Over the Transom | 03.21.25
Embedded reporting, Mombinary, and Macbooks
Happy Friday! One announcement:
We’re looking for chicken bombs! What is a chicken bomb, you ask? Watch the clip below to hear Ira Glass explain. And then, send yours as an .mp3 or a voice memo to info@transom.org. The backstory to 20 years of chicken bombs is coming up on Sound School!
What’s new on Transom
Amen, Chenjerai by Rob Rosenthal
“Who is the ‘you’ telling this particular story?” — that’s the question that Chenjerai Kumanyika organizes around when embarking on a project. In this episode of Sound School, Rob Rosenthal sits down with Chenjerai live at On Air fest to talk about craft and how to bring your most authentic self to your stories.
“What I realize is that all of us have, I think… moments where our voices are powerful, but it’s amazing how certain contexts make you become small or not use your voice in the most powerful way. You know what I mean? I mean, I think that applies to everybody. I mean, I know some people who see like their voice is always powerful, every room they go into, but even those people probably have rooms where they don’t feel quite as confident. And so I had to kind of access that, and I think that that’s one of the context, things I’ve learned to do over the course of time is pay attention to when my voice shows up in a powerful way. Pay attention to when people are paying attention to my voice. What am I doing? And really pay attention to what the instrument is doing at that moment.”
More to explore on Transom.org:
Read March’s All Hear from Talia Augustidis, featuring a call from NPR’s All Things Considered for experimental audio documentaries and tons of other opportunities.
Tip of the week: Embedded reporting
Meribah Knight, reporter for Nashville’s WPLN and host of NPR’s Embedded podcast, recently won the National Press Foundation’s Reporting on Women in Politics Award. We thought it would be a great time to re-up her Transom manifesto from 2019 about embedded reporting. Knight is an expert when it comes to the dedication, persistence, and relationship building required to do this kind of journalism well. In her manifesto, she talks about what it was like attaching herself to the largest public housing complex in Nashville — the James Cayce Homes — for over two years, and shares tips for reporters hoping to do similar stories.
“The act of embedding takes patience, determination and humility. It requires you to stay open — open to new information, open to having your opinion change, open to having stories shift beneath your feet.”
From the archives…
Mombinary by Abby Wambaugh
In this funny, honest piece, comedian and writer Abby Wambaugh works through her feelings about gender expression and what it means to her. The audio short pulls from diary entries Wambaugh wrote after losing a pregnancy in 2020. She sent it to Transom in 2022 via the submissions page, where we are always looking for work that pushes boundaries. This was Wambaugh’s first produced audio work and it’s a wonderful listen.
Ask an expert!
This week, we have a crowd-sourced “Ask an Expert” feature! Transom alum Cariad Harmon had a question about upgrading her Macbook, and fellow alum Mark Bramhill had an answer. We thought their exchange might be useful for the wider audio community, and they graciously allowed us to share it below.
Q: Hey Transom buds!
Haven't seen one of these emails in a while, and I need to get myself a new Macbook as my 2015 13-inch isn't quite up to the task anymore!
The last I checked on the listserve, there was talk of a MacBook Air being a good choice if you're only working in audio. But now that so many podcasts have video requirements, and I keep my tech forever, I'm also thinking that I'll need a laptop that can handle simple video edits too. Is the Air still a good option?
Any thoughts from the crew?
What are the features you can't live without? Is there any particular model that you love? M4/M4pro/M4max?! - Wha?!
Thank you in advance!
Cariad
A: Particularly good timing if you're thinking of buying a MacBook Air — new M4 models were announced this morning! And available in a cute (if subtle) light blue. I would say the most important thing for anyone hoping to keep a laptop for a decade is getting enough storage and memory; at least 1TB of storage, and maybe upgrade to 24GB or 32GB of memory. The current lineup of laptops doesn't have any bad models, so you can't really go wrong, but here would be my general advice:
MacBook Air, M4: most people should get this. It's light and capable of doing serious audio work, plus will get better battery life than an M4 Pro/Max computer doing day-to-day tasks. It's going to be slower for video work, but unless that's a major part of what you do, it'll be more than good enough.
MacBook Pro, M4: upgrade to this if you really need the extra ports and the very fancy (and pretty) display. It also adds a fan, so it will be a little faster at things like video exporting, but you won't notice this most of the time. It's a good computer, but it's not the best option for most people.
MacBook Pro, M4 Pro: if you're an audio engineer or doing frequent video editing and rendering, this is the best option. The screen is great for video (and the anti-glare option is very nice if you want that), and the processor is wicked fast. For anyone who really feels that a MacBook Air won't be powerful enough, this is what I'd recommend. 14" and 16" models perform the same, get whichever size you like better.
MacBook Pro, M4 Max: if you need this guide to decide what model to buy, this is not for you. You'll spend more money to get less battery life than the M4 Pro with benefits that only apply to complex video renders etc — the people who need this computer are excited to spend $$$ to shave seconds off of workflows they do many times per day. Price being equal, I'd buy the M4 Pro model for myself.
Desktop users: either the Mac mini, M4 Pro or the Mac Studio, M4 Max — the downsides of the Max chip are mainly power/heat related, so not really relevant to a desktop. Either of these computers is great, get the Studio if you need the ports and do a lot of complicated video work. Otherwise the mini is fantastic (and adorably tiny). The iMac is fine if you really want an all-in-one computer (I'm jealous of the fun colors it has).
Hope this is helpful! I think this is the best lineup of Macs since early 2021, so whatever you choose will be a great computer for many years to come.
Mark
Community corner
This week’s community question: Do you have a gear or story related question that you want answered here in this very newsletter by Jeff Towne or Rob Rosenthal? Post it in the comments!
I’m still a little weirded out as I write this. It’s too bad you can’t see my face. I’m supposed to be editing right now, but instead I’m thinking about chicken bombs. I have produced ONE narrative audio story. ONE. And it begins with a chicken bomb. But not just a chicken bomb. A honey badger in a kitchen holding a roasted chicken. And I only just realized that I never addressed that roasted chicken chicken bomb.