The Third Coast Festival's 2003 Lifetime Achievement Award Winner: Joe Frank

A master of the dark, humorous and sometimes absurd in radio, Joe Frank's award-winning work spans more than 25 years. Frank is well known for combining techniques of monologue, radio drama and talk radio to tell stories about the human experience.

Larry and Zack

A phone call between father and son reveals volumes about their relationship and ultimately the father's alcoholism (9:45)


O.J. Valet

This conversation between a tabloid reporter and intimate friend of O.J. Simpson, offers new "theories" about the famous actor's trial.(7:38)


Sweepstakes Winner

A family receives a phone call from their local public radio station at a most inopportune moment, in this self-reflective farce about public radio fundraisers. (4:41)


You can hear Joe Frank's acceptance speech Behind the Scenes and listen to more of his work at joefrank.com.
The Books

Paul de Jong and Nick Zammuto, otherwise known as the Books, incorporate an array of sound fragments and miniature stories into their music. The results are part songs, part "documentary vignettes"—an original approach to making both documentary audio and music.

enjoy your worries, you may never have them again
(Thought for Food, 2002, 4:05)

read, eat, sleep
(Thought for Food, 2002, 3:46)

The Books discuss their approach to songwriting and storytelling, Behind the Scenes. Read more about the Books at www.thebooksmusic.com.
Randy Thom, Sound Designer

When Randy Thom is hired to work on a feature film, he focuses on making sound an integral part of the storytelling and emotional impact of a project. When sound drives the story, the worlds of film and radio are not so far apart after all...

Dry Ice

Thom created this piece from recordings of metal pressed against blocks of frozen carbon dioxide. It’s heard on the soundtrack for Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. (1:02)


Object Piece

Based on a short story by Drury Pifer, Object Piece is the story of a man digging his own grave after he loses his wife to a friend. Originally broadcast on KPFA and the BBC in 1976. (8:53)


Thom talks about both pieces in greater detail, Behind the Scenes.

Invisible Ink

A good zine and a successful radio story create the same feeling of connection between an author and his/her audience. With Invisible Ink, Roman Mars blends the two forms perfectly.

Confessions of a Child Beauty Queen is A. H. Weatherman's series of interconnected stories about the trauma of growing up in the South and participating in beauty pageants. (30:13)

Listen as the invisible man behind Invisible Ink talks about how the show comes together Behind the Scenes. (3:13)


Ferlinghetti: San Francisco Locations
by Jim McKee

San Francisco luminary and famed poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti takes listeners on a freewheeling tour of his neighborhood haunts in San Francisco's Chinatown and North Beach. Producer Jim McKee captures Ferlinghetti chatting over coffee at the Growers' Market with his friend, dramatist Erik Bauersfeld, as he explores the city and examines how his relationship with water and the sea emerge in his poems and paintings. (50:20)

Pressed for time? Here are two shorter excerpts of Ferlinghetti reading unforgettable poems:

The Great Chinese Dragon (10:32)

The Green Street Mortuary Marching Band (4:32)

Jim McKee explains the importance of coffee and beer in making lifelong friendships, Behind the Scenes.
Two from Susan Stone

Producer Susan Stone has a knack for blurring the line between radio drama and documentary. Here are two stories illustrating her approach:

Ruby
A deaf-mute, lovelorn waitress has written a friend, of her fractured heart. It's a garbled world in which Ruby spins between love, lust, and a bus ticket to California. (2:56)

Heat
In this short radio play, the consequences of living life in a tinderbox are revealed through a series of scenes taking place within their various rooms. (8:58, excerpt)

Susan Stone talks about her approach to the radio hybrid, Behind the Scenes.
The Last Voice of An Ancient Tongue
by ABC Ulwazi

Elsie Vaalbooi was the last speaker of !Auni, the ancient language of South Africa's first peoples. Producer Siven Maslamoney tells the story of how languages die and how Elsie's people have been driven to extinction. (27:38)

Adele Mostert talks about the mission and challenges of ABC Ulwazi, the South African community radio project responsible for this piece, Behind the Scenes.
The Forbidden Voyage
by Stephen Erickson


As a young boy, Earle Reynolds had a dream to build and sail a boat around the world. He got the chance decades later when, in 1950, the National Academy of Science invited him to research the effects of radiation on Hiroshima's children. Reynolds and his family embarked on a journey that would change their lives forever. (43:06)

Sail Behind the Scenes with producer Stephen Erickson, to read about the making of The Forbidden Voyage.
Two from Jonathan Mitchell

Bay Area producer, composer, and sound designer Mitchell shares two short works:

Embroidery Felon
Ray Matterson went to prison for an armed robbery he committed with a toy gun to support his cocaine habit. He spent the first year of his seven and a half-year jail term feeling angry at the world. Then he found a kind of redemption ... in a pair of socks. (4:07)

Sound Design From Hell

Film sound designer Steve Boeddeker demonstrates how sound can be used to enhance the emotional impact of a scene. (5:46)


Mitchell talks about composing original scores for his radio work and hosting radio salons, Behind the Scenes.
Two from The Fishko Files

As producer and host of The Fishko Files for WNYC, Sara Fishko reports on the cultural landscape.

The House I Live In
The historical saga of the song "The House I Live In" is a study in changing times, changing values and fickle politics. (6:57)

The End
Endings in radio used to serve a purpose: they used to signal to a live audience that time to applaud was near. But this has changed now, prompting Sara Fishko to take a look at the outdated “ending” and to piece together some favorite final moments for a Big Finish. (5:46)

Fishko talks about the importance of irony in her audio work, Behind the Scenes.
Open Outcry
by Ben Rubin

Ben Rubin captures the cacophonous – yet musical - experience of open outcry trading, which has been a tradition at the New York Mercantile Exchange since the 19th century. (7:00)

Read an interview with Rubin about the creation of his sound installation, Behind the Scenes.
Oakland Scenes: Snapshots of a Community
by Youth Radio

Youth Radio producers Ise Lyfe, Gerald Ward II, and Bianca Yarborough chronicle the tense summer of 2002 in Oakland, California, when an alarming number of youth homicides weighed heavily on the community. Oakland Scenes uses as its centerpiece a poem by Lyfe -- a retelling of Romeo and Juliet.

Read an interview with Ward about the inspiration behind the piece, Behind the Scenes.
Face to Face: Stories from the Aftermath of Infamy
by Rob Mikuriya

After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Americans of Japanese ancestry were subjected to racial hatred, distrust and incarceration. Today, in the aftermath of 9/11, Arab and Muslim Americans have the same fears. Rob Mikuriya explores what it's like to be American with "the face of the enemy." Face to Face was originally created as an interactive web experience (27:00)

Mikuriya discusses why he juxtaposed Pearl Harbor with 9/11, Behind the Scenes.
Prey
by Rachel Bryant

As producer Rachel Bryant researched seabirds in the remote arctic wilderness of Southampton Island, Nunavut, she began thinking about issues of survival and vulnerability. (13:07)

Bryant talks about the challenges faced whilerecording in arctic weather, Behind the Scenes.
The Herrin Massacre
by Gary Covino

America's history is rich with the stories of antagonistic coal strikes, but the Herrin Massacre of 1922 is a particularly distressing event that resulted in the deaths of nearly two dozen strike-breakers. The people of Herrin took a collective oath of silence so that no one was ever convicted of the crimes. (31:11)

Covino discussed the impact this documentary had on the people of Herrin, Illinois, Behind the Scenes.
Dreaming of Fat Men
by Lorelei Harris

One evening in 1994, four women came together for a feast. They had never met one another before. As far as anybody knew, they only had one thing in common: they were all obese. (41:22)

Lorelei Harris descries the unusual production work involved in making Dreaming of Fat Men, Behind the Scenes.
Beta Project

The Beta Project is an audio dialogue - part listening experience and part group discussion. It presents the issue of abortion through personal stories followed by guided conversations. After listening to the piece, read and discuss the same questions that participants use at Beta Project events. (24:00)

Please be advised: This program contains strong content and imagery.

Beta Project creator and executive producer Sarah Varney talks about how the project took shape Behind the Scenes.
Our Day Will Come
by Lex Gillespie

This excerpt from the final program of the 13-part series Let the Good Times Roll, explores the impact of R&B on America's civil rights movement, as well as the influence of the movement on popular music. (16:38)

Producer Lex Gillespie shares stories about how he tracked down the archival footage and chose the songs for his series, Behind the Scenes.
The Long-Expected Party
by Camilla Maling

This Radio New Zealand documentary explores the construction of the world of The Lord of the Rings through the eyes of the New Zealanders whose "good old kiwi ingenuity" on the film set brought Middle Earth to life. (40:56)

Camilla Maling reveals more about immersing herself in The Lord of the Rings, Behind the Scenes.

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