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Does Christmas content in December disturb or excite you? The All The Best team is divided on the issue. Some love riding the Christmas wave all the way to December 25th, others wish they could mute every overbearing TV ad, silly season radio segment, or cheesy holiday movie.
In this week’s episode we decided to please all parties, by bringing you one Christmas story and one decidedly un-christmasy story, both under the theme: ‘I thought this was what you wanted?’.
‘Santa’s Biggest Little Helper’ by Tegan Nicholls
This week we’re going to the very heart of christmas land: shopping centres. We meet the 21 year old trapped in the eye of the storm, trying to give families what they want: the perfect family photo with Santa.
‘Screw your buy-me-a-drink Feminism’ by Jessie Perrin and Selena Shannon
Jessie Perrin has met too many women who are fed up with a certain behaviour they keep experiencing from men in the dating world. It begs the question, do these men mistakenly think this is what women want?
So Jessie started collecting stories, and with Selena Shannon built a small window into a big, complicated world. Feminism on a first date.
Sound design by the amazing Alyx Dennison
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Executive Producer: Selena Shannon
Vic state coordinator: Bethany Atkinson-Quinton
Community Coordinator: Chloe Gillespie
Host: Jessica Hamilton and Michael Brydon
Episode Compiler: Tegan Nicholls
Image: by Flickr Creative Commons user ‘bullywhippit’
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This week we’ve got something a little different on the show. At All The Best we love celebrating and showcasing great Australian audio, so we’re handing over the show to our friends at Contact Mic. It’s a monthly podcast made in Melbourne about the things that make us human – like moments of change, indecision and contact.
We have three excerpts from three episodes of Contact Mic, with links to the full versions of each below.
Episode 10: 16,000 Biscuits
There are a lot of things that our bodies do that are mostly outside of our control. Blinking. Breathing. Our hearts beating. For Jess Thom, there’s also saying ‘biscuit.’ Or ‘hedgehog.’ Or thumping her chest hard, over and over. Jess is the founder of Tourettes Hero.
Full version of 16,000 Biscuits here.
Episode 6: Black Cross
In June, the Contact Mic team were spread across the globe, and so that month’s episode, ‘Black Cross’, featured a selection of audio postcards from around the world.
Full version of Black Cross here.
Episode 4: A Boat Named Bob
Imagine the phone rings and a man you hardly know asks you to drive across the country, jump on a boat and sail off into the unknown with nothing but a grumpy goose for company. What do you do? Our last piece today is from an episode about what can happen when you just say yes.
Full version of A Boat Named Bob.
For more stories from Contact Mic – including a princess watching her grief over her father’s death play out on Youtube, a person who can smell the dead wondering if he’s gone insane, and a man whose brain damage means that he doesn’t remember cheating on his partner, head to contactmicpodcast.com, iTunes or your favourite podcasting app. You can also listen to the full versions of all the pieces played today. Contact Mic are also on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Contact Mic is Fleur Kilpatrick, Sarah Walker, and Kieran Ruffles.
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Executive Producer: Selena Shannon
Vic state coordinator: Bethany Atkinson-Quinton
Community Coordinator: Chloe Gillespie
Host: Jessica Hamilton
Episode Compiler: Tegan Nicholls
Image by Rolf Klep
“I said I’d pass. I’m not going to lie, I’m a little scared of the dark… But they insisted I did. They said it was tradition.”
This week we’re talking about leaving your comfort zone behind and embarking on something new. Facing your fears, rising to the occasion, and then discovering something amazing on the other side. Maybe that thing isn’t even that magical, maybe it’s just the realisation that you can walk away from the safe arena you know and love, and come out unscathed. Whether it’s jumping into pitch black waters at midnight in Cambodia, bringing beauty and presence to rugby training or taking a toddler to the skies, this week we’re challenging ourselves and hoping for the best.
‘That Spatial Shit’ by Selena Shannon
As we grow up, we grow more comfortable with our identity, the group we belong to and the social rules we follow. Because of this, we tend to get boxed into routines and archetypes. It can sometimes take a lot for us to break out. But drama teacher Wendy Buswell believes there’s room for crossover between two worlds that never mix, and what better way to test her theory than with a national sports team?
Music: ‘Half glass full of wine’ by Tame Impala, ‘Loud Pipes’ by Ratatat, ‘Cherry’ by Ratatat, ‘Play’ by Huw Jones and Sam Brown (EMI), ‘Tomahawk’ by Downtown Funk (EMI).
‘Flight of the Family’ by Sam Loy
When it comes to doing something we dread, the voice in our head is often our own worst enemy. In this piece, we hear from a man facing his fear and doing what may feel like the impossible – taking his child with him.
This story was originally made for Sam Loy’s podcast ‘Human/Ordinary’, you can find it here: http://humanordinary.com/stories/ and follow him on facebook here: facebook.com/humanordinarypodcast.
All original music by Kent Sutherland
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Executive Producer: Selena Shannon
Vic state coordinator: Bethany Atkinson-Quinton
Community Coordinator: Chloe Gillespie
Host: Jessica Hamilton
Episode Compiler: Tegan Nicholls
Image: by Catherine Kolodziej
Music: Okkervil River – ‘Lost Coastlines’
A controversial series of photographs by artist Arne Svenson has been the subject of much discussion lately.
In it, Svenson exhibits photos of his neighbours, images he captured without their consent through the windows of their New York apartments.
This is more than ethically ambiguous, it’s pretty straight up wrong. But it doesn’t discount our secret desire for voyeuristic access to another person’s life. Especially with people who feel so incredible close we could almost touch them. People who would be firmly in reach if it weren’t for some kind of glass barrier.
‘Fatherhood’ by Jake Cupitt
Jake grew up with a bit of a strained relationship with his dad, who had a tendency to make grand plans but never follow through. Jake didn’t see him as much of a role model, and this sole experience of a ‘father-son relationship’ left him confused and uncertain about the kind of father he might become one day. Or even what kind of man he would become.
As an adult, Jake searched for new role models, and came across a university lecturer he admired. It wasn’t long before Jake discovered they both shared something in common: barriers between themselves and their fathers.
This interview with William Verity is an excerpt from Jake Cupitt’s original audio series “Man of the hour”, you can find it and more of Jake’s work on Soundcloud here: https://soundcloud.com/jake-cupitt.
Music by Bensound
‘Display Lyfe’ by Lindsey Green
Two young performance artists, Nikki and Tamzen, have always been intrigued by the Instagram celebrities they follow religiously. But they were shocked when they discovered the glamorous lives they saw on their phone screens were not only fake, but entirely paid for by brands.
Nikki and Tamzen decided to stage an experiment to see how easy – or hard – life on the other side of their touch screens really was.
Photo: Benn Wood
Music: ‘Balti’ by Blue Dot Sessions
Supervising Producer: Beth Gibson
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Executive Producer: Selena Shannon
Vic State Coordinator: Bethany Atkinson-Quinton
Presenter: Michael Brydon
Community Coordinator: Chloe Gillespie
Episode Compiler: Tegan Nicholls
