Level up in 2021 📚
Classes and workshops to kickstart the new year
Welcome to The Audio Storyteller: tips and ideas for audio producers. Subscribe to get the full list of jobs, courses and other fun stuff straight to your inbox.
Happy new year audio storytellers!
To help you out with any audio-related learning goals or resolutions, I’ve put together a long list of courses, webinars and workshops taking place this month. All of them are online because well, y’know… Hopefully there’s something in here to get your 2021 off to a good start.
Training
🧠 Podcasting 101 is taking place on 6 January. You’ll learn how to produce a compelling podcast; the workshop will set you back $75.
🧠 Scribe Video Center is hosting a three-session course on podcasting hosting and interviewing techniques, taking place on 13, 20 and 27 January. Len Webb is the host, and it’s priced at $50.
🧠 Podcasting: Telling Stories in Sound | Online is a five-week course at Berkeley costing $765 and starting on 11 January.
🧠 Portland Underground Graduate School is running a four-hour Podcasting Foundations class on 16 January. There’s tiered pricing.
🧠 Podcasting Seriously’s Winter Series kicks off on 16 January with Laura Tillman’s webinar Podcast Narratives from the Inside out. Juleyka Lantigua-Williams will then lead 12 Questions to Test How Your Podcast Is Doing on 20 February, followed by How Sound Design Can Shape Your Creative Process, a seminar facilitated by sound designer and composer Cedric Wilson on 20 March. Register for one or all three here.
🧠 NPR has opened applications for its 2021 Story Lab Workshop. The project supports teams with mentorship, targeted training and partnership opportunities, and is looking for “submissions for ambitious podcasts, special series, and other long-form audio projects that exhibit high-impact journalism and creative storytelling”. Applications close on 20 January.
🧠 Fantastic-sounding opportunity here from Neon Hum. The LA-based production company will run a “tuition-free programme designed to train folks from underrepresented backgrounds in the art of podcast editing”. The Neon Hum Editors’ Bootcamp will run in Spring 2021 and is open to Black and Native American storytellers, other people of color, the LGTBQ+ community, and Latinx folk. Afterwards, one participant will be hired to work for the company. Applications are due 20th January.
🧠 Podcast strategist Rekha Murthy is giving a talk on building podcast audiences on 21 January. You’ll have to be a member of The Podcast Academy for this one.
🧠 Asian American Podcasters Association is holding its Podcasters Winter Symposium on 23 January, including networking and presentations. It’s pay what you wish.
🧠 Podcasting and interviewing about race and identity is the subject of this SALT Intensive. You’ll learn the fundamentals of developing story ideas that examine questions of race and identity over three days, starting 25 January.
🧠 NYC Podcasters Winter Conference is happening on 30 January and has the apt theme of ‘kickin’ butt in tough times’. Register and/or submit your talk idea here.
Jobs
🦋 Washington’s KNKX is after a Social Justice Reporter to centre historically underrepresented voices. You need at least five years of professional journalism experience. It’s a full-time, hourly position at $28.85- $30.77 DOE. The description’s here; apply here — closes this Friday, 8 January.
🦋 Vox Media is hiring a NY or DC-based Senior Producer for a new weekly science show. “A curious mind and reverence for explanatory journalism are non-negotiables”.
🦋 KCUR 89.3 is seeking a News Editor to join the Kansas News Service, a reporting collaboration of public media stations throughout Kansas. Salary starts at $47,476 - $58,000.
🦋 Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street is hiring a full-time TV/Radio Production Assistant. This entry-level position is the right fit for someone hard-working, organized and self-motivated. Resume review begins on 20 January.
🦋 WUWM in Milwaukee is looking for a Digital Editor to create and edit multimedia content for the website and social media. Deadline’s 13 January.
🦋 KUER in Salt Lake City is hiring a Host for Morning Edition. You need five years’ experience in radio and journalism production. Pays $47,600 to $70,000 depending on experience.
What I’m listening to
🔔 *Shameless self-promotion alert* I’m currently listening to a lot of my own tape; the second season of my podcast The Reinventors launches this week. It tells stories of radical career change, this season focussing on people who have transformed their lives and work during the pandemic. The trailer’s here.
🔔 I’m also catching up on The Heart’s mini series One, which explores solitude, loneliness and self-acceptance.
🔔 And getting into Bill Gates and Rashida Jones Ask Big Questions: intriguing pairing, important topics.
Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you’re working on / listening to, and how you’re easing yourself into 2021: tweet or email me. If you think a coworker or friend would also benefit from the newsletter, they can sign up here or hit this button: