Miller Aud-cast #49: Genevieve Simmons

Hello and welcome to Miller Aud-cast, the Missouri Review podcast where we listen to and discuss the finalists for the 2021 Miller Audio Prize. Thank you for being here, wherever here is, for episode 49, featuring the latest finalist for the 2021 Miller Audio Prize in Audio Documentary, Genevieve Simmons “birdcast: Downtown Cincinnati” Genevieve Simmons, or G (they/them), is a maker of music, melder of movements, and vessel of many generous mentors. Raised in the Bay Area, California, they have lived all over the world, settling most recently in London for an Msc in Environment, Politics and Development at SOAS. Please feel free to reach out if their work resonates, or you feel inspired to collaborate in any medium. Show notes: birdcast began as a conversation with G's dear friend Vikram about how to capture an unprecedented time of social upheaval. Listening to cries of a Red-tailed Hawk while discussing the conspiracy that birds aren’t real, they figured that beginning interviews with a question about animals might break the ice better than asking for an opinion on climate change. As a result, five birdcasts in total, spanning from Portland to Minneapolis, New Haven to Texas, can be streamed on soundcloud. Living out of a CRV for three months during quarantine, G spoke with protestors for Black Lives Matter, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar right before the election, independent business owners, and many others. They even throw in some bird facts. A mix of podcast and experimental audio, they especially enjoyed when recordings contained cacophonous cracklings and other auditory blemishes. They hope you enjoy listening, and continue to pay attention to the sounds of the world. Aud-cast 50 will be here for you before you know it, so keep a watchful ear and listening eye about you. Thanks as always to the outgoing Missouri Review contest editor, Bailey Boyd, and to Patricia Miller, for her generous support for the Miller Audio Prize. BE ADVISED: Entries are now open for the second annual Perkoff Prize, the new opportunity from the Missouri Review which awards $3000 + publication in prizes to the poet, fiction writer, and essayist with the best work engaging the fields of health and medicine in provocative ways. Learn more on our website, or subscribe to our newsletter for weekly updates. As ever, TMR is open for submissions year-round, and we remain dedicated to discovering and publishing the best contemporary writing in fiction, nonfiction and poetry. Be heard. Give us the opportunity to discover you: submit your work today! In addition, we have tons of marvelous (and free!) creative content to read, listen to, and even watch on our website. Learn more at missourireview.com.