Summary
Short documentaries about telling stories with Josie Long.
A subject feedbacks back to her documentarian, a voicemail tells a story and the writer Ross Sutherland wonders how storytelling advice could save a relationship in trouble.
Nicola Talkback Produced by Jess Shane Music by Abby Swidler
Easiness Featuring Ben Seretan Produced by Alex Lewis Originally produced for Audio Playground
Marriage Story Featuring Ross Sutherland and Peter Saddington
Production Team: Eleanor McDowall and Alia Cassam Produced by Andrea Rangecroft
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in March 2020.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:05.0 | Hello, welcome to the podcast of Shortcuts. |
| 0:08.4 | I'm Josie Long, and I hope this little missive finds you well. |
| 0:13.8 | I am recording in the very high-tech luxury studio that I have, |
| 0:17.5 | which is called My Bedroom, with a Phone, my version of working from home. |
| 0:24.1 | Whatever you're up to, please enjoy our program. It's about storytelling. It's about the ways |
| 0:29.4 | that we try to create and make sense of the world around us. And the first voice you're going to |
| 0:35.0 | hear is that of the writer Elizabeth Bowen. |
| 0:39.6 | This is Shortcuts. |
| 0:43.2 | One thing we may be certain of, when we meet the people involved in the story, |
| 0:51.1 | that they have something within them which will probably take them towards some inevitable fate or end. |
| 1:00.0 | If that inevitability breaks down, if the characters are compelled by the author to do what we instinctively know they would not do. |
| 1:17.3 | Then, I think we feel that there is a flaw in the reality of the novel. |
| 1:26.7 | Brief encounters, true stories, radio adventures, and Found Sound. |
| 1:31.4 | Today, storytellers. |
| 1:39.9 | Do you ever worry that storytelling in a way encourages delusional thinking? |
| 1:49.0 | I was unburdened for the first time in a really long time, just relaxed, not concerned about things in the past or immediate future. Maybe this story of ours, the one that we're living through right now, the story of our marriage, maybe this story still needs tweaking a little bit. |
| 2:02.9 | All day, every day, I'm telling stories to myself and my daughter |
| 2:08.3 | about what an aunt's doing that we've passed on a rock, |
| 2:13.8 | about whether or not my day is a good day, |
| 2:16.7 | about how I've been feeling that day, what I'm managing to do and what that means about who I am. |
| 2:21.3 | We can't help but try and fit the world into a bit of a clear narrative, even when it doesn't really want to be fitted into one. |
... |
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