🏡 Pitch us your stories about housing!

Heyo!

Our last month of All The Best featured interesting stories found in long journeys and small places. Bringing an insect back from extinction, tracking the labour practices around a single fast fashion item, safety in times of war, and much more.

Further down, you’ll hear about some exciting opportunities to pitch us stories about housing, as well as an exciting community-minded initiative from Transom.

Also, if you’ve come across any interesting audio opportunities or resources you think are worth sharing, please don’t hesitate to shoot me an email at patrick@allthebestradio.com, and they can be disseminated widely.

All The Best,
Patrick

#686 - To Leave and Return: Stories about a wetland brought back to life, the return of an extinct bug, and an ocean prayer.

A former Parks Victoria ranger and site manager of Cheetham Saltworks, reflects on his role in transforming a former industrial site into a thriving wetland ecosystem.

Then, an entomologist and his team draw on historical records and fieldwork to track down the surviving population of a rare insect and begin the delicate process of rebuilding its numbers through conservation and translocation.

Listen here

#687 - don’t talk about the water: The concept of the homeland and diaspora.

A young woman reflects on experiences in her homeland, Lebanon, and abroad, and struggles to find safety in either of those places amid escalating war.

This story was originally commissioned by Debris Magazine for Issue 06: No! The co-editors were Jon Tjhia and Cher Tan. You can find out more about Debris Magazine here.

Listen here

#688 - In Fashion: From maintaining traditional handcrafting techniques to dressing up in the metaverse, to the evils of the fast-fashion industry.

First, as the line between our physical and virtual lives continues to blur, a new world of fashion is starting to emerge … and it exists entirely online. Then, while living in Japan, Leanne falls in love with traditional Japanese handicrafts like Sashiko and Boro.

Finally, Natalie explores the forced fashion industry by following the production of one hoodie, from China to Bangladesh, and back home to Australia, and the exploitative work practices that come with it.

Listen here

#689 - Firsts: There are some firsts that not everyone shares, like going to an almost abandoned kafeneio in Marrickville, or being a chopper pilot.

Then, for Dan, returning to his childhood home after 30 years felt distant and unrecognisable, it’s history revealed only in fragments, and Charlotte and Izzy show us how conflict can be very different and how it brought them closer.

Listen here

#690 - Shake it Off: As adults, we think we’re too old for fairytales… but they hold such important lessons about strength, transformation and compassion.

First, in a modern retelling of an Ugly Duckling, Persephone reminds us that it’s all just water off a swan’s back. Then, a wanderer takes a sip from a magical forest stream and wakes up in someone else’s feathers.

Listen here

A favourite of this section in the past, the nasturtium leaves are back in huge numbers! Flowers are hopefully upcoming.

Our storytelling event last month took an unexpected turn, with the rain forecast sending us off the rooftop and inside the Library Bar. What could have been a disruption instead created a cosy, intimate space that brought everyone a little closer to the stories being shared. The program wove together audio storytelling, live performance, and poetry, and the response was overwhelmingly warm. A huge thank you to our storytellers – Anne-Marie Middlemast, Cristina Marras, Mike Williams, Nathan mudyi Sentance, Rachael Cusick and Rania Omar – for the generosity, skill, and candor they brought to the night.

Some thoughts on the event from our audience:

Thank you to our incredible event partners at the State Library of NSW for making this event possible. Keep an ear out, we’ll be sharing stories from the night in an upcoming episode.

We’re currently seeking pitches for a special series on housing, think snappy stories 5 - 12 minutes in length.

Take us on a tour of the changing neighbourhood, did you ever actually get your bond back? Sharehouse tales, temporary housing, new visions for housing developments and design, and the slow death of the Australian dream.

From little wins to big policy, to affordability and adjusting expectations, what everyday stories are lurking in our day to day living?

Pitch here

Almost a year ago, we gathered 75 audio makers from around the world to take part in an exquisite audio corpse challenge. The brief: Each contributor crafts a short audio piece, hearing only a sliver of what came before them —leading to unpredictable, haunting, and often beautiful results.

We’re excited to announce that we’re bringing this challenge back! Stay tuned for a call out to sign up for the challenge.

Have a listen back to the episode that came out of last year’s corpse:

Listen here

Transom Story Lab has launched The Listeners, a movement to make short, hyperlocal, documentary-style portraits that help us listen to one another again.

The Listeners began as a partnership between Transom Story Lab and the producer Erica Heilman of the Rumble Strip podcast, and draws inspiration from Studs Terkel, Humans of New York, Sound Portraits, Radio Diaries, and the Sonic ID project.

The project is seeking true stories grounded in a specific place or community. You can read more about the initiative below:

More info here