top of page

So, what kinds of stories are good for audio? There is a common misconception that an audio story needs to be about something “audio rich” – like the story of a Rock band or a noisy factory. It’s not true. As long as your story has character, emotion, or an element of surprise – its already audio rich!

 

Take some time and secret yourself away – put on a good set of headphones and explore these links. Think about the story YOU want to tell, an idea that YOU may have always wanted to investigate.

 

What are the voices, scenes, environments or spaces where your story unfolds?

 

Podcast Collectives, production houses and curated collections:

 

Radiotopia - A curated network of extraordinary, cutting-edge podcasts including 99% Invisible, Criminal, Song Exploder, West Wing Weekly, and more.

https://www.radiotopia.fm/podcasts/

NPR - National public Radio

https://www.npr.org/podcasts/

WNYC - Snap Judgement, Selected Shorts, Serial

https://www.wnyc.org/shows/

 

Gimlet - Crimetown, The Cut, Story Pirates

https://www.gimletmedia.com/shows

Transom - Transom channels new work, voices, and ideas into public media through the Internet and workshops. 

https://transom.org/topics/shows/

Some of my favorite shows:

99% Invisible - A podcast about all the thought that goes into the things we don’t think about.

https://99percentinvisible.org/about/the-show/

Hostile Design

https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/unpleasant-design-hostile-urban-architecture/ 

 

RadioLab - Using radio to make science accessible to broad audiences.

http://www.radiolab.org/

Smarty Pants

https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/smarty-plants

War of the Worlds

https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/radiolab/podcasts/1

Ear Hustle - stories of life inside prison shared by those living it. 

https://www.earhustlesq.com/

Episode 1

https://www.earhustlesq.com/?offset=1519829502589

Serial 

A hugely successful investigative journalism podcast hosted by Sarah Koenig, narrating a nonfiction story over multiple episodes. 

https://serialpodcast.org/

Dustwun

https://serialpodcast.org/season-two/1/dustwun

 

Memory Palace

http://thememorypalace.us/where-do-i-start/

Scroll down and play Dreamland

 

Crimetown

Episode 1, Devine Providence

https://www.gimletmedia.com/crimetown/chapter-1-divine-providence#episode-player

This American Life

https://www.thisamericanlife.org/

Rom Com - https://www.thisamericanlife.org/638/rom-com

20 Acts in 60 Minutes - http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/241/20-acts-in-60-minutes

Transom

http://transom.org/

How to be a girl -  http://transom.org/2014/how-to-be-a-girl/

Lets get a little more experimental...

Everything is alive

Play Louie, the can of soda - https://www.everythingisalive.com/

Storytime at the apes nest

http://www.apesnest.com/

Sci-gasm Podcast

http://sci-gasm.com/sci-gasm/

Eisode 2 http://sci-gasm.com/podcast-2/

Surrealist storyteller - Joe Frank - Play "No more my lord."

https://www.joefrank.com/listen/

 

Just for fun - The Golden Age of radio!! – Before television superseded radio as the medium of choice.

https://archive.org/details/oldtimeradio

Using found sound and creating a soundscape around it

Japanese ceremonial Tea - https://soundcloud.com/theelectricsons/japanese-ceremonial-tea

Radio Drivetime for your Soul - A full blast snapshot of the entire spectrum of broadcast radio (and beyond). Made by my English friend, David Piper. https://www.mixcloud.com/thepipermachine/a-hypocausticklish-feast-for-your-feets-not-really/?fbclid=IwAR39GAMzNZRbuLF2OWe2qO6XNMXZDtsowT6DOlbdJXL5ND4UqrG3inPmT7E

​​​​​​​Here are 2 examples of student projects that don’t quite make the cut. There’s nothing “wrong” with this work – But you should aspire for to do MORE with your project.

 

Example 1 - This piece relies an awful lot on one element – a song – which is very strong – but the audio program itself is not evocative … at least to me.  It relies too much on work that someone else created.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx8tLuopgaw 

 

While this piece is reasonably successful – consider the way the music works, or doesn’t work with the piece.  How would you reedit this piece? What would you add, change, omit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcIMNDBfHO0

Finally - Here are some examples of GREAT student work.

Lindsey B's apocalyptic vision of a future virus outbreak
00:00
Chris M's tale of... um, - you better listen for yourself!
00:00
Katie P spooks us good with her story of the Boogey Man
00:00
Jackie T's charming tale of a lost pennyUnknown Artist
00:00
Val A's spoken word piece set to a minimal soundtrack
00:00
Tiffany M's expiramenttale piece on memory
00:00
Megan M's curious story about an even curiouer family tradition
00:00
Carly Q's epic journey into a Gailic Netherworld
00:00
Xiao Z's Surreal Dreamscape
00:00
Gabi D's terrible (and true) tale of a car accidentUnknown Artist
00:00
Sam W's science experiment gone wrong
00:00
bottom of page