Story Radio Podcast

Story Radio Podcast

A monthly podcast dedicated to celebrating the literary short story and all things bookish. Bite-size short fiction for writers and readers everywhere. Listen to a short story or interview on the 1st of each month at 12:00am. Hosted by Tabitha Potts and Martin Nathan open to established, new and emerging writers in the English language. Always free to submit. We are a small organisation run by volunteer writers and producers (Tabitha Potts and Martin Nathan) hoping to benefit the writing community. Our eventual aim is to be self-funding and to pay our writers and actors for each short story we produce. Visit our https://patreon.com/storyradio (Patreon) if you would like to support our work and access exclusive content. Send us your stories Visit the Submissions page on our website https://www.storyradio.org/submissions/ (https://www.storyradio.org) Or contact Tabitha Potts at submit@storyradio.org About us Tabitha Potts is a writer living in East London. She has had several short stories published in print and online and short-listed for various awards, most recently the https://alpinefellowship.com/writing-prize (Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize). In a previous life, she was a BBC Radio Drama producer. Read more at http://www.tabithapotts.com/ (http://www.tabithapotts.com). Martin Nathan has worked as a labourer, showman, pancake chef, fire technician, and a railway engineer. His short fiction has been published by Tangent Press, HCE and Grist and his poetry has appeared in Finished Creatures, Erbacce and Aesthetica. His novel – A Place of Safety is published by Salt Publishing. Website: https://www.martinnathan.co.uk/ (http://www.martinnathan.co.uk)

  1. Interview with Dr Miles Leeson editor of Poems from an Attic by Iris Murdoch

    JAN 1

    Interview with Dr Miles Leeson editor of Poems from an Attic by Iris Murdoch

    Long hidden in an attic, vivid and revelatory poems shine a new light on the life and loves of Iris Murdoch. In the dusty attic of Iris Murdoch’s Oxford home lay a battered, black chest. In 2016, when the chest was finally opened, Murdoch’s life in poems was revealed. Renowned for her fiercely intelligent novels and groundbreaking philosophy, Murdoch was one of the great writers of the twentieth century. Yet she is also known for her equally radical life – intense friendships, relationships with both men and women, and an open marriage – about which much has, often controversially, been written. Now, her tightly wrought and vivid poems reveal a new, deeply personal account in Murdoch’s own voice. They range over the preoccupations closest to her heart, from the state of Ireland to memories of a first love lost in the Second World War. We speak to Dr Miles Leeson, one of the editors of Poems from an Attic by Iris Murdoch, to learn more about this exciting discovery and how it adds to our understanding of the work of the famous philosopher and novelist. Dr Leeson also reads three poems from the book, 'Reverie in Winchester Cathedral', 'I find that honesty is a hard thing', and 'Macaw in the Snow'. Dr Miles Leeson is Director of the Iris Murdoch Research Centre at the University of Chichester and Visiting Research Fellow at Kingston University. He is Lead Editor of the Iris Murdoch Review, Series Editor of Iris Murdoch Today with Palgrave Macmillan, host of the Iris Murdoch Podcast, and has published widely on Murdoch’s work. He published Iris Murdoch: Philosophical Novelist in 2010, the edited collection Incest in Contemporary Literature (2018), the festschrift Iris Murdoch: A Centenary Celebration (2019), the co-edited collections Iris Murdoch and the Literary Imagination (2022) and Iris Murdoch and the Western Theological Imagination (2025), co-edited her selected poetry Poems from an Attic: Selected Poems 1936-1995 (2025), and is currently writing Visiting Mrs Bayley and Other Essays (2026) Iris Murdoch and Feminism and editing The Oxford Handbook of Iris Murdoch (2028). You can find out more about him and his work here: https://www.chi.ac.uk/people/miles-leeson/ Iris MurdochIris Murdoch was born in Dublin in 1919. After working in the Treasury and in the UN, she discovered philosophy, eventually becoming Fellow at St Anne's College, Oxford. Her philosophical concerns are at the heart of the 25 novels for which she became famous, gaining the Whitbread Prize for The Sacred and Profane Love Machine and the Booker Prize for The Sea, The Sea. Until her death in 1999, she lived in Oxford with her husband, the academic and critic, John Bayley. She wrote poetry all her life. The Iris Murdoch Society Buy the book: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/470920/poems-from-an-attic-by-murdoch-iris/9781784746124 Music: “The Silver Swan” (O. Gibbons), performed by Denis Carpenter, Clara IMSLP (CC BY 3.0): https://clara.imslp.org/work/51148 — a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/" rel="noopener...

    36 min
  2. Interview with Mathew Gostelow editor of Silent Screams and reading by Terry Holland

    12/01/2025

    Interview with Mathew Gostelow editor of Silent Screams and reading by Terry Holland

    Story Radio interviews Mathew Gostelow, the editor of Silent Screams: An Anthology of Quiet Horror, about trends in the horror genre, the meaning of 'quiet horror', the child's perspective in horror writing, contemporary vs historical fiction and many other topics such as Twin Peaks and Frankenstein. We listen to a reading of 'Barnabas Calstock's Last Wish' by the author Terry Holland (Trigger warning: this story contains references to war and violence that some listeners may find disturbing). About Mathew Gostelow Mathew Gostelow haunts a leafy suburb of Birmingham, UK. His CV is a chaotic patchwork quilt, including journalism, pheasant farming, catering, and marketing. Mat’s taste in art, music, film, and literature is equally eclectic, although he tends to gravitate towards anything with a creepy, dreamy aesthetic.  If you catch him staring intently into the middle distance, Mat is either thinking about Twin Peaks or cooked breakfasts.  Some days he wakes early and scribbles strange tales.  Mat has written several books, including two speculative short story collections entitled An Ill-Stitched Menagerie and See My Breath Dance Ghostly, and a novella-in-flash; Dantalion is a Quiet Place. Mat has also co-written a horror-thriller novella called Watcher with his friend JP Relph, and edited an anthology of quiet horror short stories, titled Silent Screams. He has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and Best Microfiction.  You can find Mat on Twitter: @MatGost, and BlueSky: @MatGost. Website: https://weirding-words.blogspot.com/p/about.html Substack: https://matgost.substack.com/  About Terry Holland Terry Holland grew up in Essex, England, before studying in London and Berlin. He has dabbled in the theatre, music, journalism, translation and the occult and currently lives in the Netherlands with his black cat, Mackem, who is a reincarnation of a wise woman and herbalist known as Black Meg, persecuted as a witch in the northeast of England in the seventeenth century. He writes flash and short stories and will never, ever write a novel. He bleats his Wordle scores @terryholland.bsky.social The Producer was Martin Nathan. Martin Nathan has worked as a labourer, showman, pancake chef, fire technician, and a railway engineer. His short fiction has been published by Tangent Press, HCE and Grist and his poetry has appeared in Finished Creatures, Erbacce and Aesthetica. His novel – A Place of Safety is published by Salt Publishing. Cover image by...

    36 min
  3. Funnybillies by Daniel Jeffreys

    10/31/2025

    Funnybillies by Daniel Jeffreys

    A man who is the main carer for his stubborn and independent elderly mother experiences increasingly eerie encounters with mysterious creatures in the marshy landscape surrounding her home. Written by Daniel Jeffreys Dr Daniel Jeffreys works as a university lecturer with a special interest in the weird tale. His fiction has appeared in Esquire, LITRO, AMBIT and The London Magazine. Read by Nigel Fyfe Nigel Fyfe is a British actor and voice artist based in North Yorkshire. He has built a diverse career across stage, screen, and voiceover work. Produced by Tabitha Potts Tabitha Potts is a short story writer and novelist, recognised with an Honourable Mention in the Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize. Her debut novel will be published by Rowan Prose Publishing in 2026. Effects Bowers Marsh SoundScape by naturenotesuk | License: Attribution 4.0 Sounds

    14 min
  4. The Misappropriation of Clouds by Amy Waddell

    10/01/2025

    The Misappropriation of Clouds by Amy Waddell

    August 6, 2025 marked eighty years since the nuclear bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. "The Misappropriation of Clouds" is a fictional short story based on a member of the writer's own family. This individual unwittingly played a part in one of the most devastating tragedies in human history — Hiroshima.  Following the 80 year commemoration of the bombing of Hiroshima, "The Misappropriation of Clouds" is an elegy to those who lost their lives in the bombing and a poem for all those who carry on the hope that we can do better. About Amy Waddell Amy Waddell is a writer and film director living between Paris, France and Sedona, Arizona. She has just completed Mask Maker, a novel about American artist Anna Coleman Ladd who found an innovative way to help WW1 soldiers disfigured in trench warfare reintegrate into society after having been ostracized by the French government. Amy has also written several original scripts for Pan Européenne in Paris, adapted David Lodge's novel "Thinks", and created documentaries for the Annenberg Foundation on subjects ranging from genocide in Darfur to Native American struggles. Her work spans narrative fiction, screenwriting, and documentary storytelling. CREDITS: Writer: Amy Waddell Producers: Amy Waddell & Helen Fitzgerald  FX & Sound Editor: Daniel Lawrence Voice Actor: Gerard Maguire Music Composer: Yuval Ron Music:  Arden-ohmanOrchestraVfrankLuther-CanThisBeLove1930.mp3 (archive.org) Sad War Music 01 by Magmi.Soundtracks License: Creative Commons 0 Photo: Courtesy of Seemann at Morguefile.com

    17 min
  5. Poppet by Tabitha Potts

    08/01/2025

    Poppet by Tabitha Potts

    Poppet is the story of a young girl growing up in a hippy commune in rural England in 1976. She resents her mother, their social worker and most of all the commune leader, Dion. Over a long harvest season, Poppet learns what she must sacrifice in order to be free. A folk-horror inspired short story by Tabitha Potts, Poppet won an Honourable Mention in the Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize in 2022 and you can read it on their website. We will be taking a short production break for summer, so our next episode will be on October 1st. Tabitha Potts is a short story writer and novelist, recognised with an Honourable Mention in the Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize. Her debut novel will be published by Rowan Prose Publishing in 2026. Sound effects: bonfire flames sizzling by florianreichelt -- https://freesound.org/s/563764/ -- License: Creative Commons 0 bongos_2.flac by KJose -- https://freesound.org/s/610357/ -- License: Creative Commons 0 Skylark recording - author's own Image used for podcast credit: By AliAsterix - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=125885918 Support Story Radio Podcast

    12 min
  6. Story Radio Writers' Salon on the theme of Libraries

    07/01/2025

    Story Radio Writers' Salon on the theme of Libraries

    Our Writers' salon on the theme of libraries explores characters as diverse as saints, memories, universities, the necessity of writing novels, dystopian visions of the future and seed banks. We chose the theme of Libraries because at a time of book burning and censorship the Library remains a place of freedom of thought and expression. Our first reading is 'Members of Dead Libraries' written by Declan Geraghty. He is a working class writer and poet from Dublin. He’s had poetry published in Shanghai Poetry Lab, Epoque Press, Militant Thistles, Cry of the Poor and the Brown Envelope Book. His latest short story featured in Lumpen London issue 11. He has won a mentorship with Words Ireland, and their national mentoring program for new writers. He's recently won a scholarship place with The Stinging Fly Play It Forward Programme, and been awarded a mentorship with Skylight 47. The story is read by Simon Roberts. Our next reading 'All Saints' is by Lindsay Gillespie. Lindsay was born in South Wales, and lives in the South Downs. In between she has been a graphic designer and illustrator, lived in New Delhi, Washington DC, France and taught English in Tokyo. In 2018-2019, she was enrolled in the Creative Writing Programme of New Writing South. She writes short and not-so-short stories and was a Costa 2021 Short Story Award finalist. A year later, she was a finalist for the Bridport Short Story Prize. Other short stories have been shortlisted in nine competitions in recent years including Fiction Factory, Exeter, Oxford Flash Fiction, Fiction Factory Flash, Rhys Davies, Frome, ChipLit, Edinburgh and Fish. Martin Nathan reads his short story, 'D is for Dentist'. Martin’s short fiction and poetry has appeared in a range of journals and his novel A Place of Safety is published by Salt Publishing. His dramatic writing has been shortlisted for the Nick Darke award and the Woodward International Prize. Simon Roberts, based in West London, performs his short story 'Does the world need any more novels?' alongside Jananne Rahman. Simon Roberts writes short stories and flash fiction. His story Dirty Chicken & Rice was a 2024 Plaza Prizes finalist, and his adaptation of The Slaves of Solitude was produced by Questors Theatre in 2024. He was a finalist in this year's Fish Flash Fiction Prize. ‘The Library’ written and read by Martha Stutchbury explores the transformation / decline of a university library, through the eyes of a librarian working on the special collections floor. Martha Stutchbury is an events producer living and working in London. She studies creative writing part-time at Birkbeck University, and has worked as a researcher on creative non-fiction projects including Kate Summerscale’s ‘The Book of Phobias and Manias’, commissioned by the Wellcome Foundation. Finally, founder and co-host of the Story Radio Podcast, Tabitha Potts is a short story writer and novelist, and has been published in various literary magazines and anthologies. She received an Honourable Mention in the Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize for her story Poppet and is publishing her debut novel in 2026 with Rowan Prose Publishing. She reads from her original short story 'The Hum'. The photograph used as the podcast cover for this episode was taken by Tabitha Potts and shows the Library at Charleston House.

    1h 18m
  7. Secrets of the Thames

    06/01/2025

    Secrets of the Thames

    In this episode Story Radio visited a fascinating exhibition about mudlarking on the Thames and interviewed some of the mudlarks and other people involved in the exhibition. London Museum Docklands recently opened its new major exhibition Secrets of the Thames: Mudlarking London’s lost treasures (4 April 2025 – 1 March 2026) and we were delighted to be among the first to visit it. The first major exhibition on mudlarking, it explores fascinating finds from the Thames foreshore, an internationally important archaeological site, and the role of mudlarks in uncovering thousands of years of human history. Historically a trade of the Victorian poor, in recent years mudlarking has grown to be a popular hobby for history lovers, with licensed mudlarks uncovering many significant new finds from the Thames. We spoke to artist Amy-Leigh Bird about her work, inspired by everyday items she finds along the foreshore, Tom Ardill, Curator (Paintings, Prints and Drawings), who told us more about the artworks that were commissioned for the exhibition, and mudlark Tim Miller, Chairman of the Society of Thames Mudlarks. There is one swear-word in this episode. The mudlarking world has its controversies! The episode ends with an exclusive reading by Martin Nathan from his novel, The Pain Clinic, which has a scene set by the Thames. The photograph used to illustrate this podcast is © Alessio Checconi /London Museum. It shows the neck from a stoneware bottle with a bearded face known as a Bartmann bottle 1500s – 1600s. The bearded face decorating the neck lies half-buried on the foreshore.

    1 hr
  8. Story Radio Writers' Salon on the theme of Love

    05/01/2025

    Story Radio Writers' Salon on the theme of Love

    A Story Radio Salon on the theme of Love, with readings from works in progress by some of our regular writer guests. Kristin Burniston is a graduate of the MA Screenwriting program at the University of Arts London. In 2023, her short film scripts TREE and HAIRY MARY were selected by the City of Angels Film Festival, WOFFF (where HAIRY MARY placed 2nd), and Best-Script, London. Recently, Kristin‘s script EGGS was made into a short film and will soon be released on to the festival circuit. Currently, Kristin is working on a London-based children’s animation, a crime fiction TV series, and a feature film script based on her menopausal rite-of-passage novel. Lindsay Gillespie was born in South Wales, and lives in the South Downs. In between she has been a graphic designer and illustrator, lived in New Delhi, Washington DC, France and taught English in Tokyo. In 2018-2019, she was enrolled in the Creative Writing Programme of New Writing South. She writes short and not-so-short stories and was a Costa 2021 Short Story Award finalist. A year later, she was a finalist for the Bridport Short Story Prize. Other short stories have been shortlisted in nine competitions in recent years including Fiction Factory, Exeter, Oxford Flash Fiction, Fiction Factory Flash, Rhys Davies, Frome, ChipLit, Edinburgh and Fish. Miki Lentin completed an MA in Creative Writing at Birkbeck and was a finalist for the 2020 Irish Novel Fair with Winter Sun. His short stories have been published in Litro and Story Radio. He released his short story collection Inner Core in 2022, and his debut novel Winter Sun was published by Afsana Press. Lana Citron is a prize-winning author and scriptwriter with twenty years’ professional writing experience. She has published five novels, two non-fiction books and numerous short stories, plays, poems, film scripts, articles and book. Extracts read today are from her book Edible Pleasures, a Textbook of Aphrodisiacs. Martin Nathan‘s short fiction and poetry have appeared in various journals. His novel A Place of Safety is published by Salt Publishing. His dramatic writing has been shortlisted for the Nick Darke Award and the Woodward International Prize. Martin will be reading from a new short story. Founder and co-host of the Story Radio Podcast, Tabitha Potts is a short story writer and novelist. She received an Honourable Mention in the Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize for her story ‘Poppet’ and is publishing her debut novel The House of Dust and Shadows in 2026 with Rowan Prose Publishing. The podcast is recorded live in the Colony Room Green bar.

    1h 34m
See All (72)

Ratings & Reviews

About

A monthly podcast dedicated to celebrating the literary short story and all things bookish. Bite-size short fiction for writers and readers everywhere. Listen to a short story or interview on the 1st of each month at 12:00am. Hosted by Tabitha Potts and Martin Nathan open to established, new and emerging writers in the English language. Always free to submit. We are a small organisation run by volunteer writers and producers (Tabitha Potts and Martin Nathan) hoping to benefit the writing community. Our eventual aim is to be self-funding and to pay our writers and actors for each short story we produce. Visit our https://patreon.com/storyradio (Patreon) if you would like to support our work and access exclusive content. Send us your stories Visit the Submissions page on our website https://www.storyradio.org/submissions/ (https://www.storyradio.org) Or contact Tabitha Potts at submit@storyradio.org About us Tabitha Potts is a writer living in East London. She has had several short stories published in print and online and short-listed for various awards, most recently the https://alpinefellowship.com/writing-prize (Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize). In a previous life, she was a BBC Radio Drama producer. Read more at http://www.tabithapotts.com/ (http://www.tabithapotts.com). Martin Nathan has worked as a labourer, showman, pancake chef, fire technician, and a railway engineer. His short fiction has been published by Tangent Press, HCE and Grist and his poetry has appeared in Finished Creatures, Erbacce and Aesthetica. His novel – A Place of Safety is published by Salt Publishing. Website: https://www.martinnathan.co.uk/ (http://www.martinnathan.co.uk)

Information

  • Creator
    Story Radio Podcast
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    72
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Story Radio
  • Show Website
    Story Radio Podcast