Sound School Podcast
The Backstory to Great Audio Storytelling, hosted by Rob Rosenthal, for Transom and PRX.
- Update frequency
- every 14 days
- Average duration
- 22 minutes
- Episodes
- 364
- Years Active
- 2011 - 2025
The Best Audio Storytelling According to Pushkin
Pushkin Industries released a "Best Of Audio Storytelling: 2022" but instead of putting it out as a podcast series, it's an audiobook. Does it matter? Julia Barton at Pushkin says no. On the latest S…
00:28:20 |
Tue 06 Jun 2023
Happy 15th Sound School!
The Sound School Podcast launched 15 years ago this month. But it was called Saltcast back then. And for the first episode, Rob featured once of his absolute favorite student-produced stories - one t…
00:23:57 |
Tue 23 May 2023
What's Grabbed Antonia's Ears?
Antonia Cereijido has her ear to the ground. It's her job as Executive Producer at LAist to listen to what everyone is putting out. Rob asks her what grabbed her ears lately? She tells us about two r…
00:38:59 |
Tue 09 May 2023
The Fingerprint of Chris Brookes
A light went out recently. The bright light of Chris Brookes — a sorcerer of audio documentary and sound art. When Rob heard the news, he immediately started work on this remembrance featuring excerp…
00:52:01 |
Tue 25 Apr 2023
Producing a Non-narrated Obituary
What's the value of a non-narrated story for the listener? "It's direct," says NPR's Quil Lawrence. The characters in the story are "talking straight to the listener." He says this is especially impo…
00:13:08 |
Tue 11 Apr 2023
What’s Next for Munira?
Munira Kaoneka first started as a blogger in Tanzania. But she says sometimes you need to shout so she started a podcast, “The Kaya Sessions." A couple of years later, after taking a workshop on narr…
00:23:21 |
Tue 28 Mar 2023
Still More Darts and Laurels
Rob takes a hard listen to three podcasts -- You Didn't See Nothin', Lights Out, and Noble Champions. He then tosses out darts for work that caused him to ask "Why'd you do that?!" and laurels for wo…
00:26:22 |
Tue 14 Mar 2023
Think of a Radio Station (or Podcast) as a Musical Instrument
Steve Junker says he thinks of a radio station as a musical instrument -- a pipe organ, to be specific. It's capable of making all kinds kinds of sounds. But, he thinks public radio stations tend to …
00:25:37 |
Tue 28 Feb 2023
Dear Birth Mother
In this episode, Rob turns the mic on himself to mark the 10th anniversary of meeting his birth mother for the first time. He also features the positively stunning portrait of an adopting mom in "Dea…
00:38:41 |
Tue 14 Feb 2023
Studs Terkel Meets Brian Eno in the Woods
It's good to look beyond your borders for inspiration. That's what this episode is about. Brian Harnetty is a sound ethnographer. And quite a bit of what he does resembles the work of radio and podca…
00:17:44 |
Tue 31 Jan 2023
This is Good, But I Have a Question
Three great new podcasts raised production questions for Rob. Why use sound effects in All There Is With Anderson Cooper? Why were the interviews for Bjork’s Sonic Symbolism podcast recorded so poorl…
00:27:44 |
Tue 17 Jan 2023
Recording Sound Design in the Field
John Scott Dryden takes a very unique approach to sound design for the fiction podcasts he produces -- he records on location. For "Q&A," the first season of Mumbai Crime from Radiotopia, everything …
00:18:41 |
Tue 03 Jan 2023
Why Two Narrators When One Will Suffice?
The vast majority of stories are told by one narrator. But not at NPR's Planet Money. They regularly have co-narrators. Why? Why have two narrators when one will suffice? Reporters Erika Beras and Sa…
00:20:20 |
Tue 20 Dec 2022
Caves and Bears and Neanderthal Flutes - Stories from Slovenia
What's the best way for reporters to break out of their boxes and think creatively? Give them an unusual assignment and send them out into the world with microphones. That's just what happened during…
00:26:10 |
Tue 06 Dec 2022
Writing An Audio Essay
Rarely do reporters turn the mic on themselves to divulge the challenges in their own lives. So, when they do, it’s surprising — and refreshing. Stephanie Foo's personal essay, "The Favorite" is an e…
00:24:45 |
Tue 22 Nov 2022
Story Dissection: When the Lede Gives It All Away
The opening to a story, especially a long series, requires a dance. How much do you give away? How much do you hold on to? On this episode of the Sound School Podcast, I offer two examples: one that …
00:18:35 |
Tue 08 Nov 2022
We Need More Words To Describe Audio Stories
When you limit language, you limit thinking. When you limit thinking, you limit creativity. When you limit creativity, audio storytellers wind up making the same thing over and over and over again an…
00:21:02 |
Tue 25 Oct 2022
Hand Over the Cash?
Reporter David Weinberg knows the rule: don't pay sources. For fifteen years, he never did – until he reported on Phoenix Jones for the podcast “The Superhero Complex.” What impact did that have on h…
00:26:44 |
Tue 11 Oct 2022
Getting Honest —The Editor, Producer Relationship
Typically, what happens between an editor and a producer is private. In this archive episode of the Sound School Podcast from 2014, editor Viki Merrick and producer Will Coley offer listeners a gift …
00:23:54 |
Tue 27 Sep 2022
Darts and Laurels Minus the Darts
In another installment of Sound School’s occasional episodes offering darts and laurels for exceptional and not-so-exceptional work, Rob is offering nothing but laurels. Two for This American Life's …
00:23:55 |
Tue 13 Sep 2022
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