Sound Judgment

[Scroll down for takeaways you can use from today’s show.] Win prizes! Tell us your favorite Sound Judgment episode Deadline: 6.30.23 This Sound Judgment season is quickly coming to an end. Our season finale airs Thursday, June 29. We go behind the scenes with the hilarious hosts of Famous & Gravy , the podcast that asks, “Would you like to have had this dead celebrity’s life?”  To celebrate, we n...

Celeste Headlee has anchored many programs, including Tell Me More, Talk of the Nation, Here and Now, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition. She also served as co-host of the national morning news show, The Takeaway, and served as executive producer of Georgia Public Radio’s On Second Thought. Her best-selling books include We Need to Talk: How to Have Conversations That Matter, Do Nothing: H...

About Sam Mullins Sam Mullins is a writer, comedian and journalist based in Toronto, and is the host of the critically acclaimed podcast series “ Chameleon: Wild Boys” and “Chameleon: Dr Dante” from Campside Media and Sony Music. For the past decade, he's been writing comedy for TV + radio, and performing his award-winning solo shows all over North America. His stories have been featured on This A...

Mother's Day seems like it should be a Hallmark moment. But for many, reality is far different. Dana Black started her very personal podcast, I Swear on My Mother's Grave , for listeners suffering from complex mother loss — meaning not only people who have lost their mothers to death, but also, in life  by estrangement, illness, addiction, circumstance.  Sensitivity warning: This conversation touc...

One day in the summer of 2022, Lemonada Media’s Stephanie Wittels Wachs received a surprise: an invitation to the White House to witness the signing of a gun safety bill. The invitation was sparked by the tremendous emotional impact of their hit show, Last Day, and especially of this episode, "A Love Story." If you strive to make audio documentaries on the toughest problems we face today, this beh...

The episode discussed on today’s Sound Judgment:  The Heist: https://apps.publicintegrity.org/theheist/ Episode 2: Mnuchin's World was reported and hosted by Sally Herships. Our editor was Curtis Fox, with help from consulting editor Alison MacAdam and Center for Public Integrity’s Tax Project editor Allan Holmes. Production help from Lucas Brady Woods, Brett Forrest, Camille Petersen, and Ali Swe...

The episode(s) discussed on today’s Sound Judgment: This American Life Episode 776, “I Work Better on Deadline.” Segment: “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Quorum.” Reporter: Sarah Gibson, NHPR Producer: Chris Benderev How to be a great host: Katie’s takeaways:  What are your holy shit moments?  We need holy shit moments. What are those surprises – in the story, or about the people in your...

Did you miss Part 1 of my conversation with Audio Branding's Jodi Krangle?  Listen to it here.  Takeaways from today's episode:  1. Imposter syndrome and the art of the interview  When she started hosting, Jodi Krangle, who makes her living using her voice, had to overcome one big negative belief.  “I didn’t think I was a speaker of any kind!” she says. It was hard for her to speak her own words,...

We’re doing something different on this episode. Jodi and I interview each other – and discover some real similarities and big differences between voice acting & hosting. One of the biggest similarities: As hosts and voice actors, we need to communicate emotion authentically. That’s where the joy and the success lies – and where many of the problems do, too.  Parts 1 and 2 of this conversation wit...

If you like this episode, you’ll also like Episode 3:  Cinematic Storytelling with Crime Show’s Emma Courtland and Episode 1: Emotional Bravery on Last Day with Stephanie Wittels Wachs.  Scroll down for takeaways you can use from today’s show.    About the creators Gilbert King and Kelsey Decker are the team behind Bone Valley , a groundbreaking, 9-episode true crime podcast from Lava For Good . T...

Juleyka Lantigua is the Founder/CEO of LWC Studios, which received a Peabody Award nomination and won a Third Coast Award “Director’s Prize.” A Fulbright Scholar and Tory Burch Fellow, Juleyka holds a Master’s in Journalism and an MFA in Creative Writing.  Connect with Juleyka at LWCStudios.com.  The episode discussed on today’s Sound Judgment: How to Talk to [Mamí and Papí] About Anything , Episo...

Dinner Sisters Producer and Co-Host Betsy Wallace is an editorial director for podcasting at WebMD. Her career pivot into podcasting started in 2018 with the first episode of the Dinner Sisters, a cooking podcast she produces and co-hosts with her sister, Kate. Through the Dinner Sisters, Betsy has cooked and reviewed more than 500 recipes from popular food blogs, interviewed dozens of New York Ti...

Scroll down for takeaways you can use from today’s show.  Enter the Sound Judgment Listener Name Contest!  On Standing Ovation, Jay calls his listeners “clappers.” Glynn Washington of Snap Judgment calls his listeners “snappers.” What Should I Read Next? host Anne Bogel talks to her “readers.” What should we call you?  Enter our contest, inspired by Jay Baer. Here’s how it works:  Submit your idea...

Before creating the Snap Judgment radio show, Glynn worked as an educator, diplomat, community activist, actor, political strategist, fist-shaker, mountain-hollerer, and foot stomper.  Snap Judgment is heard on about 500 public radio stations in the U.S. and on podcasts everywhere.  Scroll down for takeaways you can use from today’s show. The episode discussed on today's show "Zoo Nebraska," a Sna...

The Six Biggest, Most Surprising or Useful Lessons our Hosts Identified in 2022 1. The host defines the brand of your show. 2. Hosting changes the host—not just as a storyteller and performer, but as a human being.  3. Great performances are valuable, whether that's a million-dollar signature story in a keynote speech or the captivating storytelling and connection skills of a great host.   4. We m...

Listeners to Sound Judgment know I’m on a quest to unpack how today’s best hosts make their magic — and to define the universal skills and qualities of “hostiness.” What makes some hosts stars, while we don’t remember the rest?  Today, we name and explore the first of these universal skills:  #1: Sparkling, Attention-Grabbing Intros Compelling hosts know how to grab and hold listeners' attention f...

Anne Bogel has spent the last six years of her life doing something uncanny: Every week on her hit show, What Should I Read Next , she excavates a guest’s reading life in fine detail. Then she recommends books that always seem to be the perfect choices for that guest, no matter who they are. It’s not just her unusual ability to pair book with reader that keeps her show at the top of the charts. It...

Subscribe to Sound Judgment, the Newsletter, our once- or twice-monthly newsletter about creative choices in audio storytelling. Scroll down for takeaways you can use from today’s show. Pabel Martinez is a native New Yorker, storyteller, and former tech executive.  Throughout his career, Pabel struggled balancing two jobs…tech employee and actor.  As an actor, he would focus on assimilation becaus...

Laura Joyce Davis, Host/Executive Producer, Shelter in Place Laura Joyce Davis is the host and executive producer of Shelter in Place , which won the “Changing the World One Moment at a Time” award at the International Women’s Podcast Awards. She is a full-time lecturer and managing editor at Stanford University's Storytelling Project , the CEO and co-founder of Narrative Podcasts (an online cours...

Emma Courtland Emma Courtland is an award-winning podcast producer and oral historian. In 2020, she created Crime Show, an episodic documentary series "about people -- and sometimes crime." The show peaked at #2 on Spotify's podcast charts. Her work in audio has been recognized by the Podcast Academy (Nominee - Best Host, 2022), the Clue Awards (Nominee - Outstanding Episodic Series, 2022) and the...

Scroll down for takeaways about co-hosting well from Sarah and Beth About the guests: Sarah Stewart Holland and Beth Silvers host the popular podcast Pantsuit Politics, which was named one of 2021’s best shows by Apple Podcasts and has been featured in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Good Morning America 3, The Guardian, Elle Magazine, and Parents Magazine. They are also the authors of Now What?...

How to be a great host: John Barth’s takeaways 1. What is “hostiness?”  This is where John shines as both a talent recruiter and a content developer. As he says, he’s always looking for ‘the blue M&M” — “that special voice.”  “It’s a combination of very different factors. There’s a likability in someone's voice or style. There's this innate sense that I’d really like to spend more time with them....

Stephanie Wittels Wachs is a longtime actor, voice-over artist, theater teacher, author and the co-founder, with Jessica Cordova Cramer, of Lemonada Media. Last Day is only one of Lemonada’s 30-plus podcasts and growing. Wittels Wachs and Cordova Cramer founded Lemonada three years ago. Its tag line matches Stephanie’s personality: Humanity. Unfiltered.  A note about Sound Judgment: We believe tha...

The beautiful voices included in this trailer are:  John Barth Former chief content officer, PRX Current principal, Creative Media  LLC Stephanie Wittels Wachs Host, Last Day Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer Lemonada Media The episode Stephanie mentions is A Love Story from Last Day, Season 2 Subscribe to Sound Judgment, the Newsletter Read it first here.  Who am I  go behind the scenes to he...