Circuit 08: Confection
(2026)
Circuit 08 brings together three remarkable partners: award-winning chocolatier Kate Shaffer of Ragged Coast Chocolates in Westbrook, Maine; Transom, whose The Listeners project champions audio stories about ordinary lives that are grounded in place and told with depth and artistry; and media sponsor Maine Public, a longtime supporter of powerful stories rooted in the everyday lives of Maine people.
Additional support for Circuit 08 is provided by the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies.
Our Circuit 08 theme (“Confection”) and prompts were directly inspired by Kate’s chocolate-making practice. Each fluxwork:
Runs three minutes
Responds to the theme “Confection”
Includes a conversation with someone who you don’t know yet, and who lives or works within one mile (or kilometer) of where you live or work.
Mentions chocolate or another sweet treat.
Incorporates an audible sonic fluctuation inspired by the chocolate-tempering process of repeated heating and cooling (see video). This fluctuation may be conveyed through volume, pacing, tone, language… or something else entirely.
Circuit 08 debuted November 14, 2026, at Maine Public in Portland, ME.
CIRCUIT 08 CIRCUIT SELECTS: Leibniz by Giacomo Bagni & Veronica Lugaro (Italy), Food Noise by Casey Georgi (USA), The Peanut Butter Problem by Scott Maupin (USA), Sanguinaccio by M. Cristina Marras (Italy), An Encounter at Fort Greene Park by Nic M. Neves (USA), Confección by Tomás Uprimny Añez (Colombia)
Circuit 08 Fluxworks
CIRCUIT 08 FINALISTS: A Sweet Moment by Laura Joyce Davis & Samantha Hodder (USA & Canada), ♫ These Are the People in Your Neighborhood ♫ by Maya Kroth (USA), Good, Bad, and Otherwise: Carolyn in Good Hart by Mae Nagusky (USA), New Shapes by Mette Post Riggelsen (Denmark), Dear Mummy, Meet Us In The Infinite Cosmos by Michael Satow (USA), A Beautiful Thing to Destroy by Vivien Schütz, Laura Rojas Aponte & Emily Reeves (USA)
Ragged Coast Chocolates founder Kate Shaffer explains “tempering” with an excellent high school dance metaphor. (4:27)
Leibniz (Giacomo Bagni & Veronica Lugaro)
CIRCUIT SELECT
As six-year-old Greta prepares to start school in Italy, her neighbor searches Germany for the exact animal-shaped chocolate cookies that comfort her.
Confección (Tomás Uprimny Añez)
CIRCUIT SELECT
A word crosses from English into Spanish — almost the same sound, none of the same meaning.
An Encounter at Fort Greene Park (Nic M. Neves)
CIRCUIT SELECT
An audio postcard is interrupted by a conversation with a stranger.
Sanguinaccio (M. Cristina Marras)
CIRCUIT SELECT
Some Sardinian traditions are better left uninvestigated.
The Peanut Butter Problem (Scott Maupin)
CIRCUIT SELECT
Scot accidentally winds up with more peanut butter than any one person should ever have at once, and must figure out a way out of this predicament.
Food Noise (Casey Georgi)
CIRCUIT SELECT
Two people share their quiet, daily reality of compulsive eating, food addiction, and the fragile path toward recovery.