Transom→ Wolves, Horses, Boars, Birds, and Bugs

2022-08-12 There’s a haunting, high-pitched, dissonant sound that rises from the woods every spring in New England. Peepers. Incredibly small frogs about the size of a thumbnail. They’re so small it seems impossible they’re as loud as they are. One evening …›

Transom→ Starting Out: Issue 12, with B.A. Parker

2022-08-09 Introduction   Welcome back to Starting Out from me and Transom!  This month marks one year of Starting Out, and I kind of can’t believe it. Over the last year I’ve written this newsletter in my free time: on planes, trains and occas …›

Transom→ Tips For Interviewing Shy People (Especially Nuns)

2022-08-02 Not too long ago, a colleague and I interviewed someone for a story. I wouldn’t describe the interviewee as shy, per se, but they were definitely guarded, as though monitoring everything they said. To be sure, they were a good talker, they told stori …›

Transom→ The Art of the Radio Feature

2022-07-26 Veteran Australian producer Mike Ladd gives his thoughts on making radio features, focusing on subject, sound, shape and script. What follows here are some personal ideas and practical tips gained from four decades of listening to, thinking about, and …›

Transom→ Nausea, Forehead Mics, and Immersion

2022-07-19 One of my favorite narrative journalism reporters is Ted Conover. Two books of his in particular stand out because he dives in and becomes a character in the story he’s reporting: Rolling Nowhere: Riding the Rails with America’s Hoboes and New Jack …›

Transom→ Starting Out: Issue 11, with Daniel Alarcón

2022-07-12 Introduction   Hey y’all. Welcome back to Starting Out from me and Transom.  What a few weeks it’s been. It’s unrelentingly hot here in North Carolina — rain shows up on the forecast every day but never materializes. I can feel t …›

Transom→ Share the Script?

2022-07-05 There are a few things it’s important to say to an interviewee at the start of an interview to make sure you’re both on the same page. Even if a reporter has talked to this person on the phone or by email, it’s always a good idea to remind people …›

Transom→ Consider Your Ears

2022-06-28 What Audio Does Best I’ve retired. After 45 years on radio (Pacifica, NPR, Radiolab) and television (CBS, ABC, PBS, HBO) I now have my days free, the nights too, to muse over what I’ve done and I think I may have discovered something surprising alo …›

Transom→ Delicately Revealing Your Identity in the Story

2022-06-21 I was given a “writer’s block” as a gift, recently. It’s a little wooden cube. On each side there’s a Henry David Thoreau reference — his signature, a wood cut image of his shack at Walden, a reference to Civil Disobedience, and one of …›

Transom→ Starting Out: Issue 10, with Rachel Ward, Soraya Shockley & Meg Driscoll

2022-06-14 Introduction   I’m a union girl. I was born into it. My dad is from Madison, Wisconsin, a union town. I remember cheering on Wisconsinites protesting former Governor Scott Walker’s union busting. We even sent pizza to them from our family …›

News : NPR→ In Texas, Moms Demand Action got more than 20,000 new supporters after Uvalde

2022-06-13 "My own historically Republican mother told me she looked up her senators and called them for the first time in her life," Liz Hanks, who leads the Texas chapter of Moms Demand Action, told NPR.(Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images) …›

News : NPR→ What to expect from the second Jan. 6 committee hearing

2022-06-13 Five witnesses will testify Monday, including Bill Stepien, former President Donald Trump's campaign manager, and Ben Ginsberg, a GOP election lawyer and outspoken critic of Trump's election lies.(Image credit: J. Scott Applewhite/AP) …›

News : NPR→ When routine medical tests trigger a cascade of costly, unnecessary care

2022-06-13 MRIs done early for uncomplicated low back pain and routine vitamin D tests "just to be thorough" are considered "low-value care" and can lead to further testing that can cost patients thousands.(Image credit: ER Productions Limited/Getty Images) …›

News : NPR→ Critics worry Florida’s new elections chief will make the office more partisan

2022-06-13 …›

News : NPR→ The Yup’ik people of St. Mary’s, Alaska, are working to save their village from fire

2022-06-13 …›

News : NPR→ A COVID-19 cluster at a Beijing nightclub sets off a new clampdown

2022-06-13 Dozens of cases linked to a nightclub spurs officials to return to online schooling and indefinitely delay sports gatherings.(Image credit: Ng Han Guan/AP) …›

News : NPR→ Opponents of the U.K.’s Rwanda deportation plan head to court

2022-06-13 …›

News : NPR→ Russia-Ukraine war: What happened this weekend (June 11-12)

2022-06-12 A roundup of key developments and the latest in-depth coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. (Image credit: Genya Savilov/AFP via Getty Images) …›

News : NPR→ ‘Hustle’ is Jeremiah Zagar’s love letter to basketball fans in Philadelphia

2022-06-12 …›

News : NPR→ 2 people were killed in a shooting at a nightclub in Gary, Ind.

2022-06-12 A 34-year-old man and a 26-year-old woman were declared dead at the hospital. Four other people were also wounded, including one was in critical condition, police said. …›

News : NPR→ Mexico issues nearly 7,000 temporary documents and transit visas to migrants

2022-06-12 The migration agency did not specify what kind of documents were issued. Most of the migrants showed papers that gave them a period of time to leave the country or begin regularization procedures.(Image credit: Marco Ugarte/AP) …›

News : NPR→ Tampons are the latest supply chain casualty. Women took notice months ago

2022-06-12 Many women say store shelves that once had the menstrual essentials have been sparse for months. When they are available, tampons have been a lot more expensive recently, due in part to inflation.(Image credit: Dana Marlowe) …›

News : NPR→ Bipartisan group of senators announces deal for school safety and gun measures

2022-06-12 The agreement, which has the support of at least 10 Republican senators, is narrowly focused at preventing future shootings similar to the one in Uvalde, Texas. (Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) …›

News : NPR→ The Commanders’ Jack Del Rio is off Twitter after calling the Jan. 6 riot a ‘dust-up’

2022-06-12 Del Rio also faces a $100,000 fine levied by Washington's head coach, a sum that will be donated to the U.S. Capitol Police Memorial Fund. (Image credit: Frank Franklin II/AP) …›

News : NPR→ These activists want buyers and dealers of stolen relics to face criminal charges

2022-06-12 If activists have their way, not only the looters, but the buyers, of stolen cultural relics will face criminal repercussions.(Image credit: The Clooney Foundation for Justice) …›

All Things Considered : NPR→ This New Zealand plan would tax burps from cows and sheep

2022-06-09 New Zealand's proposal to fight climate change includes taxing farmers for the amount of burps their cows and sheep emit. …›

All Things Considered : NPR→ Stakes are high for Ford and the fate of electric cars as F-150 Lightnings leave lots

2022-06-09 The Ford F-150 Lightning is starting to be delivered: a critical milestone for Ford. Auto makers have staked their futures on electric versions of their popular models, and they can't afford missteps. …›

All Things Considered : NPR→ Los Angeles should lose its lawns, some say

2022-06-08 Los Angeles is facing some of the most severe water restrictions the city has ever seen. Will lawns survive? Some suggest the city should eliminate this elitist status symbol all together. …›

Transom→ Who Am I To Be Here?

2022-06-07 In this archive episode of HowSound, Andrea Silenzi poses a question: “Who am I to be here?” It may be one of the most important questions in journalism. Andrea is now a seasoned reporter and producer having made stories for Studio 360, WNYC, and T …›

Transom→ Elegy in Water

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 …›

Transom→ Producing YA Fiction

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 …›

Transom→ Starting Out: Issue 9, with Rebeca Ibarra

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 …›

First Draft→ Ratcheting up a red line: How China is being used in the Australian election campaign

2022-05-11 As Australians prepare to head to the polls, political parties and politicians of all stripes have stoked fear-fuelled narratives about China in a bid to secure votes. During last week’s National Press Club Debate, Defence Minister Peter Dutton was d …›

Transom→ Collaboration Is The Only Way Forward

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 …›

Transom→ Spatial Audio

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 …›

Transom→ More Darts And Laurels

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 …›

The ProPublica Nerd Blog - ProPublica→ Look Up Nursing Home Staff COVID-19 Vaccination Rates

2022-04-21 by Ruth Talbot On Thursday, ProPublica added staff COVID-19 vaccination data to the Nursing Home Inspect project. The virus has killed more than 150,000 nursi …›

Transom→ Starting Out: Issue 8, With Chris Stedman

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 …›

Transom→ Thinking In Scenes

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 …›