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The Backstory to Great Radio Storytelling
Almost every reporting trip has its pitfalls. Andrew Leland's story for Radiolab in 2022 had more than most including nausea, flying in the...
You could describe it as a long walk. Or a climb up a hill. But, it seems like Salman Khan's path to launching a new podcast was more like a...
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 stori...
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. P...
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...
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 "Ye...
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...
Twenty-one year old reporter Kabir Jagram says young men in South Africa are stoic. Holding back emotions is a survival mechanism in a count...
We're starting the new year with an antidote to 2025 -- two episodes featuring inspiring early-career producers. On this episode, 28-year-ol...
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...
If you're just beginning in audio storytelling or have some experience under your belt, you could toil alone making and making and making st...
When you limit language, you limit thinking. When you limit thinking, you limit creativity. When you limit creativity, audio storytellers wi...
Audio reporter Samantha Broun says young people are "full of life, complicated, passionate, confused, and they want to talk and want to be h...
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 o...
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 h...
In this archive episode from 2018, legendary NPR reporter and raconteur John Burnett answers a perplexing question "How to make an immigrati...
"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...
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 nev...
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...
"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 fr...
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 ta...
Zach Mack really put it to his father. For "Alternate Realities," a series from NPR's "Embedded" podcast, Zach asked his dad pointed questio...
"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 drink...
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 w...
There's a reason why serialized podcast episodes often start with "Last time on (insert name of podcast)" followed by a montage of quotes. I...
A dear friend of Transom and all creative audio producers passed way last month -- Larry Massett. This episode of Sound School joins the cho...
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 st...
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 --...
Take a short walk into deep radio history. Julia Barton and Sarah Montague join Rob to talk about two audio storytelling classics from the 1...
The best way -- sometimes the *only* way -- to describe an element in a story that is disruptive and distracting for listeners is this: chic...
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...
Chenjerai Kumanyika delivered the goods. Rob interviewed Chenjerai on stage at the recent On Air Fest where Chenjraie was passionate, animat...
Just recently, Hillary Frank relaunched her popular podcast The Longest Shortest Time . This archive episode takes us back to Hillary's earl...
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 ans...
Nichole Hill pitched her show idea again and again. And, again and again, podcast companies said "no." But, that didn't stop Nichole. She sa...
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...
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 s...
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...
Nothing seems guaranteed these days for creative audio makers. "Short Cuts" was recently cancelled and "Pretendians" is seeking funding for...
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 forme...
The story from Slovenia on this episode of Sound School is hyper-local -- so local, you might not catch all the cultural references. But, th...
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 s...
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 req...
"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 ask...
We tell stories in sound for many, many reasons. For our listener's hearts and minds. For community. For self-expression. For the democracy....
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, th...
Patient privacy in medical settings is essential. So, how does a reporter convince a facility to let them in with a microphone and assure an...
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...
David Weinberg pulls off a real radio feat mixing fantasy and reality in his documentary called "Grace of the Sea." In this archive episode,...
Rob plays "Story DJ" on this episode "spinning" excerpts from several excellent stories you'll definitely want to hear. It's an audio field...