Tape Letters

TL Scotland 4: FAST FORWARD

“Other things came, like telephones, and they stopped the tapes.” Generations of Scottish-Pakistanis sent and received Tape Letters, before new means of communication took over: from email to instant messaging, video calls to voice notes. This episode explores evolving technology. How does it impact the use of language, and linguistic identities? “Ask the younger children! What does it mean to be Pakistani for them, through their lens?” Episode credits Contributors: Kausar Ilyas, Asghar Mohammed...

TL Scotland 3: PAUSE

“You go back and listen. People that have passed now, you can hear their voices… it just brings back memories.” Unlike a letter or telegram, or even a video on a screen, a cassette recording can feel like the person is right there in the room. This episode reflects on the deep emotional impact of Tape Letters. It also explores questions of identity, nationality, and culture. “I take pride in being Scottish, I’m Scottish-Pakistani… [but] I'm torn between two cultures, two languages, two countries...

TL Scotland 1. PLAY

“Imagine the feeling of pressing play on a cassette tape that’s just arrived from some 5,000 miles away…” What is a 'Tape Letter'? Why did people exchange news and greetings with each other on cassette, and how did they do it? Our series starts with an overview of the Tape Letters Scotland project, and a flavour of the anticipation and excitement of sending and receiving long distance cassette recordings. “For us it was a novelty, sort of like a joke. Whereas Mum and Dad, they were more emotiona...

TL Scotland 2: REWIND

“We came here by coach. It took one month to reach here...” Throughout the 1950s, 60s and 70s, people migrated to Scotland from Pakistan in significant numbers. What does the archive of Tape Letters reveal about this crucial time? This episode explores what life was like for those who came to Scotland, and for those who remained in Pakistan. How did cassette tapes keep them connected? “I was so happy that I started crying while listening... I can still feel it now!” Episode credits Contributors:...

Season 2 - TL Scotland: Trailer

On 20 January 2025, Tape Letters, the award-winning podcast, returns with a brand-new second series: Tape Letters Scotland. The Tape Letters Scotland project shines a light on the practice of recording and sending messages on cassette tape as an unorthodox method of communication by Pakistanis who migrated and settled in Scotland between 1960-1980. This four-part series features original tape recordings and oral history interviews with Scottish-Pakistani families who used cassette tapes in this ...

TL England 14. Behind the Project: Imran Arif - In a Suitcase

Imran Arif is a Social Scientist and was a community engagement officer for the Tape Letters oral history project. He carried out multiple interviews for the archive with the elders of the community in multiple languages. In this episode he reflects on his experience of the project and the importance of preserving the stories of previous generations. A Modus Arts Production. Audio Production and Sound Design by Oliver Sanders, Producer Leona Fensome, Executive Producer Lucia Scazzocchio, Funded ...

TL England 13. Generations On Tape

The Tape Letters project shines light on the practice of recording and sending messages on cassette tape as an unorthodox method of communication by Pakistanis who migrated and settled in the UK between 1960-1980. Drawing directly both from first-hand interviews and from the informal and intimate conversations on the cassettes themselves, the project seeks to unearth, archive and re/present a portrait of this method of communication, as practised mainly by Potwari-speaking members of the British...

TL England 12. Behind the Project: Syma Tariq - A Particular Archive

Syma Tariq is a Sound Artist and Journalist focussing on history and politics. Her PhD was entitled “Partitioned listening: sonic methodology and the archive after 1947” and is part of the Tape Letters research team. In this episode she describes the Tape Letters archive as a community resource, produced in collaboration with its subject. A Modus Arts Production. Audio Production and Sound Design by Oliver Sanders, Producer Leona Fensome, Executive Producer Lucia Scazzocchio, Funded by National ...

TL England 11. Behind the Project - Suna Afshan - It was there in the Potwari for Me to Find

The poet Suna Afshan was commissioned by Modus Arts to produce a body of text in response to five cassettes selected from the Tape Letters archive held at the Bishopsgate Institute library. She adopted a poetry as a word-for-word translation approach, and the work is directly informed by the messages and languages on the cassettes, with the aim of reifying speech into ink. A Modus Arts Production. Audio Production and Sound Design by Oliver Sanders, Producer Leona Fensome, Executive Producer Luc...

TL England 10. Spoken and Unwritten

This episode looks at the origins, characteristics, and generational evolution of Pothwari, an oral-only language with no written form. You’ll also delve deeper into some of the hierarchy and class differences that are associated with Pothwari when compared to Urdu or Punjabi. Including the dilemma of modernisation and preserving the ‘mother tongue’. “There were letters too” – hear about some of the struggles of letter writing for those who could not read or write in Urdu. Cassette tapes offered...

TL England 9. Behind the Project: Karamat Iqbal - A Hostile World

Karamat Iqbal is an education professional based in Birmingham. He contributed an oral history and 7 cassette tapes to the Tape Letters Archive. In this episode he describes the discrimination Pakistani’s faced during the 1970s in Britain. A Modus Arts Production. Audio Production and Sound Design by Oliver Sanders, Producer Leona Fensome, Executive Producer Lucia Scazzocchio, Funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund and Arts Council of England.

TL England 8. Migration From Pakistan To The UK

In this episode, interviewees of the Tape Letters project remember their experiences of leaving Pakistan and migrating to Britain, a country they had never seen before. Common jobs taken up by migrants were mainly in mills and factories, and often based in northern areas of the UK where there were greater opportunities at the time. You’ll also hear more about the reasons for the early migrations to the UK, which might not quite be what you expect. Individuals also recall the desire to share thei...

TL England 7. Behind the Project: Maryam Wahid - Portrait of Halima Jabeen

The award-winning photographer Maryam Wahid was commissioned to produce a photo series for the nationwide iteration of the Tape Letters project. One of the photographs featuring Halima Jabeen, a Tape Letters archive contributor, was awarded the prestigious Portrait of Britain award by the British Journal of Photography. Maryam talks about the connection she has with Halima and the stories from the project. A Modus Arts Production. Audio Production and Sound Design by Oliver Sanders, Producer Leo...

TL England 6. A Cassette Tape Love Story

This episode looks at families living apart being brought closer by messages on tape, with a special story of a soon-to-be-married couple, who got to know each other more deeply and fell in love entirely through sending cassette tapes to each other between Pakistan and the UK for over 5 years. Telephones were usually expensive and not private, which is why cassettes were their chosen method of communication. We also discuss the retention and loss of cassette tapes, and therefore stories, over th...

TL England 5. Behind the Project: Micheal Gallagher - A Simplistic View of Technology

Michael Gallagher is a Social Researcher and Sound Artist who teaches at Manchester Metropolitan University. He became involved with Tape Letters after meeting Modus Arts producer Shazia Kahn. In this episode he talks about the significance of the cassette tape from a media studies perspective. A Modus Arts Production. Audio Production and Sound Design by Oliver Sanders, Producer Leona Fensome, Executive Producer Lucia Scazzocchio, Funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund and Arts Council of Eng...

TL England 4. The Power of the Voice

This episode explores the re-appropriation of cassette technology from music media to communication media. A thin strip of spooled tape was vital in facilitating long-distance messages. We learn more about the power of the voice and the meaningful, affectionate family memories that were captured through the voice playing on a cassette tape. The recorded messages were often emotional and intimate, and it was common for tearful messages of grievances and condolences to also be included. Interviewe...

TL England 3. Behind the Project: Rosa Schling - How People Make Sense of Their Past

Rosa Schling, director of On the Record a company specialised on oral-history co-production, joined the Tape Letters project early on and was blown away by the richness and depth of personal stories recorded by families who had emigrated to the UK from Pakistan. She talks about the value of oral history recording. A Modus Arts Production. Audio Production and Sound Design by Oliver Sanders, Producer Leona Fensome, Executive Producer Lucia Scazzocchio, Funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund and...

TL England 2. Behind the Project: Wajid Yaseen - A Naat Tape in Ashton

Wajid Yaseen – Director of the Tape Letters project, talks about how his family moved from Pakistan to Ashton and how he first discovered his family's Tape Letters hoping to hear his own voice but instead discovering his father's recordings of Naats (the religious songs his father was invited o sing in people's homes) This eventually led to the birth of the Tape Letters project. A Modus Arts Production. Audio Production and Sound Design by Oliver Sanders, Producer Leona Fensome, Executive Produc...

TL England 1. Communicating on Cassette

The Tape Letters project shines a light on the practice of recording and sending messages on cassette tapes as a mode of communication by Pakistanis who migrated and settled in the UK between 1960-1980. In this six-part documentary series, listen to first-hand accounts of these migration stories through original cassette tape recordings, interviews with their Britain-born families and commentary by Tape Letters founder and director, Wajid Yaseen. Through hearing from the lived experiences of Pak...

TL England: Tape Letters Trailer