There are 24 hours in a day. Seems pretty straightforward. But what do you really know about the hours between say, 11pm-6am. From graveyard shift jobs to “secret identities”, who we are and what we do at night is often less fully perceived by others, whether by choice or by circumstance. Peering into the dusty corners of the night, Nocturne explores these often overlooked and undisclosed slices of life. Under cover of darkness, our thoughts and feelings can take on strange new shapes, sometimes barely recognizable as our own. And the pulse of the world seems to alter too, sort of creating a curtain of privacy around our behaviors and even our appearance. Do I truly know you if I only know the daytime you? Let’s find out in Nocturne.

Episodes are released monthly. Topics range wildly, encompassing a unique and surprising exploration into the darkness – A surfer stranded in the Irish Sea; Two young women on a road trip gone wrong; The antics of a teenage graffiti artist; The plight of endangered newts.

Nocturne is a proud member of the Hub and Spoke audio collective.

Nocturne began as an independent production in 2014, was distributed by KCRW  from 2018 through 2020, and went indie again in November, 2020. Episodes of Nocturne 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.  In 2019 Vanessa performed a live Nocturne show, entitled Listening to the Night, at the San Francisco Exploratorium.

Nocturne is essay radio – a hybrid form of audio storytelling that blends elements of documentary, fiction and sound-art.

The Nocturne podcast was created by Vanessa Lowe and Kent Sparling, and is produced by Vanessa Lowe. Theme music composed by Kent Sparling.

Episode artwork and Nocturne logo from December, 2020, by Magdalena Metrycka .

Artwork for the Nocturne logo and individual episodes up to November, 2020 by Robin Galante.

Website by Eric Pedersen.