Sound School Podcast

Rob Rosenthal/PRX/Transom.org
  • 5.0 (4)
  • How To
  • Twice monthly

The Backstory to Great Audio Storytelling, hosted by Rob Rosenthal, for Transom and PRX.

  1. 16 Jun

    Deploy This One Tiny Maneuver to Improve Audio Essays

    Cloe Axelson, a senior editor at WBUR, was feeling like the essays she produced that were written by listeners weren't sounding conversational enough -- until she deployed this one simple trick. It's a trick any producer could use to help narrators sound more like themselves.

    17 min

  2. 2 Jun

    Witness to an Execution

    How powerful can audio storytelling be? So powerful that distraught listeners stand-up, wave their arms, and yell "Turn it off! Turn it off!" That's how good the documentary we're featuring on Sound School is.

    27 min

  3. 19 May

    Jad and FayFay Talk "Fela Kuti: Fear No Man"

    Jad Abumrad and FayFay Odudu, drop some valuable audio storytelling reporting and production insights on the latest episode of Sound School. Jad and FayFay recently earned a Peabody Award for "Fela Kuti: Fear No Man," the podcast about Fela, the Nigerian saxophone player and political activist. Jad and FayFay sat down with Lesedi Mogoathle in February for an online chat sponsored by Radio Workshop. It's a valuable conversation you'll want to hear.

    46 min

  4. 5 May

    Revisiting: Nausea and Forehead Mics - Reporting in Zero Gravity

    Almost every reporting trip has its pitfalls. Andrew Leland's story for Radiolab in 2022 had more than most including nausea, flying in the equivalent of zero gravity, and his blindness. On this encore episode of Sound School, Andrew lays out how he navigated it all.

    20 min

  5. 21 Apr

    Salman Khan’s March to “More Muslim”

    You could describe it as a long walk. Or a climb up a hill. But, it seems like Salman Khan's path to launching a new podcast was more like a slow, persistent march. Hear how Salman practically willed "More Muslim" into existence on the latest Sound School. It's inspiring.

    19 min

  6. 7 Apr

    Silence Is Worth Your Time

    Back when I worked at radio stations, people joked "Silence is bad juju." We're not supposed to include much, if any, silence in audio stories -- for broadcast or podcast. Noam Hassenfeld went the opposite direction and embraced silence -- lots of it! -- on a recent episode of Unexplainable, the science podcast from Vox. Noam explains how he craftily deployed silence in his storytelling on this episode of Sound School.

    23 min

  7. 24 Mar

    Revisiting: A Cow A Day

    The first question I had to ask Pejk Malinovsky was "Why the hell did you think that would make for a good radio story?" Of course it was. Pejk followed a cow for eleven hours recording her every move and turned it into a 30-minute documentary. Naturally, Pejk answered saying "A cow a day keeps the boredom away." Find out what he means on this episode of Sound School.

    25 min

  8. 10 Mar

    Dialing In the Audio Flux Podcast

    Julie Shapiro and John Delore made a pilot for the Audio Flux podcast. Okay, now what? How did they go from pilot in 2024 to podcast in late 2025? On this episode of Sound School, a deep dive comparing the Audio Flux pilot to the first episode of the podcast and the thinking behind Julie and John's production choices.

    33 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

The Backstory to Great Audio Storytelling, hosted by Rob Rosenthal, for Transom and PRX.

Information

  • Creator
    Rob Rosenthal/PRX/Transom.org
  • Years Active
    2011 - 2026
  • Episodes
    384
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Transom/PRX
  • Show Website
    Sound School Podcast

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