Maker Sessions

Dive into scores of talks, workshops, and audio manifestos offering wisdom on everything from production skills to journalistic ethics from the best audio producers and makers on the planet.


Mudslide: The Election of 2016

With the ink on the ballots still wet, Third Coast dives into the past year of political reporting. How were journalists most - and least - successful covering the presidential election and its voters? And: where do we go from here?

  • 2016
  • 01:26:31

The Bigness of the Small Story

From the 2016 Third Coast Conference... celebrated author, filmmaker and radio journalist Alex Kotlowitz talks about the power of a finely crafted intimate narrative.

  • 2016
  • 01:16:42

The Sound of Breaking News

You’re sent to cover breaking news – a natural disaster or a large-scale accident or crime. You don’t have much time, or much warning. How do you bring back sound-rich, interesting tape, that makes listeners perk up their ears?

  • 2016
  • 01:15:56

Audio Educators Swap Meet

Get ready to steal from the best. Your educator colleagues at Third Coast have a fount of wisdom to offer, from hard-won mentoring insights to crafty teaching hacks. (Note: Audio will not be available.)

  • 2016
  • 0

The Pit of Despair

For some people, making great radio is easy. Ben Calhoun has no idea what those people are talking about! For him, making radio is hard, beset by self-doubt -- and he finds it’s often easy to get stuck.

  • 2016
  • 01:19:41

Compose yourself: a producer’s guide to working with musicians

It’s becoming more common for podcast producers to work with composers to create an original soundtrack. At this session, producer Michael May and composer/producer Nick DePrey share their techniques for bringing a piece to life with music and sound design.

  • 2016
  • 01:15:20

We'll Drive Till We Find An Exit

A session about the joy and fear of pursuing stories without any idea of how they're going to succeed, or if they're going to succeed at all.

  • 2016
  • 01:15:41

Chapter and Verse

A guide to constructing a serialized narrative from Julie Snyder, co-creator of Serial and former senior producer of This American Life . (NOTE: Audio will not be available.)

  • 2016
  • 0

Blockbuster Sound

Danish-based producer Tim Hinman, of the podcast Third Ear, finds inspiration for his exquisite sound design at the movies, and in this session he shares how it’s done.

  • 2016
  • 01:20:32

Embrace the Chaos

The world of podcasting has become a crowded one. With a bevy of competing styles and purviews, having a unique voice is an increasingly valuable commodity... both artistically and financially.

  • 2016
  • 01:27:15

Under the Skin: Making Audio Visceral

Can a documentary make you dance? Turn you on? Make you jump in fear? We get under the skin of documentary's visceral possibilities, exploring how we edit to impact the listener's body as much as their mind.

  • 2016
  • 56:21

These are a few of Audie Cornish and Sean Cole's Favorite Things

Audie Cornish and Sean Cole came up in radio together — smoking on the front steps of WBUR in Boston, puzzling over stories. Now Audie is a co-host of NPR's All Things Considered and Sean is a producer at This American Life .

  • 2016
  • 01:25:55

The Only Ten Words that Matter

What separates a “good” program from a “great” program is often the clarity of its vision: what is the show and who is it trying to speak to?

  • 2016
  • 01:01:26

First Off... This is in Really Good Shape

In this session for editors - or anyone who wants to help someone else shape a story – Gimlet Media’s Jorge Just explores the delicate art of making good things better.

  • 2016
  • 01:28:46