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.

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

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

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

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

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

Finding Your Visual Voice

How do you take your storytelling instincts and translate them into the land of photography?

  • 2014
  • 01:31:43

Three Shows/Three Techniques

NPR reporter Alix Spiegel incites a riot among audio producers... in praise of stealing others' storytelling techniques and adapting them to create a style of one's very own.

  • 2014
  • 01:13:20

Own Your Thing (Part 1)

More than ever you can own your podcast - make it, distribute it, sell it. How is it done?

  • 2014
  • 01:16:58

Sound Design 101

Brendan Baker and Kaitlin Prest pull back the curtain on the alchemical process of combining stories and sound.

  • 2014
  • 01:18:04

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things: Up With Bad

Founding producer of This American Life Nancy Updike on the inspiration she finds in the power of vice, foible and inappropriateness on radio, podcasts, TV and in books.

  • 2014
  • 01:08:29

2014 Getting to Yes: The Art of the Pitch (Day 2)

A bonafide Third Coast tradition! The second installment of this session once again pulls back the curtain on one of the most difficult and important skills every producer needs to master: pitching a story.

  • 2014
  • 01:12:17

The Amazing Radio Vertikalisator

Inspired by a Lego time machine her son built, Iceland-based independent producer Rikke Houd created a tool to help producers take advantage of the vast space radio offers.

  • 2014
  • 01:10:25

Public-powered Journalism

Learn how sharing the mic and megaphone can expand your beat, your stories, and your craft.

  • 2014
  • 01:11:09

2014 Getting to Yes: The Art of the Pitch (Day 1)

A bonafide Third Coast tradition! This session pulls back the curtain on one of the most difficult and important skills every producer needs to master: pitching a story.

  • 2014
  • 01:13:32

Leave No Trace

There's a slip of paper hanging in Dave Isay's office at StoryCorps with a quote scrawled across it: "A good craftsman leaves no traces."

  • 2014
  • 01:20:10