Jessica Abel and Ira Glass  (2009 Edward R. Murrow award winner)

Excellent tips on getting the best possible recording.  A must-read before recording an interview.

Not as much on prepping for interview -- don't skimp on this.

Refers to using mini-disc player (not what we're using); skip past that.

Covers interview preparation in more detail than the above resource.

Some of the equipment tips  won't apply to our equipment.

from site:

"Sound Portraits' radio documentaries (broadcast on NPR's All Things Considered and Weekend Edition) are audio profiles of men and women surviving in the margins. Told with care and dignity, the work depicts the lives of Americans living in communities often neglected or misunderstood. Sound Portraits frequently collaborates with people living in these hard-to-access corners of America, giving them tape recorders and microphones and helping them tell their own stories."

Finely crafted and deeply moving documentaries.

Great example of putting the tools in the hands of a potential subject and letting them tell their story.

Check out Ghetto 101 -- recorded by a pair of 13-year-olds living in the projects in Chicago in 1993.

Prestigious annual festival to showcase audio documentaries and features from around the world.  Competition in conjunction with festival, big cash awards. 

Archive of exemplary work on the site.  Check out TCIAF podcast also.

Great source for excellent examples of cutting edge audio documentary / feature work.

ShortDocs section is really interesting -- public competition where you create a short audio doc in response to a prompt and submit to the festival.  All submissions from each year are posted on the site.  Alas, there isn't a short docs competition this year (funding issues).  No conference, either.

My favorite radio show.  Witty and innovative approach to storytelling.    Often laugh-out-loud funny.  Frequently tackles complex topics that are ignored elsewhere in the mainstream media.   HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

now it's a T.V. show, too, on Showtime

from the web site:

"Radiolab believes your ears are a portal to another world. Where sound illuminates ideas, and the boundaries blur between science, philosophy, and human experience. Big questions are investigated, tinkered with, and encouraged to grow. Bring your curiosity, and we'll feed it with possibility."

Editing style is cutting edge -- like nothing I've ever heard, ever.  Each episode is an auditory wonderland. 

Somehow the editing and special effects don't overwhelm the content, which is usually very thought-provoking.  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Radio Documentaries: An Introduction

C4L12_The Radio Documentary_Past and Present.pdf

Good resource links

Contains conflicting definitions of "documentary"

Some of it is a little dated (chronology of documentary history ends at 1987)

15 week program in Portland, ME, focuses on photography, writing, and radio.

Student work on web site.

Highly acclaimed school. 

Student examples are somewhat easier to emulate.

Covers plot, character, unique aspects of radio drama (5th dimension, etc.) pretty well.

There are almost no concrete examples used, unfortunately.  Need to use this in conjunction with other sources.

from the episode description:

"An original radio drama called "Kathleen on the Carpet," in which animals talk and hold their own "animal court." It's a comedy by David Sedaris, starring our own radio theater company, the Pinetree Gang. (14 minutes)"

Good radio drama example.  Very funny.

When you play the episode, you have to skip ahead to find act two.

The Next Big Thing 12/31/04:

"Bartleby the Scrivener"

Story by Herman Melville, adapted by David Ives

The Next Big Thing was a show on WNYC; now discontinued

from the site:

"Herman Melville's Wall Street tale explores the murky territory of habit, inclination, peculiarity, incivility and cruelty. We could tell you more, but we prefer not to. The story has been adapted for radio by playwright David Ives, and is narrated by Barnard Hughes."

Awesome story, great adaptation. 

Scroll to bottom of page to listen only to Bartleby.

Requires Real Player.  You may need to download it, if you are listening at home.

Author has spent a lot of time sorting through and evaluating these sites; he is honest about his continuing frustrations with finding podsafe music.

Indie music fans:  be sure to check out the suggestion at the bottom -- artists and labels web sites and pages. 

Fairly current assessment of where podcasting is headed and how it relates to radio.

Nothing much how-to here; just theoretical. 

Explanations are clear; there are lots of pictures.

Refers to GB '06.  We're using GB '09, but most of this should still apply.  The interface looks a little different.

Learn to Podcast

This is a video podcast. To access it, search for it in the iTunes store.  Then download the episodes you want by clicking on the "get episode" button next to the desired episode.  You can also access some episodes by going to my iTunes library, which is shared on the network. 

MacProvideo on Podcasting in GB

Username:  lgalehodge@gmail.com

Password:   ndsion

Some chapter videos move slowly through the content, but it's very thorough and clear. You can skip directly to what you need.

Revers to GB 08, but should still be useful (until a new video becomes available).