Third Coast Audio Library
Our vast and ever-growing collection contains thousands of carefully curated audio stories, episodes from Third Coast podcasts, educational sessions on craft from the best makers on the planet, and more.
We’ve also featured some incredible audio work beyond this audio library, in other ways and using other formats: don’t miss the 2021 Web Showcase, featuring a more in-depth look at the winners, judges and even a list of 40 finalists from the 2021 Third Coast/RHDF Competition.
Voice
The three legs of the tripod of radio —- voice, text, and sound -— are interdependent, and all contribute to the "voice" of any radio piece. Independent producer Karen Michel presents work that demonstrates different styles of voice and discusses what makes each one unique.
- 2002
- 01:21:07
Interview
With a little savvy and practice, magic can happen between two people and a microphone. Taki Telonidis and Hal Cannon outline the basic elements of conducting an interview, both in technical and human terms, by playing great examples and bringing in the wisdom of master interviewers on public radio.
- 2002
- 01:24:40
Music
Music and sound bring layers of meaning to your work. Incorporating them most effectively starts with looking for the movement and metaphor in your materials. Using examples from her own features, Sherre DeLys presents different approaches to integrated sound design.
- 2002
- 01:12:12
These Are a Few of Ira Glass's Favorite Things
Ira Glass plays and talks about radio and print journalism that has inspired him, including some surprising 1970s-era NPR documentaries which may be long forgotten by most.
- 2002
- 01:24:13
Rocks, Riptides, and Buoys: Radio in the Play of the Airwaves
Longtime proponent of radio as a fluid and flexible medium, Gregory Whitehead plays a variety of work from around the world and gives a philosophical and pragmatic talk on the role of imaginative radio in an increasingly congested media landscape.
- 2002
- 01:19:09
Trespassing
Jay Allison leads a discussion about the ways in which documentarians must be skilled in the art of trespassing...
- 2002
- 01:24:10
Featuring . . . the Feature
The radio "feature" is a long-standing tradition of European broadcasting, a format with a style all its own. Kaye Mortley, an independent producer based in France, describes the feature this way: "These pieces are mind movies -- road movies sculpted out of reality.
- 2002
- 01:26:59
Pushing the Boundaries of Daily Radio
Diamonds are made under pressure! For this session, Priya Ramu and Steve Wadhams from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation present their advice on how to make daily radio that shines and delights.
- 2002
- 01:26:42
Once Upon a Time . . . The End
So, you've got your assignment. You've done your research, you've collected your tape, and now it's time (oh god) to write. In this panel discussion, moderated by Robert Krulwich, we examine the Everest and K-2 of story telling: How to Begin and (assuming you can get past that one) How to End.
- 2002
- 01:23:00
Breaking the Mold: Youth Producers Share Their Work -- Day Two
Their work comes from the heart and gives us a glimpse into the most enigmatic of worlds: teenagehood. Listen in as young producers from around the country present their work and talk about how they're making radio relevant for a new generation.
- 2003
- 01:24:21
Breaking the Mold: Youth Producers Share Their Work -- Day One
Their work comes from the heart and gives us a glimpse into the most enigmatic of worlds: teenagehood. Listen in as young producers from around the country present their work and talk about how they're making radio relevant for a new generation.
- 2003
- 01:24:54
Sound Seizing: Recording in the Real World
After a long day of taping in the field, have you ever felt that you failed to capture the true essence of your location?
- 2003
- 01:32:59
Ways of Hearing
It's not always easy to put aside the culturally-formed listening patterns we take for granted and hear radio in fresh ways.
- 2003
- 01:29:31
Sources, Correspondents, Fixers: Making Radio With Bloggers
Millions of bloggers write every day about their own towns, industries, and lives. As a radio producer you can work with a nation -- a world – of storytellers to find out about everything from French politics to knitting habits in Iowa.
- 2006
- 01:17:02
Radio Norway
Kari Hesthamar demonstrates the distinctive sound of Norwegian radio features by playing and talking about some of the most important elements of her own work -- creating small films for listeners' ears, capturing the true essence of a scene, and producing stories that come alive through the use of the present tense.
- 2006
- 01:30:25
Sound and Territory
Apartment sounds reveal a roommate crisis, the unwanted sharing of a territory.
- 2006
- 02:30
- Christine Morin
- Marie-France Garon
Trouble in Vietnam
Robert McNamara, the Soviet Ambassador and President Lyndon Johnson face off in a historical remix.
- 2006
- 02:32
- Theo Lipfert
College: A Hotbed of Emerging Producers -- Part One
All around the country college students are asking for and receiving new courses that teach audio production. They're intent on finishing college with multi-media skills, and, lucky for us, they want to help shape the future of documentary audio.
- 2008
- 01:20:55
Caging the Chaos: How to Produce Radio Stories That Aren't Exactly Stories
Common sense dictates that a good radio story should start with a firm sense of what the story is. But what if you only have the vaguest sense of the story -- whether it's a scenario, or an idea, or even a joke you'd like to tell?
- 2008
- 01:12:23
Approaching Approaches
Alessandro Bosetti talks of the tremors felt while approaching somebody else's life with a microphone in-hand, when fears of exploitation combine with implacable curiosity and the possibility that neither you nor your interviewee will understand each other's intentions.
- 2008
- 01:25:40
These Are a Few of the Kitchen Sisters' Favorite Things
Ever wonder what inspires, obsesses and ignites the Kitchen Sisters? Find out during this hour-plus showcase of audio (and other less-evolved art forms) culled from their accidental archive and the stirring work of others.
- 2008
- 01:17:45
Lenin's Ears
Andrey Allakhverdov, from the Foundation for Independent Radio Broadcasting (based in Russia), talks about what the FNR is up to over in Moscow, and introduces the timezone-bending modern-day audio legend Lenin's Ears.
- 2008
- 06:48
Presenting the 2008 TCF ShortDocs: Radio Ephemera
For the 2008 TCF ShortDocs Challenge, the TCF joined forces with the Prelinger Library, a one-of-a-kind collection of books, periodicals, and more, running the gamut from the concrete and tangible to the abstract and etherized.
- 2008
- 01:22:48
Maria the Korean Bride
Maria wants to be married in every state.
- 2006
- 02:30
- Andy, Tourist in the City
Sister Christy
A brother reflects on his turbulent relationship with sister after hearing a phone message.
- 2006
- 02:30
- Jody Melto