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.

Seeing Sound

Sound editor Walter Murch (The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, The English Patient), sound designer Randy Thom (The Right Stuff, The Thin Blue Line), and radio artist Joe Frank deconstruct excerpts from their work...

  • 2003
  • 01:59:27

To Err (on the Air) Is Human

No one likes to make mistakes, but the difference between you (brilliant producer) and the guy next to you (average producer) is in learning how to use those mistakes to your advantage.

  • 2003
  • 01:13:12

Megaphone

How do documentary producers and artists address the most common issues in the news and shed new light on them?

  • 2003
  • 01:25:45

Loose Tongues

Narrative deceptions, perverse fictions, audio portraiture: this conversation between feature-makers Natalie Kestecher and Susan Stone explores the interplay of story, character, and music, as well as the delights of creative ambiguity and communication in Kestecher's luminous, protean work.

  • 2003
  • 58:52

Truth on Stage

When facts cannot plumb the depths, shall we lie? In this session, producers listen to and discuss radio documentaries that use fiction and dramatic elements to get to the truth.

  • 2004
  • 01:19:44

Deadline Radio

Most producers and reporters spend their days "feeding the machine" -- cranking out short-form work on a daily, sometimes hourly deadline, with no time for second guesses. However, a lot of news coverage is formulaic and, frankly, dull.

  • 2004
  • 01:18:25

The Audible Picture Show

Matt Hulse presents short audio works by a diverse range of inventive audio artists and filmmakers, created specifically for "a darkened cinema."

  • 2004
  • 01:24:35

Gen Next: Youth Producers Share Their Work - Part Two

It's common enough to learn about youth culture through the observations of experts and adults, but so much more intriguing to hear it straight from the hearts and minds of the teenagers navigating through their own worlds.

  • 2004
  • 01:21:09

Gen Next: Youth Producers Share Their Work - Part One

It's common enough to learn about youth culture through the observations of experts and adults, but so much more intriguing to hear it straight from the hearts and minds of the teenagers navigating through their own worlds.

  • 2004
  • 01:17:20

These Are a Few of Jacki Lyden's Favorite Things

Jacki Lyden has been an NPR contributor and host for more than two decades, reporting on vital issues at home and abroad and winning numerous awards for her work.

  • 2004
  • 01:23:47

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

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

Everyday Voices

David Isay and Alex Kotlowitz both try to discover extraordinary stories in "ordinary people."

  • 2004
  • 01:20:47

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sounds Loved and Sounds Lost

This session is: 1) A brief survey of field recording by that and other names, with an emphasis on non-pragmatic applications of recording technology such as musique concrete (last century) and phonography (this one);

  • 2005
  • 01:29:47

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

Anatomy of a Radio Piece

Imagine three producers from two continents working on one radio piece.

  • 2005
  • 01:15:54

Radio Across Time Zones

Radio transmissions are heard all over the world, from the largest urban centers to the smallest mountain villages. But what defines radio from a particular place, and what makes it different than radio from elsewhere?

  • 2005
  • 01:24:42