DOCUMENTARY RADIO + PODCAST WORK

“‘Deep Time and the Sparrowhawk’ is both a challenge and an invitation to hold infinity in our mind. It’s an offering to dissolve self-driven concepts of time … Jaye is a master of her craft.”

—ArtsHub, 14 of the Best Podcasts of 2019

‘DEEP TIME & THE SPARROWHAWK’ (BBC Radio 4, Lights Out)

What can we glean from spending time in the company of those who fix their gaze on longer timeframes, whose work entails inhabiting expanded notions of time, who seek both to ask and answer questions about our bounded place in that which is boundless?

This is a sonic deep-dive into deep time and the long now—a series of close encounters via philosophy and science, literature and nature, art and the lived life, into how we can think long-term and hold something of deep time as we move through our days. Perhaps, if we can better inhabit an expanded view of time, we might also expand how we can live its mysteries and exigencies.

Featuring interviews with philosopher and author David Wood, NASA astrophysicist and research astronomer Natalie Batalha, Brooklyn-based photographer Rachel Sussman, Australian writer and philosopher of science Christina McLeish, and Danny Hillis: American inventor, scientist and designer of The Long Now’s 10, 000 Year Clock.

With thanks to NASA’s sound archive and University of Iowa’s Space Sounds.

Poem extracts by Alice Oswald and Edna St Vincent Millay.

This piece won two gold trophies at the 2019 New York Radio Festival Awards for ‘Best Sound’ and ‘Best Documentary (Human Relations).

It was listed in ArtsHub’s 14 of the Best Podcasts of 2019, where it was described as “both a challenge and an invitation to hold infinity in our mind. It’s an offering to dissolve self-driven concepts of time … Jaye is a master of her craft.”

'EASY LOVE' (ABC RN | Third Coast Festival ‘Special Feature’)

One Sunday evening, twenty-six years ago, Warren Kirk was home alone in his Melbourne east-suburban rental, about to do something he'd never done before. A story of love and loss, set to the song that plays in Warren’s car when he tracks back over that time.

‘Easy Love’ was a Third Coast Audio Festival 'Special Feature'. It first aired on on ABC RN's Long Story Short. It also aired on ABC RN’s Earshot program and the Third Coast Audio Festival’s podcast Re:Sound.

Read Jaye’s ‘Behind The Scenes’ interview about ‘Easy Love’ with the Third Coast Audio Festival.

The song ‘Easy Love’ is from Bro. Stephen’s Baptist Girls.

Warren’s photo of Jacqui.

And finally… Ocky the dog.

’THE LEAVES’ (BBC Radio 3, The Essay | ABC RN | Re:Sound)

‘Five radio producers from around the world hijack BBC 3’s The Essay to offer a series of innovative features in miniature, in response to the five-line 1910 poem by Adelaide Crapsey, ‘November Night’.

In tonight’s edition, Australian writer and radio producer Jaye Kranz delves into the therapeutic possibilities of poetry, using the line 'The leaves, frost-crisp'd, break from the trees' to tumble down the rabbit hole into a dreamlike space of memories.’ To the place where metaphor and imagery live and move inside us; to the enchanted, sometimes haunted places even a single image can open inside us.

 ‘‘The Leaves’ is a kind of diary of Jaye’s days with that single line—from a conversation with a poetry therapist in New York, to intimate moments with people in her life, that left her wondering: do we read poems or do they read us?’

This piece also aired on ABC RN’s PocketDocs and the Third Coast Audio Festival podcast Re:Sound ‘The Finally! Show’ and their 2018 National Series:

“The shows feature unforgettable stories by the world's most renowned producers, like Cathy FitzGerald (UK), Nate DiMeo (USA), Jaye Kranz (Australia); and highlights from some of the top podcasts — 99% Invisible, Scene on Radio, Reply All and more!”

‘THE EVERYWHEN’ BBC Radio 4, Short Cuts, Episode ‘Numbers’ (2022)

This ‘Numbers’ episode of BBC Radio 4’s Short Cuts, presents numerically-inspired short documentaries.

In ‘The Everywhen’ , Dave Johnston-Pitt and Sam Juparulla Wickman share stories and knowledge of the Indigenous notion of time – one that is nonlinear; where the past and the future and the company of the ancestors are contained within every present moment.

Dave Johnston-Pitt is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander archaeologist and anthropologist. Dave was Australia's first Indigenous academically-qualified archaeologist and is the founding chair of the Australian Indigenous Archaeologists' Association.

Archaeologist and artist Sam Juparulla Wickman is an Arunta Ceremony man from the Western Desert. Dave and Sam are business partners in Australia's first Indigenous archaeological consultancy: Aboriginal Archaeologists Australia.

Produced by Jaye Kranz. Executive Producer: Falling Tree Productions/Eleanor McDowell

’CROW’ (BBC Radio 4, Short Cuts)

In this episiode of Short Cuts, Jaye Kranz speaks to writer and philosopher of science Christina McLeish about books and time—by way of a tiny handmade book … about crows.

More from author, illustrator and cartoonist Bill Jones’ books and illustrations here, including … crow jokes, naturally.

‘THE ARECIBO MESSAGE’ (ABC RN, 360 Documentaries)

How do you sum up who we are, what we know and where we come from in a short, two-tone radio transmission?

A story built on conversations between Jaye and retired NASA astrophysicist and radio astronomer Frank Drake about The Arecibo Message—the first intelligible radio message sent into space in the 1970's from the world's (then) largest radio telescope in Puerto Rico.

The message will take 25, 000 years to reach its destination and is still out there, speeding away towards globular star cluster Messier 13.

‘The Arecibo Message’ was performed and scored live on stage at Melbourne’s Iwaki Auditorium for the 2014 Melbourne Writers Festival sell-out, nonfiction storytelling event The Radio Hour.. Featuring First Chorus, a 20-piece choir, 'singing' the message. Broadcast nationally on ABC RN’s 360 Documentaries. (NB. Be patient with Barbra at the beginning. It passes.)

‘THE HIDING PLACE’ (ABC RN, The Night Air; In The Dark)

Henryk Kranz hid underground in Nazi occupied Poland for a remarkably long time. He lived to tell the story.

This short, five-minute piece aired on ABC Radio National’s The Night Air and first played at an ABC Melbourne In The Dark listening. event.

Many thanks to my father Henryk Kranz for telling this story. And, of course, to Jozef and Eleonora Baran—the brave souls who hid my family—the utmost gratitude. We are here because of you. In 1994, their names were inscribed at Yad Vashem as Righteous Among The Nations. Here are their names engraved on the wall of the Garden of the Righteous. —Jk.

Jaye’s sister, Andy Mia Kranz —first-time author and illustrator —recently published an illustrated fable retelling of Henryk’s time in hiding entitled The Secret Home. “Illustrated with rich and evocative artwork, this book resonates with readers of all ages, and is a moving example of the risks we can take and the generosity we can offer at times of upheaval and change.” 10% of the sales made here will be donated to charitable organsiations providing humanitarian support to refugees and people seeking asylum.

‘ARE WE THERE YET?’ (Constellations Podcast & BBC Radio 4)

A commission by Constellations, a sound-rich audio ephemera podcast, for their physical release: FEEL THE SKY, a duo of sound works on cassette by Jaye Kranz and Myra Al Rahim that extend from the same beginning—a newly-uncovered 1992 field recording.

In 1992, Canadian reporter Heather Evans was on her way to do a story on an aluminium smelter in British Columbia and the impact it would have on communities and rivers. She decided to pull over to the side of the road and record some background atmos for her piece. She'd seen some birds, not too far from the road, on an iced-over river. In a beautifully haunting recording, she captured her tentative footfalls over the ice as she walked towards the other-worldy sound of trumpeter swans.

This duo of works was listed on IndieWire’s Top 50 Podcasts of 2020.

This piece was also aired by BBC Radio 4 on the ‘Heart’s Desire’ episode of Short Cuts.

Constellations’ Michelle Macklem  and Jess Shane have been releasing, supporting, and commissioning sound-rich work for some time now, creating a space for the sound-curious. Please consider supporting them.

LISTEN TO ‘ARE WE THERE YET’

EMPATHY MUSEUM | Mile In My Shoes (Arts Centre Melbourne)

For the Australian iteration of the UK’s Empathy Museum, Jaye Kranz tracks one of the lesser-known Great Migrations—the epic migrations of eels from Melbourne’s Yarra River to an unknown location deep in the seamounts of the Coral Sea. Featuring fish ecologist David Crook.

The exhibit at the Arts Centre Melbourne featured a collection of thirty-five pairs of shoes and thirty-five audio stories based on the theme of water.

‘The Empathy Museum is a project dedicated to helping us look at the world through other people's eyes. With a focus on storytelling and dialogue, our travelling museum explores how empathy can not only transform our personal relationships, but also help tackle global challenges such as prejudice, conflict and inequality.’

’THE RADIO HOUR’ (Melbourne Writers Festival & ABC RN)

Jaye was the host, producer, musical and creative director of The Radio Hour—a storytelling event for the Melbourne Writers Festival in partnership with ABC RN.

The Radio Hour was a full-scale live production, bringing together writers, podcasters, journalists and musicians from Australia and overseas for a night of compulsive nonfiction storytelling presented—and scored—live on stage.

The Radio Hour played to sold-out audiences at Melbourne’s Fairfax Theatre and Iwaki Auditorium, later airing on ABC RN's 360 Documentaries.

Guests included: Pico Iyer, NoViolet Bulawayo, Chloe Hooper, Paper Radio, John Safran, Radiotopia’s Benjamen Walker, (USA), Emily Richmond (USA) and ABC RN’s Claudia Taranto, and Natalie Kestecher.

The Radio Hour (2014) Part 1 | Part 2
The Radio Hour (2012) Part 1 | Part 2

‘THE LION’ (Braided Podcast, Season 1, Episode 2)

In South Sudan, seasons bring distinct ways of life. The difference between summer and winter, daylight and dark, can mean the difference between life and death. From a young age, children learn to be aware of their surroundings and the creatures that live—and lurk—alongside them.

In this episode, Agum Maluach guides us through the daily routines, seasons and songs of her childhood; from bedtime stories, to night-time encounters with predators that are felt, but seldom seen.

For Agum, telling this story was part-recollection, but also part-recognition that those years running barefoot under the big moon still move in her, even as the songs slip from memory; even as the village, and Agum herself, are irretrievably changed.

‘The Lion’ was produced by Jaye Kranz and Agum Maluach for Braided podcast: a collaboration between five of Victoria’s leading audio producers and a group of young people facing significant life challenges. The podcast opens the door for young storytellers to find their own voice learn the craft of audio storytelling. Each episode is an intimate window into the daily challenges, lived experiences and individual passions of the creators.  Braided is a project of Melbourne’s Artful Dodgers Studios. You can find the rest of Season 1 here along with the full episode of ‘The Lion’ which includes an interview with Agum at the end of the piece.

‘REDBRICKS & WEATHERBOARDS’ (ABC RN, WBEZ)

A three-minute short for Third Coast Audio Festival’s ShortDocs.

Jaye Kranz had walked her street of redbricks and weatherboards in Melbourne’s inner west for five years but had never stopped to listen … until now. This is her street.

This ShortDoc aired on ABC RN’s 360 Documentaries & WBEZ Chicago’s Afternoon Shift.