Advertise on podcast: Phonograph

In light of Nikole Hannah-Jones's recent essay about the fallout from choosing a school for her daughter, Rob and Britta to go back to a discussion of "The Problem We All Live With," a story reported by Nikole Hannah-Jones for This American Life and produced by Chana Joffe-Walt in 2015. Rob and Britta dig into how that episode and recent events both exemplify the necessity of documentary journalism, even when a journalist is documenting her own doubts about her own ideals. Show Notes: TAL Episode 562: The Problem We all Live With Longform Podcast interview with Nikole Hannah-Jones Third Coast Audio Festival Session: Make Them Care Saint Louis Public Radio's coverage of the Francis Howell town meeting "Choosing a School for My Daughter in a Segregated City" by Nikole Hannah-Jones In Fighting for Every Black Child, Did I Betray My Own? This American Life: An Argument Music - Blue Dot Sessions

Overview: On this episode, Rob and Britta explore the audio work of Alex Kotlowitz, a documentariean and writer best known for There Are No Children Here. He's spent years building a quietly stunning body of non-narrated stories for Chicago Public Radio and This American Life. Britta's conversation with Alex is woven into our discussion of his stories about home, money, love, and trauma. Support Phonograph on Patreon Links for this episode: A Trip to the Boundary Waters – The New Yorker Radio Hour Panthers and Palm Trees – Stories of Home, produced with Amy Drozdowska Mothers of Invention – This American Life Episode 298, Getting and Spending An Almost Perfect Guy – Love Stories, produced with Amy Drozdowska In Country, In City – This American Life #484, Doppelgängers Harper High School, Part One – This American Life Episode 487 Harper High School, Part Two – This American Life Episode 488 The Bigness of the Small Story – Alex's 2016 Third Coast talk Amy Drozdowska – the full Stories of Home, Love Stories, and money series archives

On this episode, a break from the usual format. About a year ago, Rob came home from his 30th high school reunion with a story he couldn't stop telling: how he tried to apologize to a woman that reunion whose friendship he'd ended their junior year of high school. To get to the bottom of what the story meant, Rob sat down with a close friend, set up two microphones, and told her the whole thing. Rob and Britta talk about what happened when he did, and why a story might mean something different depending on who's listening when you tell it. Support Phonograph on Patreon Links for this episode: Alissa Duryee's music Cheri Johnson's writing Julie Censullo's podcasts Music from Blue Dot Sessions

Overview: On this episode, Rob and Britta dig into the career of editor and writer Julia Barton, whose incredibly varied career has spanned the golden era of public radio, an experimental podcast recorded while doing the dishes, and an executive editing role at Pushkin Industries. Along the way she's traced the hidden architecture of radio—where it came from and what it costs the people who work inside it.  Support Phonograph on Patreon Links for this episode: RadioWright — Julia's Website Continuous Wave — Julia's Newsletter Weekend America — A Life Changing Letter DTFD: The Podcast — Julia Barton Unsung Icons of Soviet Design — 99% Invisible The Broadcast Clock — 99% Invisible Neither Confirm Nor Deny — Radiolab If You Could Do Anything — Anxious Machine The Best Audio Storytelling According to Pushkin — HowSound Music from Blue Dot Sessions

On this episode, Rob and Britta dig into the classic This American Life episode "24 Hours at the Golden Apple," (November 17, 2000) in which a team of producers spent a full day and night at a 24-hour diner on Chicago's north side, trying to interview everyone who was willing to talk. Special guest Joe Richman, founder of Radio Diaries, joins us to talk about the segment he produced for the episode, and what it felt like to revisit that story more than two decades later. Links for this episode: This American Life: 24 Hours at the Golden Apple (Episode 173) Nancy Updike's talk at the Third Coast International Audio Festival: "Die Mediocrity Die" Joe Richman's Radio Diaries Music from Blue Dot Sessions

On this episode, Rob and Britta tell the story of the golden age of podcast advertising — how it started, why it worked, and why it seems to be over. Along the way we tell the story of what happened when Cards Against Humanity partnerned with a very opinionated tech podcaster to create the most entertaining ad campaign in the history of the medium. Guests include Lex Friedman, one of the first people to sell podcast ads, and John Siracusa and Casey Liss, co-hosts of Accidental Tech Podcast. Discussed in this episode: The Wolf Den: Lex Friedman, Midroll's EVP of Sales and Development (Episode 71) Hypercritical: Episode 1 Hypercritical: The Wrong Guy (Episode 42) Hypercritical: Pinching the Harmonica (Episode 49) Hypercritical: Worse and More Diverse (Episode 18) Casey Liss: Siracusa on Toasters Lex Friedman: lexfriedman.com John Siracusa: hypercritical.co Music from Blue Dot Sessions

In the weeks since Alex Pretti's murder, Rob and Britta have been listening to numerous podcasts that covered the ICE invasion of American cities over the past year. Ingesting a year of audio ICE coverage puts this story (not to mention our conception of audio journalism) into a whole new perspective.  Come for the heartfelt media criticism. Stay for Rob's brutal takedown of The Daily.  If you'd like to donate to people helping those targeted by ICE in Minneapolis, you can do that here. If you like the work we're doing, you can support us on our Patreon. Our music comes from Blue Dot Sessions. Discussed in this Episode: This American Life: "The Largest Deportation Operation in American History" Reveal: "Taken by ICE" Radio Atlantic: "When Border Patrol Comes to Town" What Next: "Everyone Saw ICE Kill Renee Good" The Daily: "On the Front Line of Minnesota's Fight with ICE" Panic World: "We Were at ICE's Invasion in Minneapolis" Radio Atlantic: "Another Death in Minneapolis" This American Life: "What Is Your Emergency?" 5-4: "Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo" Heavyweight: "Minneapolis"

Rob and Britta both live in the Twin Cities, so on this episode, we took a break from discussing audio storytelling, and Britta interviewed two photojournalists who've been covering ICE in Minneapolis. It's a conversation about what they've seen, about the vital role of photojournalism at this moment, and the personal toll of doing this work. Stand with Minnesota Donation Directory Our Guests:  Evan Frost  Ben Hovland Media:  Video of Aliya Rachman being dragged from her car by ICE Music by Blue Dot Sessions

At the tail end of 2025, Rob and Britta discuss work by Scott Carrier and Erica Heilman that captures something about how it felt to live through this harrowing year. To support our show and access our bonus story feed, follow this link to our Patreon. Show Links: "The End of the World" from Scott Carrier's Home of the Brave "What Now Sounds Like" from Erica Heilman's Rumble Strip Rob and Britta's discussion of Scott Carrier's story The Test Erica Heilman's episode of Rumble Strip "The Party" Erica Heilman's episode of Rumble Strip "Thanksgiving" The Listeners from Transom.org

To explore the phenomenon of podcast bonus feeds, Rob and Britta start by discussing an episode of Yowei Shaw's podcast Proxy (with guest Alex Goldman) about the struggle of podcasters having to ask listeners for money. We then dig into several podcast bonus feeds (This American Life Partners, Slate Plus, and others), to find what they're offering. And we are pleasantly surprised. To access our bonus feed story of Rob's harrowing Thanksgiving road trip back in 2008, follow this link to our Patreon. You can listen for free with a seven day trial membership and see if it's worth it. Podcasts discussed in this episode: Alex and the Impossible Ask - Proxy with Yowei Shaw Hyperfixed with Alex Goldman Slate Culture Gabfest Slate Plus This American Life Partners If Books Could Kill Mile High Club The Selects Podcast Our music comes from Blue Dot Sessions

Episode Description: With the triumphant return of the podcast Heavyweight, Rob and Britta trace the career of Jonathan Goldstein through several of his stories, including his early work at This American Life, the CBC radio show Wiretap, and his podcast Heavyweight. Stories and episodes discussed: "Baby Scientists with Faulty Data" - This American Life "You Call That Love?" - This American Life "A Fate Most Of Us Fear" - This American Life "Buddy Picture" - This American Life "Other People's Problems" - Wiretap "Jesse" - Heavyweight Jonathan Goldstein on the Longform Podcast Nieman Storyboard on The Little Mermaid story Our music comes from Blue Dot Sessions. To support Phonograph, subscribe to our bonus feed, which features experiments in audio storytelling.

As the 15th anniversary of 99% Invisible approaches, Rob and Britta dig into four very different episodes from the first four years of that show's run (as well as the story of the time Rob met Roman Mars):  Episode 6: "99% Symbolic" Episode 29: "Cul de Sac" (Produced with Katie Mingle) Episode 103: "U.T.B.A.P.H" (Produced with Sam Greenspan) Episode 83: "Heyoon" (Produced with Alex Goldman) To support Phonograph, subscribe to our new bonus feed, which features experiments in audio storytelling, including this month's story about a young mother's relationship to her hearing aids, having refused to wear them since she started losing her hearing in the 6th grade. Show Notes: Invisible Ink (featured on Transom.org) "Genesis Object" on 99% Invisible HowSound episode on 99% Invisible HowSound episode on Heyoon Alex Goldman's new podcast Hyperfixed Music from Blue Dot Sessions

Episode Description: Rob and Britta discuss Nancy Updike's podcast "We Were Three," which tells the story of one family devastated by Covid and what that devastation revealed. Also discussed: Nancy Updike's status as as one of the all time great audio producers. To support Phonograph, subscribe to our new bonus feed, which features experiments in audio storytelling. This month's story comes from Rob: a collage of recordings he made in the spring of 2020 around the theme of anxiety and grocery shopping. Show Notes: ICU nurse Kelley Anaas talking about the state of nurses near the end of 2020 Serial Productions podcast We Were Three Nancy Updike's talk at the Third Coast International Audio Festival Nancy Updike's story for This American Life about private contractors in Iraq The Longform Podcast interview with Nancy Updike and Jenelle Pifer Maintenance Phase episode about Covid Conspiracies Music - Blue Dot Sessions

Rob and Britta discuss the new podcast Signal Hill, which takes its inspiration from the world of print magazines. Rob talks to Liza Yeager and Jackson Roach about the project, and then we dive into a handful of the stories from Signal Hill's first "issue." Show Notes: Signal Hill Fishing the Sky by Jackson Roach Desperado by Neena Pathak A Porous Place by Hannah Sassoon On the Family Group Chat by Hannah Kingsley-Ma Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Rob and Britta discuss the classic Alix Spiegel story "Pray" from This American Life, including Spiegel's origin story as a producer and what happened to her when members of the megachurch she was reporting on urged her to become a Christian. This is the second of three episodes Rob and Britta recorded in 2019 and never released until now. The first of those was our episode about TAL's "Notes on Camp." Show Notes: Pray - This American Life Tape: A radio show about people who make radio, hosted and edited by Mooj Zadie Alix Spiegel's manifesto at Transom.org Music: Defect 2: Curiosidade - Tom Ze (John McEntire Remix) Coffaro's Theme - Bill Frisell Other Music - Blue Dot Sessions