In New England, Surfers Catch Waves Through the Chilly Winter (NPR News)
This brief report sits somewhere on this side of an audio postcard, but it’s really a report that captures some of the issues involving – and the draw of winter surfing in Maine. It’s worth noticing the importance of the narrator in telling the story, as well as the role/value of both the interviewees and other sonic elements. Here’s the link: New England Surfers.
Memories of Grandma Silvia (StoryCorps)
StoryCorps is a fascinating storytelling project. People come together, often with one person asking another person about some aspect of their life. The example here, with Ellaraino, is a little simpler in that it is simply narration. But we can also listen to the Intro, as well as the outro music. Pay attention to both of those as you listen for the STORY here. I could not embed the podcast right in the page, so here’s the link: Memories of Grandma Silvia
The Neighborhood (A Rumble Strip Episode)
The Rumble Strip is a podcast show by Erica Heilman. It is set in Vermont and really does a nice job putting listeners in the rhythms of that rural state. The Neighborhood is an audio “postcard from childhood,” as Heilman puts it. Notice that the version here includes an intro that reveals that she is revisiting an earlier version of the story. As you listen, pay attention to the different kinds of sounds, as well as the transitions/fades. I could not embed it on the page, so here’s the link: The Neighborhood.
Queens Memory Project: Intersection
An 2021 award-winning audio story featured at Third Coast’s International Audio Festival about two first responders in NYC during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. I can’t embed the podcast episode, so here’s the link: Intersection.
The Cathedral (on RadioLab)
Producer Sruthi Pinnamaneni tells the story of how Ryan and Amy stumble onto an unlikely way of processing their experience fighting alongside Joel: they decide to turn it into a video game. In the end, they find themselves facing what might be, for a game designer or a parent, the hardest design problem ever.
Simultaneous (from Deutschland Radio)
Pamela Z’s Award-winning sonic installation brings found sounds together to explore simultaneity, synchronicity, and more. Listen for the distinct voices, the tracks, the music, characteristic sound, more. I can’t embed it, so here’s the link: Simultaneous.
The Haunting Effects of Going Days Without Sleep (on Hidden Brain)
Decades ago, Randy Gardner stayed awake for 11 days. He broke a record in the process, but the teenage stunt has come back to haunt him. At 71, he offers wisdom about staying up past your bedtime.
So Chocolate Bar (By Erika Lantz, on Kind World, WBUR)
A story about Dylan, his friend Jonah, and a book Dylan wrote to help fund research into his friend’s rare liver disease.
Technology Untangled Trailer
A sample trailer that can help us listen for the story, the sonic elements, and more. What’s this podcast series going to be about anyway?
Time Bandit
From This American Life. Listen for the editing, the “layers” to the narration – performance, interview, contextual framing and narration – and the assorted other sonic elements. I was unable to easily “embed” the audio file in this page, so it’s a link to Third Coast International Audio Festival‘s website: Time Bandit