Over the Transom | 11.28.25
Small True Things, cripping the radio, and Leaving A Mark
Hi! We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. As we move into the end-of-year giving season, please consider putting Transom on your list of places to give. All donations to the organization are being matched up to $10,000. This is a great chance to double your impact and support the education of audio storytellers. Every gift goes towards workshops, scholarships, teaching stipends, and more. All donations are tax deductible.
A few announcements:
Workshops Workshops Workshops! The deadline to apply for the first session of 2026 in Bombay Beach is November 30. Moab’s applications will close December 12, and the applications for Catalina will open on December 5. Don’t miss your chance to get a week of intensive training from world-class instructors in one of these beautiful places! Think about it: hitting record while staring out at the Salton Sea in Bombay Beach, or taking in the massive rock formations of Moab. More information is available on our website.
Book a one-on-one help session with Transom Tools Editor Jeff Towne on our website! This is an amazing chance to get direct advice from one of the best in the biz.
What’s new on Transom
Small True Things by Sam Broun
There’s a lot of talk these days about whether or not the kids are alright. COVID clearly affected school age children, and Sam Broun could see the way forced isolation and online schooling took a toll on her stepdaughter Gwen. But when the schools reopened, it seemed like students remained disconnected from each other. Broun got to talking with friend and fellow producer Erica Heilman about what they could do about it.
She said to me, “Sam, we can do something about this! We can go into a school with our microphones, sit down with students one-on-one and do what we do best - be curious, ask questions, and listen. We can make short audio pieces about who they are and what’s on their minds and then play them back in the school so that people can learn about each other and not feel so alone.”
The premise was that a kid might hear something new about their best friend or they might learn something about someone they’d seen in the hall but had never spoken to. And that we could be reminded of our shared humanity through learning about the smallest things.
That’s how Small True Things was born. Broun has now completed seven residencies in five different public schools in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. She’s talked to over 100 young people about their lives, and she’s shared what she has learned over on the Transom website.
More to explore on Transom.org:
On the latest episode of Sound School, Rob Rosenthal sits down with Sam Broun to talk about Small True Things.
November’s All Hear includes tons of audio opportunities, including a call for pitches to the Distillations podcast. They are looking for American science-related history stories that can fit into a 30- to 40-minute narrative episode. Compensation is $3500.
Tip of the week: cripping the instruments of radio
Two weeks ago, the world lost a bright light. Alice Wong, disability rights advocate, writer, and radiomaker passed away on November 14. Wong was born with a neuromuscular disease called spinal muscular atrophy — a progressive condition where all the muscles in the body slowly weaken over time. In 2014, Wong worked with StoryCorps to found the Disability Visibility Project, where she and others collected hundreds of oral histories about people with disabilities. In 2016, Wong wrote a manifesto for Transom about making radio more accessible to all — and especially those with disabilities. She called it “cripping the instruments of radio.”
Radio can be a familiar friend, source of knowledge, a marker of time and place. But as a cultural institution, what constitutes a “good voice” in radio reflects and transmits cultural norms and structures. By accepting the default “good voice” as one that is able-bodied, one that is pleasant, clear, articulate and devoid of any markers of disability, you erase disabled people, rendering them the Other (or in fancy terms the subaltern).
From the archives
Leaving A Mark by Emily Hsiao
When hunting for stories during the 2012 Transom Story Workshop, Emily Hsiao saw a post on Craigslist titled: “SWASTIKA TATTOO”. This led her to Bruce, a man who had gotten the tattoo in prison and now wanted it covered up. This non-narrated piece takes place in Bruce’s truck, and is a lesson in always keeping the tape rolling. “Leaving a Mark” won a Third Coast award for best documentary, and was later adapted for an episode of This American Life.
Community corner
This week’s question: Share some audio wisdom that you’re thankful for!