Doors 7:30p
Show 8:00p

UnionDocs
352 Onderdonk Ave
Ridgewood, NY

UnionDocs is thrilled to present a night of live storytelling from the deeply talented artists in the Pod-Pod, our annual Lab for audio makers, presented in partnership with Gilded Audio. In 6 brand new, collaboratively produced audio pieces, the Pod-Pod cohort explores different corners of UNDO’s current home of Ridgewood, Queens through an adventurous blend of recorded tape and stage performance.

Since mid-September, the Pod-Pod has brought together a bold cohort of makers from a diverse set of practices and backgrounds to workshop independent audio projects of their own, while simultaneously collaborating on a slate of new work – conceived, researched, produced, and presented together from a blank canvas. The Pod-Pod participants have been honing their projects through the guidance and feedback of lead instructor Emmanuel Dzotzi, program mentors John DeLore, B.A. Parker, and a roster of amazing guest artsts representing a broad spectrum of approaches to the medium.

Carrying on UnionDocs’ overarching project of supporting and presenting new works grounded in our immediate neighbordhood, these new pieces will spotlight a handful of the stories, communities, geographies, and soundscapes that comprise our world along the Ridgewood / Bushwick border. What does it sound like when we and our neighbors dream, grieve, or offer simple gestures of care? How can we syncopate our everyday rhythms by just stopping to listen? And how can we transform what we hear by experiencing those sounds together?

We hope you’ll join us to celebrate a truly remarkable collection of place-based audio from this adventurous cohort of artists.

Doors open at 7:30pm, show starts at 8:00pm! Come through!

Waverly Colville is an Emmy Award-winning producer and writer whose stories have been featured on CNBC, Reuters, HBO, and The New Yorker. Her work has delved into topics such as the aftermath of the 2022 Buffalo shooting, DACA, psychedelic drugs, and sexual assault. She is a graduate of the University of Missouri with degrees in investigative journalism and international peace studies. She was born in China, grew up in Buffalo, NY, and currently lives in Brooklyn with her partner and dog, Tati.

Esther de Rothschild is an educator and storyteller. She teaches filmmaking in high schools and runs story circles with elders. She’s directed and produced narrative and documentary films, developed a mobilization platform called The Love Vote, and taught Humanities to 7th-12th grade public school students. Her work is story-based and heart-centered. She recently delved into audio storytelling, creating an intergenerational podcast called All I Can Tell You Is…

Pam Keleigh is a nonfiction director and creative producer. She has directed a feature-length documentary, short docs, and branded content series. Her superpower is on-camera interviewing: She loves using the interview as a stage to explore big ideas and big feelings. She brings thoughtful insight with a friendly, deeply curious, and approachable style to every project. She holds an MFA in Documentary Media from Northwestern University and a BA in Cultural Studies from McGill University.

Born in India, Swati Khurana is a New York-based writer, artist, arts organizer & Tarot reader. She edits flash fiction at the Asian American Writers Workshop and has received fellowships from NYFA, Center for Fiction, Vermont Studio Center, Center for Book Arts & Jerome Foundation. Her art has been shown at the Brooklyn Museum, DUMBO Arts Festival, National Gallery of Warsaw & Smithsonian. Swati’s writing has appeared in The New York Times, Good Girls Marry Doctors & Pete’s Candy Store.

Kae Bara Kratcha is a librarian and oral historian based in Queens. Their audio work focuses on queer and trans oral histories of the recent past and explores themes of mutual aid, work, anti-capitalism, the internet and digital technologies, and speculative futures. Kae is conducting an ongoing oral history of Dave’s Lesbian Bar and the music and mutual aid communities that sustain it. They received their MLS from Queens College (CUNY) and their Masters in Oral History from Columbia University.

Amanda Kari McHugh is the first double master’s recipient from the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, where she focused on engagement and multimedia journalism. Her work includes viral content, such as a TikTok video on the Dobbs opinion leak with 140k views, and award-winning audio projects like “Street Name Stories.” With bylines in The Texas Standard, StoryCorps, and more, McHugh blends her film industry background with journalism, focusing on arts, culture, and social issues

Anja Nilsson is an international freelance audio producer, reporter, and writer. She tells stories through audio and print with a focus on immigration, climate change, and motherhood. Her work has also been featured on Reuters and NPR’s Planet Money. She studied audio documentary work at the Salt Institute and under Daniel Alarcón at the Columbia Journalism School.

Laurie Townshend is a filmmaker and educator. Raised by a Jamaican mother—the family’s eloquent griot—Laurie learned early that we shape stories; thereafter stories shape us. Her films include dramatic short The Railpath Hero, Human Frequency Streetdocs, and Charley. Her feature documentary, A Mother Apart (‘24) won Audience Top 3 award at HotDocs and continues its extensive festival run. Laurie is thrilled to be taking her storytelling practice to the world of podcasts with That One Teacher.

David Traynor hails from Dublin, Ireland and has been living in NYC since 2016, working as a Middle School Spanish and French Teacher. He started his audio journey in his teens working on a friend’s pirate radio station back in Ireland, later working in college campus radio at Trinity College Dublin serving as the station’s Current Affairs Director. David has a passion for story-telling, social history and how the narratives of individuals contribute to the greater news stories of our times.