Welcome to The Listening Post, where every month 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 Listening Post.
Lucia Scazzocchio provided our last Listening Post, a Social Broadcaster who creates audioscapes which weave together individual personal stories to illustrate wider social contexts. Amongst her picks was a piece from Rebecca Lloyd-Evans, who is providing our next Listening Post. She is primarily a storyteller who works with audio and film to provide voices to marginalised communites, with an aim of having the projects leading to social change. Recent audio-based projects include High Rise for BBC Radio 4 and Camera Off Podcasts for The Guardian, all of which provide a fascinating insight into important social areas.
Check out her recommendations below...
Read more"Shines a light on something universally human and relevant to all our relationships"
1. Where Should We Begin
"This series takes us inside a couple's counselling session with psychotherapist and relationship extraordinaire Esther Perel. Each episode is as gripping as it is moving. Perel's bold questioning and astute observations peel back layers to reveal the heart of the couple's troubles with a tender touch. No matter how removed the couple might be from my own life, I find Perel shines a light on something universally human and relevant to all our relationships. What's more whatever pain or trauma might be revealed within each episode, I'm left with a feeling that being heard and listening brings hope..."
"Headphones in and shut your eyes..."
2. Twenty Thousand Hertz
"As much for audio nerds as not, this long running podcast brings "the stories behind the world's most interesting and recognisable sounds". From sounds that are going extinct, to why we cry, host and exec-producer Dallas Taylor compellingly marries sound design and storytelling. My favourite recent episode was about ASMR - autonomous sensory meridian response. Headphones in and shut your eyes..."
"Captured something about love, loss and family that is almost beyond words"
3. The Start
"This culture series from The Guardian asks major artists about the start of their careers. Listening to Lemn Sissay talk about the story behind his poem "Invisible Kisses" took my breath away and captured something about love, loss and family that is almost beyond words."
"What I especially appreciate is the emotional transparency"
4. Caliphate
"Setting the bar for narrative news this engrossing serialised documentary follows NYT's foreign correspondent Rukmini Callimachi as she reports from ISIS - attempting to understand who they are and what their ideology is - in order to answer the fundamental question "who are we fighting anyway?" What I especially appreciate is the emotional transparency in Rukmini's reporting - she's thorough but she doesn't hide how she is feeling. To me, the series seems to embody Rumi's quote "Beyond doing wrong and doing right there is a field - I'll meet you there". And from only this place can we foster real understanding."
"Engrossing sound-design and interesting Black Mirror-esque premise"
5. Sandra
"Sandra (think Siri or Alexis) is a 7 part tech thriller starring Kristen Wiig and Alicia Shawkat. Not without it's flaws but an engrossing sound-design and interesting Black Mirror-esque premise that left me wondering where the future of fiction podcasting could go."
The Next Listening Post
For the next Listening Post, Rebecca has kindly nominated Max Sanderson, an audio producer at The Guardian who specialises in science. We look forward to hearing his picks!
