Sound School Podcast

Silence Is Worth Your Time

07 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Back when I worked at radio stations, people joked "Silence is bad juju." We're not supposed to include much, if any, silence in audio stories -- for ...

Revisiting: A Cow A Day

24 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The first question I had to ask Pejk Malinovsky was "Why the hell did you think that would make for a good radio story?" Of course it was. Pejk follow...

Dialing In the Audio Flux Podcast

10 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Julie Shapiro and John Delore made a pilot for the Audio Flux podcast. Okay, now what? How did they go from pilot in 2024 to podcast in late 2025? On ...

The Naked Pitch

24 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Short Cuts said no. WNYC said no. Hell Gate said no. Even Transom said no. Finally, after about six months of pitching, Will Coley heard "Yes." Will r...

Revisiting - Don't Write, Tell

10 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Noel King says first things first. Before writing a story, take a friend to a bar and tell them the story. On this archive episode of Sound School, No...

Reporting on Emotions in South Africa

27 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Twenty-one year old reporter Kabir Jagram says young men in South Africa are stoic. Holding back emotions is a survival mechanism in a country wracked...

What If the Main Character Narrates?

13 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

We're starting the new year with an antidote to 2025 -- two episodes featuring inspiring early-career producers. On this episode, 28-year-old Anna Van...

Revisiting: Two From the Road in Nashville

06 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Here's your New Year's resolution: Attend a Transom Traveling Workshop. That's right. You know you wanna. The year 2026 is the year to give yourself a...

It’s Magic

16 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

If you're just beginning in audio storytelling or have some experience under your belt, you could toil alone making and making and making stories hopi...

Revisiting: We Need More Words to Describe Audio Stories

02 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When you limit language, you limit thinking. When you limit thinking, you limit creativity. When you limit creativity, audio storytellers wind up maki...

Seeking Small True Things

18 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Audio reporter Samantha Broun says young people are "full of life, complicated, passionate, confused, and they want to talk and want to be heard." Tha...

Revisiting: Hang A Picture In Front of the Microphone

04 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Susan Stamberg sang her own song at NPR. Her writing and her voice, you could always tell it was Susan behind the mic. She died at the age of 87 in Oc...

When Funny Points to Truth

21 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Neena Pathak produced a very touching story about grieving the death of her father. She says the humor in the story wasn't uncouth. It was how she cap...

Revisiting: Fill Your Notebook with Color Notes

07 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this archive episode from 2018, legendary NPR reporter and raconteur John Burnett answers a perplexing question "How to make an immigration story v...

Host Sits Down With a Reporter

23 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"Host sits down with a reporter." That's a good way to describe how Radiolab stories are produced. Same with "two-ways" on NPR. You can hear those app...

Writing Like TV in a Podcast

09 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Writing like it's a television drama complete with instructions for a camera operator. That's an unusual maneuver for a podcast. One I'd never heard b...

Fill Your Pockets With Endings

26 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

NPR's Robert Smith says when he's writing and gets to the end of a story he has empty pockets. He's used all the good stuff and left nothing for the e...

Sound Design - Don't Say Rabbit, See Rabbit

12 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"Don't say rabbit, see rabbit." Write it on a sticky note and post it where you can see it at all times. It's a mantra that will save you from cheesy ...

Revisiting: Interviewing Shy People

29 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

 A constant piece of advice for producers is "Find a good talker." But what about shy people? Given their reticence, they may not be great talkers bu...

Asking Dad Dicey Questions

15 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Zach Mack really put it to his father. For "Alternate Realities," a series from NPR's "Embedded" podcast, Zach asked his dad pointed questions about t...

Revisiting - Think of a Radio Station (or Podcast) as a Musical Instrument

01 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"I think of radio stations as musical instruments." That's what Steve Junker, the managing editor at WCAI said to Rob over a couple of drinks one nigh...

Writing Makes All the Difference - Beautifully Braiding Scenes, Stand-Ups, and Narration

17 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It's time for Leila Fadel at NPR to receive another award for her reporting. Last December, her stories from Syria after the fall of Assad were essent...

Writing Makes All the Difference: The Episode Handshake

03 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

There's a reason why serialized podcast episodes often start with "Last time on (insert name of podcast)" followed by a montage of quotes. It works. I...

Revisiting - A Trip to the Dentist

20 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A dear friend of Transom and all creative audio producers passed way last month -- Larry Massett. This episode of Sound School joins the chorus of voi...

Writing Makes All the Difference, Part 1

06 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

I don't care how much good tape you have. I don't care if the scoring and mixing are superlative. I don't care if the narrator is a solid storyteller....

Revisiting: My Kingdom for Some Structure

22 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

You've got all the good tape you need. Now what? How do you structure the story? Bradley Campbell has a few suggestions. He sketched them -- on cockta...

Champions of Old Radio

08 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Take a short walk into deep radio history. Julia Barton and Sarah Montague join Rob to talk about two audio storytelling classics from the 1930s: "See...

Beware the Chicken Bomb

26 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The best way -- sometimes the *only* way -- to describe an element in a story that is disruptive and distracting for listeners is this: chicken bomb. ...

Amen, Chenjerai (Bonus Episode)

18 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this bonus episode, Rob takes his conversation with Chenjerai Kumanyika one step further. He digs in a bit more to the big question from the last e...

Amen, Chenjerai

11 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Chenjerai Kumanyika delivered the goods. Rob interviewed Chenjerai on stage at the recent On Air Fest where Chenjraie was passionate, animated, and el...

Revisiting: The Longest Shortest Time

25 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Just recently, Hillary Frank relaunched her popular podcast The Longest Shortest Time. This archive episode takes us back to Hillary's early days, whe...

The Layered Approach - Interviewing for Scenes

11 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

You want scenes in your story. But, reporting in the field isn't an option. What then? Simon Adler, a senior producer at Radiolab has an answer: inter...

The Backstory to "Our Ancestors Were Messy"

28 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Nichole Hill pitched her show idea again and again. And, again and again, podcast companies said "no." But, that didn't stop Nichole. She said "I'm do...

All Hands On Deck - NPR and the Nixon White House

14 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Just over 50 years ago, in 1974, NPR took to the airwaves for a 25-hour-broadcast that Rob thinks may be one of the most tedious recordings he's ever ...

Revisiting: First, Tell Them an Anecdote

31 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Rob's interview with Misha Euceph is one of his favorites. As he says, she's very clear, engaging, and insightful about the craft of audio storytellin...

Dissection - Daniel Alarcón's Writing Maneuvers

17 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Let's state the obvious: Daniel Alarcón is a gifted writer. It's evident from the writing in "The Good Whale," the latest series from Serial that Dan...

Fingers Crossed, Twice

03 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Nothing seems guaranteed these days for creative audio makers. "Short Cuts" was recently cancelled and "Pretendians" is seeking funding for a second s...

Please Keep WCAI Right Where It Is

19 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

WCAI, the public radio station for Cape Cod, has been told it needs to move -- to leave the home it broadcasts from. An actual home. A former captain'...

Keep the Universal in Mind for Local Stories

05 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The story from Slovenia on this episode of Sound School is hyper-local -- so local, you might not catch all the cultural references. But, the reporter...

Revisiting: A Stranger With a Microphone

22 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When should a reporter turn around a leave? At what point do should they say "I won't report on these people. They need their space, not a stranger wi...

Revisiting: Who Are You As a Storyteller?

08 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Robert Krulwich, formerly of Radiolab, once said "how you write is basically who you are." It's a profound statement, a kind-of koan. It requires a li...

Retreat! And Make Stories with Friends

24 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

"To play and to fail and to get to know each other and to celebrate the craft of making audio... What's better than that," Jasmin Bauomy asks. When in...

We Do It For the Ears, Right?

10 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We tell stories in sound for many, many reasons. For our listener's hearts and minds. For community. For self-expression. For the democracy. For liste...

To Swear or Not to Swear in Narration

27 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Say you're listening to a great narrative podcast. The host has really grabbed your attention and you're pulled in. Then, out of nowhere, the narrator...

Gaining Access While Preserving Anonymity in Medical Settings

13 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Patient privacy in medical settings is essential. So, how does a reporter convince a facility to let them in with a microphone and assure anonymity of...

Revisiting: Robot Babies and Radio Luck

30 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

There are four kinds of luck. Unlucky. No luck. Lucky. And radio luck. On this archive episode of Sound School, Hillary Frank digs into the *incredibl...

Revisiting: Magical Realism in Radio

16 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

David Weinberg pulls off a real radio feat mixing fantasy and reality in his documentary called "Grace of the Sea." In this archive episode, David exp...

An Audio Field Trip

02 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Rob plays "Story DJ" on this episode "spinning" excerpts from several excellent stories you'll definitely want to hear. It's an audio field trip takin...

Structure Interviews Like a Good Story

18 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Don't leave an interview entirely to chance. Structure it like a good story. On this episode, Rob dissects an interview on The Daily revealing its eff...

Tips to Elevate Your Reporting and Storytelling from Ira Glass

04 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ira Glass of This American Life is a master audio storyteller. He's equally skillful at laying out the mechanics of creative storytelling and reportin...

Safety First: Recording with Actors for an LGBTQ Story in Uganda

21 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It's illegal to be queer in Uganda and incredibly unsafe. Queer people risk violence, eviction, harassment, and arrest. How then does a producer prote...

Shocking, Heartbreaking, Transformative…and Ethical?

07 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

There's a moment in this episode when Rob is gasping and holding his hand to his chest. Why was he so astonished? Listen to his conversation with Jes...

Introducing Sound Judgment

23 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Deadlines, production meetings, staff management, show scheduling... in any given day, there's rarely time to pause and consider the craft of audio st...

Thanks, NPR. That Was Satisfying.

09 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Have NPR's news magazines occasionally been sounding more radiophonic lately? Rob thinks so. He's collected a handful of satisfying moments of writing...

The Um, A Deep Dive

26 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

"Ums." You're supposed to cut them out, right? But what if the "um" means something? Talia Augustidis noticed her boyfriend "ummed" when he was lying ...

Revisiting: Should I or Shouldn’t I — Recording in Stereo

12 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

One of the top three questions Rob often hears when he's teaching is, "Should I record in stereo?" Rob says mono is usually the way to go. But on this...

Small, Random, and Meaningful

27 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In the tsunami of serialized documentary making over the last decade, what happened to the short story? Where are the one-off curious and creative sou...

For the Love of Radio, Get Out of the Studio!

13 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In honor of World Radio Day this week, The Sound School Podcast is celebrating with a story that exemplifies the power of radio to evoke striking imag...

A Triple Whammy

30 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Katz Laszlo says writing and tracking for herself is complicated enough. But it's an even greater challenge writing for and tracking with the two co-h...

Tracking Partners

16 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It's a brave thing to share the outtakes from a tracking session. All the blemishes are right there. But, Martine Powers and Rennie Svirnovsky from au...

Revisiting: Goldstein on Writing, Fonts, and The Goldstein

02 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

While there were many great podcasts released in 2023, no one will remember the year as a good one for the people who make podcasts. There were far t...

Which Is the Better Open?

19 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Rob takes himself to task on this episode. He felt the beginning of the last episode of Sound School was so boring, he rewrote it. Compare the old v...

Reporting Out at the Edge

05 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Theo Greenly reports for a public radio station in the far-flung Aleutian Islands in Alaska. When he started, about two and a half years ago, he thou...

Mixing Fiction with Non-Fiction

21 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Fiction should stay in its corner, non-fiction in its corner. Or so Rob thought until he heard producer Pippa Johnstone seamlessly and effectively mix...

Interview Strangers on the Street, Make a Podcast

07 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Catherine Carr has turned vox into artful conversation with a deceptively simple question: Where are you going? That's also the name of the podcast sh...

Revisiting: Remembering Studs

24 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Studs Terkel is considered by many to be a patron saint of documentary radio journalism. It's been 15 years since his death. On this archive episode o...

Pleasing to the Ear

10 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Rob acts as a story DJ on this episode, featuring excerpts from stories he’s recently found pleasing to the ear. His "playlist" includes work from "...

Salt at 50!

26 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What do radio producers Phoebe Judge (Criminal), Zoe Chase (This American Life), Greg Warner (Rough Translation), Matt Kielty (Radiolab), Emily Kwong ...

Revisiting: Dead Mom Talking

12 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This year's Third Coast Festival winners and finalists produced incredible work. It got us thinking about winners from previous years. So, we dug up t...

So You STILL Want to Start a Podcast, Eh?

29 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It's unusual for a producer to share a work in progress. It's rarer still to do it twice. Nina Porzucki updates Rob on the progress of Bird Talk, he...

Going Behind the Mic On Climate Change Reporting

15 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Rebecca Hersher, a climate science reporter at NPR, offers excellent tips on reporting on climate change. But, at the heart of Rob's interview with he...

Revisiting: Sound Art Meets Poetry Meets Cicadas

01 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Summer means cicadas. Those crackly, buzzy bugs that drone and drone in the heat like a live electrical wire spewing sparks. Mair Bosworth and Fiona B...

Next-level Scoring

18 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Get your headphones on for this episode! Rob dives into three remarkable examples of scoring. He features examples from the Serial/NYT series "The Ret...

Lean In and Listen Like It’s Music

05 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Rob's a fan of the "radio art" style of audio storytelling from Europe but often, after listening, he finds himself scratching his head. "What was tha...

Revisiting: Avoiding Pesky Sound Problems

20 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

No matter how good you are recording in the field, you're going to encounter challenges. Rob Byers does an incredible job explaining how to avoid ...

The Best Audio Storytelling According to Pushkin

06 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Pushkin Industries released a "Best Of Audio Storytelling: 2022" but instead of putting it out as a podcast series, it's an audiobook. Does it matter?...

Happy 15th Sound School!

23 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Sound School Podcast launched 15 years ago this month. But it was called Saltcast back then. And for the first episode, Rob featured once of his a...

What's Grabbed Antonia's Ears?

09 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Antonia Cereijido has her ear to the ground. It's her job as Executive Producer at LAist to listen to what everyone is putting out. Rob asks her what ...

The Fingerprint of Chris Brookes

25 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A light went out recently. The bright light of Chris Brookes — a sorcerer of audio documentary and sound art. When Rob heard the news, he immediatel...

Producing a Non-narrated Obituary

11 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What's the value of a non-narrated story for the listener? "It's direct," says NPR's Quil Lawrence. The characters in the story are "talking straight ...

What’s Next for Munira?

28 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Munira Kaoneka first started as a blogger in Tanzania. But she says sometimes you need to shout so she started a podcast, “The Kaya Sessions." A cou...

Still More Darts and Laurels

14 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Rob takes a hard listen to three podcasts -- You Didn't See Nothin', Lights Out, and Noble Champions. He then tosses out darts for work that caused hi...

Think of a Radio Station (or Podcast) as a Musical Instrument

28 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Steve Junker says he thinks of a radio station as a musical instrument -- a pipe organ, to be specific. It's capable of making all kinds kinds of sou...

Dear Birth Mother

14 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Rob turns the mic on himself to mark the 10th anniversary of meeting his birth mother for the first time. He also features the pos...

Studs Terkel Meets Brian Eno in the Woods

31 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It's good to look beyond your borders for inspiration. That's what this episode is about. Brian Harnetty is a sound ethnographer. And quite a bit of w...

This is Good, But I Have a Question

17 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Three great new podcasts raised production questions for Rob. Why use sound effects in All There Is With Anderson Cooper? Why were the interviews for ...

Recording Sound Design in the Field

03 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

John Scott Dryden takes a very unique approach to sound design for the fiction podcasts he produces -- he records on location. For "Q&A," the firs...

Why Two Narrators When One Will Suffice?

20 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The vast majority of stories are told by one narrator. But not at NPR's Planet Money. They regularly have co-narrators. Why? Why have two narrators wh...

Caves and Bears and Neanderthal Flutes - Stories from Slovenia

06 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What's the best way for reporters to break out of their boxes and think creatively? Give them an unusual assignment and send them out into the world w...

Writing An Audio Essay

22 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Rarely do reporters turn the mic on themselves to divulge the challenges in their own lives. So, when they do, it’s surprising — and refreshing. S...

Story Dissection: When the Lede Gives It All Away

08 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The opening to a story, especially a long series, requires a dance. How much do you give away? How much do you hold on to? On this episode of the Soun...

We Need More Words To Describe Audio Stories

25 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

When you limit language, you limit thinking. When you limit thinking, you limit creativity. When you limit creativity, audio storytellers wind up mak...

Hand Over the Cash?

11 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Reporter David Weinberg knows the rule: don't pay sources. For fifteen years, he never did – until he reported on Phoenix Jones for the podcast “...

Getting Honest —The Editor, Producer Relationship

27 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Typically, what happens between an editor and a producer is private. In this archive episode of the Sound School Podcast from 2014, editor Viki Merric...

Darts and Laurels Minus the Darts

13 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In another installment of Sound School’s occasional episodes offering darts and laurels for exceptional and not-so-exceptional work, Rob is offerin...

Two Years of Reporting Whittled Down to Fourteen Minutes – Elissa Nadworny

30 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This is the first episode of the Sound School Podcast (formerly HowSound). It's still from PRX and Transom. Rob's still the host. And the show is stil...

Wolves, Horses, Boars, Birds, and Bugs

16 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Field recordist Melissa Pons says one of the most important elements of recording soundscapes isn't the gear -- it's you. If you're humble and connect...

Tips For Interviewing Shy People (Especially Nuns)

02 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Some interviewees are shy. Others guarded. Yet, you need to talk to them for a story. How do you help them open up? Erika Lantz and Elin Lantz Lesser ...

Nausea, Forehead Mics, and Immersion

19 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Almost every reporting trip has its pitfalls. Andrew Leland's recent story for Radiolab had more than most: He reported people with disabilities parti...

Share the Script?

05 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

For more than twenty years, radio journalist Laurel Morales followed the rules: Don't share scripts with sources. Laurel now produces the podcast "2 L...