Fingers Crossed, Twice
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This is Sound School, the podcast from PRX and Transom, with the backstory on great audio storytelling. I'm Rob Rosenthal. I don't know Josie Long, never met her, never talked to her, wouldn't recognize her if I saw her on the street, unless she smiled. I think I might recognize her smile because I feel like I've seen it in her voice. The light's coming in through the trees. It's a beautifully sunny day.

and it's lighting up the tops of them. This is Short Cuts. It's a question of getting used to death and it might make people think that I've gotten hardened to it. I've just gotten used to it. We've walked into the centre of the woods.

And it really feels like we're in deep woodland. There's a little stream next to us, ferns by the side of it. The birds will lead you to what you need. Brief encounters, true stories, radio adventures and found sound. Nothing's been lost, he says. The spirit of the land is asleep and can be reawakened. Today, the forest is.

You hear it? The smile? It's there even as Josie's trying to sound mysterious when she says, the forest. And to be sure, it's more than just a smile. Eleanor McDowell, who works directly with Josie, told me that she hears in her voice joy and mischief and tenderness for the world. I'm in Pollock Country Park, a large, woodland, beautiful space belonging to the people of Glasgow. On the banks of this little stream...

You have all the ferns, all the stuff that feels rainforesty. But then the trees themselves shooting up so high. It's as remote as you can get within the bounds of Glasgow city. It's the start of autumn. The leaves are crisp on the floor. You can hear the stream. And then unfortunately you can hear planes. And then just deep in the background, the constant white noise of the motorway. A motorway which they tried to build through this park.

Smiles are tricky when you're a narrator, mostly because a listener's ear is a finely tuned BS detector. A listener will quickly discern when someone isn't genuine. And because of that, some voice coaches will tell you to never perform a smile. But even if you're feeling the smile, not performing it, you smile too much and you risk sounding smarmy. Smile too little and you risk sounding disengaged. Smiles are hard to dial in for any narrator, myself included.

Josie, on the other hand, I don't get the sense she's performing the smile. I think she is the smile. My guess is that's how she moves through the world. We're going to begin by venturing further into the woods and searching for Eden with the composer and audio artist Naokabi Karioki. We're joining Naokabi and her mother on a road trip in search of the ancestral home of the Kikuyu people of Kenya. While her mother speaks Kikuyu fluently, Naokabi does not.

and she contemplates whether finding a tangible place connected to her origins can offer answers in her search for identity. Mokorwewa Nyagadanga, the birthplace of the Aguecuyo. The birthplace of the Aguecuyo. Trees so tall as they've been storing our stories, birdsong so sweet the insects stop to listen, to listen, to listen.

Josie is a very successful British comedian. She's hosted Shortcuts, a BBC4 program, since 2013, nearly 250 episodes. It's won several awards, including Best Radio Podcast, two years in a row. Now, the idea behind Shortcuts is straightforward. Curate stories that aren't straightforward. Creative, ear-catching, uncommon works from everywhere. Tuffy was a rab's fringed-limbed tree frog.

He was a big hand-sized reddish brown frog with long strong limbs. He had kind of textbook tree frog fingertips and he also had very noticeable webbing in between his fingers and toes because he was a gliding tree frog. He could catch wind and glide from one tree to the next.

Shortcuts is an audio incubator, too, a place for new producers to find their feet and more experienced producers to walk out on thin ice. Okay. We have the freezers for the cadavers in the garage. And here, they're all covered up, so I put them in this special body bag. Dr. Robin Elms is a licensed veterinarian, and one of her specialties is putting down pets in their homes. And if you don't mind, if you would help me put Henry in.

Just have to grab the four corners. Sure. So on any given episode of Shortcuts, you never really know what's around the corner. Features, little documentaries, essays, tone poems. Once in a while, you have no idea what's happening. And that's a good thing. I'm going to stay here. I'm going to stay here.

You know inside your heart you feel so much love for certain people and you're indifferent to certain people. When you get that internal awareness, don't leave it and pack it there. You need to find that and go deeper, but this can't be right.

Maybe one of the best things about shortcuts is after you listen to an episode, you feel like you've heard something new.

And in the audio storytelling landscape, that is a rare and valuable species, which is why it pains me to share some news. The BBC has canceled the show. In November, Josie and the team at Falling Tree, the crew that produces Shortcuts, they received word that the program had been discontinued. This is yet another radio crime, one that follows on after so many hits to the creative audio community over the last few years.

My radio heart is crushed again. Look, I'm not entirely naive. I realize there's a reason impermanence is a word in the English language. Podcasts come, podcasts go, but this feels personal, partly because of the stories Shortcuts presents. They're so good and they elevate the craft, but it also feels personal because of Josie's skills as a host.

It's often said that a host is a listener's companion. Josie feels like my cheerful radio sprite guiding me and asking me to listen, ears wide open. It's in her writing. It's in the unusual but clever choice to record Josie outside from time to time. And of course, it's in her voice. And for listeners who might be cautious when it comes to taking in stories that aren't tried and true, she is incredibly welcoming. There's a kind of

Well, of course this is going to be fun. Of course you'll enjoy this. Come along, Tone, in her voice as she guides us from piece to piece. A documentary DJ, I've heard her called. Perhaps this is why Josie was just honored by the Audio Production Awards in the UK with a bronze for hosting. So to lose the show and Josie's hostiness, listeners are losing a lot.

Sound waves all around us, completely unseen, bouncing off every single thing. I really like the idea that somehow you'd be able for a moment to see them all, lit up in bright neon lines, like the trajectory of a stone that you throw across the water or a ball bouncing down the stairs.

like a jewel thief tripping the burglar alarm and suddenly realising they're surrounded by a web of lasers. Sadly, the closest I've got is just standing really still and listening in and taking in every single sound around me, from the largest nuisance to the tiniest little thing, each one its own wave hitting against me.

As for the BBC, why did they pull the plug? Well, Eleanor McDowell at Falling Tree said in an email they were told metrics. And she feels making decisions based on metrics alone ignores the fact that the audio storytelling ecosystem needs shows like Shortcuts because, quote, the small matters to the big. Where do new audio imaginations find space to grow? Unquote.

Immediately after the cancellation was announced, an open letter to the BBC was written, and it seemed to make the rounds like wildfire. As I record this, the letter has been signed over 1,400 times.

It makes a strong case for continuing the program, and it ends with this. We would like to ask that you reconsider your decision. It is an irreplaceable show with a dedicated audience, an unmatched cultural impact, and a team that nurtures talent and stories with a rare sensibility and care. Talia Augustidis, a freelancer whose work has been featured on Shortcuts, and on Sound School for that matter, she told me the letter was sent.

and she shared the BBC's response with me, which basically says, yes, the budget, and there are many ways for producers to pitch work to the BBC and many avenues for the work to be heard. Their letter says that they're even expanding those opportunities, but the public letter and all the signatures gained so quickly did not prompt them to budge on shortcuts. Eleanor says she and the staff at Falling Tree are still processing what's happened, and they're open to new opportunities.

So I've put a link to the letter at the post for this episode at Sound School, and you can still sign it. Perhaps the more signatures there are demonstrating love for Shortcuts, the more likely someone else will step to the plate to support the show. In the meantime, I will savor the last season of Shortcuts, which drops today, December 3rd, a parting gift for Shortcuts fans. I can see the sun hitting the leaves in front of me. It's so golden. And I really, really feel...

so understanding and connected to Paolo's way of looking at things, to sing a hopeful song against all evidence to the contrary, to sing a hopeful song to try to somehow bring about a better future.

Now, moving from a podcast made in England to one made in Canada, I traveled recently to see my daughter's family, including a new granddaughter. Yeehaw! They live in British Columbia. And so I naturally thought, oh, what's Canada land been up to lately?

Canada Land is based in Toronto, and they produce many podcasts, including one with the same name as the company, Canada Land. It's a weekly talk show about Canadian politics and culture. They also make a similar podcast for French speakers called Detours. Earlier this year, they released A Field Guide to Gay Animals. I bet you can guess what that's about. And one of my faves from Canada Land is the absolutely stunning Inside Kabul podcast.

The series features the incredibly intense stories of two Afghan women after the return of the Taliban. And what's really striking about Inside Kabul is that their stories are largely told through voice note diaries. You have to listen.

And I think it's safe to say that Canada Land is an irreverent podcast producer. And by irreverent, I mean the stories they tell often have a sharp edge. They're pointed. In fact, I was working with an editor there some time ago and I said, I feel like Canada Land has kind of a punk rock question authority vibe. She agreed. So on my trip hunting for a Canada Land podcast in my overcrowded podcast feed, I

I stumbled across this. From Canada land, this is Pretendience, a show where we talk about the frauds, fakes, and phonies, and the harms they cause to real Native people. We'll dance around the bonfire, sing a silly song, and sing with brazen

In case you didn't catch it because it's an unusual name, the show is called Pretendians. If you're not familiar with the term pretendian, the hosts offer a detailed description in this fairly extended clip from the first episode. So this show is all about pretendians, pretend Indians. It's a pretty new term, and I know that even a lot of Native people don't know it. It's like one of those social media things that's kind of taken over and gone into the press. So many people pretend to be Indian.

You will not believe how many of these fakers are out there. We found pretendians in Hollywood, pretendians in government, even pretendians in prison. In every episode, we'll tell you a wild story about who they hoaxed and what they got away with. Robert, off the top of your mind, who are some of the pretendians that you can think of?

Do you know who Rachel Dolezal is? Maybe? Rachel Dolezal, the NAACP chapter leader accused of lying about her race. Yeah, I am Black. I haven't had a DNA test. She was clearly a blonde lady, but she told everybody she was Black and she, you know, got a spray tan and put on cornrows and stuff. Oh, I do remember this. Before she did that, she was Native. Really?

I mean, she was never Native, but before she did that, she tried out being a Britannian first. Oh my God. Rachel used to call herself Faith Eagle Nebula. What about Elizabeth Warren? Yeah, she's like the daughter of the Cherokee princess or something like that. Pocahontas, she of the great tribal heritage. What tribe is it? Let me think about that one. I am sorry for harm I have caused.

When I was growing up, those were our family stories. Some other famous ones recently, I mean, Buffy St. Marie. Oh, gosh, Buffy broke my heart a little bit. A little bit, yeah, that hurt. I don't know how or when she started to create her story, but she's just raised in a Caucasian family. I mean, that's one that I never would have guessed. ♪

Pretendians is hosted by Robert Jago and Angel Ellis. Robert's from Vancouver. He's an activist, freelance writer, and a member of the Kwantlen First Nation and the Nooksack Indian tribe. Angel has been a reporter in Oklahoma for 15 years and is a citizen of the Muscogee Creek Nation. The show first dropped back in May, so I'm a little late to the party, but the stories are evergreen.

And the first episode, it's a banger. It also definitely delivers the snark. So I'm definitely not a pretendian, but Robert, how do I know you're not? You can look at my credit score. Oh, shoot! I've got the sacred laminated card. I've got one from Canada and one from the States because in Canada, I'm registered as a status Indian of the Kwantlen First Nation.

And in the States, I'm enrolled with the Nooksack Indian tribe. That's me. What about you? How do you know that I'm Native? Well, I have my sacred laminate card that enrolls me as a citizen of the Muscogee Nation. Just pull out the card, right? Registered. Angel, at a minimum, and I mean at a bare minimum, you would hope that people would actually ask to see a sacred laminate card before giving somebody a job or another opportunity that's been set aside for a Native person.

These cards are important when it comes to figuring out who is legit and who is a pretendian. Not every truly Indigenous person has one, but these days, only truly Indigenous people can get one. So imagine the damage it would do if someone started printing up fake Indian status cards.

Today's episode is about a man who did something a lot worse than merely pretending to be Indigenous. This guy isn't simply a fake Indian. According to many Mohawk leaders and others, he's a fake Indian chief. And in that role, he's created tens of thousands of pretendians by sending them fake Indian status cards that look almost like the real thing. Angel, we're not going to just talk about this guy. I'm going to talk to him.

But first, you need to know who he is. So allow me to tell you all about His Excellency, Grand Chief Guillaume Carle. Guillaume Carle. Guillaume Carle. His Majesty Guillaume Carle, whatever he calls himself. Who refers to himself as His Excellency. Guillaume Carle was claiming to be Algonquin at one time. Another time, he was claiming to be a Huron. Prove to us what's your language, what's your culture. I can tell him what mine is. The people that don't believe I'm Native, they can kiss my Indian ass.

Basically, Rob, who's narrating the story, discovered no evidence of Carl's Native background until he was in his 40s. And when he goes for it, he really goes for it. He runs for leadership of the Native Alliance of Quebec, a group that represents Native people who do not live on reserves. Carl wins, becomes president of this organization running mostly on his background in business and education, which Rob calls into question.

Carl is eventually driven out of the alliance for malfeasance, and his replacement calls him a fake. After he's kicked out of the Native lines in Quebec, Carl and his supporters start their own group and call it the Confederation of Aboriginal People. This one is not recognized by the government of Canada or any First Nation. This new group has no elections. Carl's supporters give him the title His Excellency Grand Chief and install him for life.

Carl says that he's going to be chief of all the non-status Indians out there, all the Indigenous people who don't live on reserves and who don't have Indian status cards from the government of Canada.

His idea of what it takes to be Indigenous is that all you need is the native gene. He says any amount of DNA makes you a native. Since this new organization represents all the First Nations people in Canada without status cards, Carl starts issuing his own status cards. Fake status cards, according to CBC News. Here's what an actual government-issued status card looks like. Those with status can be entitled to a range of benefits, including tax exemptions,

Now this is the card being passed off to unsuspecting shopkeepers. That's a fake card. These are all fake cards. They're pretty well done. The CBC does this incredible undercover investigation. Here's how that goes. Their reporter, a very white lady, goes to Chief Carl's group, posing as someone who wants to join it. She's charged $250 for a DNA test that's administered by Carl's own vice chief. To get into the tribe, you have to pay and you have to do a DNA test?

You don't have to, like, prove matrilineal descent from that tribe or anything like that? That is the shape of it, yes. And about that DNA test. Okay, first, all of this is caught on hidden camera. And the vice chief tells the reporter not to worry. Everybody gets into the group. Everybody's test comes back positive for native DNA. Do you ever have people take the DNA test and they just come back not native? I never saw it so far. Once that happens, you pay $80 more for your card.

And according to Carl, over 50,000 people have done this. This is absolutely insane. A disgruntled former member of Carl's group sees that something's wrong with the tests.

And so he decides to swab his chihuahua. He sends in his chihuahua's DNA to the same company that Guillaume Carl used for the membership of the Confederation. And guess what? Is his dog a res dog? His dog is 20% res dog. It comes back 20% indigenous, 8% Abenaki, and 12% Mohawk.

I am so pleased Canada Land made the choice to avoid yet another chat show. Not that Canada Land would do that. They're not prone to chat, but it might have been the easy thing to do when putting two novice hosts together. No, thankfully, the show presents reported narrative storytelling, and it's well written and produced, though more than a few times I heard narration pickups recorded very differently than the rest of the narration.

which means that the narrator, out of the blue, sounds different than they have been sounding. Sort of like changing fonts for no apparent reason. But I'll forgive all these things because there's so much else that works. Like the framing. It's a stroke of narrative storytelling genius. I really think that. Focusing on stories about people who are not Indian immediately raises the central question of the series. Identity. Who is Indian? Who gets to decide? How?

but there's an additional benefit. Reporting on these unusual cases adds a layer of surprise and puzzlement. Wait, what? Really? This is a thing? Who would do this? Why? Can they get away with it? So many questions.

I guess one way to think about it is that Pretendians is a series of identity theft stories. Identity theft stories that Angel and Rob link to much larger issues in Indian country. For instance, there's an episode that relates the story of a Pretendian in prison. And that affords the hosts the opportunity to discuss the high number of Native peoples in prison.

Another episode tells the story of Kevin Stitt, the governor of Oklahoma, who they report is a Pretendian because of a Pretendian relative from back in the day. Because of the governor's stance on Indian rights, Rob and Angel connect the story to big questions around the relationship between tribes in the U.S. and the federal government. The next big thing that starts really emerging is that he refers to race and he suggests every time he speaks about the McGirt Supreme Court ruling or race,

gaming rights or hunting and fishing rights, he says that people should have the same rights regardless of race. And he says it's not fair to have two sets of rules and that these natives can do something and the white folks can't. Let's say an Indian steals your car.

then the state of Oklahoma can't prosecute that person. I think that's a problem. I'm actually a member of the Cherokees, and we love our Indian community. They're all our neighbors. They're our friends. I will fight as long as I'm governor to make sure that we're one state with one set of rules. Regardless of your race or where you live, we should all be under the same rules.

He starts really pushing that rhetorical racial language. It starts to sow a lot of seeds of discontent amongst Oklahomans. So people in their little suburban neighborhoods are starting to look over at their neighbors who might have a tribal car tag and they're like, you're the asshole who's doing all these things and you get all these privileges and I don't. I guess the argument that I would make about race in this case is that

You can't just be a Native American, show up in Oklahoma and have separate rules. You actually have to be a citizen of a sovereign nation that has a compact with the United States. The problem when Kevin Stitt uses race as a signifier is that it's not really about that.

The tribes exist because of a sovereign nation's agreement with another sovereign nation. And the thing that he's overlooking or that a lot of people are overlooking is that these are agreements between the Muscogee and the Cherokee and the Seminole and whomever else and the United States government. And it has nothing to do with the state. There's no other treaty that America makes where a state would come in and try and override it. Like you're not seeing Texas override NATO or something, the NATO treaty, or you're not seeing...

Washington state overriding the North American Free Trade Agreement. So, I mean, what he's doing here is really, really extreme. It's often clear that Angel and Rob are newbies. They're finding their way together as co-hosts and reading narration because it sounds a little stiff.

but you can actually hear their skills grow over the season, and I'm delighted that Canada Land gave them the space to do that, if for no other reason than this point made in Columbia Journalism Review back in 2019. Quote, Native Americans suffer from chronic misrepresentation and erasure by an established press. This crisis is stoked by the stark absence of Indigenous journalists in newsrooms.

Jesse Brown, publisher at Canada Land, says they're seeking funding for a second season. Well, my fingers are crossed. Again. Look for Pretendians. It's the podcast with the show cover featuring a close-up of a plastic doll with a feather headdress and blue eyes. Speaking of show art, I saw one recently that features an image from one of my favorite movies. It's old school. Videodrome. It's a picture of a hand inserted into someone's stomach.

If you've seen the movie, you know why I'm chuckling. The show is called Long Live the New Sound, which is a modified line from Videodrome, Long Live the New Flesh. Anyway, the podcast is weird, weird in all the good ways, sort of like shortcuts on psilocybin, but without a host, no theme music, nothing. You hardly know it's a show. I write about Long Live the New Sound at transom.org.

This is Sound School from PRX and Transom. Genevieve Sponsler and Jay Allison edit my scripts. Jen Jarrett makes the trains run on time at Transom. My thanks to WCAI, as well as to Eleanor McDowell and Julie Shapiro, who quickly answered a few questions for me about shortcuts and Canada land, respectively. I'm Rob Rosenthal. I'm in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, the radio center of the universe. From PRX.

and transom.org.