The Hospital Always Wins
Back in 2004, Laura Starecheski visited a mental hospital in Queens, N.Y. called Creedmoor, where she met a patient named Issa Ibrahim.
Director's Choice2014 Third Coast / Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition2014 / Laura Starecheski / Deborah George / Taki Telonidis / Brendan Baker / Kelsey Padgett / State of the Re:Union, USA
Back in 2004, Laura Starecheski visited a mental hospital in Queens, N.Y. called Creedmoor, where she met a patient named Issa Ibrahim.
Issa was a super talented artist with a flashy, irreverent sense of humor. He didn't seem to belong in a mental hospital at all. Yet, he'd been at Creedmoor for over a decade and had no idea when – or if – he'd ever get out. Starecheski spent almost a decade following Issa to report The Hospital Always Wins.
The Hospital Always Wins won a Directors' Choice award at the 2014 Third Coast / Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition. It was produced by Laura Starecheski for State of the Re:Union, with editors Deborah George and Taki Telonidis, mix and sound design by Brendan Baker and production help from Kelsey Padgett.
Listen to all twelve winners of the 2014 TC/RHDF Competition, and check out the EXTRA section below for a few related links.
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Laura Starecheski (They/Them) is an editor at This American Life and also edited The Retrievals, a Peabody award-winning podcast from Serial Productions and The New York Times.
Deborah George is the Senior Editor for Radio Diaries, and has recently served as Senior Supervising Editor for NPR and Senior Radio Editor for Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting.
Taki Telonidis is Senior Supervising Editor for Reveal , an award winning radio show and podcast that’s dedicated to exposing injustice and holding the powerful accountable.
Brendan Baker (@BrendanPBaker) specializes in creative editing and sound design for highly-crafted radio and podcast productions.
Kelsey is a producer/reporter for Radiolab and WNYC's More Perfect .
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