”…as an act of justice doing and expressing how much I care for them, and I guess also the sacredness of all life in witnessing and experiencing multiple genocides and affrontations of, like, what’s happening on these lands I think navigating grief as an act of love maybe gave me a sense of autonomy and being able to move through with a, with a bit more grace and not letting it subsume me all of the time.” – Shareeka Helaluddin
This week we are showcasing our final story from the Jesse Cox Audio Fellowship (JCAF).
In this special episode, we explore grief and the cultural nuances of how we observe the passing of a loved one.
We also have an extra-special interview before the story with Shareeka and a surprise guest! (Extra special thanks to Dhaksh Raj Sooriya for coming into the studio)😎
Content warning: This story covers themes of grief, genocide, colonial erasure, alongside life transitions and loss.
A Litany of Heavenly Bodies by Shareeka Helaluddin
How do we feed our hungry ghosts, of futures forgotten and unlived?
A sonic archive of mourning and reprieve assembled from field recordings, intimate conversations, voice notes, grief songs and multilingual fragments. This work asks what it means to make grief an act of justice – to consider whose lives are grievable, whose deaths are remembered, and what happens when communities reclaim or reinvent the rituals that have been displaced by colonial violence and isolation.
CREDITS
This story was produced, sound designed and composed by Shareeka Helaluddin and the Supervising Producer and JCAF Mentor: Farz Edraki
This story features the voices of Nawa Sybico; Dhaksh Raj Sooriya; Rajani Helaluddin
Artwork by Kata szász-komlós
Special thanks also to Darren Lesaguis and Priya Panchalingam.
JCAF Credits
Our gratitude and thanks to the friends and family of Jesse Cox, and to everyone who made JCAF 2026 possible.
JCAF 2026 Fellows: Ramon Briant, Shareeka Helaluddin, Tessa Campisi and Anna Outridge
JCAF 2026 Mentors: Ian Walker, Farz Edraki, Liz Keen and Jon Tjhia
Workshop Facilitators: Janak Rogers, Belinda Lopez, Jon Tjhia, Camilla Hannan, Sophie Townsend, Mell Chun, Wing Kuang.
Special thanks to our executive producer Mel Bakewell!
Psst … if you have an impactful story to tell, apply now to our Jesse Cox Audio Fellowship!
All the Best Credits
Host: Gabriella Accaria
Executive Producer: Melanie Bakewell
Programming & Community Coordinator: Catarina Fraga Matos
Production Manager: Kwame Slusher
All The Best Intern: Nili Javid
Theme Music composed by Shining Bird
And a special shout-out to all our volunteers!