A short clip from a radio feature I'm making on the 1971 Montreux Casino Fire that was started during a Frank Zappa and the Mothers concert...

((Photograph by Peter E. Schneider www.peterschneiderperu.com)

Frank Zappa and the Montreux Casino Fire

Behind the Broadcast: Southbank Sound Portrait for BBC Radio 3

Biological Anthropologist Dr. Helen Fisher explains whats really going on when we fall love

Originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4 as part of Short Cuts  

Love is a Drug: BBC Radio 4 Short Cuts Series 5

Munich: BBC Radio 4 Short Cuts Series 5

A few weeks ago I met Jane Dolby- a completely remarkable woman who made an enormous impact on my little life. She's the founder the fishwives choir. 

 http://www.fishwiveschoir.co.uk/ 

This is an example of real human strength that completely broke my heart. 

Nine Months: BBC Radio 4 Short Cuts Series 5

Anonymous: BBC Radio 4 Short Cuts Series 5

Featuring mountaineer Stephen Venables http://www.stephenvenables.com/

Everest Glissando: BBC Radio 4

Author 54: BBC Radio 4 Short Cuts Series 6

For the playwright Polly Stenham, the theatre has always provided a laboratory in which to examine and hopefully understand the human condition.

In this programme- The Fragile Contract, in reference to the relationship between audience and performance, Polly reflects on our need for art and talks to the musician Florence Welch.

She also draws on the writings of Tennessee Williams and John Zerzan, with readings by Sienna Miller and Kerry Shale and music from The White Stripes, Leonard Cohen, Florence + The Machine and Jimmy Hendrix.

That Fragile Contract: by Polly Stenham for BBC Radio 4

Pilot, expedition leader and explorer Neil Laughton recalls the moment he fell from the sky during a world record attempt with his friend Bear Grylls. 

Originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4 as part of Short Cuts Series 6. 

The Man Who Fell From The Sky: Short Cuts Series 6 BBC Radio 4

Rabbit Holes: BBC Radio 4 Short Cuts Series 6

It is the most dangerous peacetime job a man can do. And for the wives, mothers and daughters who lose their loved ones to the sea, rather than to war, the burden is no less to bear.

In 2008, Jane Dolby's husband Colin went missing when his fishing trawler was caught in a freak storm. The boat was finally located and lifted from the bottom of the sea - but Colin was not found.

Aside from the emotional pain, there are practical complications. The law says that a death certificate cannot be issued without a body - which means no life insurance and no widowed parents' allowance, despite having four young children to bring up.

So in 2012, united by a common bond of understanding the dangers of fishing and a desire to raise money for The Fishermen's Mission who help so many fishing families in hardship, Jane formed the Fishwives' Choir with women from all over the UK who have lost husbands, fathers, brothers and sons to the sea.

Although the choir was only formed to create a one-off charity record, the women received so many performance requests that they decided to carry on in any way they could. Most had not sung since their school days, but we now join Jane, Laura, Leigh and Wendy as they record their debut album.

This is a tale of transforming tragedy and grief into music and hope.

Lead by Jane and over a bed of raucous laughter, The Fishwives' Tale is a heart-warming and at times hilarious tale of women overcoming grief through friendship and sea shanties - proving that, even in the darkest of times, there is still light.

With original music by Josh Winiberg

The Fishwives Tale: BBC Radio 4

The friendships of women have been not merely unsung but mocked, belittled and falsely interpreted." (Vera Brittain in Testament of Friendship, 1940)

Helen Goalen and Abbi Greenland, who form the theatre company RashDash, reflect on the nature of their strong friendship. They've been the best of friends and close artistic collaborators since meeting at university and explore how their experience relates to that of other women, including 19th Century social reformers and feminists Susan B Anthony and Elizabeth Stanton.

They also draw on the writings of Vera Brittain, Winifred Holtby and Tina Fey, as well as music from Alison Goldfrapp, Kate Bush and Amy Winehouse.

Presented by Helen Goalen and Abbi Greenland 
Readers: Heather Long and Jacqueline King

http://www.rashdash.co.uk/

The Fabric of Each Other: BBC Radio 4

Her heart it played
like well worn strings;
in her eyes
the sadness sings;
of one who was destined
for better things

My Grandma was kept alive for seven hours in order for our family to rush to the hospital to say our goodbyes. 

One moment, alive like few 86 year olds; the next, parked in the one-way ward, a holding bay between this life and the next.

"Swansong" is a meditation on memory and loss, acceptance and death, with real life stories, imagined ones and the sounds and silences that weave our worlds together.

As we sat waiting for the final moment, grief already upon us, my Grandma lay in her own version of it all- memories flooding in and around her own reality, flicking , like a rolodex, through the years, the moments and the experiences in which she'd found happiness, sadness, weakness and strength. 

Content with death, after a life well-lived.

This feature for BBC Radio 4 blurs the lines between fact and fiction to take the listener through the precious final moments before passing to the other side.

Swansong: BBC Radio 4

Stig Pryds has been freediving since January 2013 and already within that year, he ranked in the top 10 free-divers worldwide. 

Stig suffers from a chronic arthritic condition that had left him jobless, divorced and in agony; so heavily medicated, he couldn’t even remember his children. 

On the brink of suicide, Stig discovered that under the water, he felt no pain. 

This award-winning sound simulation was created as part of the Åke Blomström scholarship for International Radio Feature Making.

Dark Blue

"If you know you’re not down, if you know you’re not ready to die, you’re not ready to kill and you’re not ready to do time, stay off the roads. It’s that simple.”

Produced and sound designed by Hana Walker-brown
A documentary following a gang in East London created for www.radiowolfgang.com

These Roads

Dolly Mixture: Adventures in Success

Neil Brand, the silent film pianist and composer tells a deeply personal story of loss and explains how it has been written in to his music.

This podcast was created for www.radiowolfgang.com

Neil Brand: Adventures in Success

Irish singer, songwriter and experimental musician Clodagh Simonds recalls how a spontaneous trip to New York resulted in tequila fuelled recordings with Brian Eno, a desk space at Virgin Records and kissing Philip Glass’ feet.

This podcast was produced for www.radiowolfgang.com

Clodagh Simonds: Adventures in Success

Legendary House DJ Marc Hughes recalls a crazy trip to Russia that involved a bag of rubles, being locked in a mansion … and Bart Simpson slippers.

This Podcast was created for www.radiowolfgang.com

Marc Hughes: Adventures in Success

Korliss Uecker: Adventures in Success

Farhana Haider enters the world of Duaripara slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh to meet a group of teenage girls who were married and then abandoned by their husbands before they even reached the age of 16. While in the globalized world of opportunity, many of us are discovering and shaping our identities through new possibilities, others less fortunate are having their identities shaped by circumstances out of their control.

Are the identities of these girls now fixed for the rest of their lives? What chances do they have to define who are they are? How does the tight-knit slum community hinder or help shape the girls' futures?

For the BBC World Service Identity season, Farhana hears them give intimate insights into who they are and what they think the future holds.

Producer: Hana Walker-Brown

The Forgotten Girls of Dhaka: BBC World Service

Sun City is one of America's biggest retirement communities and home to the Poms, a group of amazing women aged between 55 and 85. 

We follow the Poms as they rehearse for one of their biggest parades of the year. Their story is one of courage in the face of mortality and a high-kick against ageism.

Life, Death and Cheerleading: BBC World Service

Teaser for my upcoming documentary "Bluebelle" 

read all about it here: www.hanawalkerbrown.com

Bluebelle Teaser - Coming Soon!

A clip from my upcoming documentary "I Speak Navajo" for the BBC World Service.

"To'hajiilee is the title of an episode of Breaking Bad.

Its part of the Navajo Nation Reservation, where Walt and Jesse did their first meth cook, Walt's money is buried, and the gunfight takes place at the end of the 59th episode.

Its also the home of Paulene Shebala-Abeyta and her family who invited me to hang out with them and record their stories.

I had no idea how open people would be with their lives or their pain, or how generous they would be with their time.

So much pain has been inflicted here; more than I could have ever imagined."

Follow the story on www.hanawalkerbrown.com

I Speak Navajo: BBC World Service Clip

November 13, 1961; 

In the middle of the broad and deep Northwest Providence Channel in the Bahamas, the lookout out on the Puerto Rico-bound oil tanker Gulf Lion spots a strange sight: a small, wooden dinghy, its sailed furled, with a life raft tied to it. The ship draws nearer, and those on board can see a man and something else, something they can't quite make out, in the life raft. 

The man calls out "My name is Julian Harvey. I am master of the ketch Bluebelle. I have a dead baby here! I think her name is Terry Jo Duperrault."

This is the first inkling the the world will have of the fate of the Bluebelle and the disappearance of five members of the Dupperault family.

Music:
"Falling Things”,  "We Sleep You Bloom”, "Huge (The Joy of Trouble)”, “A Hymn to Sulphur”
Performed by Fovea Hex
Written by Clodagh Simonds
Published by Mute Song Limited
Used by kind permission

What transpires is nothing short of remarkable.

Bluebelle: The Last Voyage

Hessle road is an infamous working class district in Hull. But to those who live and work there, it's much more than that - it's a place of character, community but also hardship. This montage documentary pieces together the ghosts of Hessle Road's past through some of its most colourful characters.

It's a collection of moving, funny tales over a bed of traditional folk music from the beating heart of Hull, crowned as City of Culture 2017.

Hull's heritage is anchored in the sea. Its fishermen, the last of the great hunters, lived in the most colourful community in the world but were exposed to extreme danger in the perilous waters within the Arctic Circle. Their lives were held together by a set of primitive folk beliefs - magic and music. But behind the closed doors of this community are darker stories - 6,000 men left Hull for the sea but never returned. The families of those lost still live in the city's terraced houses.

The Spirit Of Hessle Road: BBC Radio 4

An extract from Homeless Bodies & Other Stories, An Audible Original Podcast, available at https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Homeless-Bodies-and-Other-Stories-Audiobook/B07YMZKPJZ

Homeless Bodies & Other Stories: Scold's Bridle by Oyinkan Braithwaite

Four Metal Plates won the Charles Parker Prize Gold Award in March 2013
and was subsequently played on BBC Radio 4 Extra (11/05/2013)


Four Metal Plates

Award Winning Documentary Maker, Radio Producer & Sound Designer based in London. 

Winner of Gold Award UK Documentary at Telling Tales International Documentary Festival 2018

Winner of Best Documentary Maker at the UK Audio Production Awards 2017

Winner of Best Documentary Maker at the UK Audio Production Awards 2016

Winner of the Åke Blomström Prize for International Feature Making 2015

Shortlisted for Best Newcomer at the UK Radio Production Awards 2014

Shortlisted for the Hearsay International Audio Arts Award 2014

Winner of the Charles Parker Prize Gold Award for Feature Making 2013

Popular tracks by Hana Walker-Brown