Show Notes
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.
Notes To A Sister by Anna Outridge Sisters Anna and Jordyn are house-sitting for their parents for two weeks. This is the longest time they’ve spent together in ten years. As they inhabit the rooms once occupied by younger versions of themselves, they reflect on the memories they shared in this home, the things that brought them together, and the things that tried to pull them apart. Producer: Anna Outridge Co-producer: Jordyn Moore Mentor and Supervising Producer: Jon Tjhia Original score and composition: Kenneth King @kenny_king_music This story was made possible by the Jesse Cox Audio Fellowship. Special thanks to Daniel Nasrealla for the final mix.
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. JCAF Program Facilitator: 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!
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More from All The Best
"...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 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:
Speculative fiction is all about reimagining the world. Taking something ordinary, turning it upside down, and asking, 'What if?'