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Reality Radio: Telling True Stories in Sound

From: Association of Independents in Radio
Length: 59:00

“Reality Radio: Telling True Stories in Sound” is a one-hour broadcast special from AIR hosted by Katie Davis celebrating tales from some of public radio's most venerated independent story-makers -- Ira Glass, The Kitchen Sisters (Nikki Silva and Davia Nelson) and Jay Allison. The program, produced by Atlantic Public Media, is from a live event recorded at WGBH Boston in Fall 2010 and inspired by the book “Reality Radio: Telling True Stories in Sound” edited by producer John Biewen and Alexa Dilworth. Read the full description.

Reality_radio_front_200w_small “Reality Radio: Telling True Stories in Sound” with host Katie Davis features independent producers Davia Nelson and Nikki Silva (The Kitchen Sisters),  Jay Allison, and Ira Glass sharing with a live Boston audience tales and anecdotes from their work as some of public radio's most inspired and inspiring story-makers.  These uniquely personal accounts are among those featured from the book “Reality Radio: Telling True Stories in Sound” from AIR producer John Biewen and co-editor Alexa Dilworth.

Listeners will enjoy hearing Ira Glass deconstruct a story from "year seven of my career." His focus? The "international debate on whether sorgum and meat production are causing corn to decline in Latin America." You can imagine. Nikki and Davia take us on an Otari/reel-to-reel tape excursion to Northern California circa 1978 where they spent _hours_ with a "father-son lumberjack team" aiming to (earnestly) capture an oral history of a vanishing tradition. It was the second story they ever did together. By the end of the day, they wound up (as only the Kitchen Sisters would) in a room full of live rattlesnakes, tape rolling. And finally, Jay Allison, our guide throughout the evening, brings us straight into the heart of his Cape Cod hamlet through a series of "Sonic IDs," an approach that's been replicated by stations across the U.S. There's the Provincetown hairdresser, a bored Nantucket teenager, the former keeper of the clock in West Tisbury; "...bit by bit, these people pop out," says Jay. And so does he, and Ira, and the Kitchen Sisters in ways never heard before on the radio, until now.

Produced by Atlantic Public Media, and brought you to by AIR, the Association of Independents in Radio, Inc.

STATION PROMO COPY


Show some public radio love this Valentine's Day with the “sweethearts of story telling,” Ira Glass, Jay Allison, and the Kitchen Sisters.
Join us for Reality Radio, Telling True Stories in Sound this [day] at [time] here on [station call letters and tag].

Promo (no date peg) (:15)
Join us this [day] at [time] for a celebration of radio storytelling with the Kitchen Sisters, Ira Glass, and Jay Allison.  That’s
Reality Radio, Telling True Stories in Sound; a one-hour broadcast special from [call letters and tag].

 



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Piece Description

“Reality Radio: Telling True Stories in Sound” with host Katie Davis features independent producers Davia Nelson and Nikki Silva (The Kitchen Sisters),  Jay Allison, and Ira Glass sharing with a live Boston audience tales and anecdotes from their work as some of public radio's most inspired and inspiring story-makers.  These uniquely personal accounts are among those featured from the book “Reality Radio: Telling True Stories in Sound” from AIR producer John Biewen and co-editor Alexa Dilworth.

Listeners will enjoy hearing Ira Glass deconstruct a story from "year seven of my career." His focus? The "international debate on whether sorgum and meat production are causing corn to decline in Latin America." You can imagine. Nikki and Davia take us on an Otari/reel-to-reel tape excursion to Northern California circa 1978 where they spent _hours_ with a "father-son lumberjack team" aiming to (earnestly) capture an oral history of a vanishing tradition. It was the second story they ever did together. By the end of the day, they wound up (as only the Kitchen Sisters would) in a room full of live rattlesnakes, tape rolling. And finally, Jay Allison, our guide throughout the evening, brings us straight into the heart of his Cape Cod hamlet through a series of "Sonic IDs," an approach that's been replicated by stations across the U.S. There's the Provincetown hairdresser, a bored Nantucket teenager, the former keeper of the clock in West Tisbury; "...bit by bit, these people pop out," says Jay. And so does he, and Ira, and the Kitchen Sisters in ways never heard before on the radio, until now.

Produced by Atlantic Public Media, and brought you to by AIR, the Association of Independents in Radio, Inc.

STATION PROMO COPY


Show some public radio love this Valentine's Day with the “sweethearts of story telling,” Ira Glass, Jay Allison, and the Kitchen Sisters.
Join us for Reality Radio, Telling True Stories in Sound this [day] at [time] here on [station call letters and tag].

Promo (no date peg) (:15)
Join us this [day] at [time] for a celebration of radio storytelling with the Kitchen Sisters, Ira Glass, and Jay Allison.  That’s
Reality Radio, Telling True Stories in Sound; a one-hour broadcast special from [call letters and tag].

 



3 Comments Atom Feed

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The warmth of radio

I was fortunate to see this event live. The evening left me feeling inspired and proud of the art of telling stories on the radio. Each of the presenters - the Kitchen Sisters, Ira Glass, and Jay Allison - generously offered up their wisdom, experience and humor to us. And I'm so glad the occasion has been memorialized with this hour-long special!

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Feel the Radio Love

I was lucky enough to be at the event at WGBH, and the love for radio in the room was palpable. This is a great listen for anyone looking for some inspiration to "tap into the current of stories".

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Genius.

Some radio genius here. Gems from members of the public radio "brain trust" about the craft and poetry of radio production and storytelling. Listeners will love hearing backstories from Ira, Jay, and the Kitchen Sisters. -- Rob Rosenthal

Broadcast History

None

Timing and Cues

In cue:

Segment 1: 00:00 - 18:06 [AMBI & MUSIC] "This is Reality Radio... "
Out cue: "..."In a moment, Ira Glass."

Break 1: 18:06 - 19:07

Segment 2: 19:08 - 37:58
In cue: [AMBI] "I'm Katie Davis ..."
Out cue: "...with a presentation from Jay Allison."

Break 2: 37:59 -38:58

Segment 3: 38:59 - 59:00
In cue: "I'm Katie Davis.... "
Out cue: "...thanks for listening to Reality Radio." [MUSIC ENDS]

Musical Works

Title Artist Album Label Year Length
All original works played live at the event Little Bang Little Bang. 2010 00:00

Additional Credits

“Reality Radio: Telling True Stories in Sound” was presented by AIR, the Association of Independents in Radio in partnership with WGBH Radio in Boston. This hour was drawn from the book, Reality Radio, edited by John Biewen and Alexa Dilworth of the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University. If you want to hear more stories from some of public radio’s best independent producers, visit realityradiobook.org. This program was recorded live at WGBH Radio in Boston and produced by Atlantic Public Media in Woods Hole, Massachusetts by Viki Merrick.

The recording engineers were Jane Pipik and Miles Smith.

Live music was performed by Little Bang… more at Littlebangboston.com.

Special thanks to John Biewen and to Marita Rivero of WGBH.

Support for Reality Radio comes from the 750+ members of the Association of Independents in Radio, online at AIRmedia.org and from the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.

Related Website

www.airmedia.org, www.littlebangboston.com, www.atlantic.org, www.realityradiobook.org