Name: The Man on the Stairs by Sarah Lawrence Radio
Duration: 11 min 9 s
Description: Stories written and read by performance artist and filmmaker Miranda July, from her days working with WNYC's The Next Big Thing (RIP).

Hillary: This was an interesting piece, and an incredibly disturbing portrait of a woman who has never taken the time to enjoy life enough to gain any fulfillment out of it, and is filled with regret.  Regret, but it also sounds like a bit of apathy.  She seems to convince herself that certain things will make her happy but then when she gets them she realizes how wrong she was.  She seems very selfish and spoiled, and in general like an unpleasant person to be around. She mentions how her friends will never be able to see her as “not a drag,” or associate her with fun.  She had a crush on her teacher for 13 years and then when they finally go out on a date together she is unpleasant, complains about everything and actively refuses to laugh at his jokes, and more importantly, arbitrarily decides that she is better suited for the teenager working at the gas station who she briefly encounters on their way to dinner.  This also seems to be an inappropriate crush, as at this point she is 25 and it sounds like the guy working there is much younger. It seems like she is attracted to destructive experiences that are dangerous or taboo and therefore to her seem thrilling.  She must feel very empty inside to actively seek out these kinds of things, and then also doesn’t care enough to try to improve her circumstances once they prove to be disappointing (such as staying in this relationship with her former teacher after realizing it wasn’t right on the first date).  As she says about the man on the stairs, “He was putting more care into hunting me than I had ever put into anything in my life.” I think this piece has great characterization as well as the subtext that I’ve been describing.  There were also some funny relatable moments such as, “I didn’t put on pants because, who cares?”  I also liked the part about her boyfriend telling her who he was fantasizing about immediately following sex, “like a cat presenting the gift of a dead bird.” Ha! Great metaphor.

Fossey M: I really enjoy July's style of quietness, meekness, and self deprecating narrators. I am brought into her world and often question how much of it is fiction. Her ability to take small moments and make them meaningful, make them relatable is, I think, her greatest quality ("When I drink relaxing tea, I suck it down like I'm in a contest for who can drink relaxing tea the quickest." 2.06). This simplicity makes July, the writer, and us, as the listeners, both have to focus on the story.

Hannah - This piece takes Moody’s call to avoid brevity and runs with it. The details of the story and descriptions were really what made it for me: that she could tell the murderer was ill intentioned from his breath, or that she was afraid of him finding out she thought of someone else during sex. The story flows seamlessly into the woman’s backstory, and then back to the present, which holds the attention of the listener. I also really connected to the ending of this piece, as the listener does not know if it was the murderer that killed her or if she died in more of a symbolic way. I like that this detail was kept ambiguous.

Richard P: The writing in this piece is fantastic! The little asides with the singing "laaa!" as well as various other narrative elements and subtle audio cues make for a really cohesive and strong story. There is no way she is dead. Is there an actual man on the stairs? Probably not given her unreliability, dissatisfaction with her life and general sense of paranoia. I love this piece personally (one of my favorites). I don't find this going in line with Moody's manifesto at all really since there is nothing quite experimental or unconventional in its execution or structure.

Olivia W: Wow! This piece was so interesting. The narrator's voice and inflection were very strong. The piece also has a strong sense of dread that I felt was easy to connect to as the listener. The character has an innate distrust of everyone in the world, saying "Generally people don't like each other very much" and thinking about her friends in bed. This piece also does a good job of showing this woman's thought process, I felt like we grasped a lot from the character through her narration. The narrator doesn't trust many people but remembers a time when she was 12 and fell for her 25 year old teacher. It made me curious about this narrator connects all these other characters together and where 'the man on the stairs' fits into her past expierences.

Jeremy: This was a strong piece, and the writing was very interesting. The delivery really built strong suspense, and the background track heightens the suspense even more. Even with the suspense, the metaphors for the narrator's life and worries are still very potent.

James B- I like how the end of the piece is ambiguous; the ambiguity makes me want to toss it over in my head afterwards. The image of the man walking up the stairs is creative, and I don’t think I have met a villain so nonthreatening while being so scary.

Nate L: This piece blew me away in its ability to pull me in and invest me in the situation. Right from the start, the creepy-as-hell string plucking and low humming sound that is all too familiar during intense moments of silence set me in her head immediately--and with the fluid writing and narration--kept me there. The back stories that intersperse the piece are very well placed, and provide a bit of relief from the intensity of the bedroom setting. The emotions and actions portrayed seemed very genuine as well--the tight squeezing of thin air, second guessing, and the sudden burst of anger she feels towards the stranger in the end...I ate up every bit of it.

Alexandra- This piece is enthralling and the sound of July's voice is almost impossible for me not to listen to. The piece keeps moving forward with constant new information. The knowledge garnered through this piece does nothing to help with the perfect ambiguity at the end of the piece. I can really identify with the narrators lack of patience.

I love how Miranda writes emotions. Nothing is just felt, everything is caused then felt leading to an emotionally immersive experience. Her voice control and the start and stop of the music and entrance of hollow noise are the controllers of suspense and attention- simplicity works well here. What's powerful is how easy it is to identify with Miranda's responses to the situations on hand, this allows us to listen to her relate things about her personal life totally unconcerned with the situation at hand. Yet the story is not lost and is smooth.

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.

Fold's Future - Final Mix - Molly Ryan

My Next Life as a Radio Host in a Fantasy World Final Mix

KEDR Audio

Jenny's Conference

A Family Affair by Noah Steele

Stories written and read by performance artist and filmmaker Miranda July, from her days working with WNYC's The Next Big Thing (RIP).


The Man on the Stairs

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The Man on the Stairs

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