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.

Memento Mori

Some members of Jude Fletcher's family have a fondness for taking pictures of the dead. Their photo albums boast the typical shots of joyous celebrations and family gatherings, side by side with shots of loved ones in their caskets.

Dinner at the Blind Cow

From the moment you enter the restaurant's dining room, you're in complete darkness. Blind waiters take your order, help you find your water glass, and lead you to the bathroom as needed.

Vagy/Szomjusag/Thirst

As a boy, George Bien was sent thousands of miles away from Hungary to Siberia, to the notorious Gulag - the prison camp system in the Soviet Union, where millions of people perished.

And I Walked...Stories From the Border

Much of the Sonoran desert between Tucson and Mexico is a haunting wasteland of discarded shoes, shirts, and empty plastic water jugs, discarded by desparate illegal immigrants who risk their lives as they cross the desert from Mexico into the United States in search of better-paying jobs.

X-Town

In the late 1930s, Massachusetts flooded four towns in the central part of the state to create a reservoir for the city of Boston. More than 2,000 people lived in those towns.

Survivors

Tens of thousands of inmates in American prisons live in total isolation. They don't see anyone. They don't talk to anyone. They are completely alone, sometimes for years, in a cell the size of a small bathroom.

Nocturne

The National Gallery, London, is one of the world's most prestigious art galleries. Every day, thousands of people pass through its doors to look at masterpieces by Rembrandt, Van Gogh, and many others.

Aftermath

The Aftermath, Inc., headquarters is nestled in a strip of ordinary office buildings in the Chicago suburbs, but there's nothing bland about the service the company provides.

A Square Meal, Regardless

When Cedric Chambers and John Gallagher met by chance 45 years ago, neither imagined that they'd be caring for each other into old age.

Thinness and Salvation

The American "obesity epidemic" has been all over the news -– from stories about the viability of the Atkins diet to tabloid profiles of 100-pound toddlers.

The View From Here

A patient, blinded in an accident, wakes to another day of darkness. Resolved to sidestep the persistent murk of her obscured vision, she turns instead to the world of her imagination and memory, where the everyday patterns of human routine take on a new significance.

The Mender of Lost Hearts

Child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo lead grim lives -- they're forcibly recruited to serve with government forces or rebel troops in a long and bloody civil conflict that's ravaged the region for years.

My T-Shirt Says It All

The T-shirt is a staple of the American wardrobe, worn by pretty much everyone at one time or another. It's a common denominator in a culture marked by differences. But while it's cheap and easy to make, the humble T-shirt shouldn't be underestimated.

Ice Cream Man

Jonathan Goldstein's got a knack for exploring life's great (and simple) mysteries via the telephone.

The Paint Mixers

Wired with a low-fi tape recorder, performance artist Damali Ayo visited hardware stores and asked employees to mix paint to match different parts of her body.

Silence

Tripura and Om took temporary vows of silence when they first met almost 20 years ago. Joan Schuman produced this sound portrait of their experience by weaving together their vocal memories with an ambient narrative of chalk scratching on slate.

Dental Deja Vu

Producer Gwen Macsai was 31 when, for the second time in her life, she was subjected to that ubiquitous teenage torture device . . . the dental retainer.

A Voice of Warning

A heroin overdose left Jade Bell blind, mute and unable to care for himself. Now Bell tours high schools in British Columbia, where his computerized "voice" speaks a loud warning to thousands of students.

Big in Japan

Desperate to learn the language, Japanese schools, businesses, and government agencies offer small fortunes to just about anyone who can help teach English.

We're Here to Work!

This documentary, part of a series called America's Women: A Legacy of Change, examines how women's lives have changed since they won the vote in 1920s, focusing on the period from World War II through the 1950s.