AJR 36(2) 63 ‘This Australian life’: the Americanisation of radio storytelling in Australia Mia Lindgren Abstract This article explores the impact of US storytelling forms on the radio documentary genre in Australia. Building on Lindgren and McHugh’s (2013) article outlining emerging trends in radio documentary forms in the United States and Australia, it highlights a growing interest in radio documentary production. The empirical study takes a dual ap- proach through an online survey and semi-structured interviews with Australian radio producers. It maps how an up-and-coming cohort of radio producers understands the genre and what inluences their prac- tice. The study shows how the genre is undergoing rapid change and provides insights into the role played by both public broadcaster ABC Radio National and community radio in facilitating this new wave of radio production. Of particular signiicance is the role played by com- munity radio in fostering a new generation of radio feature documen- tary producers. Introduction When I listen to a lot of the podcasts that I really like, so This American life, Radio- lab, The moth, all those kinds of podcasts, I listen to every week, people think that I’m nuts because what I do, is I lie on the loor on my back with my eyes closed, with headphones on and totally trap myself in it. (Indigo Wood, freelance radio producer, 2014) In his 2009 book Key concepts in radio studies, UK radio scholar Hugh Chignell described the radio documentary genre as just surviving on public radio, and the radio feature as “a particularly intriguing radio phenomenon” that is “almost extinct” (2009, p. 23). Chignell uses the two radio forms – documentary and radio feature – interchangeably because of their similarities (as will this article). He was describing a niche radio genre predominantly offered on terrestrial public service radio before the liberation of radio waves through podcasting technology and mobile devices. In 2009 it would have been dificult to imagine the media landscape of 2014. Contrary to Chignell’s dire prediction, the radio documentary form is far from dead; instead this type of “built” radio, focusing on stories where any mix of scripted words, sounds, interviews, archival materials and