Type of Credit: Elective
Credit(s)
Number of Students
Students will learn the necessary skills for producing audio content, understand best-practices, and gain insights to the professional podcast and audio industry. Assignments will include a variety of producing tasks: reading, listening, writing, analyzing, recording. Students will practice concept creation, participate in critiques, and create three audio pieces throughout the course. In addition, students will keep a notebook to use throughout the course.
The best of audio storytelling deepens our understanding of the world and of each other. Through these voices we learn about individual human experiences and advance collective conversations about important issues. Students will exercise creative thinking and analysis skills, think innovatively about problem solving through audio storytelling, and develop tools to think broadly about the purpose, method, and impact of audio storytelling.
A strong level of spoken, reading, written, and listening comprehension in English are essential for this course.
能力項目說明
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Week |
Topic: Content |
Homework After Class: Read / Listen/ Watch Assignments |
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1 |
Introduction to Podcasts and Audio Journalism: The course, expectations, assignments, learning goals.
Listen: A selection of daily and weekly news podcasts (NYT, WSJ, NPR, Economist).
Activity: Explore productions, media/studios, genres, formats, tone, audience. |
Build your library: News-bulletin podcasts. Submit selections.
Read: Chapter 1 (‘Ideas’) & 2 (‘Character and Voice’) from ‘Out on the Wire: The Storytelling Secrets of the New Masters of Radio’ by Jessica Abel (2015). |
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2 |
From Radio to Podcasts, a History: On radio journalism, news bulletins, podcasting technology, industry.
Lab: Plan news bulletin series. Break down process of producing an episode: research, writing and editing, voicing. |
Listen: 2-3 episodes of news podcasts (NPR, NYT) as assigned. (20-30 minutes each.)
Produce: Write and record a 3-minute news bulletin episode.
Read: Chapter 3 (‘Story Structure’) from ‘Out on the Wire’ by Jessica Abel (2015). |
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3 |
Audio Reporting: Best practices from public broadcasting and legacy media. Activities: Explore structure, reporting, archive footage, soundbites, translations, audience. |
Build your library: News podcasts. Submit selections.
Write: Complete an annotation assignment.
Read: Hersey, John, ‘Hiroshima’ (Print version as Hiroshima—I: A Noiseless Flash), The New Yorker (August 24, 1946). |
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4 |
John Hersey’s ‘Hiroshima’ (1946): The writer, the work, the impact
Listen: O’Brien, Joel, ‘Hiroshima’, BBC Third Programme (Oct/Nov, 1946) |
Listen: 2-3 episodes of storytelling podcasts (NPR, NYT) as assigned. (1 hour each.)
Listen: 2-3 episodes of a serialized documentary podcast as assigned. (40 minutes each.)
Read: Chapter 4 (‘Sound’) & 5 (‘The Edit’) from ‘Out on the Wire’ by Jessica Abel (2015). |
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5 |
Storytelling & Documentaries: First-person narratives, serialized work, investigations, adaptations.
Activities: Explore story ideas, episode structure, story arcs, season arcs, character building, tone.
Lab: Discuss news trends and developments fit for audio storytelling. Explore story topics. |
Prepare Your Mid-Term: You will create a 3-minute podcast on a local development. Submit topic ideas, news descriptions, opportunity for field recording.
Listen: 2 episodes of first-person narratives as assigned. (30 minutes each.)
Build your library: Investigative Podcasts. Submit selections. |
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6 |
Field Recordings: Asking the Who/What/Where/When/How of a story, research, on-site best-practices, microphones.
Lab: Deciding on a news development and/or event. Research. Plan field recording. |
Work On Your Midterm: Conduct field recording. Write narration. Begin editing if you can.
Read: Begin reading ‘How to Tell a Story: The Essential Guide to Memorable Storytelling’ by The Moth’ (2022) |
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7 |
Your Voice, and the Art of Hosting: Finding your voice. Having an engaging narration for your audience.
Activity: Explore different voices. Voice exercise and training.
Bonus: Production Management: Workflow, tools, and best practices. |
Complete Your Mid-Term: Submit your 3-minute news podcast.
Listen: 1-2 discussion-based podcasts as assigned. (1-hour each) |
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8 |
Personality-Driven Podcasts & Expert-Led Commentaries: Considerations of expertise, community building, fact checking, standards, AI. Social media.
Activity: Watch a selection of personality-driven video podcasts. Consider form and the strengths of each.
Bonus: The Art of Pitching: What makes a compelling and interesting pitch. |
Read: Marantz, Andrew, ‘Battle for the Bros’, The New Yorker, 30-39, (March 24, 2025).
Build your library: News commentary podcasts. Submit selections.
Final Project Preparation: You will create a 10 minute podcast on a topic of your showing. Submit story ideas. |
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9 |
Branded Audio: Award winning campaigns from Cannes Lions Awards.
Activities: Watch and discuss case-studies.
Lab: Explore creative solutions for brands and non-profits. |
Listen: 2-4 podcast episodes as assigned from shows built with a purpose to solve a problem.
Build your library: NGO/Brands doing impact work. Submit selections.
Choose Your Final Project: Submit pitch. |
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10 |
Critique 1: Live Pitching |
Begin Your Podcast: Begin preparation. Submit Script.
Listen: 1-3 interview episodes as assigned. (1-hr each)
Read: Kerr, Jolie, ‘How to Talk to People, According to Terry Gross’, The New York Times (Nov. 17, 2018). |
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11 |
So You’ve Landed That Big Interview: How to Prep, Plan, and Listen
Activities: Creating a mock interview |
Record Your Podcast: Record. Interview. Re-write. Re-record. Edit.
Read: Mead, Rebecca, ‘The Flirt Behind “Chicken Shop Date”’, The New Yorker (February 24, 2025). |
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12 |
From Radio Dispatches to Multimedia Broadcasting in TV/Radio/Print: Special lecture by a career journalist / foreign correspondent. |
Edit Your Podcast |
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13 |
Critique 2: Rough Cut Review |
Polish Your Podcast: With music/sfx.
Read: Finish reading ‘How to Tell a Story: The Essential Guide to Memorable Storytelling’ by The Moth’ (2022). |
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14 |
Critique 2: Rough Cut Review |
Export Your Podcast: Submit final edit with audio optimization and mastering.
Write: Submit shownotes and outreach plans. |
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15 |
Last Call: Final Q/A and lab day to solve production and timeline problems. |
Listen: To each other’s final renders.
Write: Submit feedback. |
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16 |
Critique 3: Final Presentations |
Complete your library: Submit your library. |
Conditional Permitted to Use: AI tools are permitted only under the following scenarios: Translation: the use of Google translation tools during research when encountering materials not in your native languages. Transcription: the use of AI transcription software before editing by a human. Audio Optimization: the use of audio optimization software during audio post-production.