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.
This week's selections come from Peggy Sutton, an executive producer at Somethin’ Else, making work for Audible, the BBC and others as well as developing original podcasts. Also the silver award winner for Best Current Affairs Documentary/Feature Maker at the 2017 Audio Production Awards, we get a look into her favourite pieces of audio and the reasons behind them.
Check out Peggy's selections below...
Read more" a mission to hold power to account and reveal the injustice of the US justice system."
1. In The Dark (Season 2)
"There’s often a voyeurism about true crime stories that makes me queasy, although it doesn’t always stop me from listening. In The Dark is a true crime series that I don’t feel guilty about listening to. The second season is about a crime that took place in Mississippi and the man, Curtis Flowers, who’s been imprisoned for it, but really it’s about what happened afterwards. Made by APM Reports and hosted by reporter Madeleine Baran, it’s an impressive piece of investigative journalism with a mission to hold power to account and reveal the injustice of the US justice system. There are so many interesting things about the way the series is structured, reported and produced. The way they create a gripping narrative even though one of the two main characters is absent and we hear from the other only briefly. How the process of going through court records, surely tedious, becomes a compelling chapter. If, like me, you become an In The Dark geek, listen to Madeleine Baran on Longform Podcast talking about how they made it."
" It’s funny, sweet, surreal and insightful. "
2. Everything Is Alive
"How does a can of cola feel when it’s about to be finished? I hadn’t wondered about that either until I heard the first episode of Ian Chillag’s Everything Is Alive. It features his interviews with inanimate objects such as a generic can of cola, a lamp-post, an elevator and a grain of sand. It’s (obviously) fiction, but it’s not scripted; the actors improvise their side of the conversation albeit with the help of notes and research. It’s funny, sweet, surreal and insightful. I was surprised to find the moment when the final drops of cola were drunk genuinely moving."
" The first few minutes are especially beautiful"
3. Joni Mitchell Taught Me How To Feel (Archive on 4 on BBC Radio 4)
"I’m a big Joni fan so I loved this Archive on 4 about her musical world, narrated by NPR music critic Ann Powers. The first few minutes are especially beautiful, about the birth of her song The Wolf That Lives In Lindsey after a guy at a party gave her a tape of wolves howling."
" the only audio show that me, my husband and our 3 and 7-year-old girls all love."
4. This Podcast Has Fleas
"Stories about a dog, a cat, a gerbil (and a goldfish played by Alec Baldwin). This scripted comedy is the only audio show that me, my husband and our 3 and 7-year-old girls all love. It brought us laughs and (whole minutes of) peace and harmony on a road trip to Wales over the summer. My 7 year old has been recommending it to her friends, which has caused confusion over the question of what a podcast actually is and how you can watch it."
"reminiscing about the formative experience of listening to music with friends."
5. J To Z (BBC Radio 3)
"Full disclosure: I helped to launch this Radio 3 jazz show earlier in the year. But it really is one of my favourite listens and anyway I can’t claim any credit for the playlists the team put together week in week out. It’s always a joyful ninety minutes of music, but my favourite part is hearing musicians geeking out about music that they love. It was moving to hear the voice of trumpeter Roy Hargrove a few weeks ago, recorded shortly before he died, reminiscing about the formative experience of listening to music with friends."
