Story Workshop Fall 2011: Pieces

Rob Rosenthal

Rob Rosenthal

I’ve been teaching radio production and storytelling for many, many years. Despite that, I am never, ever bored – ever — because each student’s story presents something new for me to grapple with and learn from. Read more»

TSW: Class of Fall 2011

Lori Ann Brass

“The Tail of a Stone Carver’s Dream” by Lori Ann Brass

I feel fortunate…to be telling stories, this time, as an independent radio producer. Read more & listen»

Erin Cisewski

“Big Collage” by Erin Cisewski

I learned that despite my preparedness, the magic of a story comes from the surprises. Read more & listen»

Will Coley

“Trust & Translation” by Will Coley

At the end of the day, the project really taught me a lot about boiling down complex issues to comprehensible stories. Read more & listen»

JP Davidson

“The Mark of a Blacksmith” by JP Davidson

I really struggled to find a story for my first piece. Nobody was getting back to me, my ideas seemed dull, and the clock was ticking. Read more & listen»

Whitney Jones

“Leaving” by Whitney Jones

When I arrived in Woods Hole I had no intention of doing a story about myself. Read more & listen»

Katie Klocksin

“Bucky’s Dome” by Katie Klocksin

Ultimately, I realized tangents caused narrative whiplash…. You can’t cover 4,000 topics in a ten minute story. It’s too confusing, and the goal is clarity. Read more & listen»

Mary Helen Miller

“A Dancing Life” by Mary Helen Miller

My biggest technical challenge with the story had to do with music. I gathered most of my tape at dance lessons, so music was usually on in the background. Read more & listen»

Joel Supple

“Veronica’s Backyard” by Joel Supple

I wasn’t really sure what the story was going to be about, but Veronica was all personality, and a great character. Read more & listen»

Related Links

Transom Story Workshop Guidelines for Spring 2012

Things We’ve Learned So Far from the Transom Story Workshop

Imagining the Story by Rob Rosenthal

Radio Story Workshop by Mark Chester

TSW Spring 2011: Instructor’s Notes

by Rob Rosenthal

Rob Rosenthal

This fall we piloted the Transom Story Workshop – an intensive radio immersion course for beginners. I’ve been teaching radio production and storytelling for many, many years. Despite that, I am never, ever bored – ever — because each student’s story presents something new for me to grapple with and learn from.

For instance, before the Transom Story Workshop no student had ever asked: “The graffiti artist I’m doing a story on doesn’t have a car and only travels only by skate board. Can I drive him so he can show me his work that’s about seven miles away? And, he might bring a can of spray paint along and put something up. That okay?”

Seems obvious now, but in the moment, having never thought about that before, it took a couple of minutes to work through the question with the student. On one hand, yeah, by all means, drive someone so they can show you their work. On the other, he may commit a crime while he’s there. So, actually, no. Don’t do that!

Other learning moments for me during the Workshop related to the use of foreign language translation, recording while trespassing, how to edit someone with vigor when the story they are telling is intensely personal, and so on. More often than not, answering these questions was a group effort – everyone’s teaching, everyone’s learning, including me.

And I was definitely in learning mode with all the stellar guest speakers to the Workshop. NPR reporter, Kelly McEvers talked about reporting from a war zone; Australian public radio talk show host Richard Fidler offered excellent interview tips; Patrice Schneider of the Media Development Loan described his work with community radio in emerging democracies; This American Life’s Ira Glass listened to and critiqued story pitches… I could go on.

In this Transom feature not only will you hear from the students about what they each took away from their experience at the Workshop but you’ll also be able to listen to one of the pieces that they produced during their time in Woods Hole. I hope you glean something from their travails. We’re running the Workshop again in the spring. Please consider joining me to learn – and teach!

*Note: A special shout out to Joni Glazebrook – Transom Story Workshop’s Outreach Ambassador – and Sarah Harris, who was my teaching assistant this fall. Neither of them appear in the feature but the Workshop would not have been possible without them.

About Rob Rosenthal

Rob Rosenthal is an independent producer and a teacher. He’s the host for How Sound, PRX’s podcast on radio storytelling. He ran the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies’ radio track for 11 years. And, he is now the lead teacher for the Transom Story Workshop, which launched in the fall of 2011.