Sound School Podcast
Episodes
Compassionate Release
17 Sep 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Natasha Haverty talks about her path from reporting on dairy princess pageants to award-winning investigative stories on prisons for North Country Pub...
The Hitchhiker
03 Sep 2014
Contributed by Lukas
On this HowSound, Scott Carrier, Alex Chadwick, and the legendary story behind Scott's first radio piece "The Hitchhiker," produced in 1983.
Hard To Say
27 Aug 2014
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode, a 2004 "Best New Producer" award-winner from Third Coast and a real tearjerker produced by Bente Birkeland.
Set the Wayback Machine for 1914
06 Aug 2014
Contributed by Lukas
The staff at Studio 360 dissects the production, writing, and voicing of their recent broadcast from 1914.
3rd Grade Audio
23 Jul 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Stories about drawing, getting old, stuffed animals, and what to do when you get a magnet stuck up your nose. It must be David Green's "Third Grade Au...
Five Things
09 Jul 2014
Contributed by Lukas
If I had to pick a story for a "Top Ten Favorite Student Features," "Five Things" by Matt Largey would be one of them because of the incredible intima...
Walking with the Voses
25 Jun 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Producer Jakob Lewis on "parachuting in" to produce a story about a funeral and a grieving family.
Love Is A Battlefield
11 Jun 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Interviewing tricks and tips from NPR science reporter Alix Spiegel. You'll want to take notes.
Look At Me, Did I Find True Love?
28 May 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Transom Story Workshop student, Alex Kapelman, with the story of a drummer with a hook for a hand and a 50-year old rock and roll mystery.
Criminal
14 May 2014
Contributed by Lukas
The new podcast "Criminal," is well worth a listen. Find out what it's all about from the program's host, Phoebe Judge.
Risky Reporting at Fukushima
24 Apr 2014
Contributed by Lukas
NPR foreign correspondent Anthony Kuhn on the risks involved reporting at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
Typewriters Are Unpleasant
09 Apr 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Raphael of Rabbit Ears Audio talks sound effects recording: winter scenes, rockets, cityscapes, and the soul destroying typewriter.
Getting Honest: The Editor, Producer Relationship
26 Mar 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Producer Will Coley and editor Viki Merrick offer HowSound listeners a gift by talking about their editorial process, a working relationship that is u...
Baking Tape
12 Mar 2014
Contributed by Lukas
A painful reminiscence about preserving old reel-to-reel tapes by baking them. No, that's not a typo. Baking.
To Scene or Not To Scene
26 Feb 2014
Contributed by Lukas
NPR's legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg finds on-scene narration canned and phoney and she says ambient sound often gets in the way of a stor...
Dear Birth Mother
12 Feb 2014
Contributed by Lukas
On this edition of HowSound, a 2005 Third Coast Festival award-winner from Long Haul Productions about a transracial adoption.
Recording Not By The Book
29 Jan 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Tight budgets, technological advances, and the impulse to experiment are leading some producers to record "not by the book." Does it work?
The Hospital Always Wins
16 Jan 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Laura Starecheski should win a radio endurance award. Laura tells the story of her decade -- ten years! -- of research and production on "The Hospital...
Hark! The Acoustic World of Elizabethan England
02 Jan 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Three radio greats -- Chris Brookes, Paolo Pietropaolo, and Alan Hall -- explore the sound of England 400 years ago along with our modern soundscape.
The Last of the Iron Lungs
18 Dec 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Julia Scott says "participant observation" is a valuable reporting tool, even if it means climbing into an "iron lung" which looks like something only...
The New New Sheriff in Town
04 Dec 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Headphones are mandatory for this episode of HowSound. Kathy Tu's second radio story ever will set your ears ablaze.
Just Plumb Gone
20 Nov 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Mary Helen Miller encourages station-based producers to "Sneak out the back door with the tape recorder and make something good."
The Elusive Digital Stradivarius
06 Nov 2013
Contributed by Lukas
David Schulman usually produces non-narrated stories on music. Recently, he stepped out of his usual style to produce a narrated science story focused...
This Story May Be Recorded… To Save Your Life
24 Oct 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Yowei Shaw amassed 325 pages of transcripts for her This American Life story on Eritrean hostages and the reporter who uncovered the story. And that w...
Hafid is Free
09 Oct 2013
Contributed by Lukas
"Hafid is Free" is a solid example of what a story needs when it doesn't have a narrative hook.
Heyoon
25 Sep 2013
Contributed by Lukas
A recent episode of "99% Invisible" employed a dramatic recreation to bring the past to life. Producers Alex Goldman and Sam Greenspan explain how the...
Nodding Syndrome
11 Sep 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Producer Matt Kielty wonders about "objectification" and advancing a career reporting on the suffering of others.
Autism Grows Up
28 Aug 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Capital Public Radio's Catherine Stifter and jesikah maria ross (no caps) are tasked with changing the sound of the station's documentary unit.
Stylus
14 Aug 2013
Contributed by Lukas
New producers Conor Gillies and Zack Ezor get it right, right out of the gate with their documentary "Stylus" on music and sound.
Reporting Trauma After the Boston Marathon
31 Jul 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Interviewing traumatized people is no easy task. Zach Hirsch, a radio producer, and Bruce Shapiro, Director of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trau...
Just Another Fish Story
17 Jul 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Molly Menschel's radio story about a beached whale in Lubec, Maine is so good, you'll be jealous of her storytelling and production skills. In fact, y...
Love + Radio
03 Jul 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Nick van der Kolk on "auteurship" and the incredibly unique sound of the "Love + Radio" podcast.
Witness to an Execution
20 Jun 2013
Contributed by Lukas
"Witness to an Execution," another addition to my Top 10 list of radio documentaries. "Witness" was produced by Stacy Abromson and Dave Isay in 2000. ...
52hz
05 Jun 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Lilly Sullivan relates the curious tale of "52 Hertz," the whale who sings at the "wrong" frequency.
Balance and The Minnesota Marriage Amendment
22 May 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Reporter Sasha Aslanian on balanced reporting during Minnesota's gay marriage debate.
Josh: Growing Up With Tourette’s
08 May 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Happy Birthday to Teenage Diaries! To mark the occasion and the production of five updated stories, HowSound features a story dissection with producer...
The Vietnam Tapes of Lance Corporal Michael A. Baronowski
24 Apr 2013
Contributed by Lukas
A tip for figuring out your top ten radio documentaries: Start with "The Vietnam Tapes of Lance Corporal Michael A. Baronowski" by Christina Egloff wi...
Recording in Remote Locations
10 Apr 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Headed out to report in a faraway place? Dan Grossman says "Be prepared." Dan shares intriguing sounds and important field preparation tips on this Ho...
My Kingdom For Some Structure
27 Mar 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Producer Bradley Campbell says story structure is a like a map, it shows you were to go. For this episode of HowSound, Bradley drew story structures o...
Generation Putin
13 Mar 2013
Contributed by Lukas
International reporting is an order of magnitude more challenging than local reporting. Producers Sarah Partnow & Sarah Stuteville talk about the ...
What If There Was No Destiny?
27 Feb 2013
Contributed by Lukas
If only there was a quadratic equation for ethics, right? Plug in the variables and the equation spits out the answers. No such luck which means we've...
Curious City
13 Feb 2013
Contributed by Lukas
"Curious City" loves the local. Hear how this project at WBEZ brings listeners into the making of radio and on-line content.
Three Records from Sundown
30 Jan 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Producer Charles Maynes crafted the perfect tone for his documentary on singer Nick Drake called "Three Records from Sundown." It's almost as though D...
Tiny Spark
16 Jan 2013
Contributed by Lukas
"Tiny Spark" is an impressive new podcast from Amy Costello. Amy produces in-depth investigative stories about non-profits and foundations.
The Tale of Lot 180
02 Jan 2013
Contributed by Lukas
WLRN reporter Kenny Malone offers his strategy for creative storytelling: a clever central question, story motion, and place. This episode features Ke...
‘Til Death Do Us Part
19 Dec 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Producers Sara Archambault and Heather Radke talk about how they responded when characters in stories they produced died.
Dear Craigslist: I Have A Small Swastika Tattoo and I Want It Off
05 Dec 2012
Contributed by Lukas
On the radio, why don't we hear more conversations with interesting people? Emily Hsiao's radio story, "Leaving A Mark," is just that. You'll want to ...
The Burning Question
21 Nov 2012
Contributed by Lukas
The interview may be the core of what we do as radio producers. Who better to talk about interviewing than Audie Cornish who says she conducts fifteen...
Jad’s Brain
07 Nov 2012
Contributed by Lukas
We're goin' in! Grab your earbuds and don your spelunking light. Our destination? Jad Abumrad's brain. Jad's a co-host and the producer of Radiolab, a...
The Seance
25 Oct 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Boo! Here's your Halloween edition of HowSound featuring "The Seance" by Bob Carlson.
The Green Lawns of Texas
10 Oct 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Avoiding the pitfalls of "parachute journalism" with Marketplace reporter Krissy Clark.
A Trip to the Dentist
26 Sep 2012
Contributed by Lukas
You'll probably get dizzy listening to "A Trip to the Dentist," a legendary, psychedelic story from Larry Massett.
Alleged Illegal Searches
12 Sep 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Criminal justice reporter Ailsa Chang on her duPont-Columbia award winning story for WNYC.
Passing Stranger: The East Village Poetry Walk
05 Sep 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Pejk Malinovksy on producing audio tours including Passing Stranger: The East Village Poetry Walk
She Sees Your Every Move
22 Aug 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Finally. A LONG overdue HowSound on scoring --- using music in a story. I dissect Jonathan Mitchell's use of scoring in his provocative story "She See...
Dissecting Joanne Rosser, Papermaker
08 Aug 2012
Contributed by Lukas
I hope you're not squeamish. On this HowSound, I take a scalpel to a profile on papermaker Joanne Rosser. Let's peel back the surface of the story to ...
One Species at a Time
25 Jul 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Imagine spending 5 years working on your PhD studying killer whale vocalization. Then imagine deciding you don’t want to be an ocean biologist. That...
The Secret
11 Jul 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Initially, "The Secret" by Carma Jolly seems like it might be a story about Carma's brother and his near-death experience. Then, suddenly, story takes...
Stand-Ups
27 Jun 2012
Contributed by Lukas
If NPR reporter Robert Smith isn't the king of the stand-up, he surely is the prince. Robert lays out his methodology for solid stand-ups.
Two Cape Cods
13 Jun 2012
Contributed by Lukas
A few years ago, right around the time newspaper readership plummeted and papers shut-down one after another, Reporter Sean Corcoran left newspaper re...
The Gift That Was Brought To Us
30 May 2012
Contributed by Lukas
There's a compelling story to be found in every day life, even a ukulele orchestra.
Happy Birthday Studs!
16 May 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Studs Terkel, America's interviewer, would be 100 today! Happy Birthday Studs!! Syd Lewis worked with Studs for a 25 years. I chat with Syd about Stud...
Fact Check This
02 May 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Seek the truth and report it. That's the core of journalism. But the truth needs to be checked -- fact checked. And when you don't.....well, just ask ...
Krulwich on Gorilla Cage Drama
07 Mar 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Robert Krulwich's stories are always ear-catching and dramatic whether they're on radio, television, or in person at conferences. He practically force...
A Dual Narrative
22 Feb 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Radio stories usually aren't very complicated. Generally, you can place stories into two categories--the argument story and the narrative story. Whitn...
Chorus of Refuge
08 Feb 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Once you've finished producing a story, what are you supposed to do with all the tape? Just let it sit on a shelf? This HowSound will stretch your ear...
The Pirate
25 Jan 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Kelly McEvers is a mic-slinger. Draws from the hip. Records with precision. Not afraid. (Okay, maybe a little afraid.) On this HowSound, she is unabas...
Different, Not Disabled
11 Jan 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Radio storytelling is an excellent teaching tool for young people in practically any classroom. Here's a quick primer on youth radio and a commentary ...
99% Invisible
28 Dec 2011
Contributed by Lukas
99% Invisible is my new favorite podcast. A little bit RadioLab, a touch of This American Life, and a lot of Roman Mars, the producer. Roman talks abo...
The Longest, Shortest Time
14 Dec 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Hillary Frank launched a decade-long career in radio with an answering machine as a tape recorder. Hillary talks about microcassettes, boomboxes, podc...
A No Story Story
30 Nov 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Imagine this: You've met a total character. She's kind of eccentric. She has forty-one animals in her backyard and it's not a farm. And, just about ev...
The Plane That Flew Into the Empire State Building
16 Nov 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Listen to the audio in this video. It's perfect for radio. With some editing, narration, & other content, you could easily turn this into a radio ...
Kohn
02 Nov 2011
Contributed by Lukas
There seems to be a trend afoot in documentary radio -- working directly with musicians to compose music for a story. Andy Mills won "Best New Artist"...
Edward Stephenson, Tobacco Auctioneer
19 Oct 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Keys to good storytelling: strong, simple writing; solid voicing; professional recording & mixing; compelling characters; a seductive narrative; v...
Seizure’s Lament
05 Oct 2011
Contributed by Lukas
The Third Coast International Audio Festival is 3 days of ear candy. On this HowSound, I present one of the stories featured at this year's Filmless F...
The Natural State
22 Sep 2011
Contributed by Lukas
It's good to hear constructive (and, sometimes, not-so-constructive) feedback. However, a LOT of criticism, especially if it's pointed, well....is har...
Inner-City Reality Check
07 Sep 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Katie Davis doesn't look very far for the stories she produces. In fact, they often come to her.... on her front porch. We feature Katie's essay produ...
The Five Percent Rule
24 Aug 2011
Contributed by Lukas
The amount of effort Sally Herships put into her first investigative journalism piece….. well, it’s enough to drive you to smoke! “The Five Perc...
Fighting With My Dad
10 Aug 2011
Contributed by Lukas
"I can’t think of anything more fraught than doing a story that explores intimate things about your relationship with your parents." On this HowSoun...
Four Feet Under
26 Jul 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Here it is, the first HowSound, the backstory to great radio storytelling. We kick things off in a graveyard -- hopefully, that's not foreshadowing! P...