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

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.

New tracks tagged #Josie Long