Piece image

#24 - Cody Appleseed

From: Salt Institute for Documentary Studies
Series: SaltCast: the Backstory to Great Radio Storytelling
Length: 11:23

One of the ways good radio stories paint pictures is with ambient sound and active tape. Ambient sound is the general, background sound of a place. Active tape is a recording of someone doing something. Put those two together creatively and radio becomes cinematic. Read the full description.
Playing
#24 - Cody Appleseed
From
Salt Institute for Documentary Studies

Logo200_small

Allison Swaim gets sound. Pun intended.

She understands it and she knows how to record it to tell a story.

In the fall of 2008, Allison produced a piece about a guerrilla gardener — a guy named Cody who illegally plants trees on an island off the coast of Maine. Allison had a knack for getting her mic in all the right places. She collected great sound of Cody canoeing, hiking, planting trees, and getting dirty. Then, she used the recordings to paint a vivid picture of his work.

Producer Robert Krulwich once said “In radio, the listener is a co-author.”  What he means is that because there are no pictures, listeners are free to create their own images when they listen to the radio.

One of the ways good radio stories paint pictures is with ambient sound and active tape. Ambient sound is the general, background sound of a place. Active tape is a recording of someone doing something. Put those two together creatively and radio becomes cinematic.

See for yourself. Take a listen to Allison Swaim’s “Cody Appleseed.”

#24 - Cody Appleseed | 11:23

Privacy
To hear the full audio, sign up for a free PRX account or log in.

Also in the SaltCast: the Backstory to Great Radio Storytelling series

Caption: Katie West smiles to change the world. , Credit: Avery Moore

#59 - Powered By Laughter (13:11)
From: Salt Institute for Documentary Studies

At Salt we say "Music is emotional fascism." It's a bit tongue-in-cheek. But, the idea is that you want to be VERY careful when you choose to use music for scoring a story.
Caption: President Franklin Roosevelt examines a model of the proposed Quoddy Dam, Eastport, Maine in 1935. The project barely got off the ground before it failed miserably., Credit: National Archive.

#58 - Dam Radio Story (17:14)
From: Salt Institute for Documentary Studies

Sometimes the first step is the hardest. Same with starting a story.
Caption: Guglielmo Marconi, inventor and early radio technology pioneer. , Credit: Dibner Library for the History of Science and Technology

#57 - Song of Marconi (07:31)
From: Salt Institute for Documentary Studies

Artist and writer Dennis Downey's essay on Marconi, an early radio pioneer, and talking on the radio.
Caption: Glenn Johnson's business card reads "Dowswer, Consultant to the Universe.", Credit: Katherine Hays

#56 - Dowser, Consultant to the Universe (12:25)
From: Salt Institute for Documentary Studies

Dowswer Glenn Johnson makes a mistake.
Piece image

#55 - How I Get By (14:35)
From: Salt Institute for Documentary Studies

Focus. Focus. Focus.
Caption: The Guerette family of Pittston, Maine two years after attackers broke into their home with machetes. , Credit: Sarah Craig

#53 - Left For Dead (17:50)
From: Salt Institute for Documentary Studies

"Left for Dead" is probably the most gruesome story reported by a Salt student. It's not for the faint of heart.
Piece image

#54 - No Brother of Mine (27:24)
From: Salt Institute for Documentary Studies

Diane Richard and her husband Todd Melby sure know how to pick a project with a long uphill road to the finish line. On this Saltcast, we talk with Diane and Richard about ...
Piece image

#52 - Just Another Fish Story (14:03)
From: Salt Institute for Documentary Studies

You didn’t hear this from me, but sometimes the best approach to working on a story is to not have much of a plan.
Caption: Nathan Dyer focuses hard — really hard — on the chandelier., Credit: Morrigan McCarthy

#51 - Portrait of a Psychic as a Young Man (11:47)
From: Salt Institute for Documentary Studies

Ninety-nine percent of the time, using the pronoun “I” in a story is a journalistic no-no. But sometimes, it's a useful storytelling tool.
Piece image

#50 - Ghetto Life 101 (38:07)
From: Salt Institute for Documentary Studies

“Ghetto Life 101" is a high-water mark for radio documentary and the story featured on this edition of the Saltcast — our fiftieth!!

Piece Description

Allison Swaim gets sound. Pun intended.

She understands it and she knows how to record it to tell a story.

In the fall of 2008, Allison produced a piece about a guerrilla gardener — a guy named Cody who illegally plants trees on an island off the coast of Maine. Allison had a knack for getting her mic in all the right places. She collected great sound of Cody canoeing, hiking, planting trees, and getting dirty. Then, she used the recordings to paint a vivid picture of his work.

Producer Robert Krulwich once said “In radio, the listener is a co-author.”  What he means is that because there are no pictures, listeners are free to create their own images when they listen to the radio.

One of the ways good radio stories paint pictures is with ambient sound and active tape. Ambient sound is the general, background sound of a place. Active tape is a recording of someone doing something. Put those two together creatively and radio becomes cinematic.

See for yourself. Take a listen to Allison Swaim’s “Cody Appleseed.”

Related Website

www.salt.edu

Sign up for PRX

Log in

Production Information

  • Added to PRX ~2 years ago
  • Produced: Apr 20, 2009
  • Producers: Rob Rosenthal

Piece Statistics

Actions

Playlists

Of 2 purchasers of this piece...