Nocturne, Vanessa Lowe’s sublime podcast about the night, Joins Hub & Spoke
Boston—August 2, 2022—Hub & Spoke, the Boston-born nonprofit collective of independent podcasts, welcomes a new member into its ranks today. It’s Nocturne, a monthly podcast about who we are and what we do at night, created in 2014 by Vanessa Lowe and Kent Sparling and produced by Vanessa Lowe.
Across more than 90 episodes, Lowe has used Nocturne to tell moving, personal, sometimes haunting stories that, in her own words, “peer into the dusty corners of the night.” Individual episodes have looked at late-night radio call-in shows, night terrors, nighttime in museums and zoos, stargazing and lunar eclipses, sleep and sleeplessness, storytelling around the campfire, and midnight showings of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Lowe approaches her subject with the kind of depth, care, and honesty that makes Nocturne a perfect fit at Hub & Spoke, which includes eight other highly essayistic nonfiction podcasts.
“Nocturne features stories that intersect with the night and darkness, but that’s just the top layer—the show is really about the beings that exist in the shadows and unseen places, and the universal experiences at the core of our existence,” Lowe says. “It’s about nature and relationships and listening deeply to the world and each other.”
“While the show has gone through various partnerships, including as part of KCRW, it always stayed true to its independent voice and perspective,” Lowe continues. “I believe this is more important than ever, as the world of podcasts has exploded and become crowded with heavily funded podcast companies comprised of large teams. While there are lots of great shows being put out within this framework, the authentic, independent voices that created this medium and drew the delight and loyalty of listeners are in danger of being lost. I am so happy to being bringing the show into Hub & Spoke, a collective of incredibly smart, well-made and independent podcasts. I look forward to being part of this community and supporting each other in the joys and challenges of independent podcasting, as well as keeping the spirit of independence alive in the space.”
Erica Heilman, the creator and producer of the Peabody Award-winning Hub & Spoke show Rumble Strip, says: “I turn to Vanessa's Nocturne when I want to hear something sublime. It is not easy to make something sublime. 'Sublime' requires technical skill, profound curiosity, obsessive-compulsive attention to detail, and most important—love. This show is made with love, and you can hear it. It's a singularly beautiful show and we are so lucky to welcome Vanessa Lowe into this collective. Onward!!”
“Nocturne joining Hub & Spoke is yet another step forward, and upward, for our little collective that can,” says Tamar Avishai, host and producer of The Lonely Palette and co-founder of the collective. “Vanessa’s work is as subtle and searching as nighttime itself, and I’m excited—and more than a little bit humbled—to keep her audio company.”
Nocturne began as an independent production in 2014, was distributed by KCRW from 2018 through 2020, and went indie again in November, 2020. Episodes have been featured multiple times on terrestrial radio shows such as KCRW’s UnFictional; KALW’s The Spot and Crosscurrents; CBC/Radio-Canada’s Podcast Playlist; and Radio New Zealand’s The Podcast Hour. The show has been glowingly reviewed by The New Yorker (twice), WNYC, the CBC, Wired, Boing Boing, Bello Collective, and many other outlets.
Both Rumble Strip and Nocturne were formerly members of The Heard, a podcast collective founded in 2015 by Nashville-based producer Jakob Lewis. The Heard disbanded in 2018 for the best of all possible reasons: most of its member-producers had achieved such success that they no longer had time to contribute to the group. “The Heard was one of the models and inspirations for Hub & Spoke, and it’s a thrill and an honor to be able to provide a home for two of its distinguished alumnae,” says Wade Roush, producer of Soonish and co-founder of Hub & Spoke.
About Hub & Spoke
A project of the nonprofit Arts & Business Council of Greater Boston, Hub & Spoke is a collective of audio storytellers dedicated to promoting and sustaining high-quality independent podcasting, outside the structures of public media or the commercial streaming networks. We provide our member-producers with social and professional support and cross-promotional opportunities. Our fundraising effort is aimed at providing members with direct financial support to offset the costs of independent audio production, and helping to expand the shrinking universe of independent podcasts. Learn more about all of our shows at hubspokeaudio.org.
