Call NOW! (2013)

This piece showcases Cole’s willingness to examine his own role in documentary-making, immediately putting the listener in his reporting shoes for a front seat journey in making a story. It was going to be this, but it ended up being that. A unifying experience among anyone making anything. His long cuts of interview tape include his own questions (and all of their charming doubts) which reflect our own as listeners. But then, together your doubts fall away as he reveals the bigger picture. We are left laughing and satisfied, each the reluctant “hammer” of our own career. Also FWIW - the staff of Life of the Law was brimming with iconic talent. Julia Barton went on to be the founding editor of Revisionist History. Kaitlin Prest produced this piece while making the groundbreaking podcast The Heart. Ashleyanne Krigbaum (“Wam Bam Ashleyanne…making earbuds sing and booties shake since 2008”) has worked on every banger Campside show and a million others. Shannon Heffernan made and hosted Motive for WBEZ before going to The Marshall Project, and Nancy Mullane hosted Life of the Law (where this piece aired) for nearly 150 episodes on stations across the U.S. This show is still available as a podcast that you should definitely check out.