feeding the five thousand » Speechification

Paul Evans - he of the recent Shingle Street - turns his talent for atmosphere and listening to nature to fiction, in this disturbing drama in collaboration with frequent Speechification cruch, sound recordist extraordinaire Chris Watson.

Enter the disturbing world of Slaughton Ditch, where an obsession with hidden sounds has terrifying and fatal consequences. [MP3]

"From Falstaff at The Boar's Head to John Self at The Shakespeare in Martin Amis's Money, English literature and the pub are intertwined. It started in a pub - Chaucer's pilgrims setting out from The Tabard in Southwark - and has been waiting to be chucked out ever since. Robert Hanks presents an elegy for pubs in literature and an exploration of what the smoking ban, the gastro pub and the five quid pint are going to do to writing." Yes. [MP3]

Some more Radio 3, and quite music-heavy this one, but justified by the voices:

Musician and writer Banning Eyre heads to the American state of Georgia, gateway to the Deep South, and southern end of the Appalachian Mountains, to record some of the unique vocal music that has been preserved in the area, and meet the personalities who have kept the traditions alive. [MP3]

Thanks to, um, someone, for the tip. Sorry. Remind me. Andy! It was Andy! Andy gave me the tip! Thanks/sorry Andy.

Radio 3's Sunday Feature is a lovely slot, full of odd things, and generalist interests. Here, Ken Hollings explores the development of military games, culminating in the most high-tech of modern developments. [MP3]

We've been a bit quiet, haven't we? Sorry. I'm just setting up a few to trickle through over the next couple of weeks. Enjoy!

I first heard about police departments podcasting a while ago, and the Tulsa Police Department's "Street Stories" in particular, but when I had a look, the official Tulsa PD website hadn't been updated since last April, so I rather lost interest. Thank goodness for Crossing Continents then, who just reignited it with a whole half hour of absolute gems from Officer Jay Chiarito-Mazarrella.

"This midget Don King stuff happens all the time." Enjoy. [MP3]

Not much to say about this, except it's bloody lovely. Naturalist Paul Evans takes us on a sound tour of Dungeness and the Romney marshes. Enjoy. [MP3]

(Dungeness pic by me. More at Flickr.)

I think we've only had one Jon Ronson programme on Speechification before. That can't be right. So here's another. A perfectly balanced 30 minutes of stories about flying, fear and eternal life. Very funny and actually shocking. MP3 here.