Sound School Podcast

A recent episode of "99% Invisible" employed a dramatic recreation to bring the past to life. Producers Alex Goldman and Sam Greenspan explain how they did it.

Producer Matt Kielty wonders about "objectification" and advancing a career reporting on the suffering of others.

Capital Public Radio's Catherine Stifter and jesikah maria ross (no caps) are tasked with changing the sound of the station's documentary unit.

New producers Conor Gillies and Zack Ezor get it right, right out of the gate with their documentary "Stylus" on music and sound.

Interviewing traumatized people is no easy task. Zach Hirsch, a radio producer, and Bruce Shapiro, Director of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, offer suggestions for treating victims with respect.

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, you might not want to listen.

Nick van der Kolk on "auteurship" and the incredibly unique sound of the "Love + Radio" podcast.

"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. The prison warden and staff of a prison in Texas recount their experiences and the process of putting people to death in Texas.

Lilly Sullivan relates the curious tale of "52 Hertz," the whale who sings at the "wrong" frequency.

Reporter Sasha Aslanian on balanced reporting during Minnesota's gay marriage debate.

Happy Birthday to Teenage Diaries! To mark the occasion and the production of five updated stories, HowSound features a story dissection with producer Joe Richman recorded in 2009.

A tip for figuring out your top-ten radio documentaries: Start with "The Vietnam Tapes of Lance Corporal Michael A. Baronowski" by Christina Egloff with Jay Allison.

Headed out to report in a faraway place? Dan Grossman says "Be prepared." Dan shares intriguing sounds and important field preparation tips on this HowSound.

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 on napkins (really) and we dissect his drawings.

International reporting is an order of magnitude more challenging than local reporting. Producers Sarah Partnow & Sarah Stuteville talk about the travails of overseas reporting in the former Soviet Union for their latest doc, Generation Putin.