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.
W. Kamau Bell asks his Mom about Sex
For most of his life, comedian W. Kamau Bell assumed his single mom never had sex after she made him.
- 2016
- 37:26
- Hillary Frank
- Abigail Keel
Mariya
Mariya Karimjee was a teenager in Texas when she first confronted her mother about the genital cutting she'd undergone as a child in Pakistan.
- 2016
- 34:57
- Kaitlin Prest
- Mitra Kaboli
- Mariya Karimjee
Not Safe to Drink
What would you do if your tap water turned brown?
- 2016
- 53:34
- Lindsey Smith
- Sarah Hulett
Re:sound #230 The Dying Words Show
This hour the life and AIDS reporting of New York Times reporter Jeffrey Schmalz.
- 2016
- 01:02:10
- Kerry Donahue
- Samuel Freedman
- Sara Burningham
- Eric Marcus
- Dennis Funk
The Double
Thirteen years ago, in Viborg, Denmark, lived two young men with the same name: Thomas Andersen.
- 2016
- 43:37
- Thomas Arent Andersen
Why Do I Stay?
When Rainy was 17, she met a producer named Courtney Stein from WNYC’s Radio Rookies.
- 2016
- 30:33
- Courtney Stein
- Rainy
The Sound of Breaking News
You’re sent to cover breaking news – a natural disaster or a large-scale accident or crime. You don’t have much time, or much warning. How do you bring back sound-rich, interesting tape, that makes listeners perk up their ears?
- 2016
- 01:15:56
Re:sound #228 The Sonic Wanders Show
This hour we're going on three soundwalks that meander at the pace of real life.
The Bigness of the Small Story
From the 2016 Third Coast Conference... celebrated author, filmmaker and radio journalist Alex Kotlowitz talks about the power of a finely crafted intimate narrative.
- 2016
- 01:16:42
In The Dark, Episode 1
When 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling disappeared in 1989, local Minnesota police seemed determined to crack the case. Instead, it took them 27 years.
- 2016
- 32:05
- Madeleine Baran
- Samara Freemark
- Natalie Jablonski
Re:sound #229 The Communication Barrier Show
This hour people trying their best — and sometimes failing miserably — to make a connection.
Re:sound #74: The Hospice Show
This hour: a surprising look at the relationship between a hospice worker and his patient.
Re:sound #79: The What Remains Show
This hour: a man transformed by illness, a house full of paintings left behind by an old friend, and a surprisingly complex story of old people in love.
Re:sound #76: The Being Deaf Show
This hour: sign language, lip-reading, and deaf culture.
- 2007
- 59:30
- Kirsti Melville
- Roman Mars
Image as Metaphor
Do metaphors inherently deepen a story? Can using metaphors be more effective than revealing direct facts and information about a subject?
- 2004
- 01:24:25
The Future of Radio Is Now
Teenagers are making some of the most engaging radio out there! Their refreshing perspectives and creative techniques are lighting up the radio and signaling good things for the future sound of the airwaves.
- 2005
- 01:12:50
Music: A Force for Good (and Sometimes Evil)
Radio makers have many techniques at their disposal for crafting each story they tell, including one in particular that gets used and abused more than any other: scoring.
- 2005
- 01:21:00
Explaining the World in Four Minutes
When David Kestenbaum tells people he covers science for NPR, they often say something like "it must be hard explaining such complicated ideas in such a short amount of time!" Well, it is.
- 2005
- 01:11:34
Podcasting: Believe the Hype
Join podcast pioneers and radio producers Benjamen Walker and Tod Maffin to discover how podcasting, in less than one year, changed broadcasting forever.
- 2005
- 01:22:10
A Sense of Place
Washington Post reporter Anne Hull shares her thoughts about how to capture an environment that reveals the world of a particular subject to your audience: by paying attention to detail and hopefully avoiding familiar cliches.
- 2005
- 01:19:08
Into the Darkness: Presenting the 2004 TCF ShortDocs
For the 2004 ShortDocs Challenge, we asked producers to submit ideas for stories about "darkness."
- 2004
- 01:27:17
Everyday Voices
David Isay and Alex Kotlowitz both try to discover extraordinary stories in "ordinary people."
- 2004
- 01:20:47
Ask Away
Susan Stamberg, who figures she's conducted some 30,000 interviews in her brief career, plays examples of smart, dumb, informed, innocent, and baggage-laden questions, and discusses how to decide when each is appropriate.
- 2005
- 01:10:30
Trust Me, I'm an Editor
Producers come to editors with their tape, a vision, and a piece in various stages of completion. Editors bring their skills, a fresh set of ears, a fat red pen, and often the mandate of an established show format.
- 2004
- 01:31:18
Two Towns of Jasper
Producers and long-time friends Whitney Dow and Marco Williams (Two Tone Productions) discuss the making of their film Two Towns of Jasper, a documentary about the racially motivated murder of James Byrd, who in 1998 was dragged to his death after being beaten then chained to the back of a pick-up truck in Jasper, Texas.
- 2004
- 01:23:16