Best of the Best is Third Coast’s annual ode to audio storytelling, taking listeners on a journey through the full breadth of what’s possible in stories made from sound. This episode showcases three of the winning stories from the 19th annual Third Coast / Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition. Host Gwen Macsai introduces the winners of the Best Serialized Story, Best Foreign Language & Directors’ Choice awards, plus a behind-the-scenes interview with producer Zoha Zokaei.In The Da...more
Best of the Best is Third Coast’s annual ode to audio storytelling, taking listeners on a journey through the full breadth of what’s possible in stories made from sound. This episode showcases three of the winning stories from the 19th annual Third Coast / Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition. These stories all won different awards (Skylarking, Best News Feature, and Radio Impact), but they all share a theme: investigations.Punks, produced by Kathy Tu, co-produced by Tobin Low and Mat...more
Best of the Best is Third Coast’s annual ode to audio storytelling, taking listeners on a journey through the full breadth of what’s possible in stories made from sound. This episode showcases two of the winning stories from the 19th annual Third Coast / Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition: the Best Documentary Honorable Mention, Bronze & Silver Award winners, plus a behind-the-scenes interview with producer Neena Pathak.A Sense of Quietness [Excerpt], produced by Eleanor McDowal...more
Best of the Best is Third Coast’s annual ode to audio storytelling, taking listeners on a journey through the full breadth of what’s possible in stories made from sound. This hour of the program showcases two of the winning stories from the 19th annual Third Coast / Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition. Host Gwen Macsai introduces the winners of the Best New Artist Award and the Best Documentary: Gold Award, plus a behind-the-scenes interview with producer Sayre Quevedo.Mardi Gras Is ...more
Stories about people who lived to be 100, from the NPR series One Hundred Years of Stories (originally aired in 2000) by producer Neena Ellis.Hen and Bill BoardmanAt an age when most people are simplifying their lives and settling into old age, Helen Boardman was opening a new chapter - traveling to Europe, writing her memoirs, and falling in love (at age 90) with a younger man.Ruth EllisHaving no children, and having been shunned by her family for being gay, Ruth Ellis found herself alone ...more
This hour, we're bringing you a favorite from our archive... to-do lists, compulsive lists, data lists, lists in literature and a list of firsts!To find out what these producers have been up to since we first aired the show, visit ThirdCoastFestival.orgThe Listby Sean Cole, Ashley Ahearn and Nick van der Kolk (Love & Radio, 2011)A man sets out to finish an unfinished list.World's Longest Diaryby David Isay (Morning Edition, 1994)An all-consuming list of every single little thing.The Feltron ...more
This hour, we're bringing you a favorite from our archive... Chicago. Hogbutcher to the world, jewel of the Midwest, and everything in-between.Wild Onion by Gwen Macsai.Chicago, as all Chicagoans know, means wild onion. Wild, as in feral, unpredictable, fierce, blustery, lunatic. Onion, as in layered, spicy, sometimes stinky, sometimes sweet, and always tear-inducing.The Chicago Sound Drops:Couple Two Tree by Sean ColeStuds and Jimmy by Alan HallRiding Through the Summer by Katie Mingle,Elevated...more
This hour, we're bringing you a favorite from our archive... the Rockettes, the opera, congress, and other spectacles!To find out what these producers have been up to since we first aired the show, visit ThirdCoastFestival.orgBackstage With the Rockettesby Dean Olsher and Emily Botein (The Next Big Thing, 2004)Manhattan has plenty of icons: the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, the Broadway marquee. But come December, there's really only one show in town: the Radio City Music Hall Ch...more
This hour, stories about family ties, love and loss.The Birth of Solomonby Leila Day for The Stoop.He was the perfect little brown baby. His name was Solomon. Thick curly hair, chubby legs and eyes closed with dark black lashes. Solomon's story is one that affects thousands of Black families whose babies are twice as likely to die before reaching the age of one, and Black mothers are up to four times more likely to die from pregnancy related causes. This story goes deep behind the statistic.The ...more
This week, three stories by alumni of the Third Coast Radio Residency.The making of a Chinese American beauty queenby Hannah Kingsley-Ma; edited by Jen Chien & mixed by Gabe Grabin for KALW.Every Lunar New Year, Chinese American women from across the country travel to San Francisco to participate in the Miss Chinatown USA pageant — an ethnic beauty pageant that’s been a national event since the late fifties.Little Wrist Computerby James T. Green for Welcome to Macintosh.The Apple Watch somet...more
This week, journeys of discovery, from personal identity to mathematical infinity.Sister, Sisterby Simone Polanen for The Nod from Gimlet Media.Simone thought she knew her little sister well, until she discovered a major part of her sister’s identity that she knew nothing about. When she confronts her sister, the conversation gets heated.10 Things That Scare Meby Starlee Kine for 10 Things That Scare Me from WNYC Studios.When describing her fears, Starlee Kine finds that the list goes past ten.T...more
This week, two specific points on the map with two very different stories.Six Storiesby Jenny Casas, Robin Amer and Wilson Sayre for The City from USA Today.Chicago, 1990. A guy with a loud sweater, manicured nails and connections to some very powerful people idles in a limousine near a vacant lot. A fleet of dump trucks unloads literal tons of busted concrete—and keep coming back. Neighborhood residents take action. The mess becomes much bigger than a six-story pile of rubble.To hear the rest o...more
This hour, a mob of rock fans and an erratic limb.Disco Demolition Nightby Pat Walters, Julia DeWitt and Emanuele Berry for Undone from Gimlet Media.One summer night in 1979, thousands of people gathered at a Chicago baseball stadium to put an end to disco once and for all.Leftyby John Roche for Yarn.John's left leg won't bend to his will.This episode of Re:sound was produced by Isabel Vázquez. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
This hour, family dramas can span across generations ...or just across the hallway.That You Should Be Happyby Micaela Blei for Family Ghosts.Decades after surviving the Holocaust and moving to sunny California, a woman lets her family know exactly what she wants from them. But her granddaughter Micaela has a different idea of what her life will be.The Sleepersby Kate Montegue, Mira Burt-Wintonick and Cristal Duhaime for Love Me from the CBC.A story of love, family and sleep from Australia.This e...more
This hour, an unlikely therapeutic duo and a magical journey through the golden age of radio advertising.Kintsugi Dogby Natalie Kestecher for Short Cuts from BBC Radio 4.A bittersweet story about redundancy, an unwanted dog and the Japanese art of repair.A 700-Foot Mountain of Whipped Creamby Clive Desmond for The Organist from KCRW and McSweeney's, with executive producers Andrew Leland and Ross Simonini.From in utero to the studio, producer Clive Desmond provides a tour of the golden age of ra...more
This hour, what happens when a relationship from your past returns unexpectedly and pulls you back in time?I'm Your Manby April Dembosky for The Leap from KQED.April hasn't seen Steve in 15 years. So when she gets a call from a lawyer asking about him, she's not sure what to think. As memories from long ago crowd her mind, she's also confronted by an ugly new truth. One that haunts her present and makes her doubt the past.This story appears on Re:sound as an abridged version - to hear the full s...more
This week, all stories - even stories about Dunkin' Donuts - are about power.ALL STORIES ARE STORIES ABOUT POWERpresented by Sandhya Dirks (American Suburb, KQED) and Chenjerai Kumanyika (Uncivil and Seeing White)From the Third Coast Conference - where audio producers from around the world gather to share expertise - this session from the 2018 conference tackled a topic that goes beyond audio stories alone. For makers and listeners alike, this presentation challenges the ways that stories privil...more
Today we go from the pentagon to prison to philosophical musings about the sweet sound of the snow shovel.The Pentagon’s Secret Gaggle of GaysBy Audrey Quinn for Nancy from WNYCEven after "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was repealed, the military wasn't an easy place to be out. The surprising story of the squarest place on earth, the pentagon, and the gaggle of gays that was a (gentle) force to be reckoned with.Thick GlassBy Nigel Poor, Earlonne Woods and Antwan Williams for Ear Hustle from RadiotopiaPa...more
This hour, some of the winners of our annual documentary competition.Featuring...God + the Gays, produced by Phoebe Wang. Winner of the 2018 Best New Artist Award In her first radio piece, Phoebe visits Christians from her past and tries to understand whether queer people and homophobic Christians can have meaningful relationships. Dirty Water, produced by Nigel Poor and Earlonne Woods, with help from outside producer Pat Mesiti-Miller and editor Curtis Fox for Ear Hustle.&nb...more
This hour, some of the winners of our annual documentary competition.Featuring...John Thompson vs. American Justice, produced by Andrew Marantz, Sarah Lustbader, and Katherine Wells and edited by David Krasnow for The New Yorker Radio Hour. Winner of the 2018 Best Documentary: Bronze Award When John Thompson was investigated for the murder of the son of a prominent family in New Orleans, he insisted on his innocence. But prosecutors wanted a conviction and he quickly landed on death ro...more
This hour we’re all about honesty. An honest look at fat, and an honest answer to this burning question, “What are the real lyrics to ‘Louie Louie’????”The Host’s Fat By Jonathan Zenti for Meat As an overweight man, Jonanthan Zenti explains how his shape and his diets often cause him to question his identity… but not to lose it.Louie Louie: the strange journey of the dirtiest song never written By David Weinberg, Nick White and Myke Dodge Weiskopf for KCRW’s Lost Notes&...more
This hour, a single commercial that ran for twenty-five years and two women who’ve been running from each other for even longer.Moo and OinkBy Cher Vincent for The Nod from Gimlet MediaWith a long-running TV commercial featuring a dancing cow and pig, Moo and Oink grocery stores were a staple for Chicago’s black South Side communities. But producer Cher Vincent digs a little deeper into the origins of these iconic stores.Man Choubam (I am good)By Sharon Mashihi for KCRW’s Unfictional and The Hea...more
This hour, we go into a hypnotherapists office and come out with a story of international intrigue.No Bad NewsBy Sarah Geis for Love+Radio from Radiotopia Three decades ago, American hypnotist Larry Garrett committed himself to abstaining from the news. So, in 2001, when he received a phone call inviting him to Iraq, he didn’t think twice about saying ‘Yes’.This episode of Re:sound was produced by Dennis Funk See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out...more
Today we go back in time to try and heal old wounds and revisit history.BuzzBy hosted and produced by Jonathan Goldstein and with Wendy Dorr, Chris Neary, and Kalila Holt for *Heavyweight* from Gimlet Media Buzz (Jonathan Goldstein’s father) and Sheldon (his uncle) are brothers in their eighties who have been estranged for decades. With Jonathan’s encouragement, Buzz visits Sheldon to see if there’s still a relationship left to salvage.Sandi And Princess DiBy Arwen Nicks for...more
This hour, we trot across middle America, with a story from a Nashville neighbourhood, and a Missouri payphone that won’t stop ringing.The Great Divide By Meribah Knight for The Promise from Nashville Public Radio (2018) Big Man, a public housing resident from Nashville’s Cayce Homes, walks across the street to meet the wealthy couple who live in the fancy new home on the hill. In many ways, their lives couldn’t be more different, but in breaking the silence between the two s...more
This hour, a deep dive into the anthem of the Confederacy, two different kinds of waves and a modern take on Romeo & Juliet.The SongBy producers Chris Neary, Chiquita Paschal, and Saidu Tejan-Thomas and hosted by Jack Hitt and Chenjerai Kumanyika for Uncivil from Gimlet Media (2017) On this episode, the *Uncivil* team dig deep into ‘Dixie’, the anthem of the Confederacy only to find out that everything we thought we knew about the history of the song… was wrong...more
This hour, the most famous chord in pop music, swimming pools, skateboarders and more!The Pool and the Stream by Avery Trufelman for 99% Invisible (2017) A story in three acts, that connects one idea, born in Northern Europe, to a four-wheeled phenomenon in 1970s Southern California.Magical Mystery Chord by Joel Werner for Sum of All Parts (2017) The opening chord to The Beatles ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ is one of the most iconic sounds in pop music history. Bu...more
This hour more of our faves, including Gloria Gaynor, a seventeen year-old retiree, and two spoofs: one microbiological and one murderous.Episode 1: A Perfect Murder by Katy Yeiser, David Sidorov, Ryan Natoli, and Fran Hoepfner for A Very Fatal Murder from The Onion In the first episode of “A Very Fatal Murder,” longtime Onion Public Radio reporter David Pascall, who has searched tirelessly for the most resonant true-crime podcast that is also about middle America, heads...more
This hour, a teenage taxidermist, a community of medical migrants who settled in Snowflake, Arizona, and, a day in the life of a sacred cow.A Cow A Day by Pejk Malinovski for Falling Tree Productions and Between the Ears from BBC Radio 3 At sunrise, on the banks of the Ganges river, the poet and radio producer Pejk Malinovski picks out a cow at random and starts to follow her. He continues to follow her until sunset. A meditative journey unfolds within the sonic bac...more
This hour: lawyers-turned-pinball wizards, two extraordinary minds meeting in a field of poetry and, forty years after the phrase was coined, the skinny on 420.Geis & Geis: Pinball Machine Distributors by Sarah Geis for Falling Tree Productions' Short Cuts on BBC Radio 4 When Sarah was 10-years-old, her lawyer parents decided to quit their jobs and and take a spin in the world of pinball.420 by Phoebe Judge and Lauren Spohrer for Criminal The...more
This hour an unlikely best-seller, a colorful hero and the legends of burlesque.“Naked Came the Stranger”: an oral history By Sam Kim for PRI’s Studio360 In 1969, the erotic potboiler “Naked Came the Stranger” climbed The New York Times bestseller list. According to the back cover, it was written by a “demure Long Island housewife” named Penelope Ashe. Except… that wasn’t the whole story.Becoming Barbara by Natalie Kestecher for Short Cuts on BBC Radio 4 When N...more
This hour, three stories from the annals of analog. ‘Second Side Up’By David Waters with Asst. Producer Robbie MacInnes and Exec. Producer Francesca Panetta for Between the Ears on BBC Radio 3 (2017)For over four decades, Mark Talbot recorded scenes from his life and used them to create a cassette radio show, which he called Second Side Up. Complete with music, interviews and phone-ins, Second Side Up sounded like professional work, but not a single episode was ever broadcast. The tapes wer...more
This hour, we remember the audio work of two brilliant producers who recently passed away — Jesse Cox & Joe Frank.Part 1: Jesse Cox (5 September 1986 – 18 December 2017)‘Keep Them Guessing’ [excerpt] by Jesse Cox for ABC RN’s 360Documentaries (2013) As a young boy, producer Jesse Cox discovered a set of old cassette tapes which turned out to be a hugely popular BBC radio show featuring his grandparents performing telepathically. The tapes had been sitting in the fron...more
This hour, we look back on some of our favorite moments from the past 14 years of Re:sound.With former producers Katia Dunn, Roman Mars, Delaney Hall and Katie Mingle, we listen to excerpts of memorable Re:sound moments and episodes:The Karaoke Tupperware ShowThe Confessions ShowThe Phone ShowThe Transmissions ShowThe Feedback ShowThe Music of Everyday Things ShowThe Night ShowThe Centenarians ShowThe Stories from Childhood ShowThe Driving ShowThe Odd Couples ShowThis episode of Re:sou...more
This hour we're going behind-the-scenes at two top podcasts: The Daily and 99% Invisible .Bringing Together Narrative and News [EXCERPT]presented by Lisa Tobin and Michael Barbaro of The Daily from The New York Times When the New York Times got into the podcast business in 2017, they hired producer Lisa Tobin, a public radio veteran, as executive producer. Lisa and her team went in thinking they would make one type of podcast and came out with someth...more
Before the end of a busy and exciting year for radio and podcasts, the Third Coast staff got together to recap and reflect on 2017.Johanna, Maya, Gwen, Dennis and Isabel discussed the shows and moments in the audio world from 2017 that they won't soon forget... and talked about what they look forward to hearing more of in 2018 and beyond.What we won’t forget from 2017:Johanna: How much everyone wanted to talk (debate, and reconsider, and take some more) about S-Town.Isabel: The rise of mini-seri...more
This hour, Third Coast’s take on the holidays.No Santa By John Biewen for Scene on Radio (2015) A father turns on a recorder while tucking in his 7-year-old, having no idea he’s about to capture a poignant growing-up moment in his son’s life. (Advisory: This episode is not suitable for some young children.)Vince Guaraldi: A Charlie Brown Christmas By Ben Manilla for Inside the National Recording Registry for Studio360 (2012) The soundtrack of the...more
This hour, some of the winners of our annual documentary competition, including the Best Documentary: Gold Award winner.The Discussion — Best New Artist by Rosa Gollan for PocketDocs from ABC Radio National For some friends there's no subject too secret, or content too confronting. Rosa and Ryan have that kind of friendship. But five years after they first met, Rosa realized there was still one discussion left to have, and it wasn't going to be easy.Los Cassettes del Exi...more
This hour, some of the winners of our annual documentary competition.Featuring...Quiet Revolution — Best New Artist Award by Laura Irving for BIRSt.co.uk This autobiographical account follows a middle-aged woman embarking on an unconventional new hobby of roller skating. Is she a fearless warrior against age and gender stereotypes?Standing Out from the Crowd at a Trump Rally — Best News Feature Award by Ike Sriskandarajah for Reveal from The Center for Investig...more
This hour, we're diving deep into the strange, beautiful world of modern music composition.The Producer By Alex Overington for WXQR's *Meet the Composer* (2017) Staff paper and key signatures are great for concertos and sonatas, but the composers in this story don’t think that way… in fact most of them aren’t even sure they should be called composers at all. That includes producer Alex Overington who takes us on a road trip to unravel the creative process of those...more
This hour, what we see - and what we want to see - when we gaze into our reflections in the mirror.MirroredBy Cathy Fitzgerald for BBC Radio 4 / World Service (2017) Each of us cultivates an image of ourselves at certain point in our lives and, once it’s there, it’s a hard image to shake. So much of our identities are expressed through our appearance. So what happens to our self-image as we get older and our features begin to change? In this story, we hear from people between the ages of 11 to 8...more
This hour, amateur detectives, spiritual revelations and other stories of dogged perseverance.The 27th Amendment By Matt Largey for Pop-Up Magazine and KUT Austin (2016) With everything that’s going on in politics these days, it helps to remember the power that we have as individuals to make change. Examples of this are far too few, of course. But there is one that stands out. And you’ve probably never heard it.Angie By Phoebe Judge and Lauren Spohrer for their...more
This hour, we dive into the audio features of the multi-talented musician and poet, Phil Smith. Satchmo Encore By Phil Smith for Short Cuts a Falling Tree Production for BBC Radio 4, 2014 The Smith Brothers' Ain't Misbehavin' was a highlight of the 1994 Cheadle Hulme Junior School's Informal Concert. Jazz historian Alyn Shipton assesses its critical value. Die Fremde By Phil Smith for Short Cuts a Falling Tree Production for BBC Radio 4, 2014 An nod to Kafka, language and longing. Towards...more
This hour, we’re sharing a few of Third Coast’s favourite stories that didn’t quite fit the mold of past episodes. Smart Old Broad By Gideon Brower and Nick White for Unfictional from KCRW (2014) Maureen "Mo" O'Neill was spending her days mostly alone. She didn't have many friends, she was getting older, and didn't know who she was. After work she could never summon up the inspiration it took to get off the couch and leave the house. But that's when she discovered the solution that opened up ...more
This hour the symphonic textures of our everyday lives. Soundtracks of Our Lives By Tim Hinman for Third Ear (2013) Crossing the planet in search of something that can make some sense of sound, Tim Hinman talks to film sound designer Peter Albrechtsen in Copenhagen and deconstructs the sound of cinema. Jacob Kirkegaard, sound artist from Denmark travels to Ethiopia in search of sounds that may not be what they seem. British sound recordist and composer Chris Watson is at the South Pole and th...more
This hour, stories that grab hold of our expectations and smash the binary.My Name Is Shawn and I Prefer Heby Judy Campbell & Amy Standed for The Leap from KQED (2015)Shawn Demmons is a 50-year-old man now, but when he was growing up, he was Shawna Demmons. Lately we’ve heard a lot of stories about people who, after years in the closet, found the courage to come out as transgender. But for Shawn, courage was never the problem. His leap was a four decade journey to realize he was a man. And t...more
This hour two stories about what remains after the fighting stops. Guilty Landscape By Anik See for Earth Beat from Radio Netherlands Worldwide (2012) World War I started nearly one hundred years ago. As far as wars go, it was epic – ten million soldiers died in just four years. Over two million of them alone died on the Western Front near Ypres, and the landscape of Flanders was completely devastated. Not a living tree or blade of grass survived. But are the marks of war still visible? What’...more
This hour stories dedicated to our furry and not-so-furry friends. Flash! (parts I & II) by Daimiano Marchetti with Alex Goldman and PJ Vogt (Reply All, 2016 & 2017) Craigslist: Santa Rosa, California. Lost & found. Post title: Lost tortoise. Flash has escaped. Charles Mingus Toilet Trained His Cat. We Put His Method to the Test by Jody Avigran (Studio360 [WNYC], 2014) The jazz musician Charles Mingus was a celebrated band leader and one of the most important composers of his generation. But a...more
This hour, Mother’s Day, in all it’s beautiful, complicated glory. Deliverance by Francesca Panetta and Lucy Greenwell with presenter Lemn Sissay for Between the Ears (BBC Radio 3, 2015) A sound poem made from the audio diaries of five women in their final days of pregnancy. International Brotherhood of Mothers By Nate DiMeo for The Memory Palace (2009) The story of the founding of Mother’s Day and the holiday’s social justice origins turned commercial. Private Black Motherhood and Public Whi...more
This hour stories that dive below the surface to help us understand issues of race, the environment and immigration. How Race Was Made (Seeing White Part 2) [excerpt] by John Biewen ( Scene on Radio , 2017) When producer John Biewen was in high school in the late 1970s, he learned from his textbooks that people could be divided into three distinct races — mongoloid, caucasoid and negroid. Decades later he wondered when and how this now debunked theory of race took hold. In this episode, John ...more
Earlier this week Third Coast held a public discussion in Chicago about the big podcast of the moment, S-Town. We recorded this event live at Ipsento606 with about 50 S-Town super fans. To join in on the discussion, visit facebook.com/groups/stownhall See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
This hour redefinition, reflection... and the new you. The Understudy By Sophie Townsend with Mira Burt-Wintonick and Cristal Duhaime for Love Me (CBC, 2016) Sophie Townsend has been a widow for a year and a half. She is too busy taking care of her children to entertain the idea of dating, until a man compliments her shoes. Katie V Katie By Nancy Lopez for Snap Judgement (2017) When Katie Crouch learned there was another Katie Crouch who lived in the same city and apparently had the same profess...more
This hour, “I do” or “do I?” the calculus for marriage, for better and for worse. Majd’s Diary: Two Years in the Life of a Saudi Girl by Joe Richman and Sarah Kramer (Radio Diaries, 2016) A few years ago, Radio diaries teamed up with Cowbird, a public storytelling website and held a competition to find a fresh voice. They discovered Majd Abdulghani, a muslim teenager in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, a young woman under pressure from her parents to consider an arranged marriage. How Will I Know? by ...more
This hour we’re coming to you from inside the Third Coast Institute of Sound — a fictional museum we’ve dreamed up where all of the exhibits and artifacts are dedicated to things that make sound and noise. The Cat Piano (on loan from The Museum of Imaginary Musical Instruments) By Victoria Ferran with Sound Engineer Chris O’Shaughnessy for Soundproof (ABC RN, 2016) The history of the cat piano goes back centuries and raises unanswered (and perhaps unanswerable) questions about the relationshi...more
This hour, rabbit holes — stories that start exploring one small thing and unexpectedly end up telling a much richer story. No Place Like Home by Phoebe Judge and Lauren Sporher (Criminal, 2015) In the early 90s, a wealthy magazine publisher was convicted of fraud and sentenced to 18 months in a minimum security prison in Louisiana. But white collar criminals weren’t the only people living there, and the other people inside had basically been forgotten about by the outside world, some of them...more
This hour the unexpected and inexplicable. 'Julia' by Johnathan Goldstein with Chris Neary, Kalila Holt and Wendy Dorr (Heavyweight , 2016) In grade 8, Julia was bullied so badly by a group of girls that she changed schools without telling anyone. Soon after, the girls from her old school showed up at her house and rang her doorbell. She didn’t answer it. For the past 20 years, Julia’s been wondering what those girls wanted. 'As Many Leaves' by Sally Herships (Falling Tree Productions for BBC...more
This hour we're featuring an episode of our brand new podcast — the Third Coast Pocket Conference. The Third Coast Pocket Conference is the start of your next great story — featuring sessions from Third Coast Conferences and more. How to Make Your Listener Levitate & Other Magic Tricks (Recorded 13 November 2016 at the Third Coast Conference in Chicago) You don’t want your audience to listen half-heartedly — you want them to be so deeply engaged, they’re a little surprised when they bump dow...more
This hour we're listening to some of the winners of our annual documentary competition. From more than 550 entries in 2016, ten were chosen as winners. This hour we're featuring selections from the winners of the following awards: Skylarking, Best Documentary: Foreign Language, Best News Feature, Best Documentary: Bronze and Best Documentary: Gold. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
This hour we're listening to some of the winners of our annual documentary competition. From more than 550 entries in 2016, ten were chosen as winners. This hour we're featuring selections from the winners of the following awards: Best New Artist, Best Documentary: Honorable Mention, Radio Impact, Directors' Choice and Best Documentary: Silver See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
This hour the life and AIDS reporting of New York Times reporter Jeffrey Schmalz. Dying Words: The AIDS Reporting of Jeffrey Schmalz and How It Changed the New York Times by Kerry Donahue & Sam Freedman (The Dying Words Project, 2015) On the afternoon of Friday, December 21, 1990, Jeffrey Schmalz had a grand mal seizure in the middle of the New York Times newsroom where he worked. Soon after he was diagnosed with full blown AIDS. He spent the rest of his life and career writing about the epid...more
This hour people trying their best — and sometimes failing miserably — to make a connection.Incommunicado By Yowei Shaw (The World In Words, PRI, 2015) Yowei Shaw was born in the United States and speaks virtually no Mandarin. Her grandfather is from Taiwan and speaks virtually no English. Kid talk was fine when Yowei was a kid. But now she's grown up, she's determined to have proper conversations with Yeye— before it's too late.Meet the Jawniaks By John Biewen (Radiotonic, ABC RN...more
This hour we're going on three soundwalks that meander at the pace of real life. 4700 Liberty Heights Avenue [EXCERPT] by Aaron Henkin & Wendel Patrick (Out of the Blocks, WYPR, 2015) The 4700 block of Liberty Heights Avenue is a portrait of survival and adaptability. It's a self-governed, informal economy where the currency is respect. Space is shared by merchants, churches, longtime residents, and drug dealers. Immigrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, West Africa, and Korea have set up...more
This hour we're featuring some of our favourite entries to the 2016 ShortDocs Challenge! Including interviews with producers and a visit to our 2016 partner, Manual Cinema, who are adapting this year’s winning ShortDocs into a live shadow puppetry performance. Maya Turns 26 by Maya Goldberg-Safir Whether she likes it or not, things are about to change. Out of Order by La Cosa Preziosa A man & his TV crime drama-induced phobia. ragazzo incontra ragazzo by Garrett Kling A chance encounte...more
On this episode of Re:sound, we're featuring an audio postcard from the Restorative Radio Project plus an interview with the series' producer, Sylvia Ryerson. 'Envision Yourself Being a Free Man' by Sylvia Ryerson with recordings by Essie Mannes (Restorative Radio Project, WMMT, 2016) Essie Manns is the grandmother of DeVaughn Hall, currently incarcerated at Red Onion State prison. Essie lives in Roanoke, Virginia, a 4 hours drive from the prison. She cannot drive long distances, but she gets ...more
This hour, the story of how an event affected one woman, her family and the criminal justice system. A Life Sentence: Victims, Offenders, Justice and My Mother by Samantha Broun and Jay Allison for Atlantic Public Media and Transom.org In 1994, Sam Broun's mother, Jeremy Brown, was the victim of a violent crime. She was 55 years old and living alone. A stranger came into her backyard, attacked her from behind and five hours later, he left her lying on her bed — hands and feet bound with tap...more
This hour, the suits we wear and the impressions we make. The Runway by Luke Malone (Start Up, Gimlet Media, 2016) It’s not uncommon for shoppers to walk out of Mary Going’s store feeling on top of the world. Mary runs Saint Harridan, a company that makes custom suits for the gender non-conforming. With her store, Mary has created a space that caters to the needs of butch women and trans men—something that doesn’t happen very often. Her fans are enthusiastic and dedicated, her products are ...more
This hour, one man who needs to devour as much air as he can and another who's at his best while holding his breath. Air by Neil Sandell (Radiotonic, ABC RN, 2016) Neil Sandell is a man of a certain age, a man who loves to ride his racing bike. But as he gasps for air while climbing a steep mountain road, he wonders, why is he driving himself so hard? After all, he's living his dream—a life on the Cote d'Azur. Does the answer lie with his cycling hero Jens Voigt, a man on a mountain, or somew...more
This hour audio air conditioning — we’re turning down the thermostat and ushering in stories that give us the chills. I Fell Through the Ice by Dennis Funk and Gwen Macsai (Re:sound debut, 2016) Phil Smith grew up skating on frozen lakes. But one New Year's Eve, reliving his childhood memories put him in a life and death situation. Overland by Nate DiMeo (The Memory Palace , 2016) George Frederick Tilton was crew member on the ship the Belvedere, which made regular trips to the arctic to t...more
This hour, uninvited guests like old lovers, irrational fears and the annoying habits that keep us up at night. Like Steps Of Passing Ghosts by Kaitlin Prest Kaitlin Prest explores how we can remain haunted by past loves 'Like Steps of Passing Ghosts'. Holdout by Katie Mingle and Roman Mars A woman watches while a shopping mall goes up all around her. The Hijacker's Letter by Davey Kim What do you do when you receive a letter from your husband’s killer? The Lonely Animal: A Snorer's Me...more
This hour we're featuring two stories of love through loss... plus an interview with the producers who've written their way through these troubled moments. The Updates by Sophie Townsend with Sound Engineer Louis Mitchell. Sophie's updates were read by Gabrielle Rogers (360documentaries, ABC RN 2014) When Sophie Townsend’s husband Russell was diagnosed with lung cancer, she became the family spokesperson, a task she found endless, difficult and confronting. People’s questions about his sickness...more
The Intersection — Episode 1, 'Home' by David Boyer (The Intersection, KALW, 2016) Welcome to THE INTERSECTION and to the corner of Golden Gate Ave and Leavenworth St in the Tenderloin. While the neighborhood has the highest density of kids and seniors in San Francisco, it's associated more with its many homeless residents. We'll hear from a woman who sleeps in a tent—and cooks—on the sidewalks. And another woman who found a home in an innovative supportive housing project just steps away from t...more
This hour gravity, antigravity, magical trees and flying carpets. The Magic Carpet Flight Manual by Cathy FitzGerald & Matt Thompson (A Rockethouse Production, BBC World Service, 2010) Cathy FitzGerald explores the past, present, and very real future of the magic carpet and wonders what our desire to defy gravity tells us about ourselves. Along the way, we meet a Japanese astronaut who took a real carpet into space — and flew it, a Muslim whose prayer mat rises above the mundane and a physicist...more
This hour the story of thousands of African American farmers who lost millions of acres of land at the hands of institutional racism. All You Need Is A _____. by Aengus Anderson & James Ford Howell (2010 ShortDocs Challenge) Two opposing groups of immigration protestors in Arizona attempt to define the word "wall" without referring to Mexico. Fighting for the Promised Land: A Story of Farming and Racism by Tina Antolini (Gravy, 2015) Shirley Sherrod’s introduction to the intermingling of agric...more
This hour we're live at the Hideout in Chicago with stories of pairs who are complete opposites, but utterly entwined. The Sitter Dispatch by Maya Goldberg-Safir & Dennis Funk (Re:sound debut, 2015) Straight out of college, Maya was living in her cousins' attic and was working a part-time, unpaid internship. Then she took a job as a nanny that turned out to be nothing like she'd expected. Gamun-Pyul by Rayon Wright (Radio Rookies, WNYC 2010) Rayon Wright was born in Jamaica and raised in ...more
This hour stories of quiet calls that have produced the most unexpected responses. The Time Traveller and the Hitman by Lynn Levy, Alex Goldman and PJ Vogt (Reply All, Gimlet Media, 2015) In 1997, John Silveira wrote a joke classified ad in a tiny publication called Backwoods Home Magazine asking if anyone wanted to travel back in time with him. A lot of people took him seriously. What do you do when everyone wants you to fix the worst mistakes they’ve ever made? Obituary Notice by Peter Meanw...more
This hour we listen to some of our favourite entries to the 2015 Third Coast Short Docs Challenge: Studs Rules! For our 2015 Studs-inspired Challenge we partnered with the Studs Terkel Radio Archive at WFMT. With their help, we came up with the following rules: Your radio story must... • be two to three minutes in length • be titled with a question that begins with one of the five Ws • contain the question "And what happened then?" • and include a shout of silence or a cry of laughter ShortDo...more
This hour stories of those who share and those who lurk. The Mollusc and the Peacock by Natalie Kestecher (Short Cuts, BBC Radio 4, 2014) This is the story of a Facebook lurker, someone who sees herself as curious but benign. Like her grandmother, who was a fan of American soap operas, she has a taste for stories about the lives of others just as long as they’re glamorous and extravagant and don’t bear too much resemblance to reality. Voyager Found by Jonathan Mitchell (The Truth, 2014...more
This hour, the story of a man who's ultimate goal is to become a national evening news anchor. Anchor Dreams — The Passion of Scoop Nemeth by Noel Black & Jake Brownell (Wish We Were Here, KRCC, 2015) Brian 'Scoop' Nemeth has a singular goal: to become a national news anchor on the Fox News Network's prime-time broadcast. Despite the challenges of Asperger's, 'Scoop' moved from his hometown of Colorado Springs to the city of Denver, where he's built a following through YouTube videos and pu...more
This week on a special feature podcast, we're flashing back in time to 2004 to have a listen to the very first episode of Re:sound. Producer Dennis Funk talks with Re:sound's Host, Gwen Macasi and Third Coast's Director Johanna Zorn about how it all began, and they provide a little commentary throughout the hour. Third Coast is in the middle of our annual fundraiser at the moment, and we're celebrating the role that Third Coast has played in launching the audio storytelling revolution. F...more
The 2015 Third Coast Festival Broadcast, featuring the winners of our annual competition.
The 2015 Third Coast Festival Broadcast, featuring the winners of our annual competition.
This hour, two delightfully out-of-the-ordinary musical portraits from producer Alan Hall. The Grace of Jeff Buckley by Alan Hall (Falling Tree Productions for BBC Radio 4, 2014) The story of the day Jeff Buckley arrived on the UK music scene in 1994 — from a photo shoot in the morning, a live radio appearance in the afternoon and then to a gig at Bunjies folk club so over-booked that a second concert was arranged for later that evening at the 12 Bar. The Voices of Elly Stone by Alan Ha...more
This hour, we follow three addicts through Australia's drug court system. Inside the Drug Court: part 1—the last chance by Sharon Davis and sound engineer Steven Tilley (Earshot, ABC RN, 2015) After a year of negotiations with the government of New South Wales, Australia, producer Sharon Davis was granted exclusive access to the state's Drug Courts — a program where long term addicts, many of them hardened criminals, are released from jail in order to join a strict rehabilitation program de...more
This hour: audio stories inspired by the written word, be it a novel or a comic book. Tim Key and Gogol's Overcoat [NOTE: only available at http://ThirdCoastFestival.org until November 2, 2015] by Steven Rajam & written by Tim Key (BBC Radio 4, 2012) Tim Key — poet, comedian, and crumpled polymath — is obsessed with Nikolai Gogol's short story 'The Overcoat'. Written in 1842, it's a fable of a simple Russian clerk whose desire for a new coat to keep the St Petersburg winter at bay forever ...more
This hour two stories that dive into the depths of the inner ear. Disequlibrium [NOTE: not available on the podcast] by Nick Ryan, Lisa Gee and Jeremy Mortimer (Between the Ears, BBC Radio 3, 2012) Nick Ryan, is award-winning sound designer and composer. For reasons unknown, he wakes up every day feeling dizzy, nauseous and destabilized. Despite medication and his GP's assurances, the feelings persist. At the same time Nick is building a game-world entirely from sound through which playe...more
This hour: first lines, first days back and every last first you can think of. Getting Back Out There by Tally Abecassis (First Day Back, 2015) First Day Back is a documentary podcast that follows filmmaker Tally Abecassis as she faces the challenges of picking up her career after an extended maternity leave. In this episode, Tally lays out her situation and makes a move to restart her filmmaking career. She talks about “freelancer math” and asks her family some big questions, getting the m...more
This hour stories of black lives caught in the cross hairs of injustice. 695BGK by Phoebe Judge & Lauren Spohrer (Criminal, 2015) Just before 2am on December 31, 2008, police officer John Edwards was patrolling in Bellaire, Texas when he saw an SUV driven by two young African-American men. Edwards followed the SUV and ran the license plate number. His computer indicated that the SUV was stolen, and Edwards drew his gun and told the two men to get down on the ground. By the time Edwards real...more
On this special Third Coast Podcast we're doing what we do best — sharing the best radio from around the world! On this episode we're featuring the podcast How to Be a Girl, and show's creator, Marlo Mack tells us about her experience at the Third Coast Conference. Also, Re:sound host Gwen Macsai talks with the 2015 People's ShortDoc Award winning producer, Sara Curtis, about the her piece and the ShortDocs Challenge. FEATURING: Mama, I'm a Girl by Marlo Mack (How to Be a Girl, 20...more
To kick-off Third Coast's summer fundraiser, we're doing what we do best — sharing great radio from around the world — with some extra special feature podcasts over the next two weeks. On this episode, Re:sound producer Dennis Funk talks to Ann Heppermann and Martin Johnson founders of the new, Third Coast-inspired audio fiction competition, The Sarah Awards. We also hear a few pieces that will feature on their new podcast Serendipity and learn about their Very Very Short Short Fiction C...more
This hour two mysteries: one involving an obscure novel and Britney Spears, and the other a real life murder most fowl. Case #2: Britney by Starlee Kine, Alex Blumberg, Melinda Shopsin and Eric Mennel (Mystery Show, 2015) Andrea, a writer no one reads, one day, she makes a shocking discovery that the paparazzi snapped a photo of Britney Spears holding a copy of her second novel. The author then enlists super sleuth Starlee Kine to track down Britney in hope of learning whether the popstar ...more
This hour we explore nearly a decade's worth of work from Canadian sound artist, musician and radio producer Sarah Boothroyd. Gleeful Barbarians by Sarah Boothroyd (Short Cuts, BBC Radio 4, 2012) An audio postcard from the often joyful, sometimes exasperating, and always busy world of early parenthood. Featuring very silly noises, nearly-indecipherable toddler chitchat, and 27 different ways a two-year-old can say 'no.' Do What You Fear And Fear Disappears by Sarah Boothroyd (Third Coa...more
This hour what you see, is not always what you get. Chook In Memorium by Mike Ladd (360 Documentaries, ABC Radio National, 2014) The Australian lyrebird is a remarkable creature, able to mimic almost every man made and natural sound; sirens, car engines, other birds. Chook was very popular with visitors at the Adealaide Zoo until he died in 2011 at the age of 32. In this audio tribute to Chook we hear him mimic innumberable sounds. The Two Lives of Asa Carter by Joe Richman & Samara Fre...more
This hour some of our favorite childhood icons: from the man who gave us Thing One & Thing Two... to Dorothy, the Tin Man and Toto too. Dr Seuss and the Butter Battles by Eleanor McDowall (Falling Tree Productions for BBC Radio 4, 2011) Theodor 'Dr Seuss' Geisel remains one of the best-loved children's authors in America. Famed for his witty and often subversive stories such as, 'The Cat in the Hat' and 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas!' his whimsical characters and playful rhymes are deepl...more
This hour we meander our way down three rivers in search of solace, spiritual healing and, of course, total domination. Reversal of Fortune by Dan Weissman, Roman Mars and Sam Greenspan (99% Invisible, 2013) Chicago’s biggest design achievement isn’t the achitectural wonders that rise high above the city's lakefront and river — it’s the Chicago River itself. Descent by Alex Chadwick and Bill Abbott (Unfictional, KCRW, 2011) The story of two men whose troubles and tragedies find respit...more
This hour a revealing snapshot of Martin Luther King, Jr. as he struggled to stay the course he'd set out for himself and the nation. To Heal A Sick Nation [EXCERPT] by Greg Kelly & Stephen Smith and presented by Paul Kennedy (Ideas [CBC], 2014) By 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr. saw his dream becoming 'a nightmare'. Criticised by black militants, rejected by white allies, and threatened with death as violence tore America apart.That year was also Canada's Cenntenial Celebration, and Dr. King...more
This week on the podcast, a Third Coast original production. The Sitter Dispatch by Maya Goldberg-Safir & Dennis Funk (Re:sound debut, 2015) Straight out of college, Maya was living in her cousins' attic and was working a part-time, unpaid internship. Then she took a job as a nanny that turned out to be nothing like she'd expected.
This hour we celebrate the ethereal, Dickens-inspired works of British producer Cathy FitzGerald. Skylarking [Excerpt] by Cathy FitzGerald [Sound Design by Joe Acheson] (Between the Ears, BBC Radio 3, 2014) Cathy FitzGerald meets a prisoner and a paraglider in this airy daydream about the delights of looking up at a big blue sky. **Please note Skylarking is a lawn-based, horizontal radio feature best experienced from the comfort of a picnic blanket with a long drink, a soft pillow and a view o...more
This hour stories of dads who are starting to slip away and the sons who are desperately trying to stay connected. The Mind Shaft by Lea Thau (KCRW, Strangers, 2014) Greg O'Brien has been a writer, journalist and thinker all his life. Now he is losing his mind due to early on-set Alzheimer's, and he's an astute observer of his own decline. He compares this clicking in and out to the flickering light of a loose plug in a socket. He's in a race against time to share his story before the plug ...more
This hour we head back in time to 1984. [Listen to the full show here http://bit.ly/1vNkzgC] 1984 (the year not the book) by Benjamen Walker (Benjamen Walker's Theory of Everything, 2014) In the book 1984, George Orwell predicted that in the future "Big Brother" would watch and dictate our every move. In the year 1984, producer Benjamen Walker was in middle school. Like Orwell's protagonist Winston Smith, Benjamen kept a diary for "future citizens" in which he recorded the country's des...more
This hour stories of detours, bad directions and finding the right path... on the road and in life. This Is Not The Way Home by Lea Redfern (360 Documentaries [ABC RN], 2009) If direction in life is a positive, what happens to those who have no sense of direction? And can a relationship be thrown off course by the introduction of an intangible, yet otherwise seemingly perfect, third person? Choir Boy by Katie Mingle (Love + Radio, 2014) Tom Justice came from a well-to-do family. He was...more
This week on the Third Coast Podcast, we're sharing two of our favourite pieces that were entered to win the 2014 Little Mermaid Award. Into the Woods, Cell Phone, iPod and All by Amy Pearl (New Tech City, WNYC, 2013) In the city, things never seem to slow down. So producer Amy Pearl decided to get away and hike the Appalachian Trail for a few days with her dog. The plan was to be totally unplugged. Well, almost. Variety by Leo Hornak (In the Dark, 2013) A man with eclectic interests ...more
The 2014 Third Coast Festival Broadcast, featuring the winners of our annual competition.
The 2014 Third Coast Festival Broadcast, featuring the winners of our annual competition.
This hour, two stories in which random events change lives forever, and a third pulled from a random cassette. The Long Shadow [Excerpt] by Lea Thau (Strangers [KCRW], 2014) One day in February 1997, four young men decided they would go up to the top of the Empire State Building. What happened in the observatory that day was as random as it was terrifying and cast a long shadow over everything that came after. J Dilla's Lost Scrolls by Pat Mesiti-Miller (Snap Judgment [NPR], 2013) Whe...more
This week, Israeli soldiers speak out to advocate for Palestinian rights. Breaking the Silence by Cathy Peters (producer) & Dr Peter Slezak (presenter) (360documentaries [ABC RN], 2012) In 2012, writer Peter Slezak took a tour of the Palestinian Occupied Territories where he met with Palestinians and Israelis — including members of an Israeli NGO called Breaking the Silence, which gives tours around hotspots in the West Bank and Gaza. Slezak witnessed what Occupation means in terms of the ...more
The Last Days of Hollywood Park by David Weinberg (KCRW, 2013) After 75 years, the last race at Hollywood Park was run in December 2013. Once the celebrity playground of Hollywood stars, who owned thoroughbreds and stock in the racetrack, we visit the grounds in their final days. More from David Weinberg at www.randomtape.com Photo jondoeforty1 http://bit.ly/1vlOfBJ
This hour: the dinner table and all that it inspires. Big Night by Jonathan Goldstein (This American Life [WBEZ], 2002) Producer Jonathan Goldstein made every girl he ever dated watch the home movie of his family's Rosh Hashanah dinner he made when he was 17. He hoped that seeing his family life on film might make the women more sympathetic to his shortcomings Naked Dinner by Gwen Macsai (Weekend Edition Saturday [NPR], 2005) Once a month in New York, a particular group of friends gat...more
This hour we buckle up and hit the road. Don't Drive Like My Brother by Jonathan Menjivar (This American Life [WBEZ], 2005) Charles Johnson was living in St. Louis, married with a young daughter, and he had no job. He looked around, and decided he'd try trucking. There was this company offering to train and hire drivers, so he signed up. The only problem was, he couldn't read. Stories and Driving by Sophie Townsend with Jesse Cox and Louis Mitchell (Radiotonic [ABC RN], 2014) Sophie Townsend a...more
A live recording of Third Coast's recent listening event with WBEZ Education reporter Linda Lutton. Linda's reporting laid the foundation for This American Life's award-winning series on Chicago's Harper High School. She spoke with Re:sound host Gwen Macsai and shared some of her favourite stories and inspirations. Teens Share Their Secrets by Hearing Voices and Curie Youth Radio, 2008 Teenagers wish they could tell their parents a lot of things. These kids in Chicago and reveal their secr...more
This hour: they built it and we see who came. Another Planet [Excerpt] by David Weinberg, Brendan Baker and Nick van der Kolk (Love + Radio, The Organist, KCRW, 2014) The story of Clyde Casey, a street performer who used surrealism and abstract art to fight crime on Los Angeles’ Skid Row in the 1980s, and the creator of a place called Another Planet. Listen to the entire story: http://loveandradio.org/2014/04/another-planet/ The Treehouse by Karen Duffin with Nick White (Unfictional...more
This hour, waiting. Waiting in line, waiting for an organ transplant and waiting for a bus that's never, ever going to come. In Line With Saturday Night Klein by Sean Cole (Weekend America, 2007) Outside of Rockefeller Center in New York, you'll find the standby queue for Saturday Night Live tickets. Hundreds wait, and few will get in, but one man keeps the whole thing in order. The Bus Stop by Lulu Miller (Radiolab, 2010) In this story, the bus stop is there, the people are there. T...more
Without Name by Lina Misitzis (Here Be Monsters, 2013) Eugene up and left for California one morning without packing a thing from his apartment in Brooklyn, New York. Producer Lina Misitzis and her roommate Adrian got the apartment at a discount. The condition, though, was that they took the place as Eugene left it—full of his left-behind life. For two years they enjoyed Eugene's magazine subscriptions, ate out of his bowls, slept on his old couch and used his designer spices. Photo Lina M...more
This week one woman's story unfolds through many threads. Songs My Mother Taught Me by Chris Brookes (CBC, 1998) When soldiers from Newfoundland came to London to fight in WWII, many met and married local women and brought their British war brides back home after the war ended. This story is mostly about one such bride, Producer Chris Brookes' mother, a woman of mystery, charm, and above all, secrets. After her death she unwittingly left behind a few key items — including a diary — and fro...more
This hour we step inside the mind and listen to our thoughts. I Am Good At [NOTE: This piece is not available due to limited rights] by Cristal Duhaime with Mira Burt-Wintonick (WireTap, CBC 2012) The thoughts running through the heads of a couple as they meet for the first time on a blind date. Everything, Nothing, Harvey Keitel by Pejk Malinovski (Between The Ears, Falling Tree Productions, BBC Radio 3, 2013) A man struggles to meditate as he realises he is sitting next to act...more
Easy Love by Jaye Kranz (Long Story Short [ABC Radio National], 2014) Twenty six years ago, Warren Kirk was at home in his Melbourne east-suburban rental. He was freshly showered, he was in his kitchen, and he was about to do something he'd never done before. Photo Emma Danielsson
The Rest Is Silence by Brian Calvert (Unfictional, KCRW, 2013) Amanda McDonough has had hearing problems all her life. She wore hearing aids and hid the fact from everyone she knew. Mostly she got by, until she made a decision that changed everything. Signal To Noise by Paolo Pietropaolo (In The Dark, 2011) What happens when you work with sound everyday — listening to it, recording it, manipulating it — and then one day, one of those sounds sticks around for good? Radio producer Paolo Pie...more
This hour we look at the ups and downs of confinement. Picture A Box by Nate DiMeo (The Memory Palace, 2012) Sometimes the only way to get out of a tight space is by getting into an even tighter one. Henry Brown did just that when he sealed himself in a very tight space. Tunnel 57 by Roman Mars & Daniel Gross (99% Invisible, 2014) In 1961, East Germany closed its border to West Berlin with a wall. But this isn’t a story about the the Berlin Wall. This is a story about how to get thro...more
This hour, we celebrate the work of a great journalist — Matt Power, who died March 10, 2014 while on assignment in Uganda. Holy Soul by Matt Power (The Next Big Thing, WNYC 2002) For many teens coming of age in the 1970s, the Beat poets served as rebel heroes. Matt Power was no different. Then he met Allen Ginsberg. In the flesh. Power’s recollections first appeared in an essay in the magazine Heeb. Dumpster Diving by Matt Power (The Next Big Thing, WNYC 2003) Every day of the year, New York...more
Turn right and you'll meet the man or woman of your dreams. Turn left and you'll get hit by a car. Much of life is a matter of being in the right place at the right time, or the wrong place at the wrong time. In this impressionistic audio work, Canadian producer Sarah Boothroyd explores randomness, chance, and luck through the microcosm of the race track. Chance was commissioned by Falling Tree Productions, for an audio version of the parlor game "consequences." What does that mean? And h...more
This hour: We showcase some of our favorite stories from the 2013 Third Coast ShortDocs Challenge: Appetite, and talk to the organizer of the project, former Third Coast Artistic Director Julie Shapiro, about the rules, the incentives, and our collaboration with the James Beard Foundation.
This hour: when two people meet, sometimes extraordinary things happen. And sometimes extraordinary things happen in order for two people to meet. Message in a Bottle by Peter Mulryan and Liam O'brian (Documentary on One, RTE, 2012) On Christmas day of 1945, an American serviceman named Frank Heyostek tossed a message in a bottle into the Atlantic Ocean. Eight months later it was found by a young woman on a beach in Ireland. Irish producer Peter Mulryan tells the story of what happened ne...more
This hour: failure of flight. In one story a man mysteriously falls from the sky onto a sunny London street, and in another, a plane crashes into a mountain side, and an 11 year old walks away. Falling by Bob Carlson and Kerstin Zilm (Unfictional, 2013) When Norman Ollestad was a kid, his father was always searching out the next big adventure. In 1979, when Norman was just 11, they left by plane to go skiing in California's San Gabriel mountains. When the plane hit bad weather, Norman real...more
This hour: where kids go to get away; from themselves, their troubles, the rules they’re supposed to follow, and of course, their parents
The 2013 Third Coast Festival Broadcast, showcasing the best radio stories of the year - winners of the 2013 TC / Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition.
The 2013 Third Coast Festival Broadcast, featuring the winners of our annual competition.
This week, a special feature. Everything Sounds is a podcast and short-form radio program exploring the role of sound in art, science, culture, and our everyday lives. Each program aims to highlight people, places, and ideas that expand our understanding of the power of sound. This week's episode highlights just such a place, and just such a person. Everything Sounds is produced by George Drake Jr. and Craig Shank.
This hour: imperfect, impolitic, infuriating... love. *Note, not all stories from the original broadcast are available on the podcast due to limited rights agreements. A Jerusalem Love Story by Daniel Estrin (Vox Tablet, 2013) Every relationship has its obstacles, but this one between two men - a Palestinian and an Israeli - may have more than any couple can bear. Other Halves by Dennis Funk (Shortcuts, Falling Tree Productions, BBC Radio 4, 2013) When you enter a marriage, you ass...more
This hour: we present two very different stories about the Texas State Penitentiary. Both are about soul - the kind you dance to, and the kind you pray for. Prisoner Soul by Vivienne Perry, presented by Gary Younge (BBC Radio 4, 2013) In the late 60s and early 70s, the Texas prison system chose to put a little more cash and a lot more creativity into its effort to stave off prisoner violence, boredom and recidivism by allowing prisoners to form bands and record music. Ministry of Presenc...more
This hour: the story of Sandra Willson. Tit for Tat: The Story of Sandra Willson by Catherine Freyne, with sound engineer, Phillip Ullman In Australia, Sandra Willson is known for many things: she established the first halfway house for women leaving prison, she was a consultant on a popular TV series and an important figure in the gay rights movement. When Willson died in 1999, she left behind an unpublished memoir and a slew of personal papers. From these sources as well as archival inte...more
This week: dreams and dreamers of all kinds - lucid, fictional, public and elusive. Dream Bed by Sean Cole (Studio 360, 2005) Dreams are intensely personal. But since we all dream, might there be an aspect of dreaming that could be communal? Artist Marina Abramovic believes there is, so she created an installation in the Rose Museum in Boston and then invited people to sleep in it. Dreamers by Joe Frank (Unfictional, 2012) The work of Joe Frank is dark, unpredictable and often, hilari...more
This week: the mother reigns supreme. Kingdom of Women by Erin O'Dwyer with Timothy Nicastri (360documentaries, ABC, 2013) In remote village in the Yunnan province of China exists one of the only matriarchal cultures in the world. In fact, there isn't even a word in the Mosuo language for 'husband' or 'father.' Children are raised by their mother's brother and all of the property stays in her name. Women entertain as many lovers as they wish, who visit under the cloak of darkness and leave...more
This hour: what happens when we open our ears to the surprising symphonies all around us.
From the ABC's Long Story Short, the story of a guy who was thrown a lot of curve balls, and overcame them all. Persevering Rick was produced for Long Story Short by Mike Williams with sound engineer Timothy Nicastri. Long Story Short was created and presented by Jesse Cox and Mike Williams, and produced by Winding Track and Creative Nonfiction in association with ABC Radio National. The series producer is Lorena Allam. The Third Coast podcast is produced by Katie Mingle. Hear more great...more
This hour: we explore two struggling Texas towns through the beautiful and mournful voices of those who still live there. The Third Coast Festival's Re:sound is hosted by Gwen Macsai and produced by Katie Mingle. http://thirdcoastfestival.org/
Stories of people in love, who just wouldn't take 'no' for an answer.
This hour: The American Icons series from WNYC's Studio 360.
This hour: a purple hotel, a family who argues over their skin color, a singing rainbow and more. Rainbow Squared by Katie Mingle (Re:sound debut, 2013) The original color palette is of course, the rainbow. And though the rainbow has been appropriated by many over the years, Re:sound producer Katie Mingle will (for better or worse) always associate the rainbow with "the double rainbow guy," Paul Vasquez. Rippin' The Rainbow A New One (excerpt) by Radiolab (Radiolab, 2012) To make sense...more
This hour: the story of a harrowing journey on the Mediterranean Sea that started with high hopes and ended in tragedy. Plus Gwen and Julie discuss the (just announced) 2013 ShortDocs Challenge.
Reporter Linda Lutton has spent a great deal of time with one remarkable high school principle as she deals with incredible obstacles.
This hour: Things anonymous.
This hour: we drop in on families wrestling with love and loyalty. Grilling Me Softly by Jay Allison (Nieman Conference on Narrative Journalism, 2004) When veteran radio producer Jay Allison went out on his first post-divorce date, his teenage daughter didn’t hold back with her support or her opinions. Jay told the story to a live audience back in 2004. Except Me by Erin Davis (Third Coast National Broadcast, 2008) From early on, Marissa Skilling’s feelings about her Autistic younger ...more
Hauntings of war, ethereal recordings, and other ghosts of Vietnam. The Vietnam Tapes of Lance Corporal Michael A. Baronowski by Christina Egloff and Jay Allison (All Things Considered, 2001) In 1966, Michael Baronowski took a reel-to-reel tape recorder with him into the Vietnam War. Thirty-five years later, the eerie, ghost-like recordings that survived him ended up in the hands of radio producers Christina Egloff and Jay Allison. Wandering Souls by Cathy Fitzgerald (BBC World Service,...more
Gwen Macsai and Julie Shapiro spin some of our favorite stories from the 2012 Third Coast ShortDocs challenge.
Imagine reporting in a culture that speaks a language your listeners don't understand, and covering issues your listeners don't totally care about - all in a country that doesn't even want you there in the first place.
Hour two of Best of the Best, showcasing the best radio stories of the year - winners of the 2012 TC/RHDF Competition.
Showcasing the best radio stories of the year - winners of the 2012 TC / Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition.
Drawing from radio and beyond, Jad Abumrad shares the stories, sounds, people and projects that have most inspired him over the years.
Jason Leopold had all the qualities he needed to break big stories, but the one story that nearly broke him was his own.
Stories of people who start out as bitter enemies and end up in places you could never predict.
As the James Bond franchise celebrates its 50th year, we get at what's been driving him all this time - the beat.
Two stories of people who are far away - physically, emotionally and/or spiritually from the place they call home. http://thirdcoastfestival.org/
Spin class gets personal in this episode of Jonathan Mitchell's podcast, The Truth.
We’ll bob from the biggest maritime disaster that you've never heard of, to a man who saved thousands of shipboard lives with a deceptively simple design.
An artful story about a soul-crushing place.
This hour: two stories of regular old days that started out static and ended up seismic.
The story of two 18th century Irish women who cast off their fates, challenge their times, and scandalize all of Ireland. More at http://thirdcoastfestival.org/
Whether it's a mob of millions or one single voice, nothing changes unless someone stands up and says, "No more." More at http://thirdcoastfestival.org/
A few stops on the East Village Poetry Walk, narrated by Jim Jarmusch. More at http://thirdcoastfestival.org/
This hour: Listening to the night.
This hour: Children try to survive in, and escape from, a slum called Sodom and Gomorrah.
Here's your typical love story, except for one small detail: the husband is a race horse.
Cosmonauts, Putin, Soviet design and more.
What does an entire city block sound like?
This hour: To do lists, compulsive lists, data lists, lists in literature and a list of firsts.
This hour: inside the the lives and works of two great American artists, painter Edward Hopper and poet Anne Sexton. *Note not all stories in the original broadcast could be podcast due to rights issues.
This hour: The rise of media tycoon, Rupert Murdoch.
This hour: the drama of sport, the history of sport, the sound of sport and more.
Hour two of our Best of the Best special, featuring the winners of the 2011 Third Coast / Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition.
Hour one of our Best of the Best special, featuring the winners of the 2011 Third Coast / Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition.
This week: Little feet on big adventures.
This hour: Facing fears in faraway lands.
This hour: the piano. But not just as a musical instrument. The piano as a spiritual healer, as a symptom in a grand delusion, as a man’s obsession, and as a beloved friend, put out to pasture.
This hour: selling, swapping, buying and trading.
This hour: A dark secret that threatens to tear apart a family.
This hour: From the highest fresh water lake in the world to one of the lowest spots on the bowery, we bring you stories of nomadic cultures, peoples and spirits.
This hour: Dads, in all their glory.
This hour: letters. To yourself, to your city, lost letters, found letters... and a love letter to letters.
This hour: Stories about people who lived to be 100, and reflections from producer Neenah Ellis on what she learned from these remarkable centenarians.
This hour: We showcase some of our favorite stories from the 2010 Third Coast ShortDocs Challenge: Book Odds, and talk to the organizer of the project, Third Coast Artistic Director Julie Shapiro about the rules, the incentives, and our collaboration with widely-acclaimed musical duo, The Books.
This hour: Hustlers. Some are straight-up con artists, and others are just doing what they have to do to get by.
This week: every country song tells a story and has a story behind it.
This hour: two people shed old skins and resurface in foreign territory.
This hour: Running on two legs, running on four, but most importantly, running with all your might.
This hour: Jazz and the struggle for civil rights in South Africa and the U.S.
This hour: Identical twins — separated at birth, separated by belief and joined by matching outfits.
This hour: the delicate interdependence between being in need and answering the call to help.
For every action there is a reaction. This week we look at consequences, both micro and macro.
This hour: Food. It's delicious. It's complicated.
This hour: looking for the intangible. What's lost and what might be found.
This hour: a one way mission to mars, a Russian cosmonaut's favorite music, the Voyager golden record, the sound of the northern lights, and more.
This hour: Chicago. Hogbutcher to the world, jewel of the Midwest, and everything in between.
This hour: how and why we're wired for sound. A look at music and the brain.
This hour: the story (and the story behind the story) of Willie McGee.
This hour: the experience of the city -- from the bicycle seat, the planner’s map, and the poet’s pen.
This hour: the capital of scamming.
This hour: we explore some big ideas – justice, injustice, punishment, and redemption – through small, powerful, personal stories.
This hour: kids sing opera, they talk about life on a remote island, and they opine about running the world.
This hour: one woman’s comments at a school board meeting in Kanawa County, West Virginia, become a catalyst for deep division within the school district, the county, the state, and the entire country.
This hour: two amazing musicians explored through the portal of two amazing documentaries.
This hour: the home funeral movement. Three families who've forgone traditional death rites in favor of a more DIY approach.
This hour: three documentary poems chronicling the lives of working class mothers in Troy, NY. Plus, poets as reporters, confused readers, and more.
This hour: change. Some of us crave it, some of us avoid it at all costs. But whenever and wherever it happens, change creates fallout, intentional or not.
This hour: the untold story behind one of the most famous, groundbreaking, and disturbing experiments in the history of psychological research
This hour: families, in all their messy, dysfunctional glory.
This hour: a lobster diver in Honduras, a chocolate taster in France, a movie director in Nigeria, and other stories that reveal the workaday world in all its globalized complexity, one person at a time.
This hour: journeys to the far north, the moon, and other places near and far.
This hour: a seismic shift in a man's identity, a bad dog who refuses to change, and more.
This hour: the weird, wonderful results of the Radio Ephemera ShortDocs Challenge. We sample from some of the submissions, talk with Third Coast Artistic Director Julie Shapiro, and learn more about the amazing Prelinger Library, our project collaborators.
This hour: meditations on whispering, selective mutism, and a man who records some of the quietest sounds in the world.
This hour: two stories that get incredibly, intimately, close to their subjects.
This hour: here, there, and in-between.
This hour: best friends who will never meet face to face, an abandoned wedding dress found floating in a lake, and more
This week: a worm digger in rural Maine, a remarkably effective citizen spy, and more.
This hour: a peek into auditions at one of the most competitive conservatories in Australia, and more.
This hour: melodies from the world around us.
This hour: the work of producer Sean Hurley, a writer and musician who lives on top of a mountain in New Hampshire and has an alter-ego, Sherwin Sleeves, who's become central to Sean's radio storytelling.
This hour: an all-woman Led Zeppelin cover band and metal-loving children.
This hour: a janitor poet, a teenage psychic, and more.
This hour: people move and places change.
This hour: a Japanese blues singer, an aging opera fan, and homemade recordings of a rural children's choir.
This hour: a disappearing lake, a luxury liner on the Adriatic Sea, and more.
This hour: a radio station dedicates five days of air-time to a live reading of Tolstoy's War and Peace.
This hour: earworms, mantras, and stories told again and again.
This hour: phone solicitors, bottle evangelists, a mysterious cassette tape unearthed in the attic, and more.
This hour: redeeming the much-maligned bird.
This hour: a visit to a pauper's graveyard, three very short (but very big) questions, and more.
This hour: the wild and wonderful results of the Third Coast Festival's 2007 Audio Challenge: Dollar Storeys.
This hour: girls, boys, and sleepover reconnaissance.
This hour: climbing, flying and facing your fears.
This hour: an isolated village experiences rapid cultural change, a "border blaster" transmits totally unregulated radio programs from Mexico into the U.S., and a tiny frog causes trouble.
This hour: we celebrate ten years of Outfront, a groundbreaking show on the Canadian Broadcasting Corportation that invited listeners to tell their own stories.
This hour: a young patient escapes his hospital bed through flights of imagination, a musician documents a city under siege, and more.
This hour: a man transformed by illness, a house full of paintings left behind by an old friend, and a surprisingly complex story of old people in love.
This hour: a chronicle of European history through the sound of bells and a bizarre spectacle of endurance.
This hour: a closely guarded family secret and the hidden history of long-deceased grandmother.
This hour: sign language, lip-reading, and deaf culture.
This hour: amateur sleuths and internet detectives.
This hour: a surprising look at the relationship between a hospice worker and his patient.
This hour: brothers and sisters contend with family illness.
This hour: the golden years.
This hour: the mysteries and complexities of the brain.
This hour: a very personal take on a rare subculture, a young man forced to confront his obesity, a dinner with unabashed nudists, and more.
This hour: the Rockettes, the opera, congress, and other spectacles.
This hour: one room school houses from Maui to Maine, each with a unique culture and character.
This hour: the intriguing world of experimental podcasts.
This hour: letters on the radio.
This hour: excerpts from some of our favorite Third Coast Conference sessions from years past.
This hour: the work of Dan Collison and Elizabeth Meister of Long Haul Productions. Dan and Elizabeth specialize in stories that follow people over days, weeks, and even years.
This hour: a man grapples with the stillbirth of his son with surprising grace and clear-eyed honesty.
This hour: Rebecca Sheir's The End as Beginning: An Audio Exploration of the Jewish View of Death, a trilogy that blends interviews, personal reflections, and music, and focuses on death and the Jewish tradition.
This hour: music, memory, lost love, and John Denver.
This hour: 99 Ways to Tell a Radio Story, an audio experiment orchestrated by the Third Coast Festival in collaboration with cartoonist Matt Madden.
This hour: spiritual loss and pursuit, an isolated religious community in rural Montana, a grumpy minister, and more.
This hour: the story of four small towns that were evacuated and flooded to create one of the biggest reservoirs of drinking water on the east coast.
This hour: a story about the bitter fight for gay rights in New Zealand, featuring a blend of rare archival tape of the speeches, rallies, and debates that marked the struggle and the personal stories of people affected by the fight.
This hour: a town grapples with a young person's violent death, and a sound portrait of a chaotic emergency call center.
This hour: two stories by Mary Beth Kirchner.
This hour: readers, writers, literary performance artists, and the grammar police.
This hour: a visit to one of the most remote islands on earth, a woman who sings with crickets, a return to Zagreb, and more.
This hour: a documentary composition by Alessandro Bosetti.
This hour: a group of tourists travels through Central Asia, where antics and misbehavior ensue.
This hour: two stories from RTE's Flux with Ronan Kelly.
This hour: a beloved pig and a meditation on dogs.
This hour: two decades after he was forced to flee, a young Palestinian man returns to his home to meet the Israeli woman who lives there now.
This hour: a child beauty queen, a young transgendered man, and an obsessive teen.
This hour: a pizza chef travels to North Korea to cook for Kim Jong Il, a young man contemplates his release from "juvie," and more.
This hour: time-lapse phonography, a much-sampled beat, and the only instrument you can play without actually touching.
This hour: stories that bend, stretch, and downright fabricate the truth.
This hour: the captivating results of a transcontinental radio collaboration.
This hour: voyaging, wandering, and becoming a fanatic pedestrian.
This hour: the strange, storied, hodgepodge history of radio.
This hour: tongue twisters, brain teasers, cheaters, and one of the worst high school football teams of all time.
This hour: the indomitable Studs Terkel.
This hour: a seemingly mismatched but (mostly) happy couple, a wife who exacts revenge on her husband via beef broth, and more.
This hour: Dads. The good, the bad, and the complicated.
This hour: memories and reverberations of conflict.
This hour: a tall, white New Zealander heads to Mumbai to try and land a role in one of the hundreds of Bollywood films the industry churns out each year.
This hour: an obscure director frets his way through Sundance, the accidental genre known as film noir, and more.