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.

Latin Mass

Long before the women's movement even had a name, some Oak Park girls began questioning tradition without even knowing they were doing so.

A Time to Tip

The courageous story of one coffee mug trying to get by in a house of people he hates. (Writing from the perspective of the mug in the first person, present tense.)

Miss Cholita Pageant

The "Miss Cholita" pageant celebrates a female ideal that is fast disappearing among Bolivian indigenous women. This year, the pageant was shaken by a scandal: the winner had turned out to have been wearing fake braids.

Can't Catch Us All

What mice find offensive is the fact that these traps are not only lethal, but also cheap, low quality imports. (Don't mess with the mice.)

House Trap

"The best-laid plans of mice and men go oft awry"- Rober Burns, To a Mouse [The mousetrap set recalls a long-forgotten incident in the producer's first residence in Toronto.]

Dollar Daze

Third Coast Festival artistic director Julie Shapiro describes her rendez-vous with Dollar Store founder Jonathan Messinger at Dollar Daze in downtown Chicago, where the Dollar Storeys items were chosen.

Ring It Loud

A tender portrait of the sofly spoken environmental campaigner and former world champion cyclist Judith Sanderson, who 20 years ago smashed 5 middle distance records in her sport.

I'm Alive

A bell realizes it's alive while on a conveyor belt and then en route to a dollar store.

American Dream

The mice have invaded and are having some R and R... so I might as well help them enjoy themselves.

Life Plays On

An insecure boy discovers, through a saying on a mug, that there is more going on in the lives of others than meets the eye.

Mouse Trap Music

Composer Mark Applebaum describes the creative process he uses when inventing new instruments. He calls one of them "The Mouse Trap."