A production from Podcast Allies. Become a better storyteller, in audio and beyond.

Sound Judgment

Sound Judgment takes listeners into the studios — and the minds — of your favorite audio storytellers. In each episode, journalist Elaine Appleton Grant and a top audio creator deconstruct one of their episodes. It’s not just a revealing conversation about the art and craft of audio storytelling, it’s a sound-rich narrative interview: Elaine plays back clips from her guest’s podcast. Together, they explore the storyteller’s creative choices in a “living learning lab.”

Recent Episodes

May 8, 2024

Behind The 13th Step, Part 2: The best defense is the truth

On May 6, 2024, The 13th Step team was honored with a Pulitzer Prize nomination for audio reporting "for their gripping and extensively reported investigation of corruption and sexual abuse within the lucrative recovery indu…
May 1, 2024

How to find the truth: Behind the blockbuster investigative series The 13th Step

In 2020, New Hampshire Public Radio Lauren Chooljian received an email about Eric Spofford, the founder of New Hampshire's largest addiction treatment network. In it was an allegation that Spofford was sexually abusing femal…
April 17, 2024

How to Grow Your Show — Without Social Media

Sound Judgment is about the craft of audio storytelling. Not about the marketing of podcasts. But today, we're bringing you a gift from someone I trust completely when it comes to audience growth: Jeremy Enns of Podcast Mark…
April 3, 2024

Courage vs comfort: Is it finally time to pursue your dreams?

At some point, every one of us will reach a point in our professional lives where it's time to change — but the status quo, even when it's not working, is comfortable. Are you ready to say goodbye to your old life in order t…