Name: The Boy from Lam Kien by Sarah Lawrence Radio
Duration: 12 min 31 s
Description: A story written and read by performance artist and filmmaker Miranda July.

Fossey M: The strongest part of this story is the details. July creates such a powerful character that it is impossible not to relate to her in some way. The embodied sound enriches the piece (the eerie background noise, the church bells, etc.); because the writing is so simple and July's narration is so dry (in the best possible way), it adds to the emotional intensity. This piece also captures the essence and abstractness and sadness of inner thought ("And someone was talking to me of their own free will but I could see the end in sight." 4.38, "Perhaps the boy would be sent to jail for lying to me." 5.55).

Hannah - There is something very lonely about this piece. A lot of it comes in her diction and pace but the embodied sound also creates a sense of emptiness. The mix of the piece is also very simplistic, highlighting the theme of loneliness and giving the sound effects more intension when they are present. The piece is a little long to listen to just a voice, which is mostly what it is, but the strong writing makes up for it—loved the metaphor about the sheets having peaks and valleys like mountains, so beautiful!

Richard P: Normally I hate stories that are being read but Miranda speaks with a certain intonation and style that colors the words. It also helps that she still includes other voices and plays with the audio so as to differentiate them from the narrator. There is an undercurrent of ferocity that the embodied sounds hints towards to. Miranda July's pieces seem reminiscent of Fiona Apple in its emotionality and intensity. The bedroom scene was very peculiar in how it began. The music here was disharmonious and seemed inconsistent with the scene. I didn't quite understand what Miranda was going for here. It wasn't really tense per se but strange especially with the pillows falling off. Actually this entire piece is very strange but haunting and interesting.

Olivia W: The background audio in this piece is spot on. July uses her own voice for both characters and I like that the secondary character's voice is edited just a little too sound differently (and voice acted differently). I also like the added music around 3.13 that sounds very natural in the piece. The character in the piece says there's a law against showing a kid your room without knowing their name, and it reminded me of her other character from "The Man on the Stairs" where the main character was 12 and dating a 25 year old. The acting and music were very ominous.

Jeremy: I love her delivery of this piece. It really gives a new layer of solitude to the character. The background track is also very effective in adding to the almost eerie loneliness that the narrator seems to be living through. Like the piece about the man on the stairs, this piece's strength is its ability to develop a character through the use of metaphor. I feel as though the kid is a metaphor for the narrator's own childhood or sense of fun. It's interesting to see how the simple questions and actions of the young boy are not so simple or innocent through the narrator's adult lens.

James B- Miranda uses ambiguity in this story between the main character’s childhood innocence and her sexual curiosity towards the child, really expertly used when she uses her hands to illustrate how much work she has and then speaks about of the child staring between the center of that cavity between her hands, which evokes the idea of the woman as the other, or the absence of. I was impressed how these ideas are touched upon with just this child-like interaction. Unlike the man on the stairs this ambiguity is used to drive the story forward and the hold audience’s interest.

Nate L:  I feel so aloooone. July, in my opinion, is a master of pace and deliverance. She's very easy to follow and the story is interesting, though rather sad. Even though it's pretty easy to tell she used her own voice to portray the boy, though it's done really well--delivered with enough diversity in tone that it's not distracting. My biggest gripe is that it comes across with a bit too much self-pitying--"I didn't wan him to see that I was the kind of person who wore hair gel. Because I'm not really, a friend left it here. Wouldn't that be nice; if I had a friend and she brought her hair gel over?"

Alexandra- July paces her work in this perfect way which is slow yet not too slow. Her stories feel like a warm hug yet I also feel so anxious during this piece. She is truly a master of the oral story telling form.

I found myself becoming more and more anxious as this piece went on. Very impressive. The pacing and delivery are done expertly and I think this is what allowed me to digest every word and feel so immersed as though I was in her skin. It is simplicity working well. At first the anxiousness I felt wanted to make me stop listening until I realized that the point of the piece was anxiety and resolution, the minute terrors that occur in an interaction (how to respond to a question to make a favorable impression, to avoid disappointment) slowly faded away once the boy left and miranda begins to discuss less minute things. The bigger picture of existence and co-existence found in the topography of the sheets was an indirect answer to Miranda's anxieties which arise through indirect interior dialogue.

DISCLAIMER: This was recorded just with my voice and phone, so this definitely isn't what the actual rough cut will look like.

Krasnodar State Radio (rough)

krasnodar state radio THIRD UPLOAD

A Family Affair (first full cut) by Noah Steele

Aelin Vultz's mother just invented the time machine; now, it's Aelin's job to host INTERRUPTED, a crowd-funded radio show where he interviews some of history's most fascinating figures -- while they're in the middle of something!

Episode 1 follows Aelin as he interviews witnesses to the first ever incident of a pedestrian being struck and killed by an automobile -- which was going a mere 4MPH! Aelin interviews Bridget Driscoll, the pedestrian in question, alongside Edsall (the driver), Florence (an onlooker), and Morrison (Driscoll's autopsy handler) -- all real people!

Interrupted: A Time Travel Com

Harry Saroff - Interrupted

Krasnodar State Radio (final cut)

To Un-Crack an Egg Final

Fold's Future tells the story of two planets, Halla and Pirx, at war. In attempts to gain territory, each planet sets their eyes on Fold, a planet with little advanced technology, to be a covert military base. Both planets send out espionage missions to learn about its people and better prepare to colonize, however the two enemy spies they sent down meet and become friends. Chaos, confusion, and romantic feelings ensue as the two discover secrets and try to put a stop to a centuries long violence.

Fold's Future is a podcast written and produced by Molly Ryan.

CAST:
Alaric - Harry Saroff
Cota - Noah Steele
Spymaster Patel - Tula Campman
Galin - Ava Sharahy
Winslow - Zeke Ash
Astra & Evie - Molly Ryan

A very special thanks to Ann Hepperman!

Music and SFX can be found on Soundsnap.com.

The Boy from Lam Kien

Sarah Lawrence Radio

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Sarah Lawrence Radio

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