Tall And True Short Reads
All Episodes
Tall And True Short Reads is a storytelling podcast featuring short stories, blog posts and other writing written and narrated by Robert Fairhead from the Tall And True writers’ website.
Season Five Episodes
Most episodes from the past four seasons of Tall And True Short Reads are standalone, but I’ve also released multipart episodes for longer short stories. For Season Five, I’m doing something different. I’m writing and narrating a series of interconnected short stories titled The Nine Lives of Leo Roberts. ~ Robert Fairhead, Introducing Season Five
The Nine Lives of Leo Roberts — Prologue: The Clinic
Episode 102 (6 February 2025)
The terrace house door creaks open, and the women sitting in the converted front room glance at the newcomers: another nervous-looking young woman in her late teens or early twenties and an older woman, probably her mother, judging by their shared chubby features. The two women cross to the receptionist’s desk.
Introducing Season Five
Most episodes from the past four seasons of Tall And True Short Reads are standalone, but I’ve also released multipart episodes for longer short stories. For Season Five, I’m doing something different. I’m writing and narrating a series of interconnected short stories titled The Nine Lives of Leo Roberts.
Season Four Episodes
Kris Kringle – Xmas 2024
Episode 101 (20 December 2024)
Since Episode 100, I’ve taken a break from podcasting to plan a new direction for Season Five of Tall And True Short Reads, which I hope to launch early next year. Meanwhile, I’ve “gift-wrapped” the first episodes from Seasons One to Four of the podcast for this year’s bumper Kris Kringle episode.
Twin Souls in the Universe
Episode 100 (1 October 2024)
If you thought about it, the process for selecting the first matter transference test pilot was archaic, although Mae considered it a lucky omen when she drew the Blue 15 raffle ticket. Blue, not pink, was her favourite colour as a girl, and at 15, Mae had decided she wanted to become an astronaut.
My Speech
Episode 99 (17 September 2024)
I’m getting too old for this. My speechwriter’s pulse quickens as the PM mounts the flag-decked stage, flanked by senior ministers and mining industry executives, to announce her government’s green coal plan. Panned by environmentalists and scientists, polling suggests it could be a vote winner … if the PM nails my speech.
For the Sake of a Story
Episode 98 (1 September 2024)
The local dog club, where I volunteered as a trainer for twenty years, ran season-ending Fun Days with events like Fancy Dress, Agility Slalom, Waggliest Tail, and other novelty races that changed from year to year. One of my favourites was the Sack Race, where my dear old dog and I always placed third.
You Have Been Warned
Episode 97 (14 August 2024)
Excuse me, humanity, please pay attention. I have an urgent message. “What? Not in the middle of my reality TV show!” I’m sorry. I’ll be brief. But first, a little background. My message concerns the fate of a pale blue dot in the inky expanse of the universe. Beyond its fragile borders is vast nothingness.
The Light Above
Episode 96 (28 July 2024)
I open my eyes, blink and try to focus on the bright lights set into the white ceiling flying past overhead. I hear beeps and muffled voices. It feels like I’m strapped to a camp stretcher, but it’s moving. I’m on a hospital gurney. What happened? I want to ask. But there’s a tube down my throat, and I can’t talk.
Season Three Episodes
Taking a Bow
Episode 78 (31 August 2023)
I fell in love with live theatre when I saw my first London West End play as a newly-arrived backpacker in 1987. Over the next eight years, living in Brighton and Windsor, I attended countless professional and amateur productions. But I didn’t think in 1987 that one day I’d be up on stage, too, taking a bow.
My Dreams
Episode 77 (8 August 2023)
I’m in the middle of a dream, though it might be nearer the beginning or end. Who can tell with dreams? I’m on a rocket, and the final countdown’s begun. “10, 9, 8 …” Then I look down at myself strapped in the seat and see I’m wearing pyjamas. “It’s only a dream,” I reassure myself.
My Most Memorable Wimbledon
Episode 76 (14 July 2023)
I was weaned on Wimbledon in Australia. Year after year, I’d stayed up half the night to watch the finals on TV. And here I was in the northern hemisphere, able to witness the match in broad daylight for the first time, with an Aussie in the final, for goodness sake, and Mrs B wasn’t interested in tennis!
Past Demons
Episode 75 (25 June 2023)
Dylan woke with jackhammers pounding in his head and a tongue so furry it felt like it needed waxing. “Last time,” he croaked, rolling onto his back and resolving to quit drinking again or, at least, to stop bingeing. He stared up at the low ceiling of his studio apartment and replayed the office drinks.
Writing True Sentences
Episode 74 (7 June 2023)
The brief for October 2021’s Furious Fiction was to set the short story in a COURT, include a character who measures something, and the words BALLOON, ROCK and UMBRELLA. So recalling Ernest Hemingway’s advice to write one true sentence, I wrote, “The policewoman at the front of the Court is trying to catch my eye.”
Family Reflections
Episode 73 (9 May 2023)
Mum’s up first, though she doesn’t like looking at her reflection nowadays. She splashes her face and turns away from me with a towel. Over her shoulder, I watch Mum gaze out the bathroom window. And when she turns back, Mum’s wearing her pained expression again, like she’s failed to solve the riddle of life.
Season Two Episodes
For Season Two, in addition to short stories, Tall And True Short Reads expanded to include blog posts and other writing by Robert Fairhead from the Tall And True website.
My Marxist Philosophy Class
Episode 58 (28 August 2022)
In February 1998, I started an eight-week evening college course, Introduction to Philosophy. I was in my mid-thirties, and while I was aware of philosophers, I hadn’t read their works and knew nothing about critical thinking. Our text was Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder. And our tutor was a Marxist.
Thanks Ian St James Awards
Episode 57 (8 August 2022)
In their heyday, the Ian St James Awards offered the biggest fiction prize in the UK and Ireland. Launched by the thriller writer Ian St James in 1989 to encourage new writers, the awards were open to 5,000-10,000 word short stories by unpublished writers.
The Lost Hour
Episode 56 (26 July 2022)
You know what it’s like when you lose something. It’s always in the last place you look. So I write down all the possible places the lost thing could be and work through the list in reverse order. But how do you find a lost hour? It’s not like it can slip down the back of a sofa like coins or keys!
Cloudstreet by Tim Winton – Omen or Inspiration
Episode 55 (10 July 2022)
In May 1992, the Sydney literary news was full of Tim Winton’s success and his novel, Cloudstreet. And I thought it an omen. Winton was thirty-one, and I was thirty. He’d grown up in W.A., and so had I. He’d just won his second Miles Franklin Award. And I was having a second crack at being a writer!
Stuck in Time
Episode 54 (22 June 2022)
It’s 1997. I’m fifteen, and Dad’s delivering another lecture on my poor prospects: “If you carry on like this, son, you’ll end up in prison.” I won’t admit it, but he may have a point. Because today on the drive home after catching me shoplifting again, the local cop issued a “last warning”.
Six Weeks in Teal
Episode 53 (31 May 2022)
In 2018, I shared a blog post about My Week in Politics, handing out how-to-vote cards for Dr Kerryn Phelps, an independent candidate for Wentworth. Kerryn won that by-election but lost the seat in the 2019 Federal election. Three years later, I spent six weeks in teal helping another independent, Allegra Spender.
Season One Episodes
Season One of Tall and True Short Reads launched in September 2020, featuring short stories written and narrated by Robert Fairhead from the Tall And True writers’ website.
Both Sides of the Story – Bad News – Part Two
Episode 32 (23 Aug 2021)
Bad News – Part Two (England, 1993): I woke in the middle of the night with a full bladder from the beers and more than a little aroused from a dream I’d just had. As I sat in the bathroom, waiting to pee, the dream replayed in my head. I was glad my wife was asleep. She’s a mind reader, and I’d be dead if she knew what I’d been dreaming.
Both Sides of the Story – Bad News – Part One
Episode 31 (12 Aug 2021)
Bad News – Part One (England, 1993): The evening news was depressing—all bad as usual—and the weekend weather looked just as gloomy. I got up and went to the kitchen. “Do you want another wine?” I called back to my wife. No response. I’d swear she’s going deaf, but she hears everything I mutter under my breath.
Both Sides of the Story – The Gym
Episode 30 (27 Jul 2021)
The Gym (England, 1993): “Come on, Winnie, push.” Winston arched his back and strained against the bar. “Push!” The muscles in Winston’s arms and chest burned. He closed his eyes, let out a primal roar and fully locked his arms. The weights rattled for a moment before Winston steadied the bar. “Yes!”
Both Sides of the Story – A Council Flat
Episode 29 (14 Jul 2021)
A Council Flat (England, 1993): The sound of the twins fighting in the bedroom filled the flat. Their screams drowned out the drone of sport on the TV and the sizzle and bubble of dinner on the kitchen cooktop. “For Christ’s sake, Ruth,” Stu bellowed over the TV, “shut those bloody kids up, will you!”
Both Sides of the Story – Bosnia
Episode 28 (1 Jul 2021)
Bosnia and Herzegovina (1993): The roar of explosives devastated the peace of the valley. Tibor had covered his ears with his hands before Milo flicked the detonator switch, but the thudding explosion set off the bells in his head again. He dropped his hands as dust and grit rained down on him and his men. When the dust cleared, it revealed the shattered shell of the century-old farmhouse.
Both Sides of the Story – Westminster
Episode 27 (23 Jun 2021)
Westminster (England, 1993): “Madam Speaker, I —” Baxter groaned and lifted the pen. He stuck the end in his mouth and sucked on it, searching for a better opening line. He crossed out the first words and started again. “Madam Speaker, the —” His pen froze again. “Damn it, why won’t the words flow?”