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.
Epic, Painful, Long, Scary
Epic, Painful, Long, Scary is the story of 19-year-old African-Australian twins. The twins hardly remember their mother and father, who both died from AIDS-related illnesses when the boys were just toddlers.
- 2006
- 29:34
- Julie Kimberly
Leaps and Dunes
Summer sleepover camp means more than mosquito bites, sunburn, twig art, and bonfire gatherings. Camp offers many kids their first taste of independence -- which can be equal-parts blissful and terrifying.
- 2007
- 34:34
- Lisbeth Koerner
- Rikke Houd
- Sabine Hviid
Ocean Hour
Two friends sit on a dock, meandering through a variety of ocean stories (some true and some not):
- 2007
- 58:51
- Keith Talbot
- Larry Massett
Original Kasper's: The Hot Dog Stand That Saved a Neighborhood
Hot dogs are a classic American food. But when is a hot dog more than just a hot dog? When it's a neighborhood mainstay, through years of change.
- 2003
- 25:21
- Peter Thomson
Hairwaves: A Cautionary Tale
Bouffants, buzz cuts, mohawks, and dreadlocks: no matter the style, hair has played an important social and cultural role throughout human history.
- 2006
- 04:24
- Mark Vernon
- Zoe Irvine
Teenaged Guitarists Tackle "El Gato Montes"
Carlos Maeda and his quartet struggle with "El Gato Montes" in after-school rehearsals. Produced by Maeda for Curie Youth Radio.
- 2006
- 02:42
- Curie Youth Radio
I'll Quit Cutting When You Quit Smoking
Excerpts from the diary of a girl who insists that self-mutilation is saving her life. Produced by April Winbun for Curie Youth Radio.
- 2006
- 03:26
- Curie Youth Radio
Back to School in a Garbage Can
A collage of love notes, tardy slips, and other high school detritus collected from high school garbage cans. Produced by Geraldo Hernandez and Giancarlo Hernandez for Curie Youth Radio.
- 2005
- 02:01
- Curie Youth Radio
Childhood Trains
What is it about train travel that inspires music and memory? And why do people tend to confess their innermost thoughts once they get on board?
- 2006
- 21:15
- Sandy Thacker
- Steve Wadhams
New Orleans' Hurricane Risk
In September, 2002, three years before Katrina devastated America's gulf coast, veteran NPR reporter Daniel Zwerdling investigated what would happen to New Orleans if it fell in the path of a Category 5 hurricane.
- 2002
- 20:05
- Daniel Zwerdling
If It Be Your Will: A Radio Documentary Featuring Leonard Cohen
Canadian musician Leonard Cohen insists he hardly remembers anything from his past and that he lives mostly in the present.
- 2006
- 44:12
- Kari Hesthamar
Mad About Magpies
Many people look to the natural world for clues about living a more harmonious life. For example, we aspire to traits we associate with certain animals: the wisdom of the owl, the noble bearing of the bald eagle, or the grace of the swan.
- 2005
- 15:29
- Guy Hand
How Many Miles to Babylon? or 13 Easy Pieces
Merry-go-rounds often reside deep in our memories, conjuring childhood and the magical ability to be carried far away in the blink of an eye or the spin of a carousel.
- 2006
- 37:48
- Kaye Mortley
One-Minute Vacations
The world makes its own music, but we rarely listen with fresh ears says Aaron Ximm, sound artist, field recordist and founder of quietamerican.org.
- 2005
- 01:02
- Aaron Ximm
Who Is Vern Nash?
The day Thelon Oeming moved into an apartment in a working class area of Toronto, he saw a hunched-back man shouting to himself in the middle of the street.
- 2006
- 14:09
- Steve Wadhams
- Thelon Oeming
From Sagebrush to Steppe
Two years ago a group of Mongolian herdsmen and musicians traveled to Elko, Nevada, to participate in the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering.
- 2006
- 16:48
- Hal Cannon
- Taki Telonidis
Voices From the Past
Can you remember the sound of voices from the past, even of a close family member?
- 2005
- 09:12
- Pat Donnez
- Wim Vangrootloon
India Song
Originally a text by French writer Marguerite Duras, India Song was next made into an extensive radio program and eventually a film of the same title.
- 2005
- 05:00
- Georges Peyrou
- Marguerite Duras
Snow on Plum Blossom
Japanese springtime: the motif of countless haikus and soulful pop songs, spectacular kabuki and elegant Noh plays, short stories, and novels. In Japan, spring begins in winter -- with a lot of noise.
- 2005
- 07:10
- Barbara Entrup
- Malte Jaspersen
City X
The shopping mall is a cultural and commercial phenomenon in America that most can relate to in some way or another.
- 2005
- 22:33
- Jonathan Mitchell
Shocking Pink
Australian anthropologist, botanist, and eccentric Olive Pink waged a 40-year, one-woman civil rights campaign on behalf of the Aboriginal peoples until her death in 1975.
- 2005
- 36:29
- Hollis Taylor
- Jane Ulman
Just Another Fish Story
Ten years ago, the people of Lubec, Maine, were met with an unpleasant surprise: an enormous finback whale had washed onto the beachfront of their tiny coastal town.
- 2005
- 08:28
- Molly Menschel
Electronic Samples Cut-Up
A few years ago, Mark Vernon bought a pile of old reel-to-reel audio tapes at a boot sale (think yard sale, but in the trunks of cars) near his hometown of Derby, England.
- 2002
- 02:14
- Mark Vernon
My Personal Board: Episode One
Five alarmingly self-aware people meet on the phone for an hour each week to talk about their lives and their goals.
- 2005
- 15:00
- Eurydice Aroney
Chicago Hustles
Meet Floyd (not his real name), a self-described "cigarette hustler" and part of Chicago's thriving underground economy, where goods and services -- legal and illegal -- are sold under the radar.
- 2005
- 26:37
- Ann Heppermann
- Kara Oehler