Maker Sessions

Dive into scores of talks, workshops, and audio manifestos offering wisdom on everything from production skills to journalistic ethics from the best audio producers and makers on the planet.


Spotlight: ALL WORKPLACES ARE WORKPLACES ABOUT POWER

Swirling beneath every single one of this year’s breaking stories and major crises is work and labor: not only of the people in the headlines, but of the audio storytellers, ourselves.

  • 2024
  • 01:12:16

2019 Provocations

On the first night of the 2019 Third Coast Conference, all 800+ attendees gathered for a series of short, provocative talks.

  • 2024
  • 01:13:57

I Love Language: How to bring the written word to life

So you’ve been researching a project and you’ve got all these text documents: old interview transcripts that predate recording technology. Letters found in a box. Court records. Emails.

  • 2024
  • 01:31:28

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

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

The Fact-checker

There’s an old journalism adage that says “if your mother says she loves you, check it out.” This American Life’s Christopher Swetala is the fact-checker who calls her to ask, and then let’s you know if it’s true… or not.

  • 2017
  • 01:36:40

2017 Provocations

A series of short talks from producers who hope to dare and ignite.

  • 2017
  • 42:49

2017 Bitchin' Pitch Panel (Day 1)

A bonafide Third Coast tradition, this session pulls back the curtain on one of the most difficult and important skills every producer needs to master: how to pitch...

  • 2017
  • 01:00:17

No One’s Source

After a lifetime in the system, Noel Anaya got unprecedented permission from family court to record the hearing where he’d age out of foster care--and worked with Youth Radio to, in his words, “blow it up on NPR.”

  • 2017
  • 01:20:56

The Past Isn't Past

We're living through a profoundly unsettled time, both politically and culturally, and a lot of journalists are asking, "how exactly did we get... here?"

  • 2017
  • 01:23:06

The Tyranny of Good Talkers

Often, the first question a show or editor will ask you when you pitch them an amazing story is whether your subject is "a good talker."

  • 2017
  • 01:36:12

Bringing Together Narrative and News

The Daily podcast has brought rich sound production and narrative storytelling together with daily news and New York Times journalism.

  • 2017
  • 01:38:46