IN PROGRESS

Written and produced by

John F. Barber

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International

Re-Imagined Radio
Season 14, Episode 101

Final draft

In Progress
A soundscape

Re-Imagined Radio
Season 14, Episode 101
Final Draft

Premier broadcast: Sep. 21, 2026

Synopsis
The second episode of "RiR Workshop." A sound narrative with rhythm, even melody. Portraying life and projects in the process of always becoming. "In Progress."

Credits
Based on "In Progress," an original work of field recordings by John F. Barber. Used by permission.

Color Code
Yellow highlighted text = sound effect(s), either pre-recorded or live.

MUSIC = pre-recorded

MUSIC = bespoke, created for this episode

OPENING
SFX: "IN PROGRESS" BEGINS. ONCE ESTABLISHED, DUCK AUDIO AND CONTINUE UNDER THE FOLLOWING.
HOST
Hello everyone, and welcome to "Re-Imagined Radio Workshop," an experimental series meant to encourage active listening and imagining stories in what you hear.
For more information, visit our website, reimaginedradio dot fm slash "episodes."
SFX: FADE UP CONTENT, LET ESTABLISH, THEN DUCK UNDER AND CONTINUE FOR THE FOLLOWING.
HOST
This episode is called "In Progress." It's a narrative, constructed entirely of mechanical sounds. Designed to encourage active listening.
Active listening is paying attention to sounds and how they can create immersive worlds of believable experience in the theatre of your mind.
What stories come to mind while actively listening to these sounds?
Here's what I'm thinking.
Seen from the city square, the night sky is an armada of clouds, big as battleships, each illuminated by the setting moon.
Ringing the city are mountains arched like waves, waiting to break upon a shore.
The city buildings are low. One or two stories. Solid. Adobe or stucco. Several have chimneys trailing plumes of cedar scented smoke. Light gauze curtains flutter like waking birds in many of the open windows. A few streetlights punctuate the darkness. Not scary, but comforting, like a favorite blanket.
It's the "Blue Hour," the short period before sunrise when the longer wavelengths of coming sunlight, the reds and oranges, pass through the upper atmosphere and escape into space. The shorter wavelengths, the blues, scatter in the atmosphere, bathing the waking world in cool, blue ambient light.
People emerge from the streets between the buildings and walk into the square. Each carries a single chair, either in their hands, or strapped to their back.
They walk directly to a large canvas tent. Patinated with age and wear, the flags atop barely fluttering in the soft movement of morning air, the tent is temporary, perhaps on loan from a circus or craft festival, erected overnight by workers wearing corduroy coveralls and soft-soled shoes. In the Blue Hour it seems familiar, friendly.
Other people arrive in automobiles pulling trailers or camper vans from which they remove chairs and carry them into the tent.
Inside, tables covered by hand-woven light flannel sheets are set with earthenware bowls, oversize silver spoons, and cotton napkins. At the center of every table are several clay pitchers, many embellished with animal figures, filled with boiling water.
People takes places at the tables, setting down their chairs, then themselves. No one speaks. But everyone seems happy. Relieved. Released from a burden.
In each bowl is a hand-folded paper envelope filled with powdered ingredients which people empty into their bowls and then fill with boiling water. The combination becomes a thick, welcome soup.
The people eat their soup together. The warm aroma and sense of shared community rise into the air and greet the sun.
Now, your turn. Get comfortable. Listen and imagine your story as Re-Imagined Radio Workshop presents "In Progress."
SFX: FADE UP CONTENT AND CONTINUE UNTIL PROGRAM HALF-WAY POINT.
SFX: AT 28:00 TO 32:00, WHEREVER THERE IS A CALM POINT IN THE CONTENT, DUCK CONTENT AND CONTINUE UNDER THE FOLLOWING.
LISTENING BREAK #1, 1/3 WAY INTO PROGRAM
HOST
This is John Barber. Thanks for listening to "In Progress." It's part of a series called "Re-Imagined Radio Workshop," and meant to encourage active listening to sounds around you and imagining stories in what you hear.
*** KAAD tag
Special thanks if you're listening on KAAD-LP, 103.5 FM, Sonora, California, streaming at KAAD-LP.org.
*** KNOM tag
Special thanks if you're listening on KNOM, 780 AM, Nome, Alaska, Yours for Western Alaska.
*** KXRW tag
Special thanks if you're listening on KXRW-FM, 99.9, Vancouver, Washington. Vancouver's Community Radio, streaming at KXRW.fm
*** KXRY tag
Special thanks if you're listening on KXRY-FM, 99.1 and 107.1, Portland, Oregon, streaming at XRAY.fm
*** Galloway's Star 24 tag
Special thanks if you're listening on Galloway's Star 24 Community Radio, Galloway, New Jersey, streaming at gallowaystar24.com
SFX: FADE UP CONTENT AND CONTINUE TO NEAR END.
SFX: DUCK CONTENT AND CONTINUE UNDER THE FOLLOWING.
LISTENING BREAK #2
HOST
You're listening to "In Progress," a sound-based narrative by John Barber.
It's an episode of the "Re-Imagined Radio Workshop" series, a laboratory for sound-based storytelling. Offered alternate months, future episodes will include soundscapes, sound walks, sound spas, sound-based narratives, and experimental radio theatre. All designed to encourage active listening to sounds around us and imagining stories in what we hear.
For more information about listening opportunities, including our podcast and YouTube channel, visit our website, reimaginedradio DOT fm [slash] episodes.
SFX: FADE UP CONTENT BRIEFLY, THEN DUCK AND CONTINUE UNDER THE FOLLOWING.
HOST CLOSE
HOST
Our episode is called "In Progress." It's a sound-based narrative by John Barber constructed entirely of mechanical sounds. I hope you enjoyed listening.
Episodes of "RiR Workshop" are produced in collaboration with The Electronic Literature Lab at Washington State University Vancouver, and are broadcast and streamed by partner radio stations around the country.
This and other episodes of "RiR Workshop" are available through our social media, our podcast, our YouTube channel, and our website, reimaginedradio dot FM slash episodes.
HOST CREDITS
HOST
THANKS to
Marc Rose, sound design, original music, and post-production.
Holly Slocum, creative management.
Caitlyn Kruger-L'Esperance, programs management.
Claire Leyden, motion graphics design.
Rylan Eisenhauer, YouTube channel production and management, and announcing.
I'm John Barber, producer and host. Thank's for listening.
SFX: FADE UP CONTENT AND CONTINUE TO END.