Saltcast
By Rob Rosenthal, SaltCast
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Podcast Description
THE BACKSTORY ON GREAT RADIO STORYTELLING
| Name | Description | Released | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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1 |
We’ve Morphed! | Saltcast is now HowSound! Subscribe at howsound.org or at iTunes. | 7/30/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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2 |
The Last Saltcast, BUT…. | The last Saltcast, BUT...... be on the lookout for "HowSound," Saltcast's replacement. | 7/11/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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3 |
The Pigeon Race | Student producer Rachel James has a *great* reading voice. What's her secret? Find out on this edition of the Saltcast. | 6/27/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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4 |
Travels With Mike: In Search of America 50 Years After Steinbeck | 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." | 6/13/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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5 |
Baumgartner’s Got Nothin’ On Charrette* | What did student-producer Matt Kielty do when he didn't have sound for a story? He "designed" it. | 5/30/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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6 |
The Mascot | New York Times editor Amy O'Leary takes a knife to a story she produced at Salt in 2003. | 5/16/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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7 |
They Emerge in the Dark | Radiolab is worming its way into the hearts and ears of Salt radio students. | 5/2/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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8 |
Endless Winter | 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. | 4/18/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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9 |
Sit With Me Again | On this Saltcast, we revisit Mike Bernstein's "Sit With Me" from 2006 then listen to Mike's 2011 follow-up story. | 4/4/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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10 |
A Square Meal Regardless | How the heck do you find a story?! Try yard sales. | 3/21/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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11 |
Pink | An out-of-the-ordinary take on an age-old issue -- conflict of interest. | 3/7/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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12 |
‘Til Death Do Us Part | A microphone is a passport. Just follow it. You'll be surprised where you go. | 2/21/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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13 |
Remembering the Cole | Producer Matt Ozug talks about contacting reluctant interviewees for his piece on the bombing of the USS Cole. | 2/7/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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14 |
More Than Just Houses | Salt radio student Georgia Moodie found that playing with sound was the best way to write her script. | 1/24/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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15 |
This Can Go On Forever | 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. | 1/10/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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16 |
After the Quake: Patients and Healers | A chat with Dan Grech about the ethics of "mis-appropriated" sound. | 12/27/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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17 |
Jaz, A Cleaning Woman | Producer Jamie York publicly flogs himself over the first radio story he ever produced. | 12/13/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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18 |
Sit With Me | How can StoryCorps take their features to the next level? This Saltcast offers one example. | 11/29/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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19 |
The Subtle Sounds of Nature | 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, | 11/15/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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20 |
These Are A Few of My Favorite Things | Irish producer Ronan Kelly plays DJ featuring clips from his favorite radio stories. And, we feature his award winning doc "Roger Dowds: Millionaire Winner." | 11/1/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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21 |
Who’s Your Daddy? | Producer Sean Cole makes a strong case for not cutting out all the reporter's questions from a story. | 10/18/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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22 |
Two Weeks | The only thing radio producers have to fear is fear itself. | 10/4/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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23 |
Ann Meets Mr. Ellington | "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. | 9/20/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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24 |
Cypress Knees | Producer Jay Allison makes the case for "slow radio" and recording before pitching. | 9/8/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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25 |
Powered By Laughter | "To use music or not use music," that is the question. | 8/23/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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26 |
Dam Radio Story | A recurring Saltcast theme, "How to start a story?" on this Saltcast. | 8/9/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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27 |
Song of Marconi | What have we lost in the great homogenization of accents on radio? | 7/26/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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28 |
Dowser, Consultant to the Universe | 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, | 7/12/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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29 |
How I Get By | Focus. Focus. Focus. | 6/28/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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30 |
No Brother of Mine | 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. | 6/14/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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31 |
Left for Dead | "Left for Dead" is probably the most gruesome story every reported by a Salt Radio student. It's not for the faint of heart. | 5/31/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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32 |
Just Another Fish Story | An award-winning story of a beached whale on this Saltcast. | 5/17/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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33 |
Portrait of a Psychic as a Young Man | Psychics, adolescence, and using the pronoun "I" on today's Saltcast. | 5/3/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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34 |
Ghetto Life 101 | The 50th Saltcast! We mark the occasion with a documentary classic - Ghetto Life 101. | 4/19/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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35 |
The Junk King | Producer Josh Gleason talks about framing stories and asking hard questions. | 4/5/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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36 |
Roadway Renaissance Man | A classic story beginning: Here's how things are, here's how they are different. | 3/22/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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37 |
ExplicitWicked Maine Limericks | We're all about limericks this week on the Saltcast. | 3/8/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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38 |
Nothing Predictable | This week on the Saltcast, a dissection of an audio postcard I produced about kayaking around some icebergs in Newfoundland. | 2/22/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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39 |
Hot Lunch! | 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. | 2/8/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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40 |
Racial Cleansing In America | 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 pro.. | 1/26/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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41 |
Brainhilda and I | 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, | 1/11/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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42 |
ExplicitSaltcast Parody | Salt students whip together a parody of the Saltcast. | 12/28/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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43 |
Pizza Time! | 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 N... | 12/14/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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44 |
Flatline Days | 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. | 11/30/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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45 |
Mind on the Brain | 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. | 11/16/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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46 |
Josh: Growing Up With Tourrette’s | 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 othe... | 11/2/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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47 |
Sound Healer | 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 ... | 10/19/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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48 |
Survivors: Solitary Confinement in America’s Prisons | 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" wh... | 10/5/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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49 |
A Jew Grows in Rockland | 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, | 9/21/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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50 |
Swing Free | 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, | 9/7/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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51 |
Waiting for Jarod | 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 ... | 8/24/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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52 |
Fifty-Four Years | I once had a student consider producing a documentary feature on ice harvesters -- people who cut ice blocks on lakes and ponds to use for refrigeration and to keep old traditions alive. Not a bad idea, but the problem with the story was timing. | 8/11/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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53 |
Why Is It So Hard To Read Aloud? | "When this modern monster talks through the loudspeaker installed in its chest, its lips move in time with its speech." p - I talk every single day and I sound natural when I do. So, why, when I read narration, does "natural Rob" disappear? - | 7/27/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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54 |
Look Me In The Eye | Bill Buffard races across the court in a game of quadriplegic rugby. Photo by Judy Beedle. f I really, really like non-narrated radio stories -- pieces that don't have a reporter telling the story. Without a narrator, | 7/14/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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55 |
The Rolling Diamonds | How do they do it? The Rolling Diamonds. Photo by Stephanie Ewens. p 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, | 6/29/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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56 |
No Praise, No Blame, Just So | In 1996, two nuns were murdered in a convent in Maine by a mentally ill man who stopped taking his medication. The murders were brutal and senseless. - Twelve years later, Salt Radio student Jessica Alpert wanted to talk -- in-depth -- with the surviv... | 6/16/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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57 |
Mei Mei, A Daughter’s Song | Dmae Roberts and her mom during their trip to Taiwan in 1989. p 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... | 6/2/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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58 |
Tending the Barter’s Island Bridge | 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, | 5/18/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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59 |
Dyana, Goddess of the Moose Hunt | 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 th... | 5/5/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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60 |
Cody Appleseed | Allison Swaim gets sound. Pun intended. - 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 t... | 4/20/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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61 |
Sleepover! | 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 ... | 4/7/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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62 |
What If? | Kevin and James Hatch in 2005. Photo by Kyle Glover, courtesy the Salt Archive. r - 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 matt... | 3/23/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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63 |
Silence Among Friends | Silence is radio's worst enemy. Or so the thinking goes. In fact, some commercials stations have alarms that sound when the station goes silent for more than a few seconds. - So, imagine my surprise when Joni Murphy said she wanted to produce a radio ... | 3/9/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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64 |
The Angel Warrior On His Way to the Top | 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..... | 2/23/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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65 |
Studs, Natasha, and the Power of Sound | 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. | 2/10/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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66 |
The Sound of Democracy | Banging out a tune on the Portland Public Library piano. Photo by Cecelia Duchano courtesy the Salt Archive. r For her interview on this Saltcast, Elizabeth Chur holed up in her closet. That's pretty common actually. | 1/26/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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67 |
Come Soul, I Have Need of Thee | Folk singer Kendall Morse woos his partner, Jacqui. Photo by Jen Leahy, courtesy the Salt Archive. p - "... To most journalists honored with the job of remembering the stories of the tribe, (the) momentous events of everyday life are virtually ... | 1/12/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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68 |
I’m Relatively Human | 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 | 12/28/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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69 |
Sound. Story. Church. | 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. | 12/28/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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70 |
Listening to the Northern Lights | 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, | 12/18/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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71 |
Dogs, Cats, Parakeets, a Moleskin, and The Squirm Test | 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, | 11/30/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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72 |
Truckstop Love Affair | 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 wi... | 11/20/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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73 |
Best New Producer 2008 | 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... | 11/5/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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74 |
Dissecting “Dead Animal Man” | Photo of Ira Glass by Tom MurphyProbably 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, | 10/23/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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75 |
Insomnia and the Meaning of Life | You can find stories just about anywhere. One good place is the newspaper. In particular, look at the end of a story. Because newspaper stories are typically written with the basic information in the first few paragraphs, | 10/3/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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76 |
Hafid Is Free | Radio is an excellent way to meet people. But, all too often, on public radio we tend to only meet newsworthy people. Little time is made for an "average" person with a unique story. - That's unfortunate because that's most of us. - | 9/25/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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77 |
Just Handover the Mic | It's so elegant. Genius really. Hand a mic to someone and let them record. In general, the tape they collect will be intimate, honest, and revealing. They will take you places few journalists can go. And, its an opportunity for people to speak directly... | 9/8/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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78 |
O, To Be Invisible | Photo of Michael Luce by Annie Reichert, courtesy of the Salt Archive. P 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. - | 8/27/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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79 |
Learning From Bad Luck | Students have a tough time of it at Salt. Not everyone, of course. But, often, a student will hit a wall, sometimes two. Maybe because of Salt's "Outward Bound" or experiential approach to teaching documentary, | 8/11/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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80 |
Hearing Blindness | Producing non-narrated radio stories is a real challenge. There's no narrator to synthesize, describe, and guide. Your tape has to carry the ball --- interview tape, active tape, ambiance. It's not easy. - | 7/28/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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81 |
Knockin’ the Rust Out | Listening just may be the most important skill for radio producers. - 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, | 7/14/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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82 |
Sea Cucumbers, Blood Worms, and Russian Mail Order Brides | Sea cucumber processor in Milbridge, Maine. Photo by Holly Wilmeth, courtesy the Salt Archive. P 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. | 6/30/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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83 |
Putting Words in the Mouth | Joe Marchelletta works a spinning frame in Etna, Maine. Photo by Lars Howlett, courtesy of the Salt Archive.P - Radio producers face ethical questions every day. Indeed, when cutting tape, we face ethical questions each time we highlight and delete -... | 6/13/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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84 |
Getting In | Photo of Bill Picard in his van by Emilie Kapp, courtesy the Salt Archive. P - 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 ... | 5/27/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
| Total: 84 Episodes |
Customer Reviews
This is going to be great...
This is a new podcast from the Salt institute, and it's a neat behind the scenes look at documentary radio journalism. Interesting to me is that the commentary seems to be minimally edited, while the stories that provide the bulk of the podcast are fully produced. I can only assume this is intentional, but it's odd to hear the same voices that were so polished in their pieces--complete with musical over and underlay--stutter and repeat themselves. I think this adds some enticing realism. The whole show is remarkably compelling: both the produced stories and the behind the scenes narration. It smacks just slightly of "reality radio" if there were such a thing. But in a good, slightly addictive way. There is also an academic flavor to it. I feel somewhat more enilightened and educated listening to these episodes. Certainly excited to hear what happens next... Cool stuff Salt, you've hooked me, keep it up!
If you like NPR
I stumbled upon this podcast via an iTunes recommend. It's so wonderful. These are student-produced stories about a wide variety of topics (a woman on her first moose hunt, slumber parties, swingers.) They are always well-done and range from funny to poignant, sometimes at once. You then get to hear the back story from the student that produced the story. If you like NPR, you absolutely can't go wrong. I love this podcast.
Great Radio + Master Class + Commentary Track
If you are interested in making great radio or simply telling better stories, the SaltCast is required listening. Rob selects radio pieces from his former students at the Salt Institute, as well as great pieces from the recent history of radio, and critically examines each piece with the guest producer. It will make you love the individual piece more, and get you thinking about how you can make your own work better. If you are a radio maker, there is so many good ideas to steal! Subscribe!
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