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.

Fidele Musafiri: Miner

Cell phones and laptops rely on a particular mineral called colombite tantalum – coltan for short - and the growing demand for the material in the west has had ramifications in some pretty distant corners of the world.

Children's America

Imagine an America ruled by children. They staff the post offices, run the schools, oversee the military, and decide on the form of government.

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.

Studs & Jimmy

Jimmy Yancey, the blues pianist and White Sox groundsman, and Studs Terkel, the broadcaster and author, may have lived at different ends of Chicago but they're both as integral a part of the city as the El...

The Big City

For the last 20 years, Sherwin Sleeves has traveled the country, composing "theme songs" for cities across the United States. Inspiration for Chicago's song strikes while he's eating dinner at the Green Mill.

Beat Street

An aging drummer takes his love of music - and his dreams of something bigger - to Chicago's Michigan Avenue.

Couple Two Tree

A loving examination of the Chicagoan language by four non-etymologists.

Lovable Losers

Feel the passion, feel the pain of the faithful followers of Chicago's Lovable Losers.

Chicago's Gangster

Every July 22nd, a group of Chicagoans gather to memorialize the death of infamous and beloved bank robber John Dillinger, who spent a year evading the authorities and winning American hearts before he was shot dead in July, 1934.

"Diamond" Jimmy Roy

At one time "Diamond" Jimmy Roy owned half the businesses in Braddock, Pennsylvania, a steel town just outside Pittsburgh.

Educating Esme

Esme Cordell shares a year's worth of classroom anecdotes and musings, culled from a journal kept throughout her first year teaching in Chicago.

All My Stuff in Bags

When Daniel Sosa turned 18, his father kicked him out of the house for being gay. Daniel describes the night he was forced to leave, the struggles he faces as a high school student living on his own, and his desire to return home again.