Third Coast Pocket Conference

Can you make the move from audio to film, without leaving audio behind?

At the 2019 Third Coast Conference, Jasmin Mara López (Silent Beauty) led a conversation about the journey from experienced audio producer to first-time filmmaker. She laid out the steps she took on this personal and professional journey, from the conceptual stage of a project to directing and producing a feature-length film, all while keeping your audio roo...

You know about reading between the lines, right? Well good sound design can make you dance between the lines. And when you’re talking about big, uncomfortable ideas — sound can be a super powerful tool to have on hand.

Suicide often reminds us of those four magic words: "just ask for help." But Honor Eastly knows it’s not that simple. She’s been there and back, and has the receipts to prove it — years of phone recordin...

Sex sells, sure, but who gets to cash in on it? How can journalists honestly and accurately cover sex workers without sensationalizing or further stigmatizing their work? And can the answers provide meaningful & challenging insights for audio producers specifically who make stories about communities they are not a part of?

At thee 2019 Third Coast Conference, Lina Misitzis (This American Life), producer of The Last Days...

We’ve all heard the old adage: Everyone needs an editor. Whether you’re working in print, film, or narrative audio — you need someone to check for structure, make sure you’re meeting deadlines, and generally help get the story to the finish line. Jen Chien, who works as an editor at Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting, compares it to being a midwife: Editors help people give birth to their projects and make sure...

The audio industry is changing -- and your role as a leader might well be changing with it. Making the transition from reporter to editor, from producer to executive producer, or from player to coach isn’t always easy. 

In this session from the 2019 Third Coast Conference, Steve Edwards (WBEZ) and Nishat Kurwa (Vox Media) shared their candid thoughts and experiences about the challenges of becoming leader, personally and pr...

What does truth look like when everything around us seems to hold the strange gasps of fiction?

At the 2019 Third Coast Conference, this panel delved into a deep conversation about new methods of intertwining documentary, fiction & story to tell, dare we say it, even truer stories. It was hosted by 2019 Third Coast/RHDF Competition award-winner Neena Pathak, and featured award-winner Zoha Zokaei, Bel...

What does it feel like when artists challenge conventional radio and allow their lived experiences to inform their work?

In their 2020 Third Coast Conference session, NK, Phoebe, Mara and Ari - the founding members of RADIO (R)EJECTS - employed Sara Ahmed’s term ‘sweaty concepts’ to explore first person narrative stories. Using feminist theory by women of color as a lens for listening, you’ll be part of a conversation that expan...

At the 2019 Third Coast Conference, Johanna Zorn took the stage to share her experiences and her lifelong love of radio.

20 years ago, Johanna Zorn co-founded the Third Coast International Audio Festival with Julie Shapiro. Then last year, Johanna announced that she was moving on from Third Coast to new adventures. We invited Johanna to share her Favorite Things in the audio world as the closing speaker at the 2019 Third Coast C...

Data has power but also serves power, which means it can be profoundly hard to navigate and understand.

At the same time, the difference between a good investigation and an exceptional one is bound up in data. So how can you use data to transform your reporting, deepen your narrative, and offer creative & entirely unexpected ways of storytelling. How can you use data as power?

At the 2019 Third Coast Conference, vete...

Hosted by AIR (Association of Independents in Radio), this session pulls back the curtain on one of the most difficult and important skills every producer has to tackle: how to pitch.

Hosted by Leila Day (The Stoop, Pineapple Street Media), the second day of the 2019 Bitchin’ Pitchin’ panel featured the following editors: Jen Chien (Reveal), Erika Clark (Spotify), Kristina Loring (Dipsea)

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Hosted by AIR (Association of Independents in Radio), this session pulls back the curtain on one of the most difficult and important skills every producer has to tackle: how to pitch.

Hosted by Leila Day (The Stoop, Pineapple Street Media), the first day of the 2019 Bitchin’ Pitchin’ panel featured the following editors: Catherine Saint Louis (Neon Hum Media), Maiken Scott (The Pulse) and Robert Smith (Planet Money).

Sig...

Hurricane Maria. The Pulse Nightclub massacre. Charlottesville. Philando Castile. Uproar over racism at the University of Missouri. Adrián Florido (Code Switch) has spent much of his time at NPR reporting on the aftermath of traumatic events in communities of color.

In his 2019 Third Coast Conference session, Adrián spoke about the importance of reporting on people’s pain while avoiding narratives that often strip brown and blac...

Some stories start out small, but turn out to be much, much bigger.

Have you ever asked the question: “...is my short news spot better suited to become a multi-part podcast series!?”

Jason Moon, reporter with New Hampshire Public Radio, discovered the answer was yes with the story that became Bear Brook, a podcast about murder in a small New Hampshire town and the invention of forensic genetic genealogy. Along the way, h...

On the first night of the 2019 Third Coast Conference, all 800+ attendees gathered for a series of short, provocative talks.

To view the visuals associated with the following provocations, click here.

• "Be Trans, Do Radio: A Provocation for the Cis** / **Cis means you're not trans" - Cassius Adair & Molly Woodstock
• "Just Say It: Your Thing is Bad" - Martine Powers
• "Ike's Rapid-Fire Bias Check" - Ike Sriskandarajah
• "When You A...

Because of the situation with COVID-19, we are releasing the rest of the 2019 Third Coast Conference sessions here tomorrow.

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The 2019 Pocket Conference season was co-produced by Neroli Price and Isabel Vázquez. Third Coast is: Shirley Alfaro, Maya Goldberg-Safir, Isabel Vázquez and Emily Kennedy. Special thanks to the people who made the 2019 Co...

Swirling beneath every single one of this year’s breaking stories and major crises is work and labor: not only of the people in the headlines, but of the audio storytellers, ourselves.

How does the media fail to cover the working class, work, and labor? Why is working class, in media speak, a synonym for "white men?" And how does this impact our culture, our world, and our own spaces of work? Unless we confront the system of med...

We're BACK with a new season of the Third Coast Pocket Conference! This season: the 2019 Third Coast Conference.

Inspired by the energy of the 2018 Awards Ceremony, we're kicking off this season with the award-winning producers who took the stage in Chicago in 2019. You can listen to all of the winning stories from the 2019 competition at ThirdCoastFestival.org.

We have a ton more to share with you – resources, events, dates ...

At the 2018 Third Coast Conference, Kaitlin Prest, audio artist, radiophile, creator of The Heart from Radiotopia and The Shadows from the CBC, talked about what has inspired her to push the boundaries of audio making.

After ten years creating performances, immersive experiences and an award winning podcast she introduces us into the backbone of her inspiration: art, intersectional feminism, and her best friends.

You can list...

Just as our eyes work together to create a sense of depth perception, so too do our ears...

And yet, so few radio and podcast productions take advantage of the full stereo field—how differences between the “left” and “right” sides of a mix work together to create an immersive sense of space. How can we use this space to help us show vs. tell in radio storytelling, and create more visceral auditory imagery? In this session from t...