The New Yorker again
The Guardian (2019)
The Guardian, and The Guardian again
June 19, 2021
Boing Boing had a nice little mention calling the show “compelling”, titled, “Nocturne is a podcast about the night and listening to it influences my dreams”.
June 19, 2021
The Spectator featured us in an article entitled, “The best podcasts to be enjoyed at 4 a.m.”.
April 27, 2021
Sarah Larson, podcast critic for The New Yorker, recommended Nocturne in WNYC’s, The Takeaway piece, “In a Rapidly Growing Audio Landscape, These Podcasts Are Worth Your Time” (around 6:30 in the audio).
February 27, 2020
CBC Radio/Podcasts (Canadian Broadcast Company) recommends Nocturne, writing “Nocturne is a beautifully written and sound-rich trip into the wee hours of the night… The podcast always takes me somewhere new, and producer/host Vanessa Lowe’s voice is perfectly suited to the dreamy soundscape she creates in each episode.”
February 19, 2020
The Bello Collective recommends “Do the Thing”, writing “Nocturne is a show that so perfectly encapsulates who and what we are at night that I feel like it’s nighttime no matter when I listen to it.”
August 9, 2019
The Guardian says, “Atmospheric and intriguing… No two episodes are the same and its blended form of storytelling strikes a beautiful balance between audio documentary and sound art. ”
May 1, 2019
It’s always a bit perplexing when we get called “creepy”, but The Lineup also called us “ASMR”, so all is forgiven.
January 4, 2019
In an article on “Slow Radio”, in the New Yorker, Sarah Larson writes, “Podcasts employ a range of slow techniques. Vanessa Lowe’s beautiful “Nocturne,” now airing on KCRW, combines peaceful night sounds with music and narrative.”
December 23, 2018
Nocturne is honored to have been listed as one of the top 50 podcasts of the year by Joe Magazine.
December 22, 2018
Thanks to Audible Feast for including us in their list of best podcasts of the year!
December 5, 2018
Love this list of outstanding podcasts of 2018 by Bello Collective, and honored to be on it! If you feel overwhelmed by all the thousands of podcasts to listen to, this will definitely help you out.
March 9, 2018
The Irish Times featured the episode “The Dream You Should Be Having” as the Podcast of the Week, writing “Like all great pieces of documentary, it offers some perspective: many, many folks lie awake at night, all for their own reasons”.
March 6, 2018
Refinery 29 wrote of the show, “It’s rich, dreamy sound design and host Vanessa Lowe’s relaxing voice make this show perfect bedtime listening”.
March 6, 2018
Nick Quah, of Hotpod, asked if I’d like to answer some questions for the newsletter’s “Career Spotlight“, so I did.
December 23, 2017
Audible Feast cited Nocturne as one of the Best Podcasts of 2017, writing “Vanessa Lowe is quietly plugging along with one of my favorite shows”.
December 14, 2017
Sarah Larson included Nocturne in her Best Podcasts of 2017, in the New Yorker.
December 5, 2017
PodSpective featured Nocturne, noting, “Vanessa Lowe is everything you want in a podcast host–there when she needs to be, but able to step back and let the subjects of the podcast tell their stories uninterrupted”.
September 21, 2017
Mail and Guardian wrote, “The podcast mixes interesting storytelling, documentary and fiction with incredible sound to provide midnight entertainment that will see you through any frustrating bedtime situation”.
August 23, 2017
The New Yorker featured Nocturne in Sarah Larson’s Podcast Dept. column, in which she called Ep. 31 – Shortboard “mesmerizing” and “a marvel”.
June 9, 2017
Audible Feast included “A Catalogue of Nights” in their Delicious Ingredients feature, writing “This is classic Nocturne (and The Heard) audio – I felt enveloped in the show and literally stopped what I was doing to go along with Lowe on her audio journey around the world. ”
April 11, 2017
Thrillist included Nocturne in this crazy list: “The seven horror podcasts will scare the sh*t out of you”, and while we get a little flummoxed when people call us a horror podcast, this was such a nice review that we’re almost rethinking our genre. “The sound design alone, including a prestige-TV-ready theme song, is enough to land this show from Vanessa Lowe and Kent Sparling near the top of any list. It’s gorgeous and robust, matching the personal essays and interviews which seek to celebrate and explore how familiar things change after the sun goes down. It’s unique in that it moves beyond horror fiction into a nonfiction, existential consideration that ends up pouring liquid nitrogen into your soul.”
December 29, 2016
New Statesman listed Nocturne as one of five “Podcasts to get you to the end of the year”.
December 23, 2016
Audible Feast included “To a Distant Continent” as one of the best podcast episodes of 2016.
November 7, 2016
Wired recommended “Proof of Passage” as one of five podcasts “to get you through this election”.
March 30, 2016
Between Two Earbuds chose episode 16, “Standing Over the Bed”, as a favorite of the week, writing “This has to be the most terrifying podcast episode I’ve ever heard, and it’s not a fictional audio drama. Host Vanessa Lowe interviews a man named JD who’s suffered through years of sleep paralysis and night terrors. He describes the lucid dreams he’s endured night after night — dreams that eventually tear his family apart — and Vanessa brings them to life with brilliant and haunting sound effects.”
March 7, 2016
The Timbre recommended episode 15, “To A Distant Continent”: “Lowe wants nothing less than to throw you in deep water.”
January 14, 2016
7 on 7 recommends episode 13, “Letting Go”, proclaiming “This is an amazing piece of radio…I’ve been thinking about this one all week.”
December 9, 2015
Nocturne was featured in KQED Arts’ podcast column, Earful: “Lowe is not just facing her fears on tape — she’s also aiming to build a distinctive emotional atmosphere with each episode. The result is an elegantly-crafted podcast.”
November 30, 2015
The Audio Signal calls Ep. 12 – Stars in Unison, “A beautiful and haunting exploration of sea turtles and their ancient timelines.”
September 15, 2015
The Timbre reviewed episode #10, “Playground Rules”, commenting “One of the most enjoyable parts of Vanessa Lowe’s excellent podcast, Nocturne, is hearing how she has reimagined her topic with each installment. Billed as a show about the night, she has pushed this concept in all directions, from insomnia, to light pollution, to this episode about a drag queen who performs in the nighttime hours, proving that limitations are sometimes the best prescriptions for creativity. ”
August 19, 2015
Rob McGinley Myers penned this cool article titled “Podcasts to Inspire Your Writing” for Grist, writing “Host Vanessa Lowe knows how to tell a story that lights up the dark corners of your mind, but the show’s secret weapon is its sound design. Step outside on a hot summer night and all your senses wake up. This show sounds like that.”
August 17, 2015
Dan Telfer for The AV Club reviewed episode 9, “Forward Momentum”, writing “Listening to Myer describe the kind of eye contact that takes place between strangers when society slumbers has an effect that is both bracing and comforting.”
August 17, 2015
Dana Gerber-Margie reviewed episode 9, “Forward Momentum”, in The Audio Signal, writing “This episode sat with me for a few days; so much so that I brought it up out of the blue to a friend to get her take on the whole idea of the meditative quality of walking at night.”
August 17, 2015
Sara Weber reviewed episode 9, “Forward Momentum” in Adolescence is a Marketing Tool, writing “… this story about a woman walking through the darkness, without fear, has been an inspiration.”
July 27, 2015
Podcast Junkies is described by it’s host/producer, Harry Duran, as “the podcaster’s voice”, and this week it’s Vanessa’s voice talking about Nocturne. Harry describes Nocturne as “Ambient Storytelling”. He and Vanessa have a great time talking about a lot more than Nocturne! Listen to the full interview here.
July 26, 2015
Fireside put out their first Top Ten Podcasts list today, with Nocturne at #1!
July 23, 2015
Blogger and Social Scientist Rob Shaw wrote a thoughtful review of Nocturne, stating: “Exploratory, evocative and engaged: Check out the Nocturne podcast”.
July 13, 2015
The Timbre featured episode #8 ” Into, Under, Through”, writing: “As listeners, we are with her every step of the experiment and she filters out nothing, giving us an unfettered view into the human mind as it confronts fear.”
July 7, 2015
In his article for Medium about how podcasting could help save internet radio, Ernesto Aguilar wrote: “Radio and podcasts are foremost about the trust and relationships with listeners. What comes out of your radio or your device is about that relatable person we know and believe in. Whether it is the link we have with our local community radio or the warmth of Vanessa Lowe’s words on Nocturne, those voices are our memories, our conversations and our driveway moments.”
July 3, 2015
Listen Up featured Episode 1: Night Owls, writing “What truly drew me to this piece is the way she snoops around this parallel universe with quiet and evocative simplicity; beautifully recording her son’s breathing, the heavy sound of her kitchen clock or the dark corners of her shady porch…
Textured, straight-forward and intimate. My kind of story.”
May 10, 2015
The Spoken Podcast Digest featured the latest episode, (This is Not) A Love Song, writing “There’s a single turn in the last 30 seconds, where all of humanity can relate, where I leaned in a little bit as I was folding my laundry, and smiled.”
May 3, 2015
The Podcast Broadcast included Nocturne in their “Best New Discoveries of the Week“!
April 26, 2015
The gracious and delightful Dan Lizette interviewed Vanessa about all things Nocturne. Listen here, and hear more great interviews at The Podcast Digest.
April 6, 2015
This just in from Ryan’s Podcast Reviews: “Podcasts flourish when they find veins hidden in plain sight and have skilled, adventurous hosts who know how to extract what’s beautiful. Though Lowe has uncovered several gems in only five episodes I’m certain there’s more treasure waiting for her (and us) further down and further in.”
January 22, 2015
EarRelevant.org just posted an interview with Vanessa Lowe about Nocturne, writing “You don’t have to be a night owl to tap into the reflective vibe of Nocturne”.