Sound School Podcast
Episodes
Three Stories, Marfa Style
21 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
For some radio inspiration, make sure to listen to these three stories produced in a week by students at a recent Transom Traveling Workshop in Marfa,...
Story Endings
07 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The narrative arc in recent story about the drug epidemic by NPR's Rachel Martin was like being taken down into a basement and having the light turned...
Anatomy Of A Scene
24 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Radio producers talk about the scenes in their stories all the time. "What are the scenes in your story?" "Oh, I got some great scene tape today." But...
A Rockin’ Start
10 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
It's possible I love David Weinberg's "Louie Louie" doc because I love the song. It's "Louie Louie" for God's sake. But, really, what hooked me was Da...
Three Student Stories Produced In Only A Week
26 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Three students. Three stories. One week. Hear what can be accomplished in a very short period of time with barely any sleep.
Hang A Picture In Front Of The Mic
12 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Select telling details... Mete out descriptions... Cast surprising characters... and other tips for dynamic and visual reporting on the arts from the ...
25th Anniversary Of “Ghetto Life 101”
29 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This year marks the 25th anniversary of one of the best -- if not the best -- radio documentary: Ghetto Life 101. Producer David Isay and editor Gary ...
Recording Binaurally
15 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
All you need to know for this episode is this: Listen with your best headphones!
Finding Chenjerai The Storyteller
01 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
A few years ago, Chenjerai Kumanyika went to record his narration for his first-ever radio story. And he discovered a problem: "What should I sound li...
Police Ride-Alongs
17 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
How can you be fair during an interview with a suspect when a police officer is standing right there? Over the years as a law enforcement reporter for...
The Value Of A Sympathetic Character
03 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
What do you do when the main character in a story is strange, bizarre, and weird? So crazy listeners might tune out? One answer is to find a sympathet...
Sports Stories That Work
20 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Bradley Campbell couldn't believe it when I told him I'd like to interview him about sports stories. He knows how much I hate them. But, a sports stor...
Stopping A Podcast
06 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Megan Tan pulled the plug. She stopped producing Millennial at the height of the podcast boom. Her inspiring yet cautionary tale on this episode of Ho...
A Question To Start A Story?
21 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
One way to start a story is with a question -- one that focuses and animates the piece. Annie Minoff and Elah Feder of the "Undiscovered" podcast use ...
Journalism Of Empathy
06 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
"The Promise," a podcast from WPLN in Nashville, is an inspiring example of the journalism of empathy. And, it's easily some of the best local reporti...
Reporting On Traumatic Events
23 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
A shooter guns down twenty-six people in a church. Soon after, Debbie Elliott from NPR shows up, a stranger with a microphone. She says it's hard not ...
Don’t Write, Tell
09 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Planet Money's Noel King says the best way to write for radio is to not write. Instead? Tell.
Two Traveling Workshop Stories
26 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Two solidly produced, fun stories from students at the Transom Traveling Workshop in Marfa, Texas. Both are well worth your listen.
Radio Is A Visual Medium
12 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
"Radio is the most visual medium." Aviva DeKornfeld's story "After the Storm" is proof. So much so, it's just as much a photo essay as it is a radio s...
Avoiding Cheesy Sound Design
28 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Jad Abumrad of Radiolab delivers the goods on sound design in radio stories. A must listen if you're thinking of sound designing your next radio story...
Stepping In With The Facts
31 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
A recent story on NPR about the Confederate flag got Rob wondering about the practice of correcting interviewees in narration. Producer Zach Hirsch pr...
The Broken Narrative
17 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Greg Warner is one of Rob Rosenthal's favorite radio writers. He deftly put the "broken narrative" to good use in an episode of his NPR podcast "Rough...
Sounding Like Yourself
03 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Why is it so hard to sound like yourself when reading narration for radio stories? Transom's Viki Merrick offers some voicing coaching gold. You'll wa...
Sound Design Basics
19 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
After teaching documentary storytelling for seventeen years, I feel confident in the advice I give students, most of the time. But, as soon as someone...
Making First-Person Stories Stand Out
05 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
With the glut of first-person stories these days, how do you make yours stand out? Neil Sandell has some ideas.
Fact-Checking “A Life Sentence”
22 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Producer Samantha Broun and This American Life's Christopher Swetala join me to talk about fact-checking "A Life Sentence" on this episode of HowSound...
Ready, Set, Radio Race!
08 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
If you have one day to produce a story for KCRW's 24-Hour Radio Race, reach for low hanging fruit, right? Not if your Esther Honig. On this episode, E...
Let The Tape Sing And Other Lessons From A Filmmaker Turned Podcaster
25 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Filmmaker Tally Abecassis learned a lot about audio storytelling when she jumped in the deep end & started producing "First Day Back." The lessons...
A Few Of My Favorite Things
11 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Irish radio producer Ronan Kelly has a great ear for compelling radio. He plays story DJ on this archive episode of HowSound from 2010.
Ask Uncomfortable Questions
27 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
I was so nervous talking to Ashley Ahearn the producer of KUOW's new podcast about the environment "terrestrial." I should have been. I asked her abou...
Improvisation And Structure
13 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sook-Yin Lee describes the combination of improvisation and structure that informs the production of Sleepover, a hit podcast from the CBC.
Stories That Are Impossible To Pitch
30 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sometimes, pitching a story is the last thing you want to do. Just press record and see what happens. Jay Allison is the guest on this episode of HowS...
On Interviewing A Racist
16 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
"Live like the truth is true and go where love has not yet arrived." Words Al Letson of Reveal lives by, especially when interviewing a racist.
When A Good Idea For A Podcast Is A Bad Idea For A Podcast
02 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Heed Arwen Nicks' warnings. Arwen explains when a good idea for a podcast is really a terrible idea for a podcast.
Avoiding Pesky Recording Problems
18 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Never say to yourself: "I'll fix it in the mix." Fixing recording mistakes in the studio can lead to more problems. Instead, prevent issues before the...
Dead Mom Talking
04 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Rachel Matlow had a head slappingly simple idea: make a conversation out of the interviews she recorded with her mom after her mom died. But, simple i...
Reporting On Whiteness
21 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The series "Seeing White" is essential listening. John Biewen reports on whiteness and white people for his podcast "Scene on Radio."
Intimate Interviewing
07 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
How does Lu Olkowski get such intimate interview tape? She shares some of her approaches including a couple that are a bit unorthodox, I'd say.
Rethinking A Podcast Top To Bottom
21 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
After 5 years producing a successful podcast, Aaron Hendkin & Wendel Jenkins of WYPR's "Out of the Blocks" have decided to remake the show. On thi...
Sound As The Protagonist
07 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Take a deep sonic dive as we listen to "Jump Blue," by Nicolas Jackson and Afonica. Remember to hold your breath.
Shaking Up Storytelling Formulas
24 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Did Robert Smith of Planet Money go to far to make the uninteresting interesting? Robert talks about using "Oblique Strategies" for reporting an arcan...
Buried Treasures, Again
10 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Get your headphones ready and listen! Two buried treasures from Transom students. A story about domestic violence. Another about eels.
Morphing Print Essays Into Radio
27 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Some print essays make great radio. Jay Cowit, Technical Director for The Takeaway, tells us how they recently did it.
Composing Music For Stories On This American Life
13 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
A lot of the music This American Life uses to score stories is composed for the program. Producer Jonathan Menjivar and musician Matthias Bossi of Ste...
On Your Mark. Get Set. Start Your Story.
29 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
There are no rules about starting a story but, there are some common approaches. Jessica Terrell dissects several story-starting tricks she used in th...
The Blindsiding Twist
15 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Story twists are the hallmark of Love + Radio. Nick van der Kolk dissects the blind-siding reveal in "A Girl of Ivory."
Story Structure: The ‘e’
01 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Rob dissects an episode of 99% Invisible to reveal a common but effective story structure -- the 'e.'
Narrating To An Audience
18 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Outside/In host Sam Evans Brown narrated the first few minutes of an episode of the podcast just fine -- really well, in fact. Then he switched gears ...
The Evolution Of A Story
04 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
A son. A father. And an alien abduction. What more do you need to know?!
Doorstepping: The Uninvited Interview
20 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Approaching a stranger on the street for an interview, pretty easy. "Doorstepping," knocking on the door of a house or entering a business for an inte...
Subjective Reporting
06 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
I dare you to listen to this story from Ryan Sweikert and not be moved. A perfect example of what he calls "subjective reporting."
How Not To Write For Radio
23 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
There's blood on the floor. Rob skewers the writing in one of his first-ever radio stories to reveal how not to write.
Sound Matters
09 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Not everything has to sound the same. British/Danish producer Tim Hinman, of Third Ear, talks about tone and his podcast Sound Matters.
Hiroshima Revisited
26 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
If you want to re-broadcast a doc from 20 years ago but don't like a lot of the writing, the mix, and the voicing, what do you do? If you're John Biew...
Radio Silence
12 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Silence is a radio no-no. But what if you want to produce a story where the central focus is silence? Some answers on this HowSound.
Short Is Beautiful
28 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Podcasters are free to produce without the confines of the public radio clock. So, why go so long? Short is beautiful.
Should Stations Produce Podcasts?
14 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
A lot of public radio stations are wringing their hands these days about podcasting. "Should we or shouldn't we," they wonder? Wyoming Public Radio's ...
The Ethics Of Trespassing And Secret Recording
31 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
When is it okay to trespass and use secretly recorded phone calls while producing a story? Not often. But, producer Jack Rodolico remained ethical whi...
Show The Girls The Snakes
17 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Three early pieces from The Kitchen Sisters circa 1980, stories sparked by mistakes and chance encounters. Their DIY approach is inspired.
First-Person Reporting
19 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Sean Corcoran is a reporter's reporter. Straight-forward. Unbiased. Ethical. So why did he break some of his own rules on a story about opiate addicti...
Still More Buried Treasures: Student Work
05 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Two more classics from Rob's vault of student-produced stories including one from 2003 by NPR's Gregory Warner, long before he became the network's ea...
Tinkering With Sound Design
22 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
How does your brain react when you drive through an intersection? Martine Powers answers that question and explains her clever sound design in her sto...
Producing Personal Pieces
08 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
It's rare when a reporter turns the mic on themselves. Stephanie Foo's essay "The Favorite" for This American Life is an excellent example of why it s...
What Do You Do When The Rooster Dies?
23 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
When an interviewee is too nice, getting what you need as a reporter can be a challenge. Monika Blackwell relates how she navigated the "reporter/subj...
Should I Or Shouldn’t I: Recording In Stereo
09 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Rob and his guest, audio engineer Flawn Williams, attempt to answer the question: Should I record in stereo?
Magical Realism In Radio
26 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Here's something you don't hear very often when talking about radio documentaries: magical realism. Producer David Weinberg talks about how he used ma...
Interviewing With Your Skeptical Brain
12 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Transom Story Workshop student Sally Helm talks with Rob Rosenthal about learning the value of being skeptical and pushing back during interviews. Als...
Frank Langfitt’s Unusual Voicing Method
29 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Reporter Frank Langfitt shares a surprising trick for sounding natural while narrating radio stories.
What’s Changed?: The Power Of Follow-Up Stories
16 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Put time to work for you. The power of follow-up stories.
More Buried Treasures: Two Student Stories
01 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Two excellent student stories from years ago prove that radio is the most visual medium.
The Biggest Story In The World
17 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The Guardian has proven that podcasts from newspapers can be ear-catching -- great sound design and narrative. Producer Francesca Panetta talks about ...
Small Is Beautiful
03 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Want to learn how to write an essay? Study "The Memory Palace." Nate DiMeo, the host, is my guest on HowSound.
Writing Out Of Tape
20 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Writing into tape is a necessity. Narration needs to lead to a quote. But, what about writing out of tape? Mose Buchele of KUT-FM in Austin has an unc...
Frustrated Artist Finds Way To Make Art
06 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Al Letson is fully dedicated to the journalistic work he produces at State of the Re:Union and Reveal, but deep down, he's still an artist. That's why...
Father Cares: The Last of Jonestown with Deb Amos and Noah Adams
22 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
NPR's Deborah Amos and Noah Adams recall their haunting, must-hear documentary from 1981 about mass suicide at "Jonestown," Guyana.
Buried Treasures: Four Student Pieces
08 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Rob digs into an archive of good stories, well told, and features four by his former students.
Story Dissection: Dead Animal Man
25 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Rob Rosenthal combs through Ira Glass's piece "Dead Animal Man" minute by minute pointing out all of its radio goodness.
Finding The Story When You Know Too Much
11 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
How do you find the story when know too much and have hours and hours of tape? Reporter Karen Duffin and Radiolab producer Kelsey Padgett trace the pa...
Producing Science Stories With A Scientist
28 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Producer Kerry Donahue pulls back the curtain on producing science stories with a scientist for PRX's podcast "Transistor."
Remixing The Music
14 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
HowSound's Rob Rosenthal remixes a story from Latino USA by producer Neena Pathak to reveal a different way to score a piece.
A Mom, A Transgender Daughter, And A Podcast
30 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Producer Marlo Mack on the impulse to pick up a microphone and record her transgender daughter for her podcast “How to Be a Girl.”
A Matter Of Ethics
16 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In 2008, student producer Jamie Yuenger recorded a remarkably private moment during a moose hunt. How she got that recording may cause you to raise yo...
Radio Luck And The Gift Of Character Change
02 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In a character driven story, producer Hillary Frank says the story will be more satisfying if the character changes, evolves. Hillary got "radio lucky...
Foils And Other First Person Tricks
19 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Neenah Ellis talks with Rob Rosenthal about her series "One Hundred Years of Stories" and she shares some of her tips for first-person stories.
The Path To Primary Care
05 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of HowSound, Rob Rosenthal talks with producer Karen Brown about her piece, "The Path to Primary Care: Who Will Be the Next Generation...
Radio Writing With Alex Chadwick
21 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
On this edition of HowSound, Alex Chadwick and Rob Rosenthal trade tips on writing for radio that new producers will find invaluable.
Concerning Breakfast
07 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
This week on HowSound, Rob Rosenthal shares one of his favorite pieces of all time, "Concerning Breakfast" produced by Annie Cheney and Jay Allison fo...
Death, Sex And Money With Anna Sale
24 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Anna Sale, the host of the podcast "Death, Sex and Money" talks with Rob Rosenthal in front of a live audience about the art of interviewing and getti...
Teenage Diaries Revisited: Melissa’s Story
10 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
This episode of HowSound features Joe Richman of Radio Diaries talking about his Third Coast Award winning piece, Teenage Diaries Revisited: Melissa's...
Reporting Dark Matters
24 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A live interview with 2014 Third Coast International Audio Festival Award winners, Luke Malone and Pat Walters.
Barf Draft With An iPhone
10 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Rob Rosenthal talks with producer Bradley Campbell about "barf drafts." A technique for producing radio stories that Bradley swears by. Especially whe...
Revisiting Criminal
27 Jan 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The podcast, “Criminal” has enjoyed a big jump in popularity. Rob Rosenthal talks with “Criminal’s” host Phoebe Judge about growth—how goo...
Burroughs at 100
13 Jan 2015
Contributed by Lukas
"Burroughs at 100" with Iggy Pop. What's not to like? A HowSound recorded live at the Third Coast International Audio Festival with award winning prod...
Australia!
30 Dec 2014
Contributed by Lukas
An Australian radio sampler with Julie Shapiro, Executive Producer for the Creative Radio Unit at Australian Public Broadcasting.
Here I Am And Here Be Danger
16 Dec 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Producer Annie McEwen talks about her award winning piece, "Here I Am and Here Be Danger."
Tandem
03 Dec 2014
Contributed by Lukas
On this HowSound, how a story about a skydiving accident nearly drove Anna Rose MacArthur away from radio and what brought her back.
Bionic Pancreas
19 Nov 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Rob Stein and Rebecca Davis reveal the backstory to their working relationship as reporter and producer.
Strangers
05 Nov 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Lea Thau, host of the "Strangers" podcast on podcasting, journalism, and turning the mic toward yourself.
Early Bloom
15 Oct 2014
Contributed by Lukas
On this edition, we follow the path from script to a produced story about plant communication with Peter Frick-Wright and Robbie Carver.
HowSound Live!
02 Oct 2014
Contributed by Lukas
A HowSound first: a live recording in front of an audience. The guest is Michael May who talks about his story "Death of a Bangalore Law Student."