There are many different ways to be brave. In fiction, stories of bravery are told as grand gestures and epic battles – these three stories are about real, everyday bravery, the kind we find in our friends and family. A text message from a friend, a soldier standing by his daughter, and a band who packed up everything and headed for the east coast. From standing up for what you believe in, to being yourself no matter what it takes and chasing your dreams – a few brave souls have agreed to share their stories with us.
We Shall Overcome
War has for centuries been an arena for a particular type of bravery. Our first story is about the bravery of one particular soldier, though not on the battlefield.
Produced by Michael Brydon
Music Credit: ‘We Shall Overcome’ by Pete Seeger, ‘Rooftop’ by Duke Ellington
My Friend Frankie
Shaping your identity can be a scary experience, especially when you don’t fit within certain specifications. Tess Lawley shares the story of Frankie, who has been making some pretty brave decisions on the way to working out their identity.
Produced by Tess Lawley
Music Credits: ‘Cauliflower Jack’ by Caitlin Park
Ensemble Formidable
Bravery often rears it’s head when there is a decision to be made, and many of us face our most difficult decisions when thinking about our careers. This story is about the band Ensemble Formidable, and the fun, stupid, brave decisions you have to make when you’re a musician.
Produced by Emily Woods
Music Credits: Ensemble Formidable
Melbourne Features Executive Producer: Tess Lawley
Production Manager: Carly-Ann Keneally
Executive Producers: Giordana Caputo & Belinda Lopez
Feature’s Executive Producer: Merran Winchester
Image Credit: Washington Area Spark
Schools are made for learning, and everyone can name a few things they learnt in school. This episode is about the opposite. We asked a bunch of people “What’s the most important thing school never taught you?” The stories we heard in response feature a whole range of answers including taxes, testicles, failure, continents, conviction, and coding.
How to Learn
Leona Hameed asked her mum and two aunties about the most important things school never taught them.
Produced by Leona Hameed
Music Credits: ‘The Sound of Music’ and ‘Sixteen Going on Seventeen’ by Rogers and Hammerstein
How to Fail
Heidi Pett was very good at school. But it failed to teach her one vital lesson.
Produced by Heidi Pett & Jess O’Callaghan
Music Credits: ‘The Future Wouldn’t That Be Nice’ by The Books
Taxes, Coding, Click-bait
The question ‘What’s the most important thing school never taught you?’ was weighing on our minds for a while, so we collected the answers of just about everyone we know. Michael and Jess trawled through the responses, and there were some things that popped up again and again.
Produced by Michael Brydon and Jess O’Callaghan
Responsibility
We wanted to find out what a teacher thought their biggest lesson outside of school was, And whether they would try to teach it in their classes. Michael Brydon spoke to Kristen, a Primary School teacher from New South Wales.
Produced by Michael Brydon
Music Credits: ‘Suite 1’ by RJD2, ‘Circles From The Rue Simon – Crubellier’ by Max Richter
Identity
The most important thing Sharon never learnt at school was identity. Producer Bethany Atkinson-Quinton spoke to her about the things school never taught her about gender.
Produced by Bethany Atkinson-Quinton
To be comfortable in my own skin
Sometimes, what you don’t learn in school is something that you have to find out for yourself. Something that can’t be taught.
Produced by Michael Brydon
Music Credits: ‘Bobby’ by Bell Gardens, ‘On Dancefloors’ by Metronomy and ‘Fire it up’ by Modest Mouse.
Melbourne Features Executive Producer: Tess Lawley
Production Manager: Carly-Ann Keneally
Executive Producers: Giordana Caputo & Belinda Lopez
Feature’s Executive Producer: Merran Winchester
Image Credit: Elizabeth Albert
Fires, floods, melting ice and strange weather patterns. The effects of climate change can already be seen in a lot of ways, from the way someone farms, to the way a house is built, to the place someone parks their car to drink a coffee and look out over the ocean. In this episode, we bring you stories of adaptation, the small and the large.
The Great American Adaptation Road Trip
When Kirsten Howard and Allie Goldstein finished studying at the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment, they set off on a three month road trip in Kirsten’s Mum’s minivan. Driving clockwise around North America, they documented the ways different communities are adapting to changes in their climate.
Stories from Kirsten and Allie’s road trip can be found on their website.
Produced by Jess O’Callaghan
Music Credits: ‘Lola’ by Podington Bear, ‘Another Travelling Song’ by Bright Eyes
Floods
Even today, signs of the big 1974 flood still stand around the town of Lismore, in regional New South Wales. They serve as a reminder of the threat of the river. Wally, a Lismore resident, talks about the way the community lives when floods are often imminent.
Produced by Emma Jensen
Not a Dystopian Future
Floods and fire have been part of the landscape of Australia for a long time, but with climate change making things more extreme, what will the way we live look like? When will the way we live shift from being green to surviving in this new world? Michael Brydon tried to find out.
Produced by Michael Brydon
Music Credits: ‘Ritual Road Map’ by Calexico, ‘Sapphire’ by Bonobo, ‘Woodenmen’ by Plutonic Lab, ‘Fruitcup’ by Bell Gardens
Melbourne Features Executive Producer: Tess Lawley
Production Manager: Carly-Ann Keneally
Executive Producers: Giordana Caputo & Belinda Lopez
Feature’s Executive Producer: Merran Winchester
Image Credit: JCSullivan
All the Best’s Melbourne Collective teams up with literary magazine Voiceworks to bring you stories from their latest, ‘Prime’. A man spends his days feeding his favourite tiny shark, Hashbrown, and never asking why. A scientist insists on a future where old age is eradicated. One poet wonders who is haunting his house and another has gone to the dogs.
Tiny Sharks
It must be a pretty neat company that requires an employee to care for eleven tiny sharks. Just don’t ask what they’re for.
Written and read by Josh Barnes
Produced by Tess Lawley
Gone to the Dogs
A poem about power dynamics, love in excess, misplaced loyalties and border collies.
Written by Jessica Yu
Read by Jessica Yu and Samuel Howard
Produced by Emma Jensen
The Haunting of 137 Peel St
Have you ever thought about the history of your house? Melbourne poet Jacob Sutherland has. This is his poem, about the haunting of 137 Peel St.
Written and read by Jacob Sutherland
Produced by Matt Radin
Prime of Your Life
As a young science undergrad student, Hilary Bowman-Smart met Aubrey De Grey, a biologist who envisions a world without old age. In this story, she asks if it’s possible and what a world where no one gets old would look like.
Written and read by Hilary Bowman-Smart
Produced by Cassandra Wright & Jess O’Callaghan
Music & sound credits: ‘Free Radicals’ by Podington Bear, ‘Wonder’ by Podington Bear & ‘Forever and Ever Amen’ by the Drums.
All stories in this episode can be found in Voiceworks’ Summer 2013-14 issue, #95 Prime. It can be found here.
Melbourne Features Executive Producer: Tess Lawley
Production Manager: Carly-Anne Keneally
Executive Producers: Giordana Caputo & Belinda Lopez
Features Executive Producer: Merran Winchester
Picture Credit: Roberta Baker – Border Collie
