Studio De Nok began as a three-minute audio story recorded in a room with paper walls. Stew with Za'atar was Elena Dikomitis' first-ever audio production. The piece won the Jury Prize at the Oorzaken Korte Golf competition in 2021. Elena developed the story further and three minutes became thirty minutes. Her audio documentary Drawn was awarded with the Rising Star Audio Prize at the Prix Europa Festival in 2023.

Together with musician and partner Bram Verhaeghe, she created Studio De Nok to also share other people's stories.

Most recent production: Beirut Trauma Box (August 2026) 

Beirut Trauma Box is an audio documentary podcast by Elena Dikomitis about the Beirut port explosion of August 4, 2020 and its aftermath. The podcast explores first-hand experiences of the explosion, collective trauma in Lebanon, memory, survival and the question of accountability. 

Beirut Trauma Box is a tribute to the victims and survivors of the explosion and an act of resistance against the silencing of collective memory far beyond Lebanon. 

Credits: 

Beirut Trauma Box is a solo production by Elena Dikomitis from Studio De Nok. The end theme was composed and performed by Khaled Hassan Chawish. The podcast cover is a painting by Martine Vandevelde.

Beirut Trauma Box is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other podcast platforms. 

Non-profit organisations are often looking for creative ways to reach more people with awareness campaigns. A podcast series, an audio documentary or an audio portrait can take the listener on a journey, bring participatory projects to life and serve as a call to action.

Week after week, Studio De Nok strolled through the Brussels neighbourhood of The Marollen with a group of female and non-binary adolescents in 2023. The participants explained why they felt unsafe or unwanted in some areas, and thus came up with solutions for an inclusive neighbourhood. This resulted in a four-part podcast series: Girls Make The City. 

Commissioned by ZIJkant vzw (2023). Photographs by Lynn Delbeecke.

In the five-part podcast series De Roddelrij, listeners join audio producer Elena Dikomitis for 24 hours in Ostend's Leopold Park, where stories are everywhere.

Along the row of benches by the water, Elena strikes up conversations - with a West Flemish accent when needed - with a wonderfully diverse mix of passers-by. In candid, often unexpected conversations, they talk about their backgrounds, their love of the park, the local drug problem and inappropriate behaviour.

The benches, once a lively meeting place, used to play an important role in creating a sense of social control. In recent years, however, they have often stood empty, contributing to a growing sense of unease.

With De Roddelrij, Girls Make The City set out to bring people back to the benches: young and old, newcomers and long-time Ostend residents alike. QR codes on the benches allow visitors to listen in on the conversations of other park-goers, letting the voices of the park come alive again.

Commissioned by ZIJkant vzw for Theater Aan Zee (2026).
Photos in video: Lynn Delbeecke

Academic podcasts can make research more tangible and accessible to a wider audience. Podcasting can also offer a space where scholars and people with lived experiences co-create, debate and share knowledge in a more fluid and inclusive manner. 

Autistic Counterstories (2024) was born out of the knowledge that lived experiences of people with autism need to complement existing autism research. The series was commissioned by the University of Antwerp's Autism Ethics Network. It presents listeners with a selection of 'counterstories' to dispel myths and counter oppressive narratives, and instead honours the diversity of autistic lives. The interviewees played an important role in defining the topics of conversation. Each of the three episodes dives deep into an underexposed element in research about autism. This non-narrated podcast series is entirely driven by the voices of people with autism. After the release of Autistic Counterstories, the production team organised collective listening sessions and co-authored academic publications with some of the podcast interviewees. These papers explore critical questions which were raised during the production process. Autistic Counterstories won two Anthem Awards in 2024 (Silver & Anthem Community Voice Award Diversity, Equity & Inclusion). 

Podcast cover art by Eva Roelandt.

For the production of Sikh Silences across Generations (2024), Studio De Nok spent some time in the Sikh community in Kent, England and in the Punjab in India. The project continues today in collaboration with Professor of Medical Anthropology and Social Sciences, Lisa Dikomitis, and Professor of Psychiatry, Sukhi Shergill. 

Photographs by Jaspreet Bath (above) and Elena Dikomitis (below).