Over the Transom | 01.10.25

Residencies + workshops, anecdotes, and family histories

Hello and Happy New Year! Thanks for being here. A few announcements before dive in:

• From our founder, Jay Allison: “For those of you who have been following along with the saga at the public radio station we founded, WCAI, I have wonderful, heartening news to share today: Listeners and supporters donated the money to buy WCAI's home building. We did it. An amazing collective action and a hopeful and powerful gesture in support of public radio and the local commons. On the surface, it might seem a small thing — the business location of a tiny community radio station, but this campaign represents an achievement and mission that is much bigger. It shows that love for public radio is alive. That small communities can have huge impacts. And that creativity in this medium we all love is worth our time, our energy and our dogged protections. I’ll be writing more about this on Transom in the weeks ahead. Thank you to everyone who helped make it happen. - Jay”

• Spend your spring break with us! There is still time to apply for the upcoming Transom Traveling Workshop on Catalina Island. From March 23-30, ten beginning-level students will get intensive training in audio storytelling from David Weinberg and Ariella Markowitz on gorgeous Catalina Island, off the Southern California coast. Applications are open until January 17th and scholarships are available.

• You can submit questions to Transom experts Rob Rosenthal and Jeff Towne here. You’ll get some sound advice and a feature in this very newsletter!

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What’s new on Transom…

Transom x Blue Mountain Center Residency

What if you could just hit the pause button and take an entire month to work on your audio passion project…and even better, do it at no cost? In partnership with Blue Mountain Center, we’re welcoming audio storytellers and documentarians to apply for a month-long Transom residency in the Adirondacks this summer!

Since 1982, the Blue Mountain Center has been offering a unique refuge to artists, writers, filmmakers, composers, activists, organizers and cultural workers who produce transformative work for their times. Now, through this partnership, Blue Mountain Center invites creative, independent audio artists and storytellers to join the program. The residency offers undistracted time, quiet, good food, and a beautiful space for people to pursue their work. This is a lovely opportunity for people who could benefit from a month of focus and rejuvenation on BMC’s beautiful campus in the Adirondacks. BMC is committed to supporting artists whose work evinces social and ecological concern and encourages applications from people of color, LGBTQ artists and activists, as well as those who have never participated in a residency before.

If accepted, there is no cost for the residency – room and board is provided by the Center. Applications for the 2025 residency season are open and will close at 11:59PM PST on February 1, 2025. Further information can be found on the BMC website.

More to explore on Transom.org:

• Alice Wilder’s popular Starting Out series comes to a close. In the final issue, Alice compiles the best of the newsletter over the years – an impressive collection of resources for new producers!

• Transom’s Field Gear Guide has just been updated to include the latest and greatest microphones, headphones, and other recording tools, curated by Jeff Towne and other Transom staff members.

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From the archives…

Revisiting: First, Tell Them an Anecdote by Rob Rosenthal

Rob Rosenthal, host of The Sound School Podcast, says his interview with Misha Euceph is one of his favorites because of how clear, engaging, and insightful Misha is about the craft of audio storytelling. On this archive episode of the show from 2019, they discuss why Misha believed it was important to start each episode of her podcast "Tell Them, I Am" with a personal anecdote.

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Tip of the week: recording family history

Getting Down to Story by Afi-Odelia E. Scruggs

Recordings of our loved ones telling stories are precious, especially after they’re gone. But sitting down to tape these family histories can be daunting. Where to begin with the people closest to us?

When producer Afi-Odelia E. Scruggs interviewed her grandmother in 1990, she hadn’t meant to make a time capsule. She just had a question: what happened to a particular type of African-American sacred singing?

What she ended up capturing is something she and her family now cherish, and her technique can be replicated: start with a guiding question and then, let the conversation flow where it goes.

“I grew up listening to long-meter hymns, but I think my generation was the last to hear them regularly. For some reason, the practice died. I’ve played gospel music for more than 40 years at churches all over the country. Yet I can’t remember when I’ve heard long-meter singing. My grandmother was the only person I knew who could still sing in that style. I wanted her story.

I think it’s good I didn’t aspire to anything more. As a novice audio producer, I fret over getting good levels and clear audio. I worry about clipping and wonder whether I could eliminate the 60khz hum without distortion. I’m annoyed when my omni-directional microphone picks up stray sounds from a television. Ignorance is bliss. In 1990, I only wanted to interview my grandmother without interference.

That was the hard part. Just getting her to sit at the small table took several days of negotiation. When I finally settled down, my mother, great aunt and great uncle pulled up chairs, too. I shook my head as I turned on the cassette recorder.”

Listen to an excerpt of Scruggs’s interview with her grandmother below:

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Community corner

This week’s community question: Where in the world are you reading this newsletter and making things from? Bonus points if you can share any exciting projects you’re working on. Maybe you’ll find a new friend and collaborator in the comments!