Reading list 📖
A little audio inspo to kickstart the school year
Hey there audio folks,
I’m back at my desk after a glorious week offline, roaming around Utah and Arizona in an old campervan that mercifully broke down on the freeway just the one time.
I’ve lived in a few cities across the US but haven’t had a chance to see that much of the country, so to explore national parks like Zion, Bryce Canyon and Lake Powell was such a privilege. What utterly spectacular places they are.
I also tried my best to stay attuned to sound during the week, and captured everything from the deafening crescendo of cicadas, and hawks calling and swooping overhead, to lake water rippling as I swam and the wind rushing past my ears as I cycled. Not to mention overlooking the Grand Canyon … for a split second between the laughs and gasps of fellow tourists … a blissful nothing. Absolute silence.
So. To get myself, and maybe you, into that back-to-school headspace, I’m sharing what I’ve been reading from the audio world. Some of these pieces are older, some newer, but they’re ideas and resources that I’ve found particularly helpful over the past few months.
📌 How To Build Your Editorial Muscles -- Transom
Catherine St Louis, executive editor at Neon Hum, shares what she’s learned in the four years since leaving The New York Times and moving into editing narrative audio. This piece is packed full of practical pointers, resources and tips on how to develop your story editing skills.
📌 A Guide to Centering Marginalized People in Your Podcast -- Bello Collective
Juleyka Lantigua, founder of the Peabody-nominated LWC Studios, writes this super smart, useful guide to centering marginalized folks in your work, featuring a five-part toolkit with actionable tips.
📌 The Art of the Chase: finding the voices that make a show stand out -- Pacific Content
“For me, the start of every production is a predictable mix of excitement (as I think about whose voices will be on the show) and dread (as I consider how to find them).” Hard relate. Pacific Content podcast producer Miriam Johnson writes about how to find the best people for your story.
📌 Start From The Beginning -- Third Coast
This was a Third Coast session rather than an article, but it’s among the most helpful advice on interviewing for narrative that I’ve come across. Karen Duffin shares brilliant guidance on how to get those colourful details from a source.
📌 Make a Scene: How to Create Scenes When Producing Remotely -- Transmitter Media
Alex Sujong Laughlin writes - or sketches out, actually - this guide to creating scenes when working remotely. Personal faves: keep asking (and asking) scene description questions; and the Google Maps method.
Classes and calls for pitches
🌙 KALW is looking for news features for its daily news magazine Crosscurrents, particularly stories about how life has changed in the SF Bay Area due to the pandemic. Pay is $1,000 for each story. Pitch here.
🌙 WBUR’s Last Seen is looking for pitches for its second season, which will be an anthology of true stories about all kinds of people, places and things that have gone missing. Info here.
🌙 Award-winning producer Claire Tighe is teaching Telling Your Own Story in Audio from 13-22 September. You’ll learn how to make a short non-fiction peice drawn from your own life.
Jobs
🎹 Newsroom Fellowship ~ WBUR ~ Boston
🎹 Assistant Producer ~ Adrift ~ UK remote
🎹 Head of Comms ~ Novel ~ London
🎹 Writer - Narrative nonfiction ~ Airship ~ US remote
🎹 Podcast Producer ~ APM Studios ~ US remote
What I’m listening to
🎧 I’m very late to the party on this one, but a long roadtrip was perfect for bingeing The New York Times’ Rabbit Hole. I thought the show struck a really effective balance between taking you on this quest into the murky depths of the internet, while not overly hand-holding. Killer sound design too.
🎧 And the other thing that’s pretty much always in my ears these days is You’re Wrong About’s massive multi-part mini series on the OJ trial. I don’t fully understand why the hosts are so compelling to listen to (there’s a whole tangent episode on Delorean cars) but they are, and I’m here for it.
Thanks for reading, audio storytellers! If you enjoyed it, share with a friend or coworker. (They can sign up here.) As always, hit me up on Twitter or email with what you’re making or listening to.