A new series of individual stories are being made available as podcasts from RTÉ Radio 1.
Voices is ‘a variety of individual stories documenting contemporary culture and society’.
Starting today and continuing till June, each episode will contain a different story, offering a platform directly to individuals. There will be stories on suicide, abortion, addiction, obesity, direct provision, the rights of unmarried fathers and a wide range of other topics.
Voices’ creator and producer, Evelyn McClafferty has worked in radio for more than ten years as a journalist and a programme-maker. “Because of time constraints and the need to report a range of facts and explain issues, too often people’s stories are unheard, or cut short. As a journalist, it’s the person’s story that’s of interest to me. I wanted to create a series where there was no narrator or music, attempting to tell people how to feel. I wanted the story and the voice of the storyteller to be a compelling listen,” Evelyn says.
This type of station spin-off Podcast was made popular last year from NPR’s Serial podcast from America, which continues to attract millions of downloads around the world.
Evelyn continues: “Radio and audio is my first grá; it’s so intimate and I adore how it conjures up different images for everyone. There’s no distraction from the voice, from the rhythm, from the story. And that’s simply brilliant, when living with everyday bombardment.”
The podcast is available online via the Radio 1 website.