All The Best

As adults, we think we’re too old for fairytales… but they hold such important lessons about strength, transformation and compassion.
In this episode we listen to modern fairytales… a modern rendition of the ugly duckling, and a transformation in an enchanted forest.

Water Off a Swan’s Back by Persephone Waxman
In a modern retelling of an ugly duckling, Persephone reminds us that its all just water off a swans back.
Written & Produced by Persephone Waxman
Sound design and score by Julian Smith Gard
The Voice Actors were Persephone Waxman as Swanathon; Gabrielle Angelone as Sweenie; Sofia Morreale as Diana; Thomas Von Rein as Duckworth; Marceline Di Bartolomeo as Dr Ribbit; Mark Spencer as Geese 1; Alex Clouston and Thomas Khulmann as Geese 2 and 3
This story was produced as part of audio fiction collective Script Roulette, who are based in Naarm and want you to make radio plays with them. Check out https://www.artscentremelbourne.com.au/whats-on/2026/festivals-and-series/play/script-roulette-podcast or their on their insta @scriptroulettepodcast

Where The Water Knows Your Name by Luca Gambirasio/Sound Commons Project
A wanderer takes a sip from a magical forest stream and wakes up in someone else’s feathers.
Because we all need to be taken care of sometimes, because really, we are all just reflections of one another.
That story was produced by the Sounds Common Project Find more of their work
Writer, voice over, and composer Charity Rosario
Producer and composer Luca Gambirasio
This story was produced as part of All The Best’s 24 Hour Radio Race back in November 2025.
Check out some previous episodes on the radio race https://allthebestradio.com/featured/617-beneath-the-surface/ , https://allthebestradio.com/featured/676-mirrored/ and the second story, Hook, Line & Sinker in https://allthebestradio.com/featured/622-sunburned/

All The Best Credits
Host: Gabriella Accaria
Kwame Slusher is our Production Manager.
Catarina Fraga Matos is our Community & Programming Manager
The All The Best Executive Producer is Mel Bakewell.
Imogen Brosnan is our Digital Media Trainee,
Patrick McKenzie writes our newsletter, and a special shout-out to all our amazing volunteers
Shining Bird composed our theme music, and Annie Hamilton designed the artwork.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Firsts by Kwame Slusher
There are some firsts that not everyone shares, like going to an almost abandoned kafeneio in Marrickville, or being a chopper pilot.
Sometimes, we just need a little adrenaline rush and a little courage to step outside ourselves and see what surprises await.
Produced by: Kwame Slusher

Dobrinja by Dan Semo
For some, home is filled with laughter; for others, it brings tears, or memories of the people who shaped us.
But for Dan, returning to his childhood home after 30 years, it felt distant and unrecognisable, its history revealed only in fragments.
“Room tour, old stories, fresh raspberries …  there was no blood, only a small mark ect straight to the heart.”
Produced by: Dan Semo for Audio Flux Circuit 04.

The First Test by Phoebe Steley
We often imagine high school girls’ drama as something straight out of Mean Girls: petty, gossipy, and a little vengeful. Sometimes, we expect resolutions to look like the movies, too: tearful confessions, heartfelt apologies, maybe even a closure.
In this story, Charlotte and Izzy show us how conflict can be very different and how it brought them closer.
Often, the other person values the friendship just as much as you do…
Produced by: Phoebe Steley

I am the first by M. Cristina Marras
Marble stairs echo. Voices fall silent. A great hall looming over.
The family stood in rows of chairs, uneasy, the girl advanced as her world and their slowly widening.
“I cannot tell them that it's okay, that they are legit, that they do not have to hide behind. I am the first person in my family to be awarded a university degree.”
Produced by: Cristina Marras for Audio Flux.

Meet me at the punchline by Ramon Briant
The recipe for a good laugh is a good punchline.
The question is: how can you make your punchline punching when it is in another language?
In this story, a successful first attempt to crack a joke in Spanish.
Note: This won’t make you a foreign-language punchline master, but you’ll get a few dad jokes - just as worthy for a laugh.
Produced by Ramon Briant

All The Best Credits
Host: Gabriella Accaria
Kwame Slusher is our Production Manager.
Catarina Fraga Matos is our Community & Programming Manager
The All The Best Executive Producer is Mel Bakewell.
Imogen Brosnan is our Digital Media Trainee,
Patrick McKenzie writes our newsletter, and a special shout-out to all our amazing volunteers
Shining Bird composed our theme music, and Annie Hamilton designed the artwork.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From maintaining traditional handcrafting techniques to dressing up in the metaverse, to the evils of the fast-fashion industry.

Digital Fashion by Ariana Rigazzi
Could online fashion shows be a sustainable future?
As the line between our physical and virtual lives continues to blur, a new world of fashion is starting to emerge ... and it exists entirely online
Produced by Ariana Rigazzi
Supervising Producers: Persephone Waxman & Dan Semo.
Produced as part of a collaboration between the University of Melbourne, the Science Gallery and All The Best in 2025. Special thanks to Louisa Lim.

Can traditional handicraft survive fast fashion? by Zhian Zhou
Leanne O’Sullivan is the founder of Kimono House in Melbourne. While living in Japan, she fell in love with traditional Japanese handicrafts like Sashiko and Boro.
Produced by Zhian Zhou
Supervising Producer: Persephone Waxman.

Forced Fashion by Natalie Yeoman
Natalie explores the forced fashion industry by following the production of one hoodie, from China to Bangladesh, and back home to Australia, and the exploitative work practices that come with it.
Produced by Natalie Yeoman
This story was made as part of USYD’s Radio and Podcasting unit. Special thanks to Lea Redfern.

Want more from All The Best? Check out our Substack for a little bit of BTS!

All The Best Credits
Host: Gabriella Accaria
Executive Producer: Melanie Bakewell
Programming & Community Coordinator: Catarina Fraga Matos
Production Manager: Kwame Slusher
Community Coordinator: Patrick McKenzie
Mixed & Compiled: Emma Higgins
Theme Music composed by Shining Bird
Special shout-out to all our volunteers

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Don’t talk about the water by Alissar Seyla
In this episode, we look at the concept of the homeland and diaspora.
That tension between familiarity and unease.
A young woman reflects on experiences in her homeland, Lebanon, and abroad, and struggles to find safety in either of those places amid escalating war.
Now, it is time to talk about the water.
Written and produced by: Alissar Seyla
Sound Design by: Tala Issaoui
This story was originally commissioned by Debris Magazine for Issue 06: No! The co-editors were Jon Tjhia and Cher Tan. You can find out more about Debris Magazine here.
You can also check out the previous episode featuring the co-editors, John and Cher, here, featuring other excerpts from Issue 6.
Want more from All The Best? Check out our Substack for a little bit of BTS!

All The Best Credits
Host: Gabriella Accaria
Executive Producer: Melanie Bakewell
Programming & Community Coordinator: Catarina Fraga Matos
Production Manager: Kwame Slusher
Community Coordinator: Patrick McKenzie
Mixed & Compiled: Emma Higgins
Theme Music composed by Shining Bird
Special shout-out to all our volunteers

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Conservation Champion for Cheetham by Sandra Wilson
Bernie McCarrick, a former Parks Victoria ranger and site manager of Cheetham Saltworks, reflects on his role in transforming a former industrial site into a thriving wetland ecosystem. Alongside insights from Dr Mike Weston, the story reveals how careful water management and decades of on-the-ground knowledge sustain critical bird habitats.
Produced by: Sandra Wilson
Supervising Producer: Sarah Mashman.

Key’s Matchstick Grasshopper by Ruijie Tang
In this story, the matchstick grasshopper’s grand comeback.
Following efforts led by Ary Hoffman to rediscover and protect the matchstick grasshopper — a species thought to have disappeared from Victoria after decades of habitat loss — his team draws on historical records and fieldwork to track the insect to a surviving population and begin the delicate process of rebuilding its numbers through conservation and translocation.
Produced by: JJ Tang
Supervising Producer: Thomas Phillips
Special thanks to Louisa Lim.

Water Trial by Renate Millonig
Amid a devastating algal bloom along South Australia’s coast, Renate shares a haunting poem capturing the grief of witnessing mass marine death.
“ In every breath we share, in every drop we drink.”
Written and Read by: Renate Millonig
Recorded by: Mel Bakewell.

All The Best Credits
Host: Gabriella Accaria
Executive Producer: Melanie Bakewell
Programming & Community Coordinator: Catarina Fraga Matos
Production Manager: Kwame Slusher
Community Coordinator: Patrick McKenzie
Mixed & Compiled: Emma Higgins
Theme Music composed by Shining Bird
Special shout-out to all our volunteers

Protest_Zara_Day_22-03-2009.wav by eraylik -- https://freesound.org/s/69954/ -- License: Attribution 4.0



See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.