Saltcast

We've morphed! Saltcast is now HowSound at howsound.org. 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!

The last Saltcast, BUT...... be on the lookout for "HowSound," Saltcast's replacement.

Student producer Rachel James has a *great* reading voice. What's her secret? Find out on this edition of the Saltcast.

Wanna take a cross-country trip -- in sound? Producer John Biewen traces John Steinbeck's 1960 cross-country journey in "Travels With Mike: In Search of America Fifty Years After Steinbeck."

What did student-producer Matt Kielty do when he didn't have sound for a story? He "designed" it.

New York Times editor Amy O'Leary takes a knife to a story she produced at Salt in 2003.

Radiolab is worming its way into the hearts and ears of Salt radio students.

You can't swing a dead cat without hitting Greg Warner on the radio these days. Listen to a piece he produced at Salt in 2003.

How the heck do you find a story?! Try yard sales.

An out-of-the-ordinary take on an age-old issue -- conflict of interest.

A microphone is a passport. Just follow it. You'll be surprised where you go.

Producer Matt Ozug talks about contacting reluctant interviewees for his piece on the bombing of the USS Cole.

Salt radio student Georgia Moodie found that playing with sound was the best way to write her script.

When Shea Shackelford and Virginia Millington met at the "DC Listening Lounge," they had no idea their chance encounter would lead them to produce a Third Coast-winning radio documentary.

A chat with Dan Grech about the ethics of "mis-appropriated" sound.

Producer Jamie York publicly flogs himself over the first radio story he ever produced.

How can StoryCorps take their features to the next level? This Saltcast offers one example.

r 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. […]

Irish producer Ronan Kelly plays DJ featuring clips from his favorite radio stories. And, we feature his award winning doc "Roger Dowds: Millionaire Winner."

Producer Sean Cole makes a strong case for not cutting out all the reporter's questions from a story.

The only thing radio producers have to fear is fear itself.

“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 […]

Producer Jay Allison makes the case for "slow radio" and recording before pitching.

"To use music or not use music," that is the question.

A recurring Saltcast theme, "How to start a story?" on this Saltcast.

What have we lost in the great homogenization of accents on radio?

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. […]

Focus. Focus. Focus.

Diane Richard and her husband Todd Melby sure know how to pick a project with a long, uphill road to the finish line. Diane and Todd recently finished a one-hour radio documentary on sex offender policy in the United States. It’s called “No Brother of Mine.” The lengths they went to complete the project are […]

"Left for Dead" is probably the most gruesome story every reported by a Salt Radio student. It's not for the faint of heart.

An award-winning story of a beached whale on this Saltcast.

Psychics, adolescence, and using the pronoun "I" on today's Saltcast.

The 50th Saltcast! We mark the occasion with a documentary classic - Ghetto Life 101.

Producer Josh Gleason talks about framing stories and asking hard questions.

A classic story beginning: Here's how things are, here's how they are different.

We're all about limericks this week on the Saltcast.

This week on the Saltcast, a dissection of an audio postcard I produced about kayaking around some icebergs in Newfoundland.

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 […]

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 […]

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, but for Carole it’s had great significance. She had to give up what […]

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 […]

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

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

Watch a video tape as a prompt during an interview. r 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 […]

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

Sound healer Sandra Chausse. Photo by Rebeca Beeman. p 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: […]

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

Rabbi Amita Jarmon lights a menorah. Photo by Hannah Fox. p 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 […]

Dining at the swingers party. Photo by Jessica Sheldon. r 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 […]

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