meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Short Cuts

Unfinished

Short Cuts

BBC

Documentary, Society & Culture

4.8788 Ratings

🗓️ 30 March 2021

⏱️ 29 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Josie Long presents short documentaries and audio adventures about looking for completion. A son who finishes his mother’s novel, a family returning to a sacred place and an exploration of a body as ‘an unfinished product’.

Return to Iraq Featuring Zohra Aly and Amina Alimohamed

The Four Corners of the Heart Featuring Denis Westhoff BBC Archive of Françoise Sagan, 1989 Produced by Hannah Dean

PMHx Written, sound designed, scored, and performed by James T. Green A special thanks to C’ne Rohlsen, Axel Kacoutié, C.C. Paschal, Cher Vincent, Zakiya Gibbons, and Veralyn Williams for editorial and artistic guidance.

Curatorial team: Eleanor McDowall Produced by Andrea Rangecroft A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hello, I'm Josie Long and welcome to the podcast of Shortcuts.

0:04.1

Today's episode is about things unfinished.

0:07.6

And it almost feels like a troll to me when I consider how many jobs I have around the house

0:13.9

that I have not yet done and not yet finished.

0:16.3

But I hope you enjoy this show.

0:22.2

This is Shortcuts.

0:26.2

Brief Encounters, true stories, radio adventures, and found sound.

0:34.3

It's kind of like we were in limbo, waiting for something to happen, you know, the next step, but it just wasn't happening.

0:41.9

My voice weighs 5 megabytes a minute.

0:44.7

My face weighs 3 megabytes a second.

0:47.4

Today, unfinished.

0:53.2

Some people claim that I rewrite-writed the book

0:56.0

and it's not the truth because I have too much respect for my mother's work.

1:02.0

We feel it's a special call that comes to you to visit the shrine, so we would never hesitate, you know.

1:09.0

And I felt very good going there.

1:14.1

My ancestors were the original venture capital.

1:17.0

And on my body and its coaches,

1:19.5

a reflection of its original invest case.

1:30.3

At the moment, my whole life seems to be one of unfinished business. And looking around the flat that we moved into nearly four months ago, all I see is a litany of half done DIY jobs,

1:41.3

things which I really ought to get involved and get done and have not yet done.

1:48.2

And the way I try to reassure myself is to say that what is a long life, if it isn't, accruing more and more unfinished business?

1:58.5

Who's finished every piece of business in their life? It seems to me to be

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.