New Born

By: Ella Hickson

Narrated by: Hugh Jackman, Marianna Gailus, Sepideh Moafi

Three lives. Three cities. Three times.

Three characters struggle to distinguish desire from reality — the desire to be seen, the desire for justice, the desire to desire.

A new mother falls into an intoxicating friendship with a celebrity — as her obsession grows, the light in her own life dims. Even after she leaves, she can never totally extricate herself, and years of scrolling swallow her son’s childhood.

In 1890s Wyoming, a young barmaid at a frontier inn has an altercation with a cowboy. She, and the town, make assumptions about him leading her to seek vengeance in the name of justice. In a chain reaction of silence, violence and barbed wire, her actions will mark her - and him — for the rest of their lives. In a complicated world, is certainty an act of violence?

A tree surgeon watches the beauty and light of the woman he loves pass into their newborn son. He believes something has been taken from her, and with it, his desire. Is desire about us, or the other person? Can anyone will it back into a place it has left?

Three characters are so preoccupied by their own longing that they fail to see another person clearly. What does it cost to be fully present — and what do we lose in the moments we look away?

Written by Ella Hickson. Directed by Ian Rickson.

Performed by Hugh Jackman, Marianna Gailus, and Sepideh Moafi.

For listeners who loved Piranesi, Normal People, and A Gentleman in Moscow.

©2026 Ella Hickson (P)2026 AO Media LLC