Let's state the obvious: Daniel Alarcón is a gifted writer. It's evident from the writing in "The Good Whale," the... more

Nothing seems guaranteed these days for creative audio makers. "Short Cuts" was recently cancelled and "Pretendians" is seeking funding for... more

WCAI, the public radio station for Cape Cod, has been told it needs to move -- to leave the home... more

The story from Slovenia on this episode of Sound School is hyper-local -- so local, you might not catch all... more

When should a reporter turn around a leave? At what point do should they say "I won't report on these... more

Robert Krulwich, formerly of Radiolab, once said "how you write is basically who you are." It's a profound statement, a... more

"To play and to fail and to get to know each other and to celebrate the craft of making audio...... more

We tell stories in sound for many, many reasons. For our listener's hearts and minds. For community. For self-expression. For... more

Say you're listening to a great narrative podcast. The host has really grabbed your attention and you're pulled in. Then,... more

Patient privacy in medical settings is essential. So, how does a reporter convince a facility to let them in with... more

There are four kinds of luck. Unlucky. No luck. Lucky. And radio luck. On this archive episode of Sound School,... more

David Weinberg pulls off a real radio feat mixing fantasy and reality in his documentary called "Grace of the Sea."... more

Rob plays "Story DJ" on this episode "spinning" excerpts from several excellent stories you'll definitely want to hear. It's an... more

Don't leave an interview entirely to chance. Structure it like a good story. On this episode, Rob dissects an interview... more

Ira Glass of This American Life is a master audio storyteller. He's equally skillful at laying out the mechanics of... more

It's illegal to be queer in Uganda and incredibly unsafe. Queer people risk violence, eviction, harassment, and arrest. How then... more

There's a moment in this episode when Rob is gasping and holding his hand to his chest. Why was he so... more

Deadlines, production meetings, staff management, show scheduling... in any given day, there's rarely time to pause and consider the craft... more

Have NPR's news magazines occasionally been sounding more radiophonic lately? Rob thinks so. He's collected a handful of satisfying moments... more

"Ums." You're supposed to cut them out, right? But what if the "um" means something? Talia Augustidis noticed her boyfriend... more

One of the top three questions Rob often hears when he's teaching is, "Should I record in stereo?" Rob says... more

In the tsunami of serialized documentary making over the last decade, what happened to the short story? Where are the... more

In honor of World Radio Day this week, The Sound School Podcast is celebrating with a story that exemplifies the... more

Katz Laszlo says writing and tracking for herself is complicated enough. But it's an even greater challenge writing for and... more

It's a brave thing to share the outtakes from a tracking session. All the blemishes are right there. But, Martine... more

While there were many great podcasts released in 2023, no one will remember the year as a good one for... more

Rob takes himself to task on this episode. He felt the beginning of the last episode of Sound School was... more

Theo Greenly reports for a public radio station in the far-flung Aleutian Islands in Alaska. When he started, about two and... more

Fiction should stay in its corner, non-fiction in its corner. Or so Rob thought until he heard producer Pippa Johnstone... more

Catherine Carr has turned vox into artful conversation with a deceptively simple question: Where are you going? That's also the... more

Studs Terkel is considered by many to be a patron saint of documentary radio journalism. It's been 15 years since... more

Rob acts as a story DJ on this episode, featuring excerpts from stories he’s recently found pleasing to the ear.... more

What do radio producers Phoebe Judge (Criminal), Zoe Chase (This American Life), Greg Warner (Rough Translation), Matt Kielty (Radiolab), Emily... more

This year's Third Coast Festival winners and finalists produced incredible work. It got us thinking about winners from previous years.... more

It's unusual for a producer to share a work in progress. It's rarer still to do it twice. Nina Porzucki updates Rob... more

Rebecca Hersher, a climate science reporter at NPR, offers excellent tips on reporting on climate change. But, at the heart... more

Summer means cicadas. Those crackly, buzzy bugs that drone and drone in the heat like a live electrical wire spewing... more

Get your headphones on for this episode! Rob dives into three remarkable examples of scoring. He features examples from the... more

Rob's a fan of the "radio art" style of audio storytelling from Europe but often, after listening, he finds himself... more

No matter how good you are recording in the field, you're going to encounter challenges. Rob Byers does an incredible job explaining how to... more

Pushkin Industries released a "Best Of Audio Storytelling: 2022" but instead of putting it out as a podcast series, it's... more

The Sound School Podcast launched 15 years ago this month. But it was called Saltcast back then. And for the... more

Antonia Cereijido has her ear to the ground. It's her job as Executive Producer at LAist to listen to what... more

A light went out recently. The bright light of Chris Brookes — a sorcerer of audio documentary and sound art.... more

What's the value of a non-narrated story for the listener? "It's direct," says NPR's Quil Lawrence. The characters in the... more

Munira Kaoneka first started as a blogger in Tanzania. But she says sometimes you need to shout so she started... more

Rob takes a hard listen to three podcasts -- You Didn't See Nothin', Lights Out, and Noble Champions. He then... more

Steve Junker says he thinks of a radio station as a musical instrument -- a pipe organ, to be specific.... more

In this episode, Rob turns the mic on himself to mark the 10th anniversary of meeting his birth mother for the first time.... more

It's good to look beyond your borders for inspiration. That's what this episode is about. Brian Harnetty is a sound... more

Three great new podcasts raised production questions for Rob. Why use sound effects in All There Is With Anderson Cooper?... more

John Scott Dryden takes a very unique approach to sound design for the fiction podcasts he produces -- he records... more

The vast majority of stories are told by one narrator. But not at NPR's Planet Money. They regularly have co-narrators.... more

What's the best way for reporters to break out of their boxes and think creatively? Give them an unusual assignment... more

Rarely do reporters turn the mic on themselves to divulge the challenges in their own lives. So, when they do,... more

The opening to a story, especially a long series, requires a dance. How much do you give away? How much... more

When you limit language, you limit thinking. When you limit thinking, you limit creativity. When you limit creativity, audio storytellers wind... more

Reporter David Weinberg knows the rule: don't pay sources. For fifteen years, he never did – until he reported on Phoenix... more

Typically, what happens between an editor and a producer is private. In this archive episode of the Sound School Podcast... more

In another installment of Sound School’s occasional episodes offering darts and laurels for exceptional and not-so-exceptional work, Rob is offering nothing... more