The Hackney Podcast

Series produced by Francesca Panetta

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Award-winning highly crafted programmes taking the everyday stories of the London borough of Hackney to tell universal stories. In 2010 the programme won Gold for Sony Radio Awards Best Internet Programme and gold in the General catagory for the New York Festivals Radio Program Awards

The Hackney Podcast was set up in 2008 to record the borough's different faces: one of Britain's poorest places but culturally one of its richest; an area of London profoundly marked by its history but, as the Olympics loom, caught in a frenzied period of change. From its first days, the podcast – available free to download – has provided an eclectic mix of politics, environmental issues and scenes from local life alongside cutting-edge art, literature and music.

As professional producers working as volunteers, we’re eager to broaden our sonic horizons and push our creativity to the limit. We favour montage, allowing the people of Hackney to tell their stories in their own words; create rich soundscapes, giving listeners an atmospheric sense of the borough; and commission local writers, musicians and poets to create new work.

We focus on one thematic strand, weaving in a variety of evocative stories about politics, history, environmental issues and scenes from Hackney life with cutting-edge art, literature and music. We’ve covered everything from bicycle brake-tuning to the history of Hackney furniture-making, DIY cocktails to the unfolding story of the 2012 Olympic park, and interviewed local market traders, barmen and bus drivers alongside politicians and well-known Hackney names. Our ambition has always been to make the kind of audio that inspires us: beautifully crafted, aurally immersive and journalistically inventive. And, of course, pay tribute to an area of London we know and love. Hide full description

The Hackney Podcast was set up in 2008 to record the borough's different faces: one of Britain's poorest places but culturally one of its richest; an area of London profoundly marked by its history but, as the Olympics loom, caught in a frenzied period of change. From its first days, the podcast – available free to download – has provided an eclectic mix of politics, environmental issues and scenes from local life alongside cutting-edge art, literature and music.As professional producers working as volunteers, we’re eager to broaden our sonic horizons and push our creativity to the limit. We favour montage, allowing the people of Hackney to tell their stories in their own words; create rich soundscapes, giving listeners an atmospheric sense of the borough; and commission local... Show full description


7 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
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A dark journey into the dark recurring dreams of the city. When an urban explorer suffers a fatal accident, two friends are charged with the task...

  • Added: Jun 16, 2013
  • Length: 13:39
Caption: London Calling, Credit: Francesca Panetta
Can a city retain a memory, and if so what does it sound like?

Bought by KBRP Community Radio and KUT


  • Added: Jul 08, 2012
  • Length: 25:40
  • Purchases: 2
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Wild Hackney is a docu-drama taking you through an imaginary landscape of the Lee Valley after the seawater has risen.

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Jul 14, 2011
  • Length: 16:32
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Writers on Walking, Credit: Shehani Fernando
We take four authors for a walk through the borough of Hackney In London. Sean Borodale's poem Notes for an Atlas guides us through, we rise early ...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Feb 05, 2011
  • Length: 22:13
  • Purchases: 1
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This multi-layered feature looks at memory through the works of Artangel's three fall artists: Clio Barnard, Susan Philipsz and Mike Kelley

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Nov 23, 2010
  • Length: 27:20
  • Purchases: 1
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The story of a birth on the 349 and a specially composed song by Earl Zinger plus many more bus tales..

Bought by KALW and PRX Remix


  • Added: Nov 23, 2010
  • Length: 15:32
  • Purchases: 2
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Artisan coffee has reached London's district of Hackney, with trendy new cafes opening weekly. But the history of the coffee house is a long one da...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Nov 05, 2010
  • Length: 18:21
  • Purchases: 1