2022-05-31 Elegy in Water For Scott Foley, In Memoriam 1. I see the boys of summer in their ruin. — Dylan Thomas __________ Back for Scott’s funeral, my memories of him rattle loose. Like these strip mall-gutters overrun with rain. Once, when we were kids, we …›
2022-05-24 You might think, after so many years working in radio and podcasting, I might not be “wowed” by all the effort producers put into making their stories sound perfect. You’d be wrong. My mind is blown time and again — just like it was when Hi …›
2022-05-17 Introduction I’m writing to y’all from my back porch in North Carolina. It’s finally warm enough that I can do one of my favorite things — drink my morning coffee on the back porch while looking at my little garden… It sou …›
2022-05-10 For years, semester after semester, while teaching at Transom and at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies, on the first day of class we’d listen to “Tony Schwartz: 30,000 Recordings Later” by The Kitchens Sisters. Why? In short, to knoc …›
2022-05-03 Introduction The world of “3D” or spatial audio is still unfamiliar to many, but to audio producers it’s a compelling area to explore — intriguing, and at times confusing; the landscape is constantly shifting as new spatial tools and technologi …›
2022-04-26 I find random sound effects in stories aggravating. (Insert sound of an irritated, roaring lion.) They’re a distraction. They add no value. And, frankly, I think they infantilize the audience. (Insert sound of a child cooing.) Rather than simply rant …›
2022-04-19 Introduction Hi, y’all! Welcome back to Starting Out with me and Transom. I’m so excited to share this interview with Chris Stedman, host and writer of Unread. It’s a really special show that I’m so glad was made. Unread is a s …›
2022-04-12 Back when he was just starting out, Bradley Campbell, a former student of mine, was jonesing to understand story structure. He figured if he could just decipher the structure of stories, he’d have the keys to the city. Bradley figured he knew all the …›
2022-03-22 Introduction Hey y’all! Welcome back to Starting Out from me and Transom! If you’re new to the newsletter, here’s what you can expect: a collection of job postings for early career positions, resource guides on common issues (ho …›
2022-03-17 Self-doubt is healthy, and so are emotions! On those wonderful occasions when I have the opportunity to speak with students, there’s one question that I can almost always count on: When you’re reporting on the awful things that happen to other peop …›
2022-03-15 Angela Evancie says journalism is witnessing the decline of local news, especially in the world of newspapers. To make matters worse for journalism, Angela says we’re also experiencing unprecedented skepticism and animosity toward journalism, reporte …›
2022-03-08 Trust, Reporting, and the Urban-Rural Divide It’s morning in camp and the Elzinga sisters are saddling up their horses and getting ready for another long day on horseback. They’ll be herding several hundred head of cattle through thick timber, up m …›
2022-02-22 The release of the Rodecaster Pro marked a pivotal moment in audio production. It is a small audio mixer with integrated vocal processing, two ways to integrate cell phone audio or web meeting audio, multiple headphone outputs and big pads for triggeri …›
2022-02-21 "We're trying to get inside the minds of most Americans in terms of how they now view the systems that return a democratically elected government." …›
2022-02-16 “If you think about it, the leaves grow in silence. Grass grows in silence. Flowers grow in silence. The stars come out in silence. . . ” Virginia Phillips lists those silent things at the beginning of Silence Among Friends. It’s a story about si …›
2022-02-15 Download a transcript of this episode here. So what are we going to do, audio producers? What are we going to do to make our work fresh and sonically interesting? I ask because I’m flummoxed by the homogeneity of audio storytelling these days. Podcas …›
2022-02-08 Back in 2018, I shared a bunch of my story-finding tricks in an effort to help demystify the process. A lot of people seemed to find it helpful. I often get emails about it. So in that same spirit, here are ten more tricks, surefire ways to …›
2022-02-01 Download a transcript of this episode here. A few episodes ago, I took an iHeartMedia podcast to task because the 1-minute trailer and the 1-minute opening to its first episode were exactly the same. No difference. If the listener started with the trai …›
2022-01-18 Download a transcript of this episode here. Aviva DeKornfeld says there’s just not enough satisfying reporting on climate grief — especially stories of young people experiencing climate grief. So, when she discovered a climate activist-leaning …›
2022-01-13 Hiya! Welcome back to Starting Out from me and Transom! Just a quick bit of business: there won’t be a newsletter next month, so that I can focus on prepping the next set of issues for you. I’ll make sure to tweet out any job postings that I …›
2022-01-04 Download a transcript of this episode here. Last I heard, there are two million podcasts — two million! On one hand, that’s amazing. So many people picking up microphones and saying what they want to say. Frankly, I think that’s healthy for t …›
2021-12-30 TRANSOM: “TRAN-sum” A small hinged window above a door, allowing light and ventilation into hallways of older buildings. At magazine and newspaper offices, unsolicited manuscripts were submitted “over the transom.” A YEAR-END RE …›
2021-12-21 Erica Heilman’s story “Finn and the Bell” is the best I’ve heard all year. Yes. It’s that good. The documentary tells the story of Finn Rooney, a young man who was a volunteer fireman and a poet and a baseball player and, as one friend put it …›
2021-12-14 Last Minute Gift Guide Here are some gift ideas from the Transom crew: items we’d give audio producers we know, or that we’ve had our eyes on for ourselves. We’ve included a range of items, from inexpensive accessories to major splurges, …›
2021-12-09 Hiya! Welcome back to Starting Out from me and Transom. A few weeks ago I sent out a survey to hear what’s working with the newsletter so far and what you’d like to see in the new year. Thank you all for such thoughtful feedback! One th …›
2021-12-07 Download a transcript of this episode here. I can think of two rock-solid reasons why radio should be a subject for podcasts (and for radio broadcasters, too). And I don’t mean actual radios, I mean radio history and culture — stories about a m …›
2021-11-30 Defining the role of associate producer can be a little bit challenging, especially at a show like Radiolab, where every member of staff is a jack of all trades. Additionally, I was brought in “temporary,” a contract hire to help exclusively with t …›
2021-11-23 Cat Jaffee is clear. Podcasting is not about talking into a mic. It’s about listening. Cat’s a firm believer in “a better world through better listening,” as she puts it. As a podcaster, she feels the best content is derived from listening. Cat …›
2021-11-11 Welcome back to Starting Out! My friends in high school were pretty competitive. Every quarter, the class rankings would come out and we’d silently note which friends were ahead of us in GPA. Everyone humble bragged about their AP classes and e …›
2021-11-09 Download a transcript of this episode here. Take a look at the photo above, the two strips of film from the collection at the Imperial War Museum in London. They document the sound of Armistice Day, the end of World War I, and the silencing o …›
2021-10-26 Download a transcript of this episode here. I can’t tell you how many times people have told me with disdain “I’m sick of how formulaic podcasts have become.” This lament probably started two or three years ago, maybe a little longer. And, it …›
2021-10-19 A reluctant manifesto for the best computers of this moment The most perfect anything I have ever owned is a 2004 PowerBook G4. Its entire chassis is machined from brushed aluminum; even the keyboard is metal, giving each key the perfect key travel, pr …›
2021-10-14 Welcome back to Starting Out, from Transom and me! If this is the first issue you’re reading, I’m Alice, a podcast producer and reporter. In the past few months, a lot of my friends have quit their jobs. Hell, I even did it recently. After pr …›
2021-10-12 Last year, during the pandemic, Ruby Schwartz says she was questioning everything about her identity and whether she should be an audio producer and reporter. On top of that, she was wrestling with a creative lull. Again, it was the pandemic. Anxiety a …›
2021-10-05 I. Pouring foundation One of my most viewed YouTube videos starts with a chattering 808 drum pattern. As the video fades in, the first thing you notice is a recording studio’s wall filled with checkerboarded golds and browns, evoking the basement of …›
2021-09-27 Alix Spiegel is a master of narrative storytelling. Listen to any of the episodes of Invisibilia she hosted or any of the stories she produced for This American Life and, I suspect, you’ll agree. Even back when she was a science reporter for NPR cove …›
2021-09-21 “There’s no such thing as a podcast emergency.” I first read that quote on Twitter a few years ago, thanks to podcast producing icon Kathy Tu. I have worked on about a dozen productions since then and that phrase has helped me breathe through eve …›