Short documentaries and adventures in sound presented by Josie Long - available to download as a podcast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01mk3f8/episodes/downloads

Short Cuts

Word spirits, back rooms and a reply all-pocalypse - Josie Long presents short documentaries that emerge from the internet.

Word Spirits
With thanks to Caroline Hesse, Donovan McGrath, Mary Dolejsi, Nicole Reinsch, Nalini Kumari, Zen Priest & Buddhist Scholar John Stevens (for permission to include his Classical Aikido Kototama Chant), and Critical Sound Explorer & Artist Matt Parker (for permission to include excerpts from The People's Cloud / Field Recordings of Internet Data Centres): https://www.earthkeptwarm.com
Additional mixing by Maitreya
Produced by HJ Radia

The Back Rooms
Produced by Mae-Li Evans

The Bello Tolls for Thee
Produced by Nadia Mehdi

First broadcast 6th February 2024, BBC Radio 4
Curated by Axel Kacoutié, Eleanor McDowall and Andrea Rangecroft
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall

S37: Short Cuts: The Net 5/6

Chrononormativity, duppies and post-colonial thought. Josie Long presents short documentaries and audio adventures exploring beyond the past, present and futures.

Language in the Land of Duppies: Exploring the origins of Jamaican folklore as a gateway to understanding the legacy of slavery on the island.
Produced by Laura Carty
Special thanks to Alexander Powell, Carmen Johnson, Natalia Downer, Kandice Thompson and Jean Smart.

All my friends are turning into Stars
Written and performed by David Amber Devereux
With Dr Matthew Temple, Research Fellow,
Universidad Diego Portales
Additional voices by Lou Sutcliffe and Alessa Catterall
Featuring quotes from De Profundus by Oscar Wilde, Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, and In A Queer Time And Place by Jack Halberstam

Interjections on the future: There is not currently any obvious path to reconstructing a popular faith in political, economic and even some social institutions but while it might not always feel like it today, the unwinding of colonial modernity is underway and accelerating.
Produced by composer and researcher, Sara Rahman.
Featuring psychiatrist Isabel Valli and writers and artists Fer Boyd and Maedeline Stack.

First broadcast 13th February 2024, BBC Radio 4
Curated by Axel Kacoutié, Eleanor McDowall and Andrea Rangecroft
Produced by Axel Kacoutié

S37: Short Cuts: Hereafter 6/6

A grand piano slowly climbs the stairs in Glasgow, a man in Brighton keeps finding his upright pianos going missing, a piano decays slowly in the woods while a grandson finds himself thrust into the role of a ship's pianist. Josie Long presents short documentaries and audio adventures with a piano at their heart.

Pianos Aren't His Forte
Featuring Mark Campbell
Produced by Phil Smith
Including piano performances from Mark Campbell and Songs Without Words composed by Felix Mendelssohn and performed by Vassily Primakov from the Free Music Archive

Piano in the Woods
Written and produced by Ross Sutherland
Featuring performances from the project Piano in the Woods by the improviser, artist and curator Sam Bailey. You can learn more about the project at pianointhewoods.com

Two, Three, Hup
Produced by Steve Urquhart
Featuring piano performances by Steve Urquhart

First broadcast 30th April 2024, BBC Radio 4
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall
Curated by Axel Kacoutié and Eleanor McDowall

S38: Short Cuts: A Piano 1/6

Two men on different continents share a love of butterflies, a swimming instructor seeks solace in the water and we dive inside an inner landscape. Josie Long presents short documentaries and audio adventures that emerge from the earth, water and sky.

Psalm
Featuring Emil Blicher Bjerregaard and Mudar Salimeh
Inspired by the poem Psalm written by Wisława Szymborska 
Music by Simon don Eriksen and Gregor Quendel
Mix by Lærke Soedring Nielsen
Produced by Nanna Hauge Kristensen

My Body is of Earth
Created by Zara Zimbardo and Lily Sloane 
With editorial support from Keisha "TK" Dutes and sound consultation from Adriene Lilly

Finding Freedom in the Water: Gaza’s Swimming Teacher
A version of this story first aired on BBC World Service's Outlook in March 2023 ('My Life in Seven Swimming Pools') and in an updated version in April 2024 ('Finding Freedom in the Water: Gaza's Swimming Teacher) presented by Jo Fidgen
Sound design by Joel Cox
Interpreter Youssef Taha
Producer Louise Morris

First broadcast 7th May 2024, BBC Radio 4
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall
Curated by Axel Kacoutié and Eleanor McDowall

S38: Short Cuts: Earth, Water, Sky 2/6

In water, on wheels or explained over the phone - Josie Long presents short documentaries about moving our bodies.

Field Notes
Featuring Hannah Kezema
Produced by Jess Shane and Kristine White

Instructions for Returning to My Body
Gamelan music courtesy of Nusantara
Produced by Kia Miakka Natisse

The Pink Flamingo
Featuring Peter Prijdekker
Sound Recording by Edd Kentish
Produced by Hunter Charlton and Vicki Carter

First broadcast 14th May 2024, BBC Radio 4
Curated by Axel Kacoutié and Eleanor McDowall
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall

S38: Short Cuts: Body Movements 3/6

Life and love. Josie Long presents short documentaries and audio adventures exploring the language of care.

Life or Death
By Marc Kalani
Featuring Cessie Alfonso and Carmeta Albarus author of The Making of Lee Boyd Malvo: The D.C. Sniper.

Buzz
By Luca Evans (they/them)
Featuring Joules Huang Duze (they/them) and Smokey Black (he/they)
Additional recording by Aisha Lomax (she/her).
Joules is a part-time organiser with Jews for Racial and Economic Justice and The LUNAR Collective, a volunteer with the Black Trans Liberation Kitchen, and a community educator for the Early Relationship Abuse Prevention Program.
Smokey is a barber at Mutiny in Brooklyn NY. @Smokey.Black
Please listen with headphones.

Patient as the Horizon
By Tej Adeleye
Sarah Long from London Equine Therapy and Astrologer, Psychic Medium and Animal Communicator, Jessica Lanyadoo

First broadcast 21st May 2024, BBC Radio 4
Curated by Axel Kacoutié and Eleanor McDowall
Produced by Axel Kacoutié

S38: Short Cuts: Devotions 4/6

Evaporating answers, mysterious music and disappearing dialects - Josie Long presents short documentaries about things in danger of becoming lost.

Pot-8-Toes
Featuring Billy Butler and Wally Scott
Originally broadcast in Hold Your Plums on Radio Merseyside

A Corner Seat in a Smoker, Facing the Engine
Produced by Robin the Fog

Echoes of Cockney
Produced by James Trice

Panchiko
Produced by Tom Whalley

First broadcast 28th May 2024, BBC Radio 4
Curated by Axel Kacoutié and Eleanor McDowall
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall

S38: Short Cuts: Lost 5/6

Josie Long presents short documentaries and audio adventures which emerge from dreams, hidden places and the afterlife.

The Dreams (Extract)
From Inventions for Radio by Barry Bermange and Delia Derbyshire
Originally broadcast on the BBC in 1964

Zero Fixation Points
Produced by Nada Smiljanic
Location production by Avi Varma
Archive courtesy of Rowan Farrell
Featuring Professor Bridget Anderson and Travis Van Isacker from the University of Bristol

The Quiet Violence of Dreams
Produced by Kagiso Mnisi

Fragments
Produced by Eleanor McDowall

First broadcast 4th June 2024, BBC Radio 4
Curated by Axel Kacoutié and Eleanor McDowall
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall

S38: Short Cuts: The Invisible 6/6

A black and white film transformed, searching the sunset for the green flash and a reimagining of red. Josie Long presents a kaleidoscopic collection of short documentaries.

Autism Plays Itself
Adapted for radio by Jodie Taylor and Janet Harbord
Based on the short film directed by Janet Harbord, produced by Whalebone Films and sound designed by Action Pyramid

Green Flash
Written by Joe Dunthorne

Red of Visibility
Produced by Phoebe McIndoe
With thanks to THE ECCO founded by Jasmin Bauomy, where a version of this documentary was first created

Photo by Jasmin Bauomy

First broadcast 20th August 2024, BBC Radio 4
Curated by Axel Kacoutié, Eleanor McDowall and Andrea Rangecroft
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall

S39: Short Cuts: In Colour 1/6

Star maps, messages from Earth to the moon and reaching out across distance as Josie Long presents short documentaries about constellations.

Star Map
Featuring Ferdinand Hauge Leth
Music by Kirstine Lindeman
Produced by Nanna Hauge Kristensen

News to the Moon and Back
Recordings courtesy of the NASA archive
Produced by Mika Golubovsky

The Complaints Department
Featuring Evan Gregg and letters from www.dearmisterward.com
Produced by Inge Oosterhoff

First broadcast 27th August 2024, BBC Radio 4
Curated by Axel Kacoutié, Eleanor McDowall and Andrea Rangecroft
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall

S39: Short Cuts: Constellation 2/6

Josie Long presents short documentaries against the clock in an episode around time and timing.

Dad's Secret Life of Matchmaking
Produced by Josephine Anderson
Additional sound recording by Christopher Anderson

Loose Ends
Produced by Jon Tjhia

There's Always a Next Time
Produced by Steve Urquhart

First broadcast 3rd September 2024, BBC Radio 4
Curated by Axel Kacoutié, Eleanor McDowall and Andrea Rangecroft
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall

S39: Short Cuts: In Time 3/6

Trying to capture a lost homeland on tape, reclaiming urban landscapes through the sound of skateboarding, and the noise that is one of the great equalisers of the world. Short documentaries that ripple through space - presented by Josie Long.

Sonic Skateboarding
Produced by Alice Boyd and Tom Critchley
Featuring Ben Dixon, Tom Critchley, Hannah, Zip and Bleu
Music composed by Ben Dixon

Nat’s Apartment
Written and produced by Emma-Lee Moss
Music by Emma-Lee Moss and Nata Lee Hahn

Love in the Time of Flatulence
Featuring Alison Downham Moore, Noam Osband, Zebulon Osband and Dahlia Osband
Written and produced by Noam Osband

Photograph: Alastair Gleeson

First broadcast 10th September 2024, BBC Radio 4
Produced by Andrea Rangecroft
Curated by Axel Kacoutié, Eleanor McDowall and Andrea Rangecroft

S39: Short Cuts: Sound Waves 4/6

Wishes, wonders, and wisdom. Josie Long presents short documentaries and audio adventures uncovering the power of words.

mother-house produced by Catherine Boulle.
Inspired by the guided visualisations accompanying the book 'Motherhood: Is it for me?' by Denise L. Carlini & Ann Davidman.

Weird World Whimsy produced and composed by Suzie McCarthy.
Featuring actor, teacher and director, Mary Lou Rosato.
Interview recording by audio producer Donelle Wederburn in New York City.
The piece featured a canoe trip on the Tapiskwan Sipi, which runs through Atikamekw Nehirowisiwok territory in the unceded province of Quebec.
Special thanks to Nina Garthwaite, Tom Todoroff, Emily Moulton, Katherina Lindekens and Emma Lehman from Noise Club.

Buranbur: a comfort in words by audio maker and producer Suhaar Ali.
Featuring the first Somali woman elected to the cabinet, Fadumo Aalin, who talks about her mother and poet Hawo Jibril.

First broadcast 17th September 2024, BBC Radio 4
Curated by Axel Kacoutié, Eleanor McDowall and Andrea Rangecroft
Produced by Axel Kacoutié

S39: Short Cuts: A Word 5/6

Josie Long presents short documentaries and audio adventures that venture into the forest.

Searching for Eden
Written, performed and composed by Nyokabi Kariũki
Drums - Chris O'Leary
Field Recordings taken in Mũrang'a, Kenya

The Final Breath
Featuring Robin Elms
Produced by Kendra Hanna and Max Jungreis

El Manglar
Featuring Paolo Realpe, founder of Muisne Desde Adentro
Special thanks to Dr. Pilar Egüez Guevara, co-founder and director of Comidas que Curan (Foods that Heal)
Produced by Mickal Aranha

First broadcast 24th September 2024, BBC Radio 4
Curated by Axel Kacoutié, Eleanor McDowall and Andrea Rangecroft
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall

S39: Short Cuts: The Forest 6/6

Siren song, lunar eavesdroppers and the gathering dark - Josie Long presents short documentaries about venturing into the night.

Siren Song
Featuring melancholydi
Produced by Kalli Anderson

Lunar Eavesdroppers
An extract from Space Ham, first broadcast in BBC Radio 3's Between the Ears
Produced by Rose de Larrabeiti and Caroline Devine
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 3

Beneath
Produced by Sami El-Enany

Brücke
Featuring Stephen Jenkinson
Produced by Phil Smith

First broadcast 3rd December 2024, BBC Radio 4
Curated by Axel Kacoutié, Eleanor McDowall and Andrea Rangecroft
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall

S40: Short Cuts: Into the Night 1/6

Time capsules and yesterday's dreams of tomorrow, Josie Long presents short documentaries and audio adventures exploring lost futures.

That’s Merely an Adjective
Produced by Zara Karschay

Time Play by Chelsea Kigano, Lily Sloane, Lilia Vega, and Emily Shaw
Originally made as part of The 24-Hour Radio Race from KCRW's Independent Producer Project
Music and sound design by Lily Sloane, with Time Ain't Gonna Make Me Stay by Ed Andrews
Special thanks to David Lee

Letters
Produced by Mika Golubovsky and Sasha Borzenko
Featuring Zehnya Feldman and Natasha Zotova

Higher Ground
Produced by Leila Goldstein
Featuring Winda Safitri, Yoppi and Naya Hidayatul Alialna

First broadcast 10th December 2024, BBC Radio 4
Curated by Axel Kacoutié, Eleanor McDowall and Andrea Rangecroft
Produced by Axel Kacoutié

S40: Short Cuts: Lost Futures 2/6

Feeding the birds, sharing meals and chaotic menus - Josie Long presents short documentaries and audio adventures about eating together.

Bird Feeder
Produced by Stella Sims

And to Start...
Produced by Mae-Li Evans

Foodhall
Produced by Nadia Mehdi

First broadcast 17th December 2024, BBC Radio 4
Curated by Axel Kacoutié, Eleanor McDowall and Andrea Rangecroft
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall

S40: Short Cuts: Feast 3/6

A friendship forged working the land, memories of volcanic eruptions from 800,000 years ago frozen in Antarctica’s ice cores, and the importance of wild, patient gardens. Short documentaries presented by Josie Long that rise up from the earth.


Wintering
Music by Jules Bradley
Produced by Jules Bradley

Melt Tones
Featuring Dr Dieter Tetzner
Produced by Anton Spice

Sue’s Garden
Featuring Sue Trolle
Music by Sóley
Produced by Rikke Houd

First broadcast 29th December 2024, BBC Radio 4
Produced by Andrea Rangecroft
Curated by Axel Kacoutié, Eleanor McDowall and Andrea Rangecroft

S40: Short Cuts: Earth 5/6

A criminal defence lawyer finds a surprising new job foisted upon him and a son attempts to recover his joyfulness on a family holiday. Josie Long presents short festive documentaries and merry sonic adventures.

Family Yoga
Produced by Kit Callin

A Conversation with my Mum at Christmas
Featuring Rhik Samadder
A version of this story first appeared in Rhik Samadder's memoir, I Never Said I Loved You
Music by The Enchanted Cinema
Produced by Sarah Cuddon

Miracle on the George Washington Bridge
Produced by Luke Green

Santa Calls
Featuring Matt Storrs
Produced by Talia Augustidis

First broadcast 24th December 2024, BBC Radio 4
Curated by Axel Kacoutié, Eleanor McDowall and Andrea Rangecroft
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall

S40: Short Cuts: Merry Christmas 4/6

Josie Long presents short documentaries and audio adventures as the clock slips closer to midnight.

In the last Short Cuts on BBC Radio 4, 13 years after the broadcast of our first ever episode 'Misadventures', we listen to radio waves after dark with the Shortwave Collective, tumble into a radio poem alongside a sleeping child, tune into a late night pirate radio station from the early 1960s, and raise a parting glass.

At Least
Featuring Xelis de Toro
Produced by Phil Smith

Voice of Nuclear Disarmament
With thanks to the British Library Sound Archive, and the family of John Hasted
Produced by Jonny Matfin

Perhaps at Midnight, When All Boundaries Are Lost
Produced by the Shortwave Collective

Good Company
Featuring Jesse Lawson, Izzy Yon and Femi Oriogun-Williams
Produced by Jesse Lawson

First broadcast 7th January 2025, BBC Radio 4
Curated by Axel Kacoutié, Eleanor McDowall and Andrea Rangecroft
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall
Mix by Mike Woolley
Executive Producer: Alan Hall

S40: Short Cuts: Midnight 6/6

We make documentaries and audio art for radio, podcasts and public spaces.

At the heart of what we do is a belief in the imaginative possibilities of radio. Sounds that can reconfigure the world around you, move you through inner landscapes, sink into your dreams.

We are an intentionally small company that considers carefully the creative, social and political aspects of the work we put out into the world.

Falling Tree has two full-time Directors – Eleanor McDowall and Alan Hall – and we work with freelancers across our projects, including the core Short Cuts production team of Alia Cassam, Axel Kacoutié and Andrea Rangecroft.

We are one of the founding signatories of the Equality in Audio pact. 

You can listen to hundreds of our documentaries in the free, online Falling Tree archive.

Short Cuts

Falling Tree Productions