Show Notes
This week we return to the theme surveillance. Looking beyond what it feels like to be watched but, also what it like to do the watching.
Behind Me by Xuanmeng Cai Xuanmeng explores the theme of hyper-vigilance. examining why women feel unsafe on their way home after dark, how the body responds to possible danger, and why this fear has become such a familiar part of everyday life. Producer: Xuanmeng Cai Supervising Producer: Persephone Waxman Featuring: Vivian Chen; William Hua; Jordan Liu Music/SFX: BBC Sound Effects; Blue Dot Sessions
Watching From Far Away by Xinnang Wang Xinnang examines that murky area or parental surveillance. She speaks to speaks to Xiaoqi Chen, a master’s student at the University of Melbourne, about family expectations, silence, independence, and how “watching” slowly changed from one-sided into mutual care. Producer: Xinnang Wang Supervising Producer: Thomas Phillips Featuring: Xiaoqi Chen Music/ SFX: Cobwebbed from Purple Planet; A Greater Love from Purple Planet
Uber by Ruonan Yang Have you ever thought of what it might be like to be an Uber driver? Through personal experience and a conversation with fellow rider Shirley Wang, Ruonan reveals how surveillance shapes life in the gig economy. Producer: Ruonan Yang Featuring: Shirley Wang
Mt Rothwell by Alexandra Nevill Alexandra Nevill investigates how one sanctuary is doing things differently. Using surveillance as a tool to restore biodiversity, and deal with disruptors. Producer: Alexandra Nevill Featuring: Sheryl Nettleton, Field Officer at Mount Rothwell Safe Haven; Matthew Singleton, COO of Odonata
The stories in today’s episode were produced as part of a collaboration between the University of Melbourne, The Centre for Advancing Journalism, and All The Best. You can tune in to more stories like these on the Centre for Advancing Journalism’s podcast The Yarn.
All the Best Credits Host: Gabriella Accaria Executive Producer: Melanie Bakewell Programming & Community Coordinator: Catarina Fraga Matos Production Manager: Kwame Slusher Digital Trainee: Imogen Brosnan Theme Music composed by Shining Bird Episode Title: Izzy Boustead And a special shout-out to all our volunteers! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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: