Show Notes
This week, we continue our literary theme with part two (See part one here) of a showcase of the stories that came out of a collaboration between All the Best and WestWords. This week's stories in this episode deal with space beyond and within us. Whether it is literally outer space or the complexities of navigating an emotional space.
Here by Siham Dalila Our first story begins with navigating the complexity of inner emotional spaces. It features a woman trapped somewhere between reality and a dreamscape. And she is forced to make a decision about which reality she wants to stay in and which one she wants to escape from. Written and performed by Siham Dalila Production and Sound Design by Felicity Weaver.
From Beyond the Karman Line by Myra A Our second story takes us to outer space. When the first female astronaut to undertake a solo mission is sent to the moon, she finds solace in recording her own voice clips. But alone and far from earth, she is forced to confront a haunting past. Written and performed by Myra A. Supervising Producer was Kwame Slusher Sound Design by Thomas Lu.
Octo by Tabitha Laffernis Our third and final story takes us into that space of unrequited love. Too many legs. Too many eyes. Too many feelings. Unrequited love hurts, but interspecies unrequited love hurts harder. A spider falls for her housemate, hoping that one day her housemate will see her.
Written and performed by Tabitha Laffernis Produced by Mel Bakewell Sound Design and original composition by Suzanne Derry
If you'd like to get involved this month, we are having our first Audio Club meetings for the year! All skill levels are welcome! And if you want to keep what is happening behind the scenes at All the Best, check out our Substack.
All The Best Credits Production Manager & Host: Kwame Slusher Executive Producer: Melanie Bakewell Programming & Community Coordinator: Catarina Fraga Matos Community Coordinator: Patrick McKenzie Theme Music composed by Shining Bird Mixed & Compiled: Emma Higgins Cover Art: Ray Vo Special shout-out to all our volunteers.
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More from All The Best
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There is this Tolstoy quote from Anna Karenina, "All Happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." I've always struggled with this binary. This idea of happiness or unhappiness as somehow being fixed states. No nuance. I think real families, ones outside Russian fiction, exist on a more complex spectrum.
This week we are featuring our first story from our Jesse Cox Audio Fellowship 2026! More than 15 Years ago, Jesse Cox co-developed an incredible audio narrative program on fbi.radio called All The Best. JCAF is an audio mentorship program, pretty one-of-a-kind, championing the kind of work and spirit our show's co-founder upheld and honouring his legacy.
Sooooo ... the best way to think of this episode is a bit like Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. But instead of there being a bereaved scientist obsessed with resurrection, we have a monster of a story stuck together from different audio body parts made by audio makers from all over the world. Our Programming and Community Coordinator Catarina Fraga Matos breaks down the way the audio corpse works: