UnionDocs presents an intimate evening with Kaitlin Prest, creator and host of CBC’s first fictional podcast, The Shadows. This six-part series explores the anatomy of a romantic relationship — from early moments pining for a crush to the difficulty of knowing it must end — through the fictitious lens of a young artist named Kaitlin. Although The Shadows is a radio drama, it draws on actual events from Kaitlin’s own life to shade out the narrative. Prior to The Shadows, she created and hosted Radiotopia’s critically beloved podcast The Heart which featured personal documentaries about bodies, consent, and intimacy.

Join Kaitlin in conversation with radio documentarians Mooj Zadie and Bianca Giaever. Together they will unpack how audio fiction can be wielded to tell a tale that is mesmerizing, poignant, and true to life.

Reception and drinks to follow!

—Miranda Sawyer, The Guardian
“The precision and emotion of her language, as well as her unsparingly truthful storytelling, made for poignant, Proustian audio.”

—Elena Fernández-Collins, Bello Collective
“It’s tense and tender while building up the romance and developing the perspectives we’ll see everything through, and it’s done in a way that perfectly captures the junction of Prest’s documentary radio background and her foray into the uncharted improvised fictional waters.”

The Shadows centers on a young artist named Kaitlin, as she struggles to make great work and find great love in the fictional city of MontYuron. Kaitlin believes that the love depicted in Hollywood movies is real and that she will be one of the lucky ones to find it. When she falls for someone who challenges her romantic ideal, she is faced with an impossible choice — and a decision that can’t be unmade.

Kaitlin Prest is an artist working in audio, performance and installation. She’s the creator and host of the award winning podcast The Heart on Radiotopia. With her work on the Heart she has been named a Peabody finalist (2017), awarded the Third Coast International Gold Award (2016) and the Prix Italia Golden Award for New Formats (2015). She is known for her cutting edge commentary on gender, power and intimacy. In her work she uses intricate sound design and rich prose to recreate the comedies and tragedies of the human condition. Her performance and installation work has toured festivals worldwide. Most recently she wrote, directed and performed in The Shadows a serialized fiction with the CBC.

Mooj Zadie is a radio documentarian and music video director. He helps edit Fresh Air with Terry Gross. His work has appeared on Pitchfork, The Fader, NPR, WNYC, and 99% Invisible. He is the creator of Anatomy of a Music Video, a video essay series in which film directors analyze their music videos, the host of Tape, a radio show about people who make radio, and the founder of Tape Fest, a live radio show created for the stage. In 2013, he won a Third Coast International Audio Award.

Bianca Giaever is an independent radio producer. Her recent work includes an hour long radio story about the poet Franz Wright and a story for kids set in Dadaab refugee camp. Her stories have appeared on This American Life, Radiolab, The New Yorker, The New York Times, and the TED conference. She’s won a Daytime Emmy and a Webby Award, and her college short film the Scared is scared was named “Web Video of the Year” by USA Today.