Sound School Podcast
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Sound School Podcast
The Backstory to Great Audio Storytelling, hosted by Rob Rosenthal, for Transom and PRX.
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Revisiting: Fill Your Notebook with Color Notes
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
"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
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
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
"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
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 but...
Asking Dad Dicey Questions
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
"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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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)
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
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
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
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"
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
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
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
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 Dani...
Fingers Crossed, Twice
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
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
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
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?
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
"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?
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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?
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 Jess...
Introducing Sound Judgment
Deadlines, production meetings, staff management, show scheduling... in any given day, there's rarely time to pause and consider the craft of audio st...