How Sound

Susan Anarino and her tiny but mighty ukulele on Cape Cod. (Photo by Joanna Solotaroff.) r Joanna Solotaroff was a student of mine at the Transom Story Workshop this spring. When Joanna said she wanted to do a story on a Ukulele Orchestra I thought to myself "Yeah, whatever. Go for it. It's your first piece. Make what you can. I'm sure it will be good but not something to write home about given the subject." Well, little did I know Joanna would put together a piece that captures the feelings of life lived every day, what Washington Post reporter Walter Harrington refers to as "intimate journalism." Harrington writes "... to most journalists honored with the job of remembering the stories of the tribe, (the) momentous events of everyday life are virtually invisible. To most American journalists, such events are akin to the dark and unknown matter believed to make up 90% of the universe: We keep reporting the movement of the planets when the big news is the unseen matter in which they spin.... In the language of the craft, we’re missing the story." Joanna didn't miss the story. Not only is her story something to write home about, it's something to podcast about. Have a listen Joanna's first radio story ever, "Mighty Tiny." Best, Rob PS - The Transom Story Workshop is accepting applications for the Fall of 2012.  

Studs Terkel being Studs. (Photographer, unknown.) Today, HowSound marks the 100th birthday of Studs Terkel -- America's interviewer. Who didn't Studs interview?! He chronicled the life of 20th century America from the ground up in books like Working, Race, and The Good War. Syd Lewis worked with Studs for a good twenty-five years. Syd's an oral historian in her own right and has published several books. On this HowSound I chat with Syd about Studs and we feature an excerpt from her hour-long documentary "Working With Studs," produced by Atlantic Public Media. You can hear the entire documentary at PRX. And, speaking of PRX, you can find a slew of programs about Studs there. Listen to all of 'em. Why not? He listened to all of us. Happy Birthday Studs!  

  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 the folks at This American Life. Last January, This American Life aired a program called "Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory." It featured the story of actor Mike Daisey who traveled to China to see, first hand, work conditions for employees at Foxconn, a manufacturer of components for Apple computers. Two months later, TAL aired an hour-long retraction of that story. In short, TAL failed to fully check Daisey's account of what he claimed he saw in China. As part of the retraction, they pinpointed Daisey's fabrications and apologized. To be clear, Daisey's assertions about the conditions at the plant are accurate. His personal story wasn't. And that, in turn, calls into question the veracity of everything he said. It also raises the question: What is fact checking? On this edition of HowSound, no story. Instead, I speak with long-time journalist John Dinges. John teaches at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism where he's the head of the radio department. John also worked at NPR for many years serving as Deputy Foreign Editor and the Managing Editor for News. Let's just say John knows his way around fact checking. For more reading on the subject of fact checking, John recommends The Elements of Journalism by Kovach and Rosenstiel. And, I've cobbled together several articles and programs about the TAL/Daisey dust-up. It's not an exhaustive list, but it should flesh out the details of what happened. Brian Lehrer Show On the Media National Public Radio Poynter Institute Another from  Poynter Nieman Labs The Atlantic Monthly The National Review Current And this from Science 2.0. It's slightly off topic but still enlightening.   Study up. There's a test on Monday. Best, Rob

Katie Klocksin on the hunt for the weird. Last fall, Australian radio host Richard Fidler visited the radio class I teach -- The Transom Story Workshop. Richard repeatedly said to the class "Go for the weird." Katie Klocksin got the message. Katie was a student at the workshop and she produced a story on what just might be the weirdest building on Cape Cod -- a geodesic dome built by Buckminster Fuller. Listen to Katie's story, "Bucky's Dome" on this edition of HowSound. And, if you're interested in learning how to produce radio, the Transom Story Workshop is currently accepting applications for the Fall of 2012. Come to Cape Cod, find something weird, then make a story about it. Cheers, Rob

Brian Reed -- with tape rolling -- wades into a lagoon on Kirabati to learn how high the sea has risen. (Photo by Claire Anterea) Brian Reed has a knack for visual radio. Brian employs, with great effect, the old writing maxim "show, don't tell." On this HowSound, we listen to clips from Brian's work that exemplify solid visual storytelling for radio -- walking waste deep in ocean water for Climate Change and Faith Collide in Kiribati; recording a man in a wheel chair in a parking lot that doesn't comply with the American With Disabilities Act for This American Life; putting bad tape to work to create visuals in an economics story; and some good-ole-fashion "shoe leather reporting" that yielded an excellent example of "show, don't tell" for a piece on police lay-offs in Newark, New Jersey. Have a look.... I mean.... Have a listen. Best, Rob PS -- FYI, Brian's a producer for This American Life. He got his start in radio through fellowships at NPR -- The Kroc Fellowship and the Above the Fray Fellowship.

John Gallagher (l) and Cedric Chambers at their "everything-must-go" yard sale in Machias, Maine, in 2007. (Photo by Jenny Calivas.) r Jen Nathan produced "A Square Meal, Regardless" in 2007 and she's been reeling from the experience ever since. So much so that she didn't want to be interviewed when I featured this story last year. "A Square Meal, Regardless" follows the last days of John Gallagher with his caring friend Cedric Chambers. John is dying of cancer and Cedric radically changed his life to take care of him. Throughout the weeks John and Cedric are together, Jen recorded interviews and documented their daily lives. She says being there -- a stranger with a microphone -- felt uncomfortable at minimum and morally wrong at worst. She thinks of it as trespassing on an incredibly private moment especially since John and Cedric were uneasy about her visits. For years, she was haunted by documenting this story.  Only recently has she come to terms with it. I'm very thankful she agreed to speak with me for HowSound. Please have a listen to this remarkable story -- one of my favorites from the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. Then tell us about times you felt uneasy about your work. Best, Rob

  I just listened to a slew of “Hmmm….”, Robert Krulwich’s science podcast for NPR. I couldn’t stop listening. One, then another, then another.  If the phrase for a good book is “page turner,” Robert’s podcasts are a “click-wheel turner.” The same goes for Radiolab, the science program from WNYC that Robert co-hosts with Jad Abumrad. I’m like a gerbil looking for the next pellet. Wheel-turn, click. Wheel-turn, click. Robert’s stories are always ear-catching and dramatic whether they're on radio, television, or in person at conferences. He practically forces you to want to know what happens next. How the heck does he do that?! So, I asked him. On this edition of HowSound, Robert talks about drama, narrative voice, and the day gorilla cages changed forever. Think of it as a Master Class on storytelling, and Robert’s clearly the master. Cheers, Rob    

Whitney Jones r Radio stories usually aren't very complicated. Generally speaking, you can probably place stories into two categories. The first is the argument story -- these people say this, these other people disagree. The second is the narrative story -- the piece is organized chronologically as a sequence of events. (To be sure, I'm painting with a broad brush.) Whitney Jones produced a somewhat different story last fall while he was at the Transom Story Workshop where I teach. His story "Leaving" falls in the "narrative story" category but instead of one single sequence of events, "Leaving" follows two -- a parallel narrative. That's unusual. The reason you don't hear parallel narratives on the radio too often is because they're complex. They require more attention from a listener who, typically, is doing something else while they listen. So, in recognition of that, producers and editors tend to simplify. That's smart. But, if the writer pays close attention to keeping the two separate narratives clear and simple then brings them together in the end in a satisfying manner, I think a parallel narrative can work on the radio and I'd like to hear more of them. Definitely, Whitney's parallel narrative works and works well. But you should weigh in. Have listen and post your thoughts. Cheers, Rob

  Once you've finished producing a story, what are you supposed to do with all the tape? Just let it sit on a shelf? Some producers will re-purpose their interviews -- turn them into a print piece or maybe fashion a new radio story. Producers Kara Oehler and Ann Heppermann, along with Jason Cady, a composer, created something very different. They re-purposed tape and made sound art. I'm sure someone's done that before, but, frankly, I can't think of it. The piece they produced is "Chorus of Refuge" and it's a song comprised of interviews collected for Ann and Kara's series on Weekend America called "One Thing." Originally, "Chorus of Refuge" was intended for museum installations where six radios played six interviews broadcast from six transmitters all at once. HowSound doesn't have six-channel surround sound so we're featuring the stereo mix -- just two channels, left and right. During a recent interview, Ann and Jason cited a handful of creative influences that inspired "Chorus of Refuge" most notably the groundbreaking radio documentary from Glenn Gould, "The Idea of North." Ann also named sound artist Janet Cardiff while Jason says he had Renaissance music like Palestrina: Missa Papae Marcelli, Gloria in mind as well as the poetry of Jackson Mac Low and Emmett Williams, both of whom wrote poems to be read by two or more people simultaneously. So, be prepared. This HowSound will stretch your ears. That's a good thing! Best Rob

Kelly McEvers   Kelly McEvers is a mic-slinger. Draws from the hip. Records with precision. Not afraid. (Okay, maybe a little bit afraid.) Kelly is NPR's Baghdad correspondent but, lately, she reports from throughout the Middle East -- especially the countries where the revolutions aren't working, as she puts it. On this HowSound, Kelly is unabashed about her apparent adrenaline addiction, her critique of the NPR sound, and her approach to mic-slinging radio stories. To show you what I mean by "mic-slinger," I feature a piece she produced for Working, a Marketplace series produced by Homelands Productions. The story is about pirates -- dudes with machetes who rob cargo ships in Indonesia. Have a listen and you'll agree -- her nickname should be "Mic-slinger." Best, Rob  

Radio storytelling is an excellent teaching tool for young people in practically any classroom. It builds skills in writing, research, public speaking, interviewing, interpersonal communication, time management, information management, media literacy... shall I go on? Brian Spilbeler gets this. He teaches radio at Carmel High School in Carmel, Indiana, just north of Indianapolis. He's also the manager of the the school's radio station, WHJE. Brian's students produce all kinds of radio including public radio-style commentaries and features. In addition to all the life and learning skills provided by radio storytelling, Brian says radio helps young people find their voice, literally and figuratively, which is important for personal development. One of the better pieces to come out of his program is "Different, Not Disabled" by Ian Kathen, who is now a senior at the school. We're featuring Ian's story on this edition of HowSound along with a short primer on youth radio with Brian and Jones Franzel, the Director of Generation PRX, an initiative to support youth produced radio. I hope you'll be inspired to check out more youth radio after listening to the podcast: Youth Radio Blunt Youth Radio Radio Rookies Stories at PRX tagged "youth-produced" Youthcast, a PRX podcast featuring youth radio stories Here's to your happy ears! Best, Rob  

r 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. There's everything to like about the podcast. Each episode makes visible some "in-broad-daylight-but-you-never-noticed-it-until-this-podcast" element of architecture and design. If you're not curious about the built environment -- which is just about everything from escalators to the pyramids  -- then listen to this instead. On this edition of HowSound, Roman talks about a bit about the design of the podcast and podcasting writ large. I should mention, too, Roman's other major audio endeavor, Public Radio Remix. It's a montage of ear candy produced for PRX -- documentaries, sound art, features, podcasts, aural treasures.... Roman's the DJ, if you will. Happy listening! Rob

r Hillary Frank launched a decade-long career in radio with an answering machine as a tape recorder. In college, Hillary was dead-set on getting a story on This American Life. The fact that she had no radio experience what-so-ever didn't matter. She just made a story and sent it in. But, instead of a professional mic and recorder, she used the built in mic on an answering machine and then edited on a boom box cassette player. Really. Eventually, Hillary worked at This American Life and half-a-dozen other radio programs. Now, she's harnessed the creative spark again, this time with a podcast -- The Longest, Shortest Time. On this HowSound, Hillary talks about inspiration, podcasting, and motherhood. Cheers, Rob

r 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 every time she talks, she says something amazing. In radio parlance, she 'spits tape.' But, there's no story. You pull out all the stops trying cull out a story by interviewing and spending time with the woman and her animals. Nothing works. All you're left with is a bunch of great tape and no clear way to organize it -- no story. What do you do? In short, that's what happened to producer Joel Supple. This fall, Joel attended the Transom Story Workshop to learn the craft of radio storytelling. While she was there..... I guess I should probably say "here" not "there" since I taught the workshop..... so..... While she was here, Joel stumbled upon Veronica Worthington and her menagerie in West Dennis on Cape Cod. Joel spent a few hours with Veronica and collected a ton of great tape but..... no story. On this HowSound we feature to Joel's piece -- her first ever  -- and I talk about solving the conundrum: How do you produce a story when there is no story? Happy Listening, Rob PS - Transom.org is running another workshop in April and May of 2012.

r http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUlWpqLsOVs   Listen to the audio in this video. It's perfect for radio. With some clever editing, narration, and other content such as interviews with survivors of the crash, you could easily turn this into a radio story. Why doesn't that happen more often? The 20th century was captured in sound. Why aren't there more radio stories featuring archive audio -- oral histories, news reels, odd bits of audio flotsam? It seems like an obvious source of content and story ideas, doesn't it? Fortunately, producer Joe Richman understands the power and pleasure of storytelling with archive tape. On this edition of HowSound, we feature Joe's radio story about the historic crash of a B-52 bomber into the Empire State Building -- the video alchemized for radio. Joe's not alone, of course, but the field of producers using archive tape isn't crowded. American Radio Works comes to mind. So, too, does Lost and Found Sound by the Kitchen Sisters. And, there's Talking History, a radio program produced at the State University of New York at Albany. Anybody I've missed? Now, you producers, go mine those archives! Cheers, Rob r