I’ve been lucky enough to make three mini-documentaries on BBC Radio 4’s Short Cuts.
Bats in the Attic
looks at the relationship between bats and grief. Here’s a link to the full episode.
This features my very good friend Eilidh, talking about our very good friend Douglas who passed away in 2018. Grief can be an alienating process, both for those going through it and for the people around them, so I wanted to create something that could provide a language or reference point for those touched by it.
Emelia Brooks made an animation out of a section of my piece, which I was so touched by. You can watch it here:
Makeshift
is a short documentary I co-produced with Nada Smiljanic. Here’s a link to the full episode.
Makeshift is about Laura, a non-binary activist living in Novi Sad in Serbia. Laura wrote the first ever grammatical deep dive into how non-binary people could refer to themselves in Serbo-Croatian – one of the most highly gendered and grammatically complex languages there is.
Nada originally found Laura’s work when she was trying to work out how to refer to her non-binary friend in Serbo-Croatian. When Nada asked me to co-produce Makeshift with her, I was so excited as it’s a subject very close to my heart. Many trans people including myself will recognise the experience of settling for the words available to them that amount to the closest approximation of how they feel inside. Laura is a total legend, and speaks on this the cognitive dissonance of knowing who you are, and not being able to express it, very beautifully.
As we were making this, Nada asked me what pronouns I would like to refer to me in Serbo-Croatian! You’ll hear in the piece that Laura’s thought of many options. My choice is ono/njemu/njega which is the equivalent of it/it/its.
Matt Damon
is a short action story that I co-produced with Arlie Adlington. We originally made it for KCRW’s 24hr Radio Race. Here’s a link to the full episode.
The KCRW Radio Race is SUCH a joy to be a part of – it’s funny and challenging and inspiring and silly, and you truly feel like you’re part of the international radio community. 10/10 would recommend.
Here are some behind the scenes vids of us v professionally making sound effects:
JESSE LAWSON 