Welcome to The Listening Post, where each week we get an insight into the radio listening habits of a guest contributor. Once each person has made their picks, we ask them to nominate someone for the following week's Listening Post...
Last week, after being nominated by Freelance Producer Milly Chowles, Mair Bosworth, an Assistant Producer at BBC Radio 4 chose her selections. They included 'Radiooooo.com', NPR's 'Tiny Desk Concerts' and 'Soul Music' on BBC Radio 4. You can view her full selections here.
For this week's Listening Post selection, Mair has nominated Dennis Funk, Producer of the Third Coast International Audio Festival. Based in Chicago, the festival curates audio stories from around the world and showcases them in various mediums, so Dennis gets to listen to a wide array of wonderful audio!
Check out his selections below...
Read moreRadio that lingers in your ears...
1. Short Cuts - BBC Radio 4
"Some of the most beautiful and impactful radio moments… you know, the ones that really linger in your ears… often come in tiny packages. Short Cuts celebrates the art of the short feature and every episode is really a treasure box full of examples for how powerful and diverse audio storytelling can be."
>> Listen here
Endless Inspiration
2. PRX Remix
"Sometimes I have absolutely no idea what kinds of stories I want to listen to. In those cases, I use the PRX Remix app to choose for me. PRX (the Public Radio Exchange) has built an endlessly looping playlist of thousands of audio stories and shows. It’s free and you can skip as much as you want (though you do have to wait through the station IDs, which can get a bit annoying… especially if you get into a rut of hour-long stories popping up and you only need something for a 10-minute bus journey). It’s a great way to sample lots of shows and one-off stories from independent producers, but beware of using it without wifi because it can murder your data."
>> Listen here
Exciting Innovation
3. Serendipity
"The podcast only started this week, and so far there’s just one episode, but I am so so so excited that it’s come into the world. It’s a Swedish/American collaboration with plans to reinvent and take over the way we think about audio fiction. It’s crazy creative and super sound-rich. I think it’s going to be a great place for producers to experiment with sound and story and really change the way we listen. Follow the link for a preview of what’s to come… (plus there are competitions and awards)."
>> Listen here
Get Lost In Translation
4. Third Ear
"One of my favourite things to do is listen to radio stories and podcasts produced in languages I don’t speak (when I can find transcripts, obviously, because otherwise I’d just think everything is about passing cars, birds and walking through snow). Not only is it a reminder that there’s a whole other world of non-English radio out there, but there’s also something about listening to a story and following along with the words in your hands that adds an extra level of immersion. When you don’t understand a language, words as sounds lose their figurative meaning and become new notes in the song of story, and the Third Ear podcast sings some of the best."
Chicago Rhythms
5. Reclaimed Soul on Vocalo
"At the moment, I live in Chicago and I never realised how much great music grew out of this city (and, coincidentally a lot of great radio and podcasts start here too — This American Life, Love + Radio, 99% Invisible). There’s everything here…blues, jazz, R&B, hip-hop and footwork. ‘Reclaimed Soul’ on Vocalo digs through the deep history that runs through all of it."
Next Week on The Listening Post
Dennis: "I’d like to nominate Eleanor McDowall, a Senior Producer at independent production company, Falling Tree Productions. Eleanor is series producer of one of my selections, the wonderful Short Cuts."
Check back next Friday to see what Eleanor has selected!
