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.

Writing for the Ear to See

We make stories for the ear, but there’s no escaping the highly visual nature of the work we produce...

  • 2025
  • 01:08:25

Podcasting Without a Net(work) (Day 1)

Individual podcasters working with slim budgets and strained resources share how they create their best work while trying to grow audiences and raise money, often while holding down another full time job...

  • 2025
  • 58:35

These Are A Few Of Kaitlin Prest's Favorite Things

Kaitlin Prest, audio artist, radiophile, creator of The Heart with Radiotopia and The Shadows with CBC, talks about what has inspired her to push the boundaries of audio making...

  • 2025
  • 47:03

Tales of the Tools

New developments in both hard and software are making audio production much more affordable, flexible, and convenient.

  • 2010
  • 01:38:39

Audio in Space

Producing great audio experiences becomes challenging in entirely new ways when you go beyond the stereo field, and add the dimension of actual physical space (say, a person with an iPod in Central Park.)

  • 2010
  • 01:17:06

We'll Drive Till We Find An Exit

A session about the joy and fear of pursuing stories without any idea of how they're going to succeed, or if they're going to succeed at all.

  • 2016
  • 01:15:41

The Invisible Narrator

This session explores "found narration" - archival tape, interviews, audio diary entries - and sound that can all be used to perform the job of the narrator. What do you gain and what do you give up when you throw away the script?

  • 2006
  • 01:17:32

Secrets, Whispers, and Lies: Crafting a Personal Documentary

Everyone's telling their story these days –- in blogs, podcasts, on YouTube. But what makes one story a yawn or self-indulgent and another one compelling? How do you tell a personal story as a radio documentary?

  • 2007
  • 01:32:25

She Launched Channel Zero

In a time when commercial interests continue to stake a claim to audiences' attentions on the Internet, artists continue to explore the narrowcast as a vehicle for simultaneously cultivating an audience and developing a body of work.

  • 2007
  • 01:21:35

The Sounds Inside

In certain radio stories, sounds exist only in the mind of the storyteller and can't be physically recorded -- like dreams, memories, and predictions. How do you create a soundscape that brings "the sounds inside" to life?

  • 2007
  • 01:22:47

Stand Tall

The best "real time" radio sounds live and spontaneous, but requires forethought and structure. This session focuses on how to do "stand up" in the field -- what works and what doesn't.

  • 2007
  • 01:18:03

When and How to Sell Out

It's hard enough to pitch a story to a public radio show -- are you willing to risk rejection from a whole new set of people? Daniel Sternberg talks about taking all of your talents, training, and neuroses and applying them to the world of podcasting.

  • 2007
  • 01:13:52

The Wonders of Narcissism

Let's face it: you're funny and cunning and smart and insightful; disarming, direct, and hopelessly attractive. Why not give the people what they want -- more you! Sure you're not what the story is about.

  • 2007
  • 01:20:54

Bring Extra Batteries

Attention new producers! Before heading out into the world with headphones on and mic facing forward, what do you need to know? Here's where you find out.

Die, Mediocrity, Die!

Do your own radio scripts ever bore you? Or frustrate, confuse, and deflate you?

  • 2006
  • 01:15:26

Let Your Sounds Do the Talking

So you're a great writer, and you've pretty much got interviewing down, but something's just... missing. Sound. The sounds we use and how we use them can say so much in a radio story, but often that potential goes untapped.

  • 2006
  • 01:11:58

Options and Futures: Teenagers on the Radio -- Part One

Listen in as teen producers from around the country present a survey of their work, with bonus features: the sounds they love to listen to, with commentary on why, and tape that didn't make the final cut in production, with commentary on why not.

  • 2007
  • 01:23:31

Radio Norway

Kari Hesthamar demonstrates the distinctive sound of Norwegian radio features by playing and talking about some of the most important elements of her own work -- creating small films for listeners' ears, capturing the true essence of a scene, and producing stories that come alive through the use of the present tense.

  • 2006
  • 01:30:25