A haunting monologue, a power struggle between two vastly different entities.

The speaker (a woman trapped in a toxic relationship?) reveals pain and vulnerability, shattered by constant attacks. But amidst the despair, a chilling undercurrent of defiance emerges. The speaker unveils a disturbing truth: a force to be reckoned with, a presence that has infiltrated their tormentor's very being.

As the monologue progresses, the listener's perspective shifts, drawn in by the speaker's menacing words and the hint of a power far beyond their initial fragility.

The final revelation questions the true nature of the dominance and the unsettling reality that unfolds.

The narrative explores the complex emotions of returning to your homeland to see, possibly for the last time, an ageing parent.

The salty air, the rocking of the ferry, all becomes sensory details that evoke the physical experience of the journey. Yet, beneath the surface lies a deeper turmoil, a haunting question about goodbyes and the fragility of life.

More of a borderline stream-of-consciousness than a tutorial. Despite beginning with a promising premise—teaching the listener how to carve a wooden spoon—the guide quickly veers off into obscure, yet weirdly specific, tangents that overshadow any practical advice. Listeners end up with some very useful advice, just not necessarily on carving wooden spoons.

I created this story for Small Audio Art, a community created by Phoebe McIndoe with artists and audio makers looking for togetherness in a scattered world.

This audio creation starts from the prompt 'wooden spoon'.

Night Radio was one of my first podcasts. Unfortunately it required the voice talent of a young girl and of a mature man with a deep voice, and I had no one to ask.

But I was really keen on telling the story: a young, impressionable girl who spent her sleepless nights listening to a mature man who covered the graveyard shift on the local radio, philosophising about the world with his beautiful, deep voice, a voice that in the darkness, evoked incredible worlds and strong feelings in the girl's mind.

The year was 2013, I lived in Melbourne, and I was still trying to find my community of podcasters. The only place where I felt at home was SoundCloud, which, back then, was a cool boutique platform based in Berlin (oh! how have things changed since!), and that's where I reached out.

Actually, it was the other way around: one morning I woke up to find that the views on my SoundCloud channel had skyrocketed (several thousand compared to the usual few dozen): I had been named Soundclouder of the Day. That's how I started exchanging messages with SoundCloud's extraordinaire community leader, Luke Leighfield, and with his help, I put out a call to audition for the two voices I needed to tell my story.

I remember very well the euphoria of listening to the voices of the dozens of people who auditioned, and I must say that when I heard the voices of Bailey Castle and Darren Kleven, I immediately knew that they were perfect for what I had in mind.

Those were pretty anything-goes times for podcasts, and in fact, I decided to use Stairway to Heaven at the beginning of my piece—which was the theme song of the night program that I had fallen madly in love with as a girl (it won't surprise anyone to know that the story is autobiographical).

Listening to Night Radio again lately, I thought that it was too good to stay private, so I replaced the initial music (with something legit) but left everything else as it was: raw, unpolished (I created it using Audacity, go figure!), naive, and yet, thanks to the fantastic interpretations of Bailey and Darren, it retains its nocturnal magic.

Dedicated to all those who have fallen in love with a voice on the radio.

(If anyone is curious to know what happened with my radio crush, I can only say that it had quite a different ending. Write me in private if you want the details).

Voices: Bailey Castle and Darren Kleven
Words & Production: M. Cristina Marras
Photo by Chandan Chaurasia on Unsplash

A comedic game show called You've Got to Be Kidding Me tests contestants' knowledge of a dystopian society's new constitution and the decrees of their Glorious Supreme President.

When I created this for the Silver Sound Biannual Sonic Dash competition in January 2025, it sounded like something fun and out of this world.

By May 2025, in the US, they are talking about having people compete for a green card by taking part in a quiz show. Yes, it is depressing. And no, if someone had asked me, I would have chosen a different audio creation to be transformed into reality.

Anyway, the piece was created from scratch within 48 hours in response to a prompt emailed to participants on Friday, January 3rd, 2025.

All sounds and music in the audio drama were created by me and the rest of my family (my son Romeo and my husband Gianfranco) without any external support or pre-existing materials. None of us can compose music-the theme song is simply us singing.

One funny bit trivia: all finalists met for a collective listening session on January 6th (does this date ring a bell?), and my entry was the only one dealing with contemporary politics and also the only one from Italy (that I know of).

Written and produced by M. Cristina Marras

Voices: Romeo M. Minutolo (the amazing Quiz Master); Gianfranco Bitti (the lucky Giuseppe); M. Cristina Marras (the wise but not so good after all Maria).

Image Freepik www.freepik.com

This is one of the stories created for All The Best Radio's 24 hour radio challenge, in which producers were tasked with creating audio stories from scratch in a day. I participated from Sardinia (Italy) with a story starting with a recurring dream.

Here you can listen to all the entries.
Photo by Quinn Korsune on Unsplash
[29/11/2024]

I created this story for Small Audio Art, a community created by Phoebe McIndoe with artists and audio makers "looking for togetherness in a scattered world".

This time the prompt was 'window'.
I recount a small but poignant moment that reflects my own regret over the way I reacted in a specific moment of our collective lives. A reflection on how easily fear can distort one's perception, making us forget what really matters: compassion and hope.

Small Audio Art welcome2myhome.squarespace.com/home-2

Release date:

29 November 2024

This piece was one of the 15 finalists in Audio Flux Circuit 04. The prompt asked for a three-minute piece that referenced an object related to a first and included the sound of time passing (but not a clock).

I decided to tell about the day I did something that no one in my family had ever done before me. I'd rather not tell you what so as not to spoil the narration. Featuring: strong sense of atmosphere, moods shift, and anticipation and a study on class, family, and the weight of expectation.
Here more about Audio Flux.
[10/11/2024]