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We’ve morphed!

Saltcast is now HowSound.

Same content, same host, same backstory to great radio storytelling…. only the name has changed. Just as good, perhaps even better. But you need to subscribe to know for sure!

Please, click on over to HowSound.org or log onto iTunes and subscribe.

The Saltcast blog posts and free streams of the Saltcast podcast are all here and will remain here for some time. But there are no more fresh episodes.

So, see ya at HowSound.

Best,
Rob

Okay. First and foremost. Do. Not. Panic.

Yes, this is the last Saltcast, BUT….

Saltcast is now HowSound.

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Jeff Letellier demonstrates how to hold a pigeon. (Photo by Nicolas Tanner, courtesy the Salt Archive.)

We talk everyday. But, step in front of a microphone, and everything goes to heck in a handbasket. We forget how to talk and, instead, launch into “reading voice.” What’s the secret to avoiding “reading voice”?

Rachel James has some answers. Last spring, Rachel was a student in the radio program at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. She’s a natural. Put her in front of a mic and ‘poof,’ no “reading voice.”

On this Saltcast, we’ll hear examples of Rachel’s work — her first ever, by the way — and she’ll reveal a couple of her secrets to a natural sounding read. You may want to t take notes!

Best, Rob

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Producer John Biewen interrogates John Steinbeck. (Photo by Diana Garcia)

I seriously suffer from wanderlust. Summer comes and I want nothing more than to shunpike — make my way cross-country taking back roads. Can’t do that this summer, sadly. But, fortunately, I have John Biewen’s latest documentary to satisfy some of my road trip ya-yas.

In 1960, John Steinbeck made his way coast to coast along with his dog, Charley. Their trip was immortalized in the book Travels With Charley: In Search for America. Fifty years later, John Biewen traced Steinbeck’s journey — with his microphone. John’s story is immortalized in “Travels With Mike: In Search of America 50 Years After Steinbeck” and presented on this edition of the Saltcast.

By the way, I’m huge fan of books about cross-country sojourns. Here are links to a few.

Blue Highways, William Least Heat-Moon

River Horse, William Least Heat-Moon

Road Scholar, Andre Codrescu

Miles from Nowhere, Dayton Duncan

Out West: American Journey Along the Lewis and Clark Trail, Dayton Duncan

Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the America West, Stephan Ambrose

The Air Conditioned Nightmare, Henry Miller

Also, for more about John Biewen’s journey, check out his “Travels With Mike” website.

Okay. There. That should keep you busy!

Best, Rob

The English Channel

On this Saltcast, further evidence of the infiltration of Radiolab into the ears of new radio producers.

Matt Kielty interviewed the guts out of Pat Charrette, a 60-year-old woman who attempted an English Channel swim in 2008. Pat was a great talker and Matt thought assembling the story would be a cinch — until he listened to the tape. That’s when he realized he needed more than just good interview tape to tell the story. He needed sound. But there wasn’t any. No one recorded Pat’s swim. So, Matt did the next best thing. He “designed” sound.

Happy listening!

Best,
Rob

PS – On a completely unrelated note, be sure to listen to Reality Radio: Telling True Stories in Sound, the radio program based on the book of the same title.

*It’s quite possible the Salt story featured on this Saltcast could win an award for “Most Obscure Title.” ‘Baumgartner’ is a reference to Felix Baumgartner, an Austrian skydiver. In 2003, Baumgartner became the first person to skydive across the English Channel. ‘Charrette’ is a reference to 60-year-old Pat Charrette from Westbrook, Maine who swam the English Channel in 2008.

Amy O’Leary wowing radio students with a four-hour, non-stop, mind dump of storytelling genius.

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It all started with a vox pop about cheeseburger fries when she was a student at Salt in 2003. Now, Amy O’Leary is a Deputy Editor at the New York Times working on multi-media stories.

Amy visited Salt this semester and let her mind all-hang-out — narrative, voicing, multi-media storytelling, tips for transcribing — she covered it all.

Amy also spent an hour with me for the Saltcast, taking a knife to a story she produced at Salt. Lots of storytelling nuggets to be had. Have a listen top an epic edition of the Saltcast.

Best, Rob

PS – PRX innovated — again. This time it’s all about sharing. Check out PRX’s new way to embed files, share them, and God knows what else! Hop on over to PRX to find out.

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Salt Radio has been invaded. Sonically.

The welcome interloper? Radiolab.

Some ten years ago, students arrived at Salt heavily influenced by Ira Glass and Dave Isay. While Ira and Dave continue to inspire, Radiolab’s producers and hosts, Robert Krulwich and Jad Abumrad, have now wormed their way into the hearts and ears of students. (By wormed, i’m thinking of earworm, fyi.) Inspired by the ear-tingling production values of the program, students are now experimenting with sound design as a tool for storytelling.

Last semester, Lucas Willard listened to his inner-Radiolab and took a stab at creating a Radiolab-esque opening for his story on bed bugs. It’s called “They Emerge At Night” and it’s the feature on this edition of the Saltcast.

All the best,

Rob

Paul Schipper, “The Iron Man of Skiing.” Photo by Katherine Gnecco, courtesy of the Salt Archive.

You can’t swing a dead cat without hitting Greg Warner on the radio these days. The dude is everywhere.

Just in the last few months, Greg produced a story for Radiolab, had a piece featured on Re:sound, and he assembled a series on health care in Russia for Marketplace. In fact, that’s where Greg works. He’s the Health Desk Reporter for Marketplace and files stories just about daily.

Well, Greg got his start in radio at Salt. I’ve blown off the dust from his stellar, 2003 story “Endless Winter” for today’s Saltcast. Happy listening!

Ciaodah,

Rob

“How the heck am I going to find a story?!” Students at Salt ask that question incessantly at the beginning of a semester. And trust me, they don’t always say ‘heck.’

To spark thinking on where to look for a story, for many years we’ve used “50 Places to Shop for Story Ideas” by Gregg McLachlan. I think it’s an excellent starting point.

One thing missing from the list? Yard sales.

Student Jen Nathan found today’s story, “A Square Meal Regardless,” while thumbing through the classified section of a newspaper (which is on the list, by the way).

Have a listen, check out the list, then add number 51 — yard sales.

Best,

Rob

At Salt, we use the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics to guide us through tricky editorial decisions.

But, how’s a student supposed to figure out the best path to take when the teacher breaks the Society’s code around “avoid(ing) conflicts of interest, real or perceived.”

I suggested a student interview my mother-in-law for a story about the color pink. “How could there possibly be any conflicts of interest on a story like that,” I thought to myself. “Seems harmless.”

Yeah, well….

Have a listen to my tale of woe and Meghan Vigeant’s unusual story called “Pink.”

Cheers, Rob

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O, the places my mic has taken me.

Just in the last few months, with a microphone leading the way, I’ve been to a Rio de Janeiro ghetto, a nothern Maine historical society, a funeral and a prison in Malawi, and the American Folk Festival in Bangor, Maine. A microphone is a passport.

On this edition of the Saltcast, we hear “‘Til Death Do Us Part” by former Salt radio student Sara Archambault. Sara’s mic took her to a funeral home where she a recorded a body being prepped for burial.

Where has your mic taken you?

Best, Rob

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The USS Cole towed to sea with a hole blown in its side.Photo by Sgt. Don L. Maes, U.S. Marine Corps.

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On October 12, 2000, seventeen sailors were killed and dozens injured during an attack on the USS Cole in Yemen. Ten years later, Salt radio grad Matt Ozug produced a segment on the Cole for an hour-long documentary by America Abroad.

Matt was somewhat surprised at how reticent survivors of the attack were to be interviewed. Some had never spoken to the media. So, Matt says he tread lightly in his approach seeking permission for interviews. He says doors opened up when he contacted people via Facebook — a relatively new tool for journalists — and when the Captain of the Cole agreed to be interviewed.

What approaches do you use when first contacting an interviewee? Let us know. Post a thought to the blog. But, before you do, have a listen!

Best, Rob

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Salt radio student Georgia Moodie turned part of Salt’s somewhat standardized production process on its head. Maybe it’s because Georgia’s from Australia? (Sorry. Couldn’t help it.)

Typically, students write and edit scripts before producing a story in ProTools. Georgia produced a story first and wrote a script as she went.

This isn’t a production crime. In fact, it makes quite a bit of sense. The final product of a radio story is sound, not words on a page. So, you don’t want to stray too far the final medium when producing. Georgia’s piece is proof. Have a listen!

Best, Rob

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Carol Broebeck received this picture of her son from her social worker just after his adoption was completed. It was the last she saw of him until twenty years later when he turned up at her job — by surprise. (Photo courtesy Carol Broebeck via radio producer Shea Shackelford.)

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“Where do ideas for radio stories come from?” In the case of the award-winning documentary “This Can Go On Forever,” it came from a chance encounter at a regional listening group.

Producers Shea Shackelford and Virginia Millington met a the “DC Listening Lounge” in Washington, DC. They hit it off, started chatting about story ideas, and “poof” — a Third Coast award winner.

Of course, it wasn’t quite that simple. A considerable amount of time and effort and hand-wringing went into the production of this piece. But, the spark occurred at one of a growing number of listening “collectives” incubating audio creativity. The Association of Independents in Radio created a map locating several groups.

Before producing “This Can Go On Forever”, Virginia had never produced any radio at all. (She’s now an archivist at StoryCorps.) Shea is a graduate of the radio program at Salt. He is co-producer of the The Big Shed Podcast and NPR’s Place and Memory Project. I’m happy to present their stellar collaboration on this edition of the Saltcast.

Best, Rob

PS – Transom recently published a feature about several Salt radio graduates like Shea. Their “post-Salt” stories are inspiring. Pop on over to the article for a good read!

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My brain tingled while interviewing Dan Grech for this Saltcast. Dan is the News Director at WLRN in southern Florida. He’s also a producer for the station’s public affairs program Under the Sun.

Early in 2010, Dan produced a story about four doctors who traveled to Haiti soon after the earthquake. One of the doctors videotaped part of the trip and captured a remarkable moment in a medical tent. Dan viewed the tape and said “Radio story!” So he interviewed the four doctors and mixed the interview tape with audio from the video.

But, Dan thought the piece needed a bit more sound. So, he added some tape recorded at a Haitian airport and from the medical tent — sound recorded long after the day of the video tape recording. And that begs the question: Can you do that? (Hence, the brain tingling.)

On this Saltcast, Dan and I discuss that very question and a few related ethical issues surrounding what could be called “mis-appropriated sound.”

Have a listen!

Best,

Rob

PS – Here’s a link to Dan’s Marketplace story referenced in the Saltcast. Mind you, it won’t make sense to listen to this without listening to the Saltcast first!!

PPS – CORRECTION – An earlier version of this podcast was posted with a mistake. I said that the audio of the tarmac and the medical tent was recorded “long after” the videotape recording. Not true. Those sounds were recorded at about the same time. The reposted version of this podcast corrects that mistake. Also, a shout out to Kenny Malone. Kenny worked with Dan Grech on this project and was responsible for, among many things, the overall production style of the piece.

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Producer Jamie York has decade long list of success in public radio. He’s worked with Dave Isay of StoryCorps fame, WNYC, American Radio Works, and Radio Rookies. He’s been at On the Media for six years. And, his first national broadcast was a doosey. In 2002. Jamie co-produced “Mohawk Iron Workers, Walking High Steel” as part of the Kitchen Sisters’ “Sonic Memorial Project.”

But, when Jamie thinks back to his time at Salt and the very first piece he ever produced he wonders “How the hell did I ever get a gig in radio?!”

On this Saltcast, Jamie publicly flogs himself over that first story “Jaz, A Cleaning Woman.”  Frankly, I think the piece is pretty good — a bit rough around the edges, but Jamie’s talent is clearly evident. Have a listen.

Cheers,

Rob

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I hope you’re sitting down. I’m going to say something heretical. Ready?

I’m kinda tired of StoryCorps.

Let me explain. On so many levels, StoryCorps is genius. It’s the nation’s largest oral history project — ever. And, it’s peer to peer (mostly) with people interviewing one another. The stories are heartfelt and honest. What could be better on the radio, right?

Problem is, I think the stories have become predictable. Not all the time, to be sure, but often.

On this Saltcast, we listen to a story produced at Salt several years ago that, in-house, we called “StoryCorps Plus.” Take a listen and let us know if you think the approach to recording and producing this story might be a way for StoryCorps to take their productions to the next level.

Cheers, Rob

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Here’s what I’d like you to do after you hear this podcast.

Nothing.

Just sit there (or stand if you must) and do nothing but listen. In fact, listen until it becomes a bit uncomfortable, like you’ve listened long enough. Then, listen some more.

Listen deliberately. Tell me what you hear.

Really. Try it.

Cheers,

Rob

PS – Below are links to the work of sound artist Steve Peters and radio producer Paul Ingles. But, here’s the deal. You can only click on these after you deliberately listen for several minutes, if not longer. I’m watching, and I’ll know if you follow the instructions.

http://greenmuseum.org/content/artist_index/artist_id-71.html

http://steve-peters.blogspot.com/

http://www.paulingles.com/

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Irish radio producer, Ronan Kelly.

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This Saltcast we break from the format a bit.

Ronan Kelly, from RTE, Radio Ireland, visited Salt for a week in October. He hung out in class and worked with the students. What a treat!

While Ronan was in Portland, we chatted on tape as he played DJ featuring clips from some of his favorite radio stories. You’ll hear some of that conversation on this Saltcast.

And, as if that wasn’t enough, we’re throwing in as an added bonus for Saltcast listeners, Ronan’s award-winnning doc “Roger Dowds: Millionaire Winner.”

It’s a full show!!

Be sure to subscribe to Ronan’s podcast, The Curious Ear. It’s a superb pot-luck of excellent radio from Europe and the States.

All the best,

Rob

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Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

That’s the sound of tyranny — the tyranny of the clock.

Typically, radio stories need to fill a specific length of time in a radio program — no shorter, no longer. Right. On. Time.

Lots of content from a story gets cut to meet those time constraints. One of the first things to go is the questions asked by the reporter. Instead of leaving in the question, the narrator/reporter will “write to the tape” meaning they’ll narrate right up to the quote in such a way that we don’t need the question. (“Write to tape” has some other meanings, too, but for now…)

Independent producer Sean Cole says we loose a lot when we cut out all the questions. On this Saltcast, Sean makes a strong case for keeping a few questions in.

Have a listen to Sean’s story “Who’s Your Daddy?” and if you have any questions, post ’em here!

Best,
Rob

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Crow’s Lightwriter speech synthesizer. (Photo by Emily Bender)

Crow bathes with a caregiver. (Photo by Emily Bender)

Crow died of ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease in 2007. (Photo by Emily Bender)

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A very successful radio and multi-media producer got her start at Salt. She’s worked for a major public radio program and a major newspaper conducting training and producing audio slideshows. She once told me she sat in her car and cried for a half hour before finding the courage to walk down the street and interview people for a vox pop project at Salt.

Fear runs rampant in the early weeks at Salt. Students fear cold-calling a source, or pulling out recording gear for a first interview, or standing like a gear-laden mannequin in a crowd collecting ambient sound .

On this edition of the Saltcast, we feature Andrea Silenzi’s Salt story “Two Weeks” — Andrea’s first ever. (Andrea is not who I’m referring to above.) The story is about Crow, a woman dying of Lou Gehrig’s Disease, or ALS. Talk about tackling a subject matter that might cause even a seasoned producer to freeze in their tracks! But even with butterflies in her stomach, Andrea crossed the fear threshold with grace to produce a stunning story of courage and the life beyond.

We’d love to hear your stories of “producer fear” and how you overcame it — or didn’t. Please post ’em here at the blog.

Cheers,

Rob

]]> The only thing radio producers have to fear is fear itself. The only thing radio producers have to fear is fear itself. Rob Rosenthal, SaltCast 13:34 noUncategorized https://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/2010/09/ann-meets-mr-ellington/ Mon, 20 Sep 2010 18:51:22 +0000 http://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/?p=1211 https://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/2010/09/ann-meets-mr-ellington/#comments https://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/2010/09/ann-meets-mr-ellington/feed/ 2 “Why now?” Producers often dread this question. “It’s simply a good story” they might say. “It doesn’t need to answer ‘why now?’ This is a classic tale of (fill in the blank). It’s universal!” But editors ask this question all the time. They’re looking for relevancy, for why a listener should care beyond those important […]

“Why now?”

Producers often dread this question. “It’s simply a good story” they might say. “It doesn’t need to answer ‘why now?’ This is a classic tale of (fill in the blank). It’s universal!”

But editors ask this question all the time. They’re looking for relevancy, for why a listener should care beyond those important elements.

I see the merit of both positions. A good story is a good story is a good story. Period. It’s its own reason for being. “Why now?” seems like an unnecessary stricture sometimes. On the other hand, the answer to “why now?” may help convince a listener (and an editor) this story is worth their time.

Today’s feature, “Ann Meets Mr. Ellington,” produced by Kerry Seed in 2003, doesn’t answer “why now?” It’s timeless. In fact, I wonder if this story would have ever seen the light of day if “why now?” had to be answered. Have a listen.

Best, Rob

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A cypress knee — Jay Allison’s memento from a visit to Florida, a tour of a cypress knee museum, and a radio story about “an elevated, transcendent beauty we become aware of at death.” (Photo by Rob Rosenthal.)

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“Cypress Knees” by Jay Allison is one of those radio stories that’s hard to describe. Even Jay kinda, sorta stumbled over explaining it when I spoke with him in late July of this year. In short, you might say it’s a sonic, poetic study of hardship, memory, and death.

That’s a pretty ethereal description for a story. Not something an editor is likely to know what to do with if you pitched the story to them that way. Editors typically like something much more concrete.

But, Jay says “concreteness” leaves out a lot of great stories that are hard to pin down when you explain them but genius when you listen to them. “Cypress Knees” is clearly the latter and the feature on today’s Saltcast.

Cheers,

Rob

PS – “Cypress Knees” was part of a series called “The Life Stories Connection.” And click here for more on Jay Allison.

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Katie West smiles to change the world. (Photo by Avery Moore.)

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Radio producer Avery Moore heard the following mantra for *four* years at journalism school: DON’T USE MUSIC!

Over and over, DON’T USE MUSIC was beaten into her.

Journalistically speaking, the logic is simple — don’t use music unless it’s part of the story. If it’s not part of the story, then the music is not germane and it shouldn’t be in the piece. Secondly, the argument continues, music can be emotionally manipulative — stick to the facts not manipulation.

That’s what Avery was taught and come hell or high water, she was going to stick with that philosophy… until late one night, sitting in front of her ProTools session at Salt, producing a profile, Avery did the unimaginable… and felt nauseous.

Click and listen.

Cheers,
Rob

PS – Listen to the band Saregama here.

If you’re on the hunt for copyright free music, try these sites:

archive.org

freemusicarchive.org

sounddogs.com

soundrangers.com

freesound.org

incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/

And here’s a link to the Creative Commons page with lots of links to other sites.

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President Franklin Roosevelt examines a model of the proposed Quoddy Dam, Eastport, Maine in 1935. The project barely got off the ground before it failed miserably. (Photo courtesy the National Archives.)

Leslie Bowman and Normand LaBerge keep the dream of a dam in Eastport alive seventy-five years later. (Photo by Emily Friedman.)

It’s hard to start a story. In fact, it took me a long time to figure out that I wanted to start this post with that sentence then tell you it took me a long time to start this post with that sentence.

But, in short, the opening of a story should (most of the time) orient the listener to the focus of the story and get their attention. Frequently at Salt, we suggest a story start in the present. Then, after establishing a scene in the present, step away for context and history.

Producer Emily Friedman tried that approach again and again to no avail when writing the script of her piece “Dam Radio Story.” Every time she inserted context and history it “cannonballed” the opening. So, she switched them starting with history then the present. Not a big deal, to be sure, but her struggle to find a good opening is illuminating. Have a listen.

Best,
Rob

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Guglielmo Marconi, inventor and early radio technology pioneer.

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Radio producer Tony Kahn once said of an interviewee “She lives in her voice.” What a remarkably succinct way to say how one’s voice communicates more than just the words that are spoken. Cadence, pauses, inflections… all are non-verbal cues about character.

I’m a fan of one non-verbal component of voice in particular — accents. Unfortunately, a great homogenization of accents has occurred on radio. It’s rare, it seems, to hear regional accents whether its news reporters, program hosts, or djs.

The commentary by Dennis Downey featured on this Saltcast is an exception. Dennis, arguably, “lives in his voice.” Raised in New Bedford and now living on Cape Cod, his accent is refreshing and honest. Take a listen to Dennis’ essay on Marconi and talking on the radio. I’m sure his accent will perk up your ears.

Cheers,

Rob

PS – This essay originally appeared on Transom.org.

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Glenn Johnson’s business card reads “Dowser, Consultant to the Universe.”  Photo by Katherine Hays (2004).

A recent interview with This American Life host Ira Glass on Slate.com got me thinking about about an old Salt Radio piece called “Dowser, Consultant to the Universe.” It’s the story of Glenn Johnson, a dowser who makes a mistake. And, therein lies the connection to the Ira interview.

Ira says mistakes are important to storytelling. Not a mistake on the part of the producer, but a mistake made by a character in the story.”I don’t go looking for stories with the idea of wrongness in my head, no,” Ira says.  “But the fact is, a lot of great stories hinge on people being wrong. In fact, we’ve talked as a staff about how the crypto-theme of every one of our shows is: “I thought it would work out this way, but then it worked out that way.”

In part, that’s what happens in the story about the dowser produced by Owen Agnew in 2004. Glenn, the dowser, goes hunting for water one day with his dowsing rods, finds what he thinks is a good source, the property owner digs a well….. and never finds water.

This “wrongness” as Ira calls it, adds an interesting twist to the story. Gives it some conflict and causes Glenn to question, if only briefly, his spirituality — what he believes powers his dowsing. Without the mistake, the story would, most likely, be less interesting.

Listen for yourself.

Cheers,

Rob

]]> Glenn Johnson’s business card reads “Dowser, Consultant to the Universe.”  Photo by Katherine Hays (2004). A recent interview with This American Life host Ira Glass on Slate.com got me thinking about about an old Salt Radio piece called “Dowser, Glenn Johnson’s business card reads “Dowser, Consultant to the Universe.”  Photo by Katherine Hays (2004). A recent interview with This American Life host Ira Glass on Slate.com got me thinking about about an old Salt Radio piece called “Dowser, Consultant to the Universe.” It’s the story of Glenn Johnson, a dowser who makes a mistake. […] Rob Rosenthal, SaltCast 12:24 noUncategorized https://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/2010/06/how-i-get-by/ Mon, 28 Jun 2010 18:45:01 +0000 http://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/?p=1064 https://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/2010/06/how-i-get-by/#respond https://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/2010/06/how-i-get-by/feed/ 0 Focus. Focus. Focus.

Rebecca Pickett smokes medical marijuana daily to alleviate her debilitating headaches. Photo by Leah Arsenault.

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We could call this edition of the Saltcast “The Lexicon Show.” I define a few of the quirky phrases and words instructors at Salt use to help students focus their stories. Phrases like:

Circling the Stadium – A story starts much too far afield. The writing circles above a story like a blimp hovering over a sporting event only the story is on the field, not in the air.

Shoot the Puppies – There’s a picture of three puppies hanging in a classroom at Salt. A student from many years ago drew targets on the faces of the puppies then added this caption: “You Know What You Need to Do!”  Shoot the puppies means cut the tape you are in love with for the sake of the story.

Fishtailing – A story fishtails when it’s all over the place — back and forth, back and forth — not in a straight line.

All producers encounter these focusing problems, long-time and new producers alike. Recent Salt Radio student Andy Mills wrestled mightily with focus last spring. On this Saltcast, Andy talks about the value of focus and we listen to his story “How I Get By” about a medical marijuana user.

Happy listening!

Best,

Rob

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On this addition of the Saltcast, I talk to Diane and Todd about the insane amount of tape they collected  (150 hours) following offenders in and out of prison over four years, the pittance of pay they received for the amount of work involved ($5k), and the effort they made to protect their safety.

There were a couple of things we chatted about that I couldn’t fit into the Saltcast so I thought I’d post a few notes here.

One of the toughest jobs a journalist will face is leaving your pesonal opinion at home. Whether its your political point viewpoints or, in this case, your distaste for the person you are interviewing — a sex offender. Both Diane and Todd say you just have to dive in, be open, and ask tough questions.

Todd: Just like any other story, there are people that I like and people that I don’t like. As I’m doing the interview, it doesn’t matter whether I’m liking the person or not liking the person.

Diane: I don’t like what these guys did. At all. But, I like them as human beings. (Long pause.) Some more than others.

At one point in the documentary, Todd asks a question that made my stomach churn: “What is it that sexually attracted you to this child?”  How do you ask a question like that?!

Todd: It’s super difficult. But we had to get to the heart of the issue. We were interviewing sex offenders. And, as part of that, we needed to have them tell us about the crime they committed… And we needed to figure out why they did what they did… from their point of view. And certainly the acts were reprehensible but we needed to ask those questions. It wasn’t easy.

Diane: We were in prison for almost four hours one day interviewing possible participants and asking that question over and over. And I felt SO numb at the end of it. You could have pierced my eyes with a needle and I wouldn’t have noticed. It was a really traumatic day. So, we went out for French fries afterwards (laughs) which became a pattern of ours. When ever we did a series of tough interviews, we’d treat ourselves to French fries (laughs).

It doesn’t really tax me to ask questions. People at my work make fun of me because they say there is nothing I won’t ask. If someone wants to answer it, I’ll ask. I’m doing it to represent the listener… I’m just kind of the conduit.

Todd: It’s just sort of facing your fear and talking to people. You know, once a person has agreed to be interviewed, you can pretty much ask them anything until they tell you to go away.

Diane – And in our case, since we were wanting to establish a long-term relationship with these guys, if I had let my disgust show in that first meeting. They would never have opened up to us. They would never have wanted to take our calls.

On a different note, Todd and Diane spoke about working together as a married couple. Diane says since they know each other so well, there’s a kind of “pretty dance” they engage in allowing each other’s strenghts to come to the fore. But, they’ve established a few boundaries to make sure work and personal life don’t mix all the time.

Todd: I do rent an office about four blocks from the house so we’ve at least got our little production studio out of the house.

Diane: And little is little! We’re talking about a closet-sized (office). So when we’re together and the dog’s in there, there’s no square footage for anything else in this little space. But there is a physical entity that we talk to which is helpful.

Todd: And then as far as the separation of personal life from radio life, I’ve tried to say “Let’s not talk about it tonight.” We’ve definately had troubles with that at times.

Diane: We just have to be really explicit. When you are working on a story it’s what you’re thinking about. It’s what wakes you up in the middle in the night. And if the person you are working with is right there it’s just hard not to talk about it… It’s really tricky and it’s not for everybody.

And the up side is, when Todd and I are really excited about a project, it totally engages us. I kind of feel sorry for married couples or partnered people who don’t have a common passion. Because what do they talk about? The dog? I suppose there’s things to interest them, but when we’re running on a story, it’s really, really fun.

Check out Todd and Diane’s work at 2BelowZero.org. And, listen to all of “No Brother of Mine” at PRX.

Happy listening, Rob.

The Guerrette family of Pittston, Maine – William, Nicole, and Melanie. Photo by Sarah Craig.

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The story featured on today’s Saltcast is not easy to take. People listening to the piece at a recent gallery show at Salt shook their heads in disbelief and cringed at the gory details.

In 2008, two thugs broke into the Guerrette family home in Pittston, Maine and attacked William and his daughter Nicole with a machete. Melanie, the mom and wife, escaped out a second story window fleeing for help. She left her husband and daughter behind thinking they were dead.

Eventually, the attackers were caught and sentenced to many decades in jail.

In 2010, Salt radio student Bradley Campbell spent several weeks with the Guerrette’s. He tells the story of the attack and the current day-to-day challenges of family life. The story is called “Left for Dead.”

Most, if not all, of the news reporting on this story focused on the details of the break-in and the court cases. Little information was published about the Guerrette’s struggles to regain stability. Bradley’s story captures that angle and “moves the story forward” in a manner not reported by the local press.

Bradley worries, however, that the tone of the story is too dark, too depressing, too honest for public radio. Let us know what you think. Please post your thoughts.

Best,
Rob

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]]> "Left for Dead" is probably the most gruesome story every reported by a Salt Radio student. It's not for the faint of heart. "Left for Dead" is probably the most gruesome story every reported by a Salt Radio student. It's not for the faint of heart. Rob Rosenthal, SaltCast 17:50 noUncategorized https://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/2010/05/just-another-fish-story/ Mon, 17 May 2010 18:09:14 +0000 http://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/?p=1003 https://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/2010/05/just-another-fish-story/#comments https://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/2010/05/just-another-fish-story/feed/ 2 An award-winning story of a beached whale on this Saltcast. You didn’t hear this from me, but sometimes the best approach to working on a story is to not have much of a plan. (cough)

I actually can’t believe I just wrote that.

I’m a firm believer in working with a penciled-in plan before embarking on a story. Starting out, a producer should have a pretty good sense of who to talk to, where to record active tape (people doing stuff), and a rough idea of how the story might be told. It’s advice I doggedly offer students at Salt.

Producer Molly Menschel ignored most of those recommendations and ended up assembling what I believe is the best student piece produced at Salt. Molly followed her instincts rather than the rules.

Inspiration struck after she stumbled across a ten-year old story about a beached whale in Lubec, Maine. Armed only with a little preparation, she grabbed her microphone, some camping gear, and her curiosity then drove four hours to Lubec and interviewed anyone she could find for four days straight.

The result is “Just Another Fish Story.” Have a listen.

Best,

Rob

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Nathan Dyer focuses hard — really hard — on the chandelier. Photo by Morrigan McCarthy.

Ninety-nine percent of the time, using the pronoun “I” in a story is a journalistic no-no.

The reasons for this prohibition are many. One is objectivity. Remaining aloof and distant helps a reporter achieve the goal of objectivity, or so the conventional thinking goes.

Another is focus. The story isn’t about the reporter. It’s about the people they report on.

But sometimes, the pronoun “I” is a useful storytelling tool. For instance, “I” unlocks possibilities for framing and entering a story.

In the case of today’s feature on Saltcast, “I” (and it’s cousin “me”) allows the reporter to act as a surrogate for skeptical listeners when no character is available to play that role in the story.

Katie Mingle’s “Portrait of a Psychic as a Young Man” is a timeless tale of adolescence told through fifteen year old Nathan Dyer. Katie gently uses the first person in the story — sometimes directly, other times through carefully understated observation. She artfully achieves both objectivity and focus while employing “I.”

Just off the top of my head, I can think of two reporters who are masters of “I” —  Sean Cole and Neenah Ellis. They manage to navigate the tricky waters of objectivity and focus while writing in the first person.

Sean Cole has a lot of work posted at PRX. Many of his stories are archived at NPR.org. He also wrote an excellent essay on “I” for transom.org.

Many Neenah Ellis productions can also be found at PRX and NPR.org. I especially like Neenah’s opening piece in a series on centenarians.

Feast your ears on other stories by Katie Mingle at her website.

So much listening. So little time.

Ciao,

Rob

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“You can do that with radio?!!”

That was my overwhelming response when I first heard “Ghetto Life 101.”  I still feel the same way even after listening to the piece dozens of times.

“Ghetto Life 101” is a high-water mark for radio documentary and the story featured on this edition of the Saltcast — our fiftieth!!

Dave Isay produced the piece in 1993. Dave gave tape decks to two teenage boys — LeAlan Jones and Lloyd Newman — to document their lives on the south side of Chicago. This diary-style production was one of the first in public radio and inspired a slew of other diary documentaries and youth radio programs (see below).

Dave no longer produces docs. Instead, he manages StoryCorps, perhaps the largest oral history project ever undertaken in the United States.

For the 50th Saltcast, Dave spoke briefly with me about Ghetto Life, some of the controversy that surrounded the broadcast, and how LeAland and Lloyd are doing now.

Wish us a “Happy 50th!” will ya?!!

Best,
Rob

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PS — Here are some resources on radio diaries, youth radio, and Dave Isay’s work.

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AUDIO DIARIES

The Life Stories series by Jay Allison are probably the first ever diary-style radio documentaries.

Joe Richman perfected the diary technique with his company Radio Diaries.

And here’s a good diary story on Transom — Not All Bad Things.

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YOUTH RADIO

Youth Radio Berkeley is the largest youth radio program in the U.S.

Blunt Youth Radio started in the mid-1990’s. In addition to producing a weekly talk show, Blunt teaches radio to incarcerated youth in Portland, Maine.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t include Radio Rookies in New York at WNYC celebrating ten years this year!!

And, I’d be doubly remiss if I left out Youthcast, the youth radio podcast produced by the Public Radio Exchange. PRX also has a nifty list of youth radio programs around the U.S as part of the Generation PRX project.

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DAVE ISAY

For many years, Dave’s production company was Sound Portraits. Most if not all of the work he produced can be heard on line.

StoryCorps pieces can be listened to at StoryCorps.org and on PRX.

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Jerry Blackburn, “The Junk King” of the Downeast region of Maine.  Photo by Alexandra Marvar, 2006.

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You just might end your subscription to the Saltcast after the following pun: Producer Josh Gleason wrestled mightly with how to “frame” his profile (get it?) of Jerry Blackburn, “The Junk King.”

Jerry salvages and sells junk. Lots of junk. More junk than you can possibly imagine. But, for nearly twenty years, Jerry has wanted to turn his junk dealership into a museum — “The Downeast Museum of Natural History.” Problem is, it’s never happened. Two decades after the idea sparked his imagination, no museum.

Josh mentally ping-ponged back and forth trying to get his head around the following conundrum: is the story of Jerry a story of a junk dealer who wants to start a museum, or a wannabe museum curator who salvages junk?

It’s a fine point but an important one.

On this edition of the Saltcast, I feature Josh’s story from 2006 and we chat about why one story frame worked, and the other didn’t. Josh also has some great insight on asking tough, personal questions.

Happy listening.

Best,
Rob

PS – If you like Josh’s feature, check out his other work at joshuawgleason.com.

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]]> Producer Josh Gleason talks about framing stories and asking hard questions. Producer Josh Gleason talks about framing stories and asking hard questions. Rob Rosenthal, SaltCast 15:03 noUncategorized https://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/2010/03/roadway-renaissance-man/ Mon, 22 Mar 2010 20:15:16 +0000 http://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/?p=896 https://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/2010/03/roadway-renaissance-man/#respond https://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/2010/03/roadway-renaissance-man/feed/ 0 A classic story beginning: Here's how things are, here's how they are different.

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There are lots of different ways to start a story. Maybe the most common is what I call “Here’s-how-things-are (or were)-here’s-how-they-are-different.”

Basically, the narrator describes what’s usual about a situation. Then they point to what’s different. A simple example is “Today was perfect. Bright sunshine. Light breeze. A couple of clouds. Then, out of nowhere, a deluge.”

The twist — the part where you point to what’s different — tells the listener what the story is about.

Carla Neufeldt’s “Roadway Renaissance Man” uses this technique to great effect. Take a listen to today’s Saltcast and see what you think.

As an added bonus, do yourself a favor. Listen to Carla’s piece once the whole way through. Then go back and check out how she “scored” the piece with music. Carla got pretty fancy in ProTools, the editing software we use at Salt.

Ciaodah,

Rob

PS – Here’s a great article by Nancy Updike about beginning stories and a whole lot more on writing for radio.

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Thought the limerick was a dead artform? A remnant of “ye olde days” that little kids still find humorous? Think again.

Molly Haley brings us the story of a limerick revival, of sorts, in Maine. Beware, the poems featured in this Saltcast give ribald a new name.

The circle of dots above are something new I’ve been doing in class. To illustrate the need to produce a story about a subject matter or a person from a variety of view points, I’ll sometimes put a dot up on the board. I’ll label it — in this case, limericks. Then, I’ll plot some dots in a circle around the initial dot. The new dots represent people and organizations with a point of view on limericks. It’s the job of a reporter to connect those dots.

Take a listen to how Molly connects them on this week’s Saltcast.

Cheers,

Rob

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Icebergs ho! The bow of my kayak near Hay Cove, far northern Newfoundland.

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Here’s the dirty secret about the audio postcard featured on this Saltcast:

I recorded it twice.

Armed with binaural microphones and advice about safety from local fisherman, I recorded a kayak trip around some icebergs at the top of Newfoundland. I paddled about a half hour out to the bergs, tooled around between the two- and three-story ice chunks, then headed in. I narrated the whole way with headphones on and my minidisc recorder safely tucked into a shirt pocket underneath a Gore-Tex jacket.

On my paddle back, I pulled out the disc player to stop recording. Unfortunately, there was no need to press “Stop” — the gear was in “Record-Pause” the WHOLE time!

After cursing myself practically to oblivion, I pressed “Record” and went back out. So, the postcard is “take two” of my excursion.

There was a silver lining — a small one.  The weather changed. It was fairly calm first time through. But, the afternoon wind picked up for “take two” and that added some tension to the piece as you’ll hear.

In fact, the focus of this Saltcast is tension and narrative arc. I dissect the postcard, called “Nothing Predictable,” and describe the arc of the story each step of the way. Happy listening.

Here’s a couple of extra snaps for ya:

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How could that anvil-looking, tower of ice stay up like that?

Still happy even after botching the first recording. Note the binaural mics with fuzzies clipped to my hat.

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]]> This week on the Saltcast, a dissection of an audio postcard I produced about kayaking around some icebergs in Newfoundland. This week on the Saltcast, a dissection of an audio postcard I produced about kayaking around some icebergs in Newfoundland. Rob Rosenthal, SaltCast 9:02 noUncategorized https://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/2010/02/hot-lunch/ Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:40:27 +0000 http://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/?p=788 https://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/2010/02/hot-lunch/#comments https://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/2010/02/hot-lunch/feed/ 1 Meatball sub anyone? Photo by Catherine Lovell. r Ovens and sinks and a fridges, oh my. No matter which way producer Audrey Dilling turned in the cafeteria kitchen at Biddeford High School, she was awash in sound, sound, and more sound. What’s a producer to do? Audrey has some answers on this Saltcast about hot […]

Meatball sub anyone? Photo by Catherine Lovell.

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Ovens and sinks and a fridges, oh my.

No matter which way producer Audrey Dilling turned in the cafeteria kitchen at Biddeford High School, she was awash in sound, sound, and more sound. What’s a producer to do? Audrey has some answers on this Saltcast about hot lunch and recording.

One answer to the problem is to use two different mics — one for general ambiance, the other for specific sounds.

For general ambiance (and nearly all the sound you hear in Salt stories), Audrey used the reporter’s standard: Electrovoice RE-50. Works well in wind. Limits mic handling noise. It sounds good.

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The other mic Audrey used is the Audio Technica 8035. It’s shotgun mic with a much narrower pick-up pattern for focused sound gathering.

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If you are looking to buy only one mic, I recommend the RE-50. It’s a workhorse, takes a beating, and won’t disappoint. But, if you have some cash to invest in mics, having both of these can be a blessing. Ask Audrey.

Happy listening.

Rob

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]]> Meatball sub anyone? Photo by Catherine Lovell. r Ovens and sinks and a fridges, oh my. No matter which way producer Audrey Dilling turned in the cafeteria kitchen at Biddeford High School, she was awash in sound, sound, and more sound. Meatball sub anyone? Photo by Catherine Lovell. r Ovens and sinks and a fridges, oh my. No matter which way producer Audrey Dilling turned in the cafeteria kitchen at Biddeford High School, she was awash in sound, sound, and more sound. What’s a producer to do? Audrey has some answers on this Saltcast about hot […] Rob Rosenthal, SaltCast 10:11 noUncategorized https://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/2010/01/racial-cleansing-in-america/ Tue, 26 Jan 2010 10:56:52 +0000 http://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/?p=769 https://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/2010/01/racial-cleansing-in-america/#comments https://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/2010/01/racial-cleansing-in-america/feed/ 1 r Click for a closeup of the cover. r Finally! A book about the craft and art of radio documentary. It’s about time!! John Biewen and his co-editor Alexa Dilworth have assembled Reality Radio, a collection of masterful essays by radio’s best producers. Reading this, I feel as though I’ve had a personal, one-on-one conversation […] r Click for a closeup of the cover.

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Finally! A book about the craft and art of radio documentary. It’s about time!!

John Biewen and his co-editor Alexa Dilworth have assembled Reality Radio, a collection of masterful essays by radio’s best producers. Reading this, I feel as though I’ve had a personal, one-on-one conversation with many of the contemporary heroes of documentary radio. The essays eloquently convey the power of sound, the back-story to radio production, and the unique motivations of each essayist. Reality Radio will stoke “radio fire” in the belly of new producers, stir the embers for radiophiles afflicted by the radio bug for many years, and serve as the perfect introduction for people outside the radio field.

Or, put another way: Reality Radio? Ya gotta read it.

John is a long-time public radio documentary producer. You can hear much of his work here and here.  John also directs the Audio Program at the Center for Documentary Studies (CDS) at Duke University. Alexa is the Publishing Director at CDS.

On this Saltcast we feature John’s story “Racial Cleansing In America.” It’s about the expulsion of blacks from Corbin, Kentucky by the town’s white citizens in 1919. Have a listen then have a read!

Best,

Rob

PS – Alexa says the radio on the cover of the book is an actual, working radio — the Isis 20. Sweet!

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Carole Starr had a car accident a few years ago and her brain suffered an injury, one that’s had a profound effect on her life.

Carole was diagnosed with hyperacusis, a severe sensitivity to sound. This would be traumatic for anyone, but for Carole it’s had great significance. She had to give up what she most cherished — playing the violin.

Salt radio student David Golann brings us the story of Carole and her constant companion, “Brainhilda.”

This is the first piece we’re featuring from the class of Fall 2009. Check out all the others over at PRX, the Public Radio Exchange.

Yours in listening,

Rob

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]]> p Carole Starr had a car accident a few years ago and her brain suffered an injury, one that’s had a profound effect on her life. Carole was diagnosed with hyperacusis, a severe sensitivity to sound. This would be traumatic for anyone, Carol Star had a car accident a few years ago and her brain suffered an injury, one that's had a profound effect on her life. Rob Rosenthal, SaltCast 10:00 noUncategorized, brain injury, David Golann, Herzog, hpyeracusis https://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/2009/12/saltcast-parody/ Tue, 29 Dec 2009 00:55:07 +0000 http://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/?p=720 https://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/2009/12/saltcast-parody/#comments https://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/2009/12/saltcast-parody/feed/ 2 Graduation at Salt is not to be missed. At the end of a ridiculously rigorous 15-week semester, students, staff, faculty, family, and friends gather for a grand farewell. Really, it’s like no other graduation I’ve ever seen. Staff and faculty offer heartfelt missives. Students receive certificates. But, the highlight is the student presentations. Each track […] Graduation at Salt is not to be missed.

At the end of a ridiculously rigorous 15-week semester, students, staff, faculty, family, and friends gather for a grand farewell. Really, it’s like no other graduation I’ve ever seen.

Staff and faculty offer heartfelt missives. Students receive certificates. But, the highlight is the student presentations. Each track at Salt — writing, photography, and radio — is given the opportunity to dance, offer a speech, give thanks, or do whatever they like to bring some closure to the semester.

This fall, the radio students produced a parody of the Saltcast. It’s a riot. And, it’s today’s feature. I admit, it’s a bit of an insider piece but I think you’ll enjoy it nonetheless.

We’ll return to normal in the next couple of weeks. Happy holidays.

Rob

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Laura Herberg announces the “host intro” for the Saltcast parody. (Photo by Kristen Hewitt.)

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Rob holds his head in his hands, tears from laughing so hard. (Photo by Adriana Teresa.)

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“That’s was amazing,” Rob shouts, leaping from his chair. (Photo by Adriana Teresa.)

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(Photo by Adriana Teresa.)

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Make way for Tom Witkowski, the dean of delivery at Pizza Time, Portland, Maine. Photo by Rebeca Beeman

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Mark Kramer is probably the intellectual heavy-weight of narrative journalism. Mark wrote Telling True Stories and he was the founder of the Nieman Conference on Narrative Journalism.

Mark says if a story doesn’t have an obvious narrative hook, it needs a strong character, compelling images, and anecdotes.

Well, meet  Tom, the delivery dude for Pizza Time in Portland, Maine. Producer Alex Malmude rode along with Tom several times and produced the profile we feature today on the Saltcast. There’s no conflict. No drama. No tension. Just a colorful character, visual sound, and some pretty funny anecdotes and chance encounters. It meets the Kramer test for a good story. Have a listen.

Best,

Rob

Hillary Hebert takes a break after talking about motherhood and bi-polar disorder. Photo by Keith Lane.

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Radio producers have a many tools to craft a story. Narration. Writing. Quotes from interviews. Ambient sound. Active tape. Music.

What about art?

We don’t teach “sound art” at Salt, but we do wonder from time-to-time how a feature might benefit from using sound art to tell a story. In particular, how can a producer artistically use sound to convey more than what just words and ambiance alone communicate?

I try to answer this question with a student-produced piece profiling Hillary Hebert, a mother with bi-polar disorder. The piece is called “Flatline Days” and it was produced by Catherine Spangler in the spring of 2009. Catherine used a little bit of sound art to convey what happens in Hillary’s mind during a manic phase. Catherine assembled a short montage of quotes then layered and panned them over the sound of fast footsteps to portray ideas popping in Hillary’s head. Take a listen and let us know if you think it works.

If you’re intrigued by sound art, here are a few sites to get you going.

radiolab

ubu

outfront

joan schuman

gregory whitehead

peter leonhard braun

hildegard westercamp

list of sound artists

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Cheers,

Rob

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Watch a video tape as a prompt during an interview.

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One simple way to help an interviewee open up during a conversation is with photos. Thumbing through a photo album or a box of old pictures can jog a person’s memory, help take them back in time.

In fact, anything that might activate another sense during an interview may prompt a deeper, more profound response to questions. Have an interviewee hold an object. Bring them to a place from their past and walk around. Take a look at the clothes they wore for a special occasion.

In short, get people moving and using senses other than their ears during an interview.

Salt student Caty Enders used video tapes to prompt discussion. The added benefit to video is you can use the sound in your story. Take a listen to Caty’s piece “Mind On The Brain” and hear how she integrated audio from video into her production.

Cheers, Rob

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Have tape deck, will diary.  Josh Cutler, the subject of Joe Richman’s “Josh: Growing Up With Tourrette’s.”

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Just over a year ago, I dissected “Dead Animal Man” by Ira Glass for the Saltcast. I think that episode got more responses than any other Saltcast. Since then, I’ve been meaning to dissect a piece in a similar way. It only took a year (!) but I’ve finally gotten around to it. This time, Joe Richman joins me and we sift through, scene by scene, a story he produced in 1996 called “Josh: Growing Up With Tourrette’s.”

Joe Richman has made some of the best documentaries on public radio. His work is stellar — sound rich, dramatic, personal.

Joe may be best known for his radio diaries, stories where an individual is given a tape deck to document their lives. In fact, that’s the name of Joe’s company — Radio Diaries. Much of his work is available to listen to at the Radio Diaries website. But, before you zing off to his website and get lost in all the stories, take a listen to this podcast. Joe gives us the back story on producing “Josh” and he offers great insight on radio storytelling.

This is a long Saltcast so get comfy. And, please post your thoughts and questions here at the blog.

Ciao for now.

Rob

PS – Joe says he was inspired to produce audio diaries by “Ghetto Life 101” by Dave Isay as well as “Life Stories: First Person Portraits” by Jay Allison. Click and listen.

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Sound healer Sandra Chausse. Photo by Rebeca Beeman.

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This is probably stating the obvious, but Salt teaches students to tell stories. In the radio track, we use Jon Franklin’s definition of story. Franklin is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and he teaches at the University of Maryland. His definition of story goes something like this: A story is a sequence of events where a sympathetic character encounters a challenge and overcomes it.

During her semester at Salt, Natalie Jablonski wrestled a bit with part of that definition — sympathetic character. Her story about a sound healer features a woman with a very uncommon approach to healing, an approach a general audience may find incredibly odd and off-putting. On this Saltcast, Natalie offers a couple of thoughts on how to portray an unusual character as sympathetic.

Dig it.

Rob

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Robert King Wilkerson spent twenty-nine years in solitary confinement. Photo by Terry Foss.

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When is the sound of a slamming door not a slamming door?

When it’s designed.

Radio documentary producer Claire Schoen learned “sound design” when she worked in film. She brings those unique and valuable skills to her radio productions. As a sound designer, Claire artistically assembles audio to create an effect and magnify the qualities of a sound.

On this Saltcast, we feature Claire’s story Survivors: Solitary Confinement in America’s Prisons. It’s a sonic feast full of audio craft — including a slamming door sound created from five separate sonic elements.

If you’d like to hear more about audio storytelling from Claire, check out her 2007 presentation at the Third Coast International Audio Festival. Her talk was titled “Making a Scene: The Use of Verite to Show, Not Tell, Your Story.”

Your ears are in for a treat! Happy listening.

Rob

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Rabbi Amita Jarmon lights a menorah. Photo by Hannah Fox.

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Rachel Quimby is funny. And, she doesn’t turn off her wit when she produces a radio story. Even the title of her piece we’re featuring today is witty – “A Jew Grows in Rockland.”

But, humor ain’t easy. And, on the radio, I think it’s particularly difficult. You have only your voice to make the point. And, on top of that, the audience isn’t in the room with you so you can’t judge their reactions and mood. The fact that Rachel even attempted to be funny should be applauded.

Take a listen and let us know where this registers on your laugh meter. Does her writing work? Her delivery? Post your thoughts here.

Cheers, Rob.

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Dining at the swingers party. Photo by Jessica Sheldon.

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I just shake my head sometimes. At least once a semester, usually more, Salt students find themselves in the most out-of-the-ordinary places. It boggles my mind.

A couple of semesters ago, a student wound up on a deer hunt gone awry. Another semester, a student spent hours if not days in a home overrun with cats, dogs, birds, and who knows what else. Still another navigated an island of warring lobstermen.

Last semester, it was swingers. Julia King produced a story about a weekly swingers party in central Maine. In case you don’t know, swingers are…. well, here’s Julia’s definition:

“A swinger’s party is a place where people go to engage in open sexual activity and just have a good time where they seek support and comfort of friends and a group of people that is just openly accepting of people from all different walks of life.”

On this edition of the Saltcast, Julia talks about recording people making love and her choice not to include the sounds of sex in her story. Have a listen to “Swing Free.”

Cheers, Rob

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Breakfast with Margery Richard and her “flat son” Jarod. Photo by Kristin Wright courtesy the Salt Archive.

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When Meghan Vigeant started crying in class, I knew something was up. The tears welled-up in Meghan’s eyes as she played us interview tape from her conversation with Margery Richard. Problem was, what Margery was saying wasn’t sad.

Students at Salt often get pulled into the emotional drama of their stories. Doing so is a bit risky. Sharing a character’s emotions can cloud a reporter’s judgement and obscure objectivity.

Of course, it’s okay to be sad or happy or mad or… journalists are human after all. But, go too far and you risk not telling a true story. (Or, just to play devil’s advocate, maybe if you share someone’s emotions, your story will be even truer. Thoughts?)

In Meghan’s case, her emtional response turned out to be just fine. Margery was talking about the many deaths in her family during that interview and that triggered Meghan’s memory of her own father’s death. Meghan was able to move past that and re-focus on Margery and the story.

How close to a story can you get? When should you take yourself off a story? When should your editor? How emotional can you get — with your class, with your editor, with the people in your story?

Happy listening!

Rob

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This may seem a bit obvious, but timing is really important to reporting a story. You can have the best story in the world, full access to sources, and magnetic characters but if you don’t show up with your mic at the right time, none of it matters.

Producer Erin Calabria sought to produce a story on an adoption reunion — the reconnection of a parent and the child they gave up for adoption. Erin found a mother and son who had reunited after fifty-four years but she was late. They already met for the first time. And, because of that, I wasn’t sure her story about the reunion would pack much emotional impact because she missed that pivotal event.

But Erin is clever and despite not capturing the moment on tape, she produced a stellar portrait of the mother and son soon after their reunion — while it was still fresh and emotionally charged. On this Saltcast, I talk about what Erin did to make this piece work and we’ll listen to the story “Fifty-Four Years.”

Cheers,  Rob

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PS – How good are your ears? Typically, I record my narration for Saltcast at a radio station or in my home studio. This time, I recorded in a clothes closet.  Really. In fact, lots of radio producers record narration in closets. Double really. It’s cheap insulation that helps the recording sound dead, not reverberant. I borrowed some gear — a Marantz PMD 620 and a Beyer Dynamic MCE-58 — brought a chair into a closet, closed the door, and recorded.  Recording gear and a closet. Poof. Instant studio.

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“When this modern monster talks through the loudspeaker installed in its chest, its lips move in time with its speech.”

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I talk every single day and I sound natural when I do. So, why, when I read narration, does “natural Rob” disappear?

Makes no sense, right? I should be able to just open my mouth, speak, and sound like I always do — a coherent, engaged version of myself, but me. Instead, I have to work really hard to sound something close to natural when I read aloud.

On this Saltcast, it’s all about narration. I offer a few tips for improving narration and we listen to two pieces. The first is the opening scene to “Malaga Island: A Story Best Left Untold.” The second is “Blind Dog” by Scott Carrier.

Oh, and post your narration tips! Reading narration seems like one of the hardest things to do. The more recommendations the better. Really.

Ciao for now.

Rob

PS – For more info about the “Radio Man” robot, click here.

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Bill Buffard races across the court in a game of quadriplegic rugby.        Photo by Judy Beedle.

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I really, really like non-narrated radio stories — pieces that don’t have a reporter telling the story. Without a narrator, it’s like the characters are talking directly to the listener.

Unfortunately, you don’t hear many non-narrated stories on the radio and there’s a reason for that. They are insanely hard to produce.

Generally speaking, it’s a whole lot easier to produce a story with a narrator. They are the guide that holds the story together. Take away the narrator and you’ve got a lot of holes to fill.

On this Saltcast, producer and former Salt student Sarah Reynolds offers up a few interviewing tips to help with the production of non-narrated stories. We’ll also take a listen to her story “Look Me In The Eye” about Bill Buffard, a quadriplegic rugby player.

Hope you dig it.

Rob

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How do they do it? The Rolling Diamonds. Photo by Stephanie Ewens.

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The first rule of radio production? Wear headphones.

The second rule? Be in control of your record levels.

Yeah. Okay. That’s all well and good. But, what if, in order to get the best sound, you have to hand your gear over to a circus act who’s roller skating ten feet off the ground on a six-foot wide platform swinging his wife around in all kinds of crazy ways?

You can’t wear headphones. You can’t adjust your record levels once the recording starts. What do you do?

Producer Paula Mauro has the answer. And, we feature her piece The Rolling Diamonds. Give it a spin.

Cheers, Rob

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Twelve years later, Salt Radio student Jessica Alpert wanted to talk — in-depth — with the surviving nuns about the incident, faith, and forgiveness.

But how do you do that? How do you say to someone “I’d like to interview you about a traumatic, horrendous event from your past”?  On this Saltcast, Jessica offers a few great suggestions for approaching people who’ve experienced trauma and we listen to her story “No Praise, No Blame, Just So.”

By the way, Jessica’s piece was a finalist in the 2009 awards competition sponsored by the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma.

Cheers, Rob

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Dmae Roberts and her mom during their trip to Taiwan in 1989.

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O, how public radio has changed in the last twenty years.

With the exception of WNYC’s Radio Lab and specials from Hearing Voices, there is very little on public radio that tickles the ears. It wasn’t always that way. Up until about the 1990’s, public radio took chances.  Stations experimented and aired risky and unusual work right along with the tried and true.

But, today, much of the programming, aurally speaking, is pretty drab and staid. In fact, I’d say there’s a good chance very few public stations would play the piece featured on this Saltcast because of its non-traditional and artistic approach to production and storytelling — even though it was lauded when it  first hit the air twenty years ago.

Independent producer Dmae Roberts produced “Mei Mei, A Daughter’s Song” in 1989. It was cutting edge then and it is, unfortunately, cutting edge now.

O, to encounter more stories told like Mei Mei on the radio.

I hope you’ll raise a glass with me to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Mei Mei. And, after you listen to this Saltcast, check out Dmae’s other great work at dmaeroberts.com.

Happy listening ,

Rob

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Duane Lewis (foreground) and his twin brother Dwight operate Barter’s Island Bridge, Boothbay, Maine. Photo by Rebecca Stewart.

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Every once in a while, I wonder if we give Salt students too much time to produce their pieces. They get weeks to find, report, and produce a story.

In contrast, I think there’s something to be said for learning to produce on a short deadline — get the story, get the tape, get out.

That’s what happened to Amanda Davis. She got a late start on her second feature. Plus, the topic she chose had a very short opportunity to capture the essence of the story. In fact, it boiled down to about two minutes!

Amanda produced “Tending the Barter’s Island Bridge”  in two weeks. That’s close to the shortest production time of any Salt piece. Have a listen to the results.

Cheers,

Rob

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]]> Duane Lewis (foreground) and his twin brother Dwight operate Barter’s Island Bridge, Boothbay, Maine. Photo by Rebecca Stewart. p Every once in a while, I wonder if we give Salt students too much time to produce their pieces. They get weeks to find, Duane Lewis (foreground) and his twin brother Dwight operate Barter’s Island Bridge, Boothbay, Maine. Photo by Rebecca Stewart. p Every once in a while, I wonder if we give Salt students too much time to produce their pieces. They get weeks to find, report, and produce a story. In contrast, I think there’s something to […] Rob Rosenthal, SaltCast 10:46 noUncategorized https://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/2009/05/dyana-goddess-of-the-moose-hunt/ Wed, 06 May 2009 01:20:53 +0000 http://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/?p=414 https://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/2009/05/dyana-goddess-of-the-moose-hunt/#comments https://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/2009/05/dyana-goddess-of-the-moose-hunt/feed/ 2 Ingredients for a doozy of a radio story: 1. Take a seasoned and somewhat crusty moose hunter. 2. Add a wide-eyed first-time huntress. 3. Toss in a student radio reporter. 4. Stir vigorously with increasing heat on bumpy logging roads in the Maine woods for days and days. 5. Sprinkle with an occasional moose sighting. […]

Ingredients for a doozy of a radio story:

1. Take a seasoned and somewhat crusty moose hunter.

2. Add a wide-eyed first-time huntress.

3. Toss in a student radio reporter.

4. Stir vigorously with increasing heat on bumpy logging roads in the Maine woods for days and days.

5. Sprinkle with an occasional moose sighting.

6. Continue stirring and heating until over-cooked.

Voila! A radio story!!

Hope you enjoy this startling piece about a moose hunt gone sour — “Dyana, Goddess of the Moose Hunt.” Produced by Jamie Yuenger in the fall of 2008.

Cheers, Rob

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She understands it and she knows how to record it to tell a story.

In the fall of 2008, Allison produced a piece about a guerrilla gardener — a guy named Cody who illegally plants trees on an island off the coast of Maine. Allison had a knack for getting her mic in all the right places. She collected great sound of Cody canoeing, hiking, planting trees, and getting dirty. Then, she used the recordings to paint a vivid picture of his work.

Producer Robert Krulwich once said “In radio, the listener is a co-author.”  What he means is that because there are no pictures, listeners are free to create their own images when they listen to the radio.

One of the ways good radio stories paint pictures is with ambient sound and active tape. Ambient sound is the general, background sound of a place. Active tape is a recording of someone doing something. Put those two together creatively and radio becomes cinematic.

See for yourself. Take a listen to Allison Swaim’s “Cody Appleseed.”

Ciao,

Rob

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PS – A few days ago, Ira Glass said he thought sound can be over-emphasized in a radio piece —  it can become a fetish. He’s much more interested in story.

I’m not sure I fully agree. Sound at the expense of story — that’s a problem, for sure. And, sound isn’t a substitute for story. (“Oh, I’ve got these cool sounds. They’d make a great story.”)

But great sound, recorded well, and cleverly integrated into a narrative plays to radio’s strengths. Indeed, Ira once said “Radio is your most visual medium.” Sound makes it so — sometimes more so than talking heads and music.

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The girls not sleeping at the sleepover. Photo by Maureen Wellner

I don’t know about you, but I have no recollection of sleepovers. It’s a lost period of time in my pre-teen life. Poof. Erased.

Producers Hillary Frank and Jonathan Menjivar knock the rust off those memories with Sleepover! It was produced in 2006 for the now defunct Weekend America. And, it’s totally a blast.

On this Saltcast we talk with Hillary and Jonathan about recording pre-teens, co-producing, and the hidden narrative of the sleepover.

Let us know what you think. Okay? Like for reals. Alright?

Best,
Rob

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Kevin and James Hatch in 2005. Photo by Kyle Glover, courtesy the Salt Archive.

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Radio producer Joe Richman says when producing a radio story you “cast” for characters. It’s like “trying” people out.  You look for people who know the subject matter and who are “radiophonic” — they sound good on the radio.

Here’s another thing to look for when “casting” your story: a character going through transition, someone who is progressing from one place to another. Could be an emotional place, a physical place — something where the character evolves or is at a point of change.

Salt radio student Katie Freddoso found all three of these character elements when she met teenage brothers Kevin and James Hatch in 2005. They knew the subject matter, the were animated and spoke well, and they were in transition — Kevin and James were going deaf. Katie spent several weeks with the boys, documenting part of their journey from the hearing world to the non-hearing world. Take a listen.

Cheers,

Rob

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So, imagine my surprise when Joni Murphy said she wanted to produce a radio story about silence at Quaker meeting.

At first I thought she was kidding. Then I thought about the practical implications. “If a radio piece has a lot of silence, listeners will think their radios are broken or they lost the station or something.”

Then I thought some more and I decided Joni’s idea was genius. Take a listen.

Don’t you be silent. Post your thoughts!

Cheers,

Rob

PS – Oh, and y’all should know about John Cage, a composer who’s famous (and infamous) for his explorations of sound and silence. Here are links to a performance of 4′ 33″ and a story about Cage’s momentous encounter with absolute silence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUJagb7hL0E
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4′33″

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The Angel Warrior and his chariot. Photo by Maisie Crow, courtesy the Salt Archive.

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“The Angel Warrior on His Way to the Top” has one of my favorite opening moments in a Salt piece. I especially like “…. thank you and Amen. Vroooooom…..” Makes me smile every time. Take a listen. You’ll see what I mean.

But, we’re featuring this piece on the Saltcast for reasons other than the opening. We talk a little bit about finding a story and recording ambiance. But, we also tackle a tricky editorial question: If you learn something about a character in a story that is unflattering, do you put it in your story? Even if it’s so loaded it may throw off the balance of the story?? Not sure there’s a uniform answer, but take a listen to hear how producer Brooke Shuman solved the quandary…. then post your thoughts.

All hail Marconi.

Rob

]]> The Angel Warrior and his chariot. Photo by Maisie Crow, courtesy the Salt Archive. r “The Angel Warrior on His Way to the Top” has one of my favorite opening moments in a Salt piece. I especially like “…. thank you and Amen. Vroooooom….. The Angel Warrior and his chariot. Photo by Maisie Crow, courtesy the Salt Archive. r “The Angel Warrior on His Way to the Top” has one of my favorite opening moments in a Salt piece. I especially like “…. thank you and Amen. Vroooooom…..” Makes me smile every time. Take a listen. You’ll see what […] Rob Rosenthal, SaltCast 13:29 noUncategorized https://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/2009/02/studs-natasha-and-the-power-of-sound/ Tue, 10 Feb 2009 12:32:03 +0000 http://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/?p=316 https://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/2009/02/studs-natasha-and-the-power-of-sound/#comments https://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/2009/02/studs-natasha-and-the-power-of-sound/feed/ 2 Studs Terkel waxing about “vox humana” in Storycorps’ mobile recording booth. r At the start of the semester at Salt, we start big, really big. After listening to a few radio pieces and introducing ourselves, we talk about sound. The power of sound. The conversation ranges from the practical to the spiritual. It’s poetic.. Here […]

Studs Terkel waxing about “vox humana” in Storycorps’ mobile recording booth.

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At the start of the semester at Salt, we start big, really big.

After listening to a few radio pieces and introducing ourselves, we talk about sound. The power of sound. The conversation ranges from the practical to the spiritual. It’s poetic..

Here are a few thoughts I have on the power of sound. Studs Terkel offers his take on the human voice. And, Salt radio grad Natasha Haverty talks about sound at death.

We hope you’ll chime in, too.

Cheers,

Rob

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Banging out a tune on the Portland Public Library piano. Photo by Cecelia Duchano courtesy the Salt Archive.

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For her interview on this Saltcast, Elizabeth Chur holed up in her closet. That’s pretty common actually. Independent producers without access to a studio frequently record themselves in a closet because it’s the quietest and most insulated place in the house.

In this case, recording in a closet is a bit ironic, too. Elizabeth spent several weeks of her Salt semester recording people playing the piano in a room the not a lot bigger than a closet at the Portland Public Library. Elizabeth hunkered down outside the piano room, waiting for hours and hours — sometimes days — for people to show up and make music. Her patience was well rewarded.

Here’s Elizabeth’s piece, “The Sound of Democracy,” along with the backstory to her creative field work and production techniques.

Also, follow this link to a piece Eliabeth produced for Transom.org.

Cheers,

Rob

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Folk singer Kendall Morse woos his partner, Jacqui.

Photo by Jen Leahy, courtesy the Salt Archive.

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“… To most journalists honored with the job of remembering the stories of the tribe, (the) momentous events of everyday life are virtually invisible. To most American journalists, such events are akin to the dark and unknown matter believed to make up 90% of the universe: We keep reporting the movement of the planets when the big news is the unseen matter in which they spin.

At best, most journalists are oblivious to reporting the incredible human beauty and subtlety that surround them. At worst, they militantly oppose reporting what they are untrained to discern and describe. But, either way, readers are being denied a look at much of the world they inhabit.

In the language of the craft, we’re missing the story.”

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Washington Post feature writer Walt Harrington wrote that passage in his 1997 book Intimate Journalism: The Art and Craft of Reporting Everyday Life. Harrington eloquently captures much of Salt’s approach to journalism and storytelling. And, for this Saltcast, we present a new radio feature that I believe exemplifies intimate journlism for radio. It was produced by Jud Esty-Kendall in the fall of 2008 and it’s called “Come Soul, I Have Need of Thee.”

(The story is about Maine folks singer and humorist Kendall Morse. I’ve posted a couple of Kendall’s songs below because they are hard to come by.)

Ciao, Rob

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Kendall Morse – “Satisfied Mind”

Kendall Morse – “Rolling Home”

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Marty Hagland, a transgendered woman, says it was a long time before her neighbors accepted her.  “It took them a good three years to finally realize that I don’t bite.  At least not very hard. And, if you stick a pin in me I bleed. I’m relatively human.” (Photo by Selena Simmons-Duffin)

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Hot off the presses. “I’m Relatively Human” was produced just this fall (2008) by Selena Simmons-Duffin.

I chose to feature this piece because it’s good. I guess that goes without say. But, also because Selena did a solid job writing scenically.

Scenic writing is visual. It’s active. And, it takes listeners on a journey. It’s also a great way to organize a radio piece. In fact, you can think of scenes as chapters.

Scenes are sections of radio stories with several elements: action, ambiance, a main character or characters, setting, and an over-arching idea to communicate.

Top of the line scenic writing organizes scenes so the scenes themselves have a beginning, middle, and end. They may even have their own narrative arc. The king of scenic radio storytelling is Joe Richman of Radio Diaries. His scenes typically have all of the elements above.

We push scenic writing for radio pretty hard at Salt. It makes for better radio. And, I think it’s one of the many production elements that make Salt pieces so distinctive among student work — and even professional work.

Take a listen now to “I’m Relatively Human”, Selena’s first radio feature, and keep an ear out for the scenes.

Ciao,

Rob

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Salt’s Radio Church during the Fall 2008 opening, “Meet Me Anywhere.”

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Here’s a beautiful thing: a Radio Church full of listeners.

No twitters. No Facebook. No emails. No blogs. No cell phones.

Just sound.

The human voice. The natural and built environment. Mainers living their lives.

The sound of story.

Sound. Story. Church.

The culmination of a fifteen-week semester at Salt is an opening. After all the uphill climbs, dangling on ropes, and tears (yes, tears), Salt’s photo, writing, and radio students present their work at a public opening. Photos are displayed in a gallery; writers publish essays and read excerpts aloud; and Team Radio presents their features in iTunes on classroom computers and at Radio Church. This semester’s opening was titled “Meet Me Anywhere.”

Radio Church is a dimly lit room with a couple dozen or more chairs and space for hardcore listeners to stand at the edges. Up front is “Bertha,” a 1930s radio that doesn’t work but she sure ads ambiance. There’s also a nice set of monitor speakers to “broadcast” student productions.

Church gets hot and stuffy pretty quickly. That’s a good thing. It means a room full of ears! Radio students introduce each others work and play fourteen features produced during the semester — one story per student.

Below are a few pictures from the opening and a cool sound clip from graduation day.

The world is now a better place because of fourteen new radio producers with big ears, big ideas, and big hearts.

Make good radio gang.

Rob

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A snap from the first day of class, September 2, 2008. Standing left to right: Suzi Piker, Allison Swaim, Ari Zeiger, Selena Simmons-Duffin, Jamie Yuenger, Lydia Crafts, Eloise Meltzer, Josie Holtzman, and Sarah Jessee. Kneeling: Emily Eagle, Jud Esty-Kendall, Natasha Haverty, Whitney Eulich, and Craig Jarvie.

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“Bertha” in all her glory.

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The line to get into Radio Church.

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Natasha Haverty (c) rips a joke (as usual), Allison Swaim (r) is a bit embarrassed, Emily Eagle laughs herself out of the frame.

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Left to right: Mandy Morrish, Salt’s Outreach Coordinator, Liz Donovan, Salt Radio grad, and Patty Wight, radio instructor.

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Kate Philbrick (r), Salt photo instructor, reminds me it’s illegal for me to take pictures in the state of Maine because I’m such a lousy shot. Colin Woodard, Salt writing instructor, remains silent on the issue.

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GPS coordinates for gallery visitors.

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Selena Simmons-Duffin lookin’ a bit too happy.

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A catty Suzi Piker.

A full gallery.

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And this just looks cool.

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In addition to the gallery opening, Salt ends the semester with a graduation ceremony. Staff and faculty give speeches. Students receive certificates. There are a lot of hugs and crying. But, the most endearing moment is when the students speak. Here’s a clip from the radio students graduation presentation.

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]]> Salt’s Radio Church during the Fall 2008 opening, “Meet Me Anywhere.” r Here’s a beautiful thing: a Radio Church full of listeners. No twitters. No Facebook. No emails. No blogs. No cell phones. Just sound. The human voice. Salt’s Radio Church during the Fall 2008 opening, “Meet Me Anywhere.” r Here’s a beautiful thing: a Radio Church full of listeners. No twitters. No Facebook. No emails. No blogs. No cell phones. Just sound. The human voice. The natural and built environment. Mainers living their lives. The sound of story. Sound. Story. Church. The […] Rob Rosenthal, SaltCast 5:21 noUncategorized https://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/2008/12/listening-to-the-northern-lights/ Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:00:11 +0000 http://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/?p=223 https://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/2008/12/listening-to-the-northern-lights/#comments https://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/2008/12/listening-to-the-northern-lights/feed/ 1 United States Air Force photo of Northern Lights at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska by Senior Airman Joshua Strang. P What’s it take to produce a radio piece that doesn’t have conflict, tension, or some universal we all can relate to? Well, some of the storytelling components that help make up for those missing elements […]

United States Air Force photo of Northern Lights at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska by Senior Airman Joshua Strang.

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What’s it take to produce a radio piece that doesn’t have conflict, tension, or some universal we all can relate to?

Well, some of the storytelling components that help make up for those missing elements are great sound, an interesting character, a good talker, and an unusual location. Barrett Golding’s “Listening to the Northern Lights” has all of these elements and that’s what makes the piece work — that and Barrett’s excellent production values.

Whisk yourself away for a few minutes and listen to the Northern Lights.

Cheers,

Rob

PS – Check out Barrett’s other work at HearingVoices.com.

For other stories about nature, try the Nature Stories Podcast. And, one of my favorite environmental recording artists is Bernie Krause. He’s produced several CDs of “biophonies” — biological symphonies — and written some books on environmental field recording. Plus, Bernie produced a cool CD of music composed entirely of sampled animal sounds. Oh, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention R. Murray Schafer and the World Soundscape Project. Okay, that’s enough for now.

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Sally Rollins and two of her thirty cats. Photo by Katie Stohlman, courtesy Salt’s archive.

If Annie Larmon had asked me if it was okay to record with a mic in her pocket, I would have said “No.” Annie went to Salt in the spring of 2008. And, for a story on a woman who lived with nearly fifty animals, Annie wanted to record and write notes at the same time during one of her days in the field. To do both, she’d place the mic in her pocket so her hands were free.

I’d say “no” because I believe a producer should be in control of their mic. I’d also be concerned about “pocket noise” — the rubbing of the mic on fabric. Besides, can’t you write notes after the recording session?

But Annie didn’t ask me (for starters, I wasn’t her teacher that semester) and that was fortunate for her.   She did it and got great tape and excellent notes.

The observations Annie made in her Moleskin notebook made it into her feature and added a great deal of color to the story. The notes also helped Annie pass “The Squirm Test”* — the moment when a character in your story hears the piece you produced and you…. well…. squirm because you hope to heck you got the story right.

Listen now to Annie’s piece “Brighten The Corner” and her Squirm Test.

Ciao,

Rob

* I think Robert Krulwich of Radio Lab coined this term.

Jackie takes and gives orders at Dysart’s Truck Stop, Bangor, Maine.

Photo by Molly Myers, courtesy the Salt Archive.

At first, Sara Paul thought she’d do a story on bear hunting. But, hanging out in a tree for hours in the freezing cold with some dude she’d never met wasn’t her idea of a good time. So, she bagged that story in favor of one about Dysart’s Truck Stop.

Sara went in. Hung out. Took it all in. Then, focused — on Jackie, the waitress at the trucker’s table. Sara had no idea that talking to the burly drivers at the table would be the easy part. When Jackie got “mic fright,” Sara had to go with the tape she had — the tape rules.  Here’s what Sara came up with back in the fall of 2002.

Best,
Rob

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Photo of Marisa and Andrew by Erica Burkhart, courtesy the Salt Archive.

Kudos to Erin Davis. Erin won the Best New Producer award at this year’s Third Coast International Audio Festival. The piece, “Except Me” was produced at Salt and that’s what we’re featuring on today’s Saltcast.

Erin is the third student to win this award for a piece produced at Salt. “Hard to Say” by Bente Birkland won in 2004 and “Just Another Fish Story” by Molly Menschel took the prize in 2005.

Check out all the winning pieces from this year’s Third Coast competition here.

Excelsior, Erin. Onward and upward!

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Probably my favorite piece to play in radio class at Salt to prompt discussion is “Dead Animal Man” by Ira Glass. It sets the bar high for feature production.

On this Saltcast, we listen to “Dead Animal Man” the whole way through then play it again and dissect it. Get out your radio notebook, this piece is full of radio goodness.

Rob

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But, that’s a tried and true approach. An unusual way to find a story is with posters. Make a flyer, tack ’em up around town. See what happens.

That’s what Matt Swenson did. Matt was interested in insomniacs. To find a character for a story, he plastered Portland with flyers and in less than a day, he found Michael White. Take a listen, especially if you’re up late and can’t sleep.

Cheers,

Rob

(Update) — 10/24/08 — Well, shiver me timbers. Matt’s piece aired on Day to Day. Congrats to Matt. Thanks to Day to Day for giving air time to an out-of-the-ordinary piece. And a slap on the back, two thumbs up to Barrett Golding at Hearing Voices for making it happen.

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That’s unfortunate because that’s most of us.

There are exceptions on public radio — Storycorps, Radio Rookies, Radio Diaries, This I Believe… But as a general rule, it’s unusual to meet a person and hear a story that doesn’t have a news hook.

(In fact, I’ve heard through the grapevine that some program directors at public radio stations complain about Storycorps saying it doesn’t fit neatly into Morning Edition because it’s a news program and the characters in the Storycorps broadcasts aren’t worth the air time.)

So, for this podcast, we’re featuring a Salt feature that’s merely about an interesting person with a unique story, a guy named Hafid. Lee Fuoco produced this piece in the spring of 2004. Lee met Hafid quite by accident and decided to produce a piece to give him some air time — simply because he’s interesting.

Isn’t that enough?

Have a listen and post your thoughts!!

Best,

Rob

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Radio Rookies is a project of WNYC in New York City. In short, they put mics in the hands and headphones on the ears of young people to document their lives. Obesity, immigration, violence, autism, racism… the Rookies tackle tough topics. In fact, the Rookies have produced some of the best radio documentaries in the last ten years.

On this Saltcast, we listen to “Heroin,” produced in 2001 by Janesse Nieves. This piece won the “Best New Producer” award at the Third Coast International Audio Festival.

While we’re at it, we should mention some of the other excellent radio documentaries where reporters handover the the mic. Ghetto Life 101 by Dave Isay. The Life Stories series by Jay Allison. And much of the work of Joe Richman and Radio Diaries.

Check out a slew youth radio programs at the National Federation of Community Broadcaster’s comprehensive Youth Program Directory. Another hot spot for youth produced radio is Generation PRX.

Happy listening.

Rob

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Photo of Michael Luce by Annie Reichert, courtesy of the Salt Archive.

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Megan Martin had her mic out and pointed at Micheal Luce. They were down in his cellar — Meghan was recording, Micheal was building his dead mother’s casket.

This was maybe the fourth or fifth time Megan recorded Micheal pounding nails, sawing, sanding, measuring… Because she had been there so many times she thought Micheal had probably stopped noticing her — that she had become invisible, just another object in a cluttered cellar.

Micheal stopped work for a break. He pulled out a cigarette, turned to Meghan, and said “I wonder how much you’re changing this process of mine since you’re here recording and I’m totally aware of it all the time.”

In the field, a documentarian is supposed to be a fly on the wall. You blend in so the people you are reporting on forget you are there. By blending in, the thinking goes, you are more likely to capture reality on tape.

Well, with all that gear, with all those questions, with all that tape you gather following people around, how the heck are you supposed to become part of the woodwork? And if you don’t become “invisible” then aren’t you impacting the story and the way the people behave in front of your mic?

If only we could be invisible. That’s what Meghan wished for, a cloaking device — especially after Michael completely blew her cover.

“Bringing the Work Into You” by Meghan Martin is today’s feature on the Saltcast. Take a listen to how the piece turned out. Then, post your thoughts to the blog!

Best, Rob

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That’s a good thing. In fact, it is set-up that way on purpose. The walls tend to be learning points.

For Erin Mishkin, a radio student in the Fall of 2007, the walls came early — false starts, bad turns, and just plain ol’ lousy luck. But Erin says she learned quite a bit from that harsh beginning and it contributed to her later success with the piece “Surrounded by Lights.” Take a listen then post your thoughts.

Best, Rob

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Check out Erin’s PRX page.

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“I’ve Seen That” is one of the better non-narrated pieces to come out of Salt. Produced by Owen Agnew in the fall of 2004, “I’ve Seen That” is intimate, comprehensive, and clever.

Yeah, there are a couple of blemishes and Owen talks a bit about them and what he would do differently now. But, heck, this was his first attempt at producing this kind of piece and it shines.

Let us know what you think!! Post a comment and tell a friend.

Cheers,
Rob

Check out Owen’s other Salt piece “Dowser, Consultant to the Universe.”

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Nah, scratch that.

Listening IS the most important skill. From interviewing and field recording to mixing and editing and writing, you heavily rely on your ears (and your brain, of course.)

So, if your ears get rusty, you’ve got a problem. Ya gotta keep those ear canals W I D E open.

At Salt, we listen to student and professional work every class. Listening builds critical media literacy skills. It creates an “audio lexicon” to call upon when students produce and critique their own work. And, listening gets the rust out. A rust-free ear means better interviews, better field recording, better production — simply better radio.

For this SaltCast, we check out the piece we listen to first in radio class: “Tony Schwartz: 30,000 Recordings Later” by the Kitchen Sisters. It’s Rust-o-leum for the ears.

Happy listening,

Rob

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Check out the Kitchen Sisters:

http://www.kitchensisters.org/

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http://www.prx.org/group/kitchensisters/

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Plus:

http://www.tonyschwartz.org/

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Moral – The path to a story is not always straight. Sometimes it’s circular.

Zach Barr studied radio at Salt in the spring of 2003. He was a story telling machine. He couldn’t swing a dead cat without hitting a story. On this Saltcast, we listen to his piece about the sea cucumber industry in Maine — “Smells Like Money to Me” .

But, on this SaltCast you get two for the price of one. Zach and I recall the story about the Russian Mail Order Bride and bloodworms. Really.

As always, please post a comment to the blog.

Yours in radio,

Rob

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Radio producers face ethical questions every day. Indeed, when cutting tape, we face ethical questions each time we highlight and delete — every few seconds. When we remove words, flip sentences, delete a pause, etc., we make ethical choices involving the altering of “truth” (whatever that is).

So, what are the ethical considerations when we write words for narration, the addition of words? And, taking it a step further, what if we write the words for a character in a story to read/narrate? Are any ethical boundaries crossed?

Take a listen to “Family Yarn” and see what you think. Then chime in on the blog.

Cheers,

Rob

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Photo of Bill Picard in his van by Emilie Kapp, courtesy the Salt Archive.

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Welcome to the first Saltcast! Glad you could stop by and take a listen. Saltcast is a production of PRX and The Salt Institute for Documentary Studies — Salt for short — in Portland, Maine.

We want to start the podcast with a bang and Matt Largey’s piece “Five Things” fits the bill. Matt was a student at Salt in the fall of 2004 and he “got in” — the goal of all documentary producers. Matt got close to the characters in his piece and was able to produce a very intimate portrait.

We’ll leave the rest of the details for you in the podcast. Take a listen. Let us know what you think. Then look for more podcasts.

Bye for now,

Rob Rosenthal, Director of the Radio Program at Salt

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