Reality Radio: Telling True Stories in Sound

269 Pages·2017·1.019 MB·English

by  John Biewen, Alexa Dilworth

Praise for Reality Radio: Telling True Stories in Sound
“Somehow in this manic digital age, Reality Radio—a mere book!
—is more relevant than ever. Form and function manifest, here
is the story of contemporary documentary audio, thoughtfully
composed and offered straight from its most respected producers.
Reality Radio is required reading for anyone at the beginning of her
audio career. Or in the middle. Or finishing up. And for all invested
listeners. This is radio canon.”
—Julie Shapiro, executive producer, Radiotopia from prx
“The essays in this book were written by people thinking with
their ears.”
—rick Moody, author and audio maker
“[Biewen] offers a lively history of creative documentary radio in
his introduction to [twenty-five] passionate, instructive, and unex-
pectedly moving essays by innovative audio journalists and artists
who use sound to tell true stories artfully. . . . Invaluable and many-
faceted coverage of a thriving, populist, and mind- expanding
art form.”
—Booklist
“What is striking about this collection is how clearly the reader can
‘hear’ the diverse voices and stories, despite the print medium. . . .
A wonderful and accessible read. . . . Highly recommended.”
—Choice
“An incredibly important contribution to the field of public media,
one that will invite introspection, spark creativity, and hopefully
teach people that the first step in learning is listening.”
—Public Radio Makers Quest 2.0
“The producers who wrote these essays prove that there’s nothing
more moving than real, truthful radio. I read a lot of the book
in bed and soon heard the voices whispering in my ear: ‘Get up.
Go record something. Now.’ You will feel the same.”
— NeeNah elliS, independent radio producer and author of
If I Live to Be 100: Lessons from the Centenarians
“In [these] highly autobiographical essays . . . some of the finest
practitioners of broadcast aural storytelling describe and celebrate
their craft. . . . Though not every documentarian profiled in the
book provides equally useful guidance to oral historians interested
in transforming their work into aural narratives, they all provide
plenty of inspiration and useful general principles.”
—Oral History Review
Reality Radio
Documentary Arts and Culture
A series edited by Tom Rankin and Iris Tillman Hill
Reality Radio
Telling True Stories in Sound
SecoNd editioN
Revised and Expanded
Edited by John Biewen
and Alexa Dilworth
Published in Association with The Center for Documentary Studies at
Duke University by The University of North Carolina Press Chapel Hill
© 2017 The Center for Documentary Studies
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
deSigNed by boNNie caMpbell
Set in Joanna and Officina Sans by Rebecca Evans
The University of North Carolina Press has been a member of the
Green Press Initiative since 2003.
Cover photographs by Harlan Campbell
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Biewen, John, editor. | Dilworth, Alexa, editor.
Title: Reality radio: telling true stories in sound / edited by John Biewen and
Alexa Dilworth.
Other titles: Documentary arts and culture.
Description: Second edition, revised and expanded. | Chapel Hill: The University
of North Carolina Press; [Durham, N.C.]: in association with the Center for
Documentary Studies, Duke University, [2017] | Series: Documentary arts
and culture
Identifiers: lccN 2016049006 | iSbN 9781469633138 (pbk : alk. paper) |
iSbN 9781469633145 (ebook)
Subjects: lcSh: Documentary radio programs. | Documentary radio programs—
Production and direction. | Community radio.
Classification: lcc pN1991.8.d63 r43 2017 | ddc 070.1/94—dc23 lc record
available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016049006
“ Everyone around You Has a Story the World Needs to Hear” is adapted from
Dave Isay’s ted Talk at the 2015 ted Conference. Reprinted with permission of
ted Conferences llc.  
docuMeNtary artS aNd culture
In a time when the tools of the documentary arts have become widely accessible, this series of books,
published in association with the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, explores and
develops the practice of documentary expression. Drawing on the perspectives of artists and writers,
this series offers new and important ways to think about learning and doing documentary work
while also examining the traditions and practice of documentary art through time.
This book was made possible by grants from the Wyncote Foundation.
ceNter for docuMeNtary StudieS at duke uNiverSity
documentarystudies.duke.edu
radioed with a grant
Figure Foundation
parting the story
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For my children, Harper and Lucas.
There are no voices I’d rather hear.—JB