This new revised and expanded edition of Reality Radio celebrates today's best audio documentary work by bringing together some of the most influential and innovative practitioners from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. With a new foreword and five new essays, this book takes stock of the transformations in radio documentary since the publication of the first edition: the ascendance of the podcast; greater cultural, racial, and topical variety; and the changing economics of radio itself. In twenty-four essays total, documentary artists tell--and demonstrate, through stories and transcripts--how they make radio the way they do, and why. Whether the contributors to the volume call themselves journalists, storytellers, or even audio artists--and although their essays are just as diverse in content and approach--all use sound to tell true stories, artfully.

Contributors include Jad Abumrad, Daniel Alarcon, Jay Allison, damali ayo, John Biewen, Emily Botein, Chris Brookes, Scott Carrier, Katie Davis, Sherre DeLys, Ira Glass, Alan Hall, Dave Isay, Natalie Kestecher, Starlee Kine, The Kitchen Sisters, Sarah Koenig and Julie Snyder, Maria Martin, Karen Michel, Joe Richman, Dmae Roberts, Stephen Smith, Alix Spiegel, Sandy Tolan, and Glynn Washington.

Table of Contents

*Introduction

John Biewen

*Are we on the air?

Chris Brookes

*That jackie kennedy moment

Scott Carrier

*Talking to strangers

The Kitchen Sisters (Davia Nelson & Nikki Silva)

*Variations in tape use and the position of

The narrator: alix spiegel’s practical guide

*To different radio techniques

Alix Spiegel

*No holes were drilled in the heads of animals In the Making of this Radio Show

Jad Abumrad

*Harnessing luck as an industrial product

Ira Glass

*One story, week by week

An Interview with Sarah Koenig and Julie Snyder

*Story time at the azteca boxing club

Daniel Alarcón

*Covering home

Katie Davis

*What did she just say?

damali ayo

*Out there

Sherre DeLys

*Cigarettes and dance steps

Alan Hall

*Unreality radio

Natalie Kestecher

*Finding the beats

Glynn Washington

*Finding the poetry

Dmae Roberts

*Everyone around you has a story the world needs to hear

Dave Isay

*Diaries and detritus: one perfectionist’s search for imperfection

Joe Richman

*Living history

Stephen Smith

*The voice and the place

Sandy Tolan

*Crossing borders

Maria Martin

*Adventurers in sound

Karen Michel

*Salt is flavor and other tips learned while cooking

Emily Botein

*Afterword: listen

Jay Allison 225

About the Authors

John Biewen directs the audio program at the Center for Documentary Studies, where he teaches and produces/hosts the podcast Scene on Radio. His reporting and documentary work have taken him across the United States and to Europe, Japan, and India.

Alexa Dilworth is publishing director and senior editor at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University.