images.Woman in the Photo Produced by Andrea RangecroftResistance Featuring Tess Asplund Produced by Andrea RangecroftFamily Portrait Featuring Chimene Suleyman and Recep Süleyman ŞehitoğluSeries Producer: Eleanor McDowallA Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in June 2017.(Photo credit: Nathan Edwards/News Corp Australia)

Josie Long presents documentaries where reality takes on a magical aspect - tales of snake-filled American towns, a visit to a shaman and of crashing back down to earth.The Curve of the Earth Produced by Stephanie Rowden http://www.stephanierowden.comThe Shaman Produced by Rikke HoudSnake Pit, Waurika Produced by Sarah GeisMagical Realism Produced by Phil SmithSeries Producer: Eleanor McDowallA Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in May 2017.

Personality tests, tests of character and knowing how to cheat. Josie Long presents stories of people testing their mettle.The writers Ross Sutherland and Joe Dunthorne examine the Sutherland-Dunthorne luck index to see why one's success seems to mean the other's failure. James Acaster embarks on a quest in search of connection and oversized novelty letters, and we hear the story of two men who knew how to deceive the people examining them.The Wow Scenario Featuring James AcasterProject Alpha Featuring Mike Edwards Produced by Claire CroftonThe Sutherland-Dunthorne Inverse Proportional Luck Index Featuring Joe Dunthorne and Ross SutherlandSeries Producer: Eleanor McDowallA Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in May 2017.

Josie Long presents stories of messages sent across borders. Unsent postcards, a last message and the journey for home.An old handwritten note, in pursuit of a woman who ran away, leads to a town submerged in water; the writer Laura Barton discovers a tranche of muted, unsent missives in a storage box; and we hear the voices of those who are far from home.Dear Martha Produced by Rikke HoudEnvision Yourself a Free Man First made as part of the Restorative Radio project http://www.restorativeradio.org/audio-postcards-2/ Produced by Sylvia RyersonA Very Different Time Produced by Phil SmithUnsent Featuring Laura BartonSeries Producer: Eleanor McDowall A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.

"We are here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is."Josie Long presents short documentaries and radio adventures in the spirit of Kurt Vonnegut, shortly before the tenth anniversary of his death - from peculiar travel suggestions to the kindness contained in a library. The writer Joe Dunthorne also engages Vonnegut in a dialogue, inspired by God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian.We are here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is. Produced by Phil SmithPeculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God Featuring Roger Haworth, Evan Doorbell and Mark Bernay Produced by Cicely FellReporter on the Afterlife Featuring Joe Dunthorne and Kurt VonnegutSeries Producer: Eleanor McDowallAFalling Tree production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in March 2017.