Radio Atlas

A broken-hearted granddaughter’s search for understanding. By Neena Pathak for HearSay International Audio Arts Festival (2019) Aaji (Grandma) is in her 90s, proficient in English but more comfortable in Marathi, and hard-of-hearing. Mithu is in her 30s, okay at Marathi (but speaks in a stilted, error-filled, and somewhat childlike way common to many second-generation immigrants), … Continue reading "ROW-cub"

“We have life in our imaginations…” Exploring three alternative visions, ‘A Voice from Utopia’ attempts to deconstruct the concept of the nation state. From virtual communities like Bitnation to micronations like Liberland. It comes from Blank Maps – an Arabic podcast that seeks to address the problem of statelessness in the Arab world. By doing … Continue reading "Blank Maps: A Voice from Utopia"

A young woman walks out onto the ice, under a full moon, and disappears. Produced by Rikke Houd for Third Ear (11th March 2014) Deep beneath the Greenlandic ice, lies a hidden history. The Danish feature-maker Rikke Houd travels in the footsteps of Karen Roos, who disappeared on the ice outside the small East Greenlandic town of … Continue reading "The Woman on the Ice"

Echoes of a rebellion in a mine falling back to nature. By Gianluca Stazi and Giuseppe Casu for Radio3 Rai (2018) Silvestro has worked in the mine since he was 23 years old – he’s the son of a miner, the son of the mine, now he is 67. Manlio, at 40, left teaching to … Continue reading "The Upside Down"

A woman and her cat attempt to reach a happy resolution. By Inga Janiulytė (2018) A fleeting scene from a remote village in Polesia, south east Belarus. After lunch and liquor on the Saturday before Orthodox Easter at babka Maria’s house. No meat is allowed on the table. The only one exempt from this rule … Continue reading "Sausage Roll"

An exploration of listening and liberty. By René Farabet for France Culture (1992) A feature which weaves together audio compositions created by inmates serving long-term sentences interwoven with their reflections on sound and listening. Winner of the Prix Futura in 1993. René Farabet (1934 – 2017) was one of the key figures in the Atelier de … Continue reading "Words from Inside (St Maur Prison)"

Jonathan Zenti embarks on a quest to recover a loved possession, which has gone astray. Produced by Jonathan Zenti for HearSay International Audio Festival (November 2015) For five years the radio producer Jonathan Zenti has been making recordings with elderly Italians that explore old cultural rites in his country that are in danger of disappearing. Imelda, who … Continue reading "I Am Analog"

An Iranian journalist, forced to flee the country, captures her search for a sense of home in Norway. Produced by Sheida Jahanbin and Rikke Houd for NRK (2011) My Share of the Sky artfully captures the disorientation of seeking refuge in a new country. Working on her first radio documentary – journalist Sheida Jahanbin recorded her … Continue reading "My Share of the Sky"

A forgotten moment recaptured in a dance between mother tongue and translation. Produced by Charo Calvo for ABC Soundproof (30th September 2016) A short feature from a longer work by the Spanish composer and sound designer Charo Calvo. In ‘Qualia’ – five women artists tell, in their mother tongue, a vital moment, an intense sensorial … Continue reading "Zahava and the Qualia"

A father gives his daughter a mysterious inheritance. By Kari Hesthamar for NRK, 2003 Cesilie’s family have wrapped their secrets in a brown parcel. Her father gave her the parcel ten years ago – asking her not to open it until two years after her mother has died. Ten years later, and almost two years … Continue reading "The Brown Parcel"

An erotic radio work exploring the mechanics of lust. By Bert Kommerij for NPO Radio 5 (1998)

By Charlotte Bienaimé for ARTE Radio (2014) Colette Bertin has recorded hundreds of radio programs on audio cassettes. Today, at 82, Colette plunges into her archive and evokes a whole life spent listening, from tapes to podcasts. Special Commendation at the Prix Europa and Prix Italia in 2014.

By Charlotte Rouault and Benoît Bories for ARTE Radio (2013) “If we didn’t look after ourselves, we were done for…” Three former inmates of the Brens women’s concentration camp, who were detained from 1942-44, recall their experiences.

An audio meditation on falling. Produced by Maria Dønvang (2017) Winner of the 2017 HearSay Festival ‘Create’ GanBéarla Award and Best Radio / Sound Art Award.

Vicious fights and tender memories play out against the backdrop of a crumbling stately home – eavesdrop on scenes from a marriage of convenience. Produced by Eva Roither for Ö1 (May 2011) Winner of the Prix Europa, 2011 and the feature-award at Stiftung Radio Basel.

The search for connection on a telephone helpline. Produced by Matthias Hellemans for VRT (August 2014)

An exploration of the past traumas that lurk in the shadows of a young woman’s life. By Susanne Björkman for Sveriges Radio (21st August 1994) Susanne Björkman’s Prix Italia-winning documentary, In the Shadow of the Phantom, tells the story of 25-year-old Aziza, a woman who works in a Stockholm metro station close to a local … Continue reading "In the Shadow of the Phantom"

Motherly love, loss and falling… a personal feature from Nanna Hauge Kristensen. Produced by Nanna Hauge Kristensen (2017). This feature won first prize at the P1 Shortdox competition in 2017.

A vibrant, tender documentary exploring the complex, fierce love uniting Matěj and his family. By Tereza Reková for Czech Radio Dvojka (25th December 2016) Matěj has perfect pitch and a phenomenal memory – often speaking in remembered fragments of fairytales and television shows. He also suffers from extensive autism with signs of Asperger syndrome. Winner of … Continue reading "Matěj"

A tender goodnight when the morning is uncertain. Produced by Eva Moeraert (2016) Winner of the 2017 HearSay Festival ‘Celebrate’ GanBéarla Award and the 2016 Korte Golf Radio Prize. In remembrance of Bernard De Rycke, with special thanks to Bernard and his wife Machteld Van Vlaenderen.

An operatic love story in its final act. Produced by Sindre Leganger for NRK (16th October 2016) Freddie Bagron, a retired opera singer, is preparing for an important performance – an act of love for his terminally ill wife, Turid. The doctors tell him Turid’s cancer is incurable but in Freddie’s mind, Turid is recovering.

The former Danish professional football player, Bo Henriksen, gives his team a testosterone-heavy pre-match speech. Produced by Ole Fugl Hørkilde and Kim G. Hansen for Radio24syv (14th September 2013) An inspirational bonus episode of the podcast to mark Radio Atlas’s second birthday.

A lonely man waits for someone to sit and listen. By Susanne Björkman for Sveriges Radio (1974) A short documentary from one of Susanne Björkman’s first radio assignments. A serendipitous recording of a lonely man in a ‘Beer Cafe’ in Malmö. As Susanne approached his table, he began a spontaneous monologue about his loneliness, which … Continue reading "Man at Beer Cafe"

An impressionistic documentary about strangers meeting in darkness. Produced by Jiri Slavicinsky for Czech Radio (February 2017) Blindfold Yourself was shortlisted for the 2017 HearSay Festival ‘Celebrate’ GanBéarla Award. It was recorded in November 2016, at the Hug workshop/performance, organized by British composer Verity Standen and the Prague association Voicescope.

In February 2015, Joachim Gerhard has reached the city of Elbeyli on the border between Turkey and Syria and stands within sight of Kobane, a city under fire. He shouts in despair into his phone. He is trying to persuade his two sons Mike (18) and Klaus (25) to come back to Germany with him. … Continue reading "Papa, We’re in Syria"

A documentary-fairytale set at Christmas. Produced by Kristin Heien for NRK P2 Radio Documentary (20th December 2015)

Intimacy and distance between lovers in a late night conversation. Produced by Sayre Quevedo (2017)

On a dark night, in a small Danish town, Thomas Andersen has a violent encounter with his double. Produced by Thomas Arent Andersen for Third Ear x Politiken (9th November 2015)

What remains when we start to disappear? Resounding with music, humour and humanity this feature blends the story of a pianist documenting his own decline and the residents of a care home near the Dutch border of Essen. Musically interweaving reality and fiction we dive into the internal world of people who feel that they are … Continue reading "Everyday Something Disappears"

An astronomer’s daughter ventures into his past – exploring the universe inside his head as his words and memories begin to leave him. Produced by Maartje Duin for VPRO (22nd October 2015)

An immersive look at the lives of drug addicts in the French countryside. Moving between young women struggling to loosen the grip of heroin on their lives and the people employed to help treat them, arrest them and monitor them. Produced by Mehdi Ahoudig for ARTE Radio (2014) Winner of the Prix Europa for Best … Continue reading "Junkies in the Country"

Everyone in this story is dead. Everyone except its storyteller, Bengt Bok. As he walks around a cemetery, the voices of people he’s interviewed in the past emerge from the earth. Produced by Bengt Bok for Sveriges Radio (2016)

A montage of mothers trying to reach their children. Produced by Mathilde Guermonprez for ARTE Radio (2015)

Waves of memory, the story of a light going out – an exploration of love, loss and parallel worlds. Produced by Þorgerður E. Sigurðardóttir for RANA/Radiophonic Narration (2009) Þorgerður E. Sigurðardóttir takes us into the story of Sigrún, an Icelandic woman reliving memories of loss and love, searching for solitude in her house by the … Continue reading "Still Swimming"

A dynamic sonic portrait of the 2001 crisis in Argentina. The sound artist Joaquín Cófreces explores how a society becomes an accomplice to its own misfortune. Produced by Joaquín Cófreces for FM La Tribu (2005) ‘Robbery’ won the second prize in the feature category at the Bienal de Radio Mexico in 2006 as well as … Continue reading "Robbery"

An interview with a writer called Writer veers into dangerous territory. Produced by Katharina Smets for VPRO (20th February 2015) This was the third part of a series called ‘Detroit Detour’, produced in collaboration with the musician Inne Eysermans for VPRO in the Netherlands. The series was made possible by the support of the Dutch … Continue reading "Writer"

A tender documentary about love, invention and a light that hasn’t gone out. Produced by Sindre Leganger for NRK (26th April 2014) From the light of the stars overhead, to the constant mysterious glow of a bulb in 87 year old Harald Brobakken’s apartment, Sindre Leganger’s documentary explores ideas of invention, love and imagination with extraordinary … Continue reading "Still Glowing Strong"