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Books to spark your audio imagination
At the beginning of the pandemic, back in those early days of March 2020 when my neighbourhood was free of cars and all I could hear was birdsong, I started reading each morning. I mean, I’d read before, obviously, but this was serious. Nothing would keep me from my morning novel-and-coffee sesh. It’s a ritual I’ve kept up since then.
Carving out dedicated time for fiction (and the occasional non-fiction) has allowed the words and stories to seep into my imagination and my work in audio. I didn’t want to give you a list of books about podcasting, because, well, you can Google that. So here’s a different reading list for you – books that have lit me up over the past couple of years, and influenced how I think about sound and audio storytelling…
Transcendent Waves
This remarkable pocket-sized gem by sound healer and artist Lavender Suarez was a revelation. It explores the effect of sound on the body, and how intentional listening is critical to the creative process. Through this book, and pivoting my career in audio, I realised I’ve spent a lot of my life not really listening – and what a joyful anchor to the present moment sound can be.
Out on the Wire
This is an exception in the list in that it is very much about audio storytelling, but it made such an impact when I first read it at the beginning of my audio career. There’s something about the graphic novel format that really roots ideas about narrative, interviewing, story structure … it makes learning feel effortless.
Three Women
Lisa Taddeo’s groundbreaking book delves into the intimate lives of three women to paint an incredibly vivid picture of desire and relationships. The groundbreaking part is that it is - remarkably - nonfiction. Taddeo reported on the women’s lives for years – lots of food for thought when it comes to interviewing for scene detail.
Ghost in the Throat
Part historical investigation, part poetry, part memoir, Doireann Ní Ghríofa’s beautiful book skips between formats seamlessly – for me it stirred up lots of ideas for abstract audio.
Fleishman is in Trouble
I’ve read this a few times, it’s so gripping. Expertly navigates multiple perspectives and a surprise ending – it’s a real model for injecting suspense into audio scripts.
What are you reading at the moment? What novels have left an impression?
Jobs
☀️ Audio Reporter / Producer ~ WSJ’s Future of Everything ~ New York
☀️ Audio Producer ~ Abel ~ Part-time remote, UK based, working with Netherlands-based team
☀️ Podcast Producer ~ Sony / Broccoli ~ London
☀️ Head of Audience Lab ~ KCRW ~ Santa Monica, CA
☀️ Producer ~ House of Pod ~ Colorado or remote
Classes, call-outs and awards
💃 Riding the Wave(forms): Process-Oriented Audio Creation ~ UnionDocs workshop ~ 3-5 June
💃 Labs Weekender ~ Narrative podcast class ~ Begins in June
💃 Call for work from new audio makers ~ In the Dark ~ deadline to submit: 5 June
💃 How to write for the ear ~ Radio Bootcamp ~ 11 June
💃 How to organize large audio projects ~ Radio Bootcamp ~ 12 June
💃 International Women’s Podcast Awards ~ entries open until end of July; awards taking place on 29 September in London
💃 And one more thing… friend of the podcast, audio maker Katie Semro is crowdsourcing her next documentary: Til It’s Gone, about all that we’ve lost. Learn more here.
A quick note that I’m taking June and July off from the newsletter, and I’ll be back in your inboxes in August. Have a wonderful summer folks – happy listening and making 🐚🐚🐚