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Episodes

Introducing Season 3: Inside the Minds of Today's Top Storytellers
Sept. 14, 2023

Introducing Season 3: Inside the Minds of Today's Top Storytellers

Wish you could be in the studio with your favorite audio storytellers — journalists like Anna Sale of Death, Sex and Money and Classy's Jonathan Menjivar, a Fresh Air and This American Life alum? Sit around editorial meetin…
Oh, Something Great is On the Way
Sept. 13, 2023

Oh, Something Great is On the Way

Here's a little warmup for Season 3...coming soon, and better than ever!
How to Make Serious Topics Fun with the hosts of Famous & Gravy
June 29, 2023

How to Make Serious Topics Fun with the hosts of Famous & Gravy

Famous & Gravy is hilarious and philosophical, funny and thought-provoking. It’s about dead celebrities, but really it's about life’s biggest questions. Cohosts Michael Osborne and Amit Kapoor reflect on aspects of a dead ce…
Pushkin's Julia Barton on The Best Audio Storytelling of the Year
June 22, 2023

Pushkin's Julia Barton on The Best Audio Storytelling of the Year

Pushkin Industries VP and Executive Editor Julia Barton had a dream: To create the first-ever anthology of the best audio storytelling. Fittingly, it would be in audiobook form, and it would call out the most powerful and in…
The Art of the Interview with Conversation Expert Celeste Headlee
June 8, 2023

The Art of the Interview with Conversation Expert Celeste Headlee

Do high-stakes interviews make you nervous? Do you want to communicate better across partisan, racial, or gender divides? Or do you want to make any interview you conduct more compelling? You couldn't ask for a better teache…
How to Make Listeners Breathless for More with Wild Boys' Sam Mullins
May 25, 2023

How to Make Listeners Breathless for More with Wild Boys' Sam Mullins

When Sam Mullins was growing up in a small, almost utopian Canadian town, two boys appeared one summer as if from nowhere. They said they'd been raised in the woods, which accounted for why they were so...strange. And skinny…
How to Tell the Truth: The Art of Memoir with Dana Black
May 11, 2023

How to Tell the Truth: The Art of Memoir with Dana Black

Actor Dana Black started her memoir and conversation show “I Swear on My Mother’s Grave” on the fourth anniversary of her mother’s death. She was grieving her loss, but she’d been grieving for years, long before her mother d…
Best Of: Emotional Bravery with Last Day's Stephanie Wittels Wachs
May 4, 2023

Best Of: Emotional Bravery with Last Day's Stephanie Wittels Wachs

As writers, journalists, podcasters, we often deal with hard subjects – topics that are painful to explore and to tell. So why do we do it? Because, done well, telling the hard stories lead to change. They can lead to help a…
The Heist: How to Produce an Award-Winning Investigative Series with Sally Herships
April 20, 2023

The Heist: How to Produce an Award-Winning Investigative Series with Sally Herships

When the Center for Public Integrity decided to look into who was pulling the strings behind Trump's 2017 tax bill — one reporters would ultimately call a swindle that benefited only the wealthiest Americans — they turned to…
How to Pitch an Audio Documentary and the Unusual Origin of a This American Life Story
April 6, 2023

How to Pitch an Audio Documentary and the Unusual Origin of a This American Life Story

How do you successfully pitch a narrative story or series to podcast network or a public radio station? If you dream about making an audio documentary or a limited series, this episode is for you. Katie Colaneri is the thoug…
Why Should Audiences Trust You? with Audio Branding Host Jodi Krangle, Part 2
March 30, 2023

Why Should Audiences Trust You? with Audio Branding Host Jodi Krangle, Part 2

Why do we trust one voice over another? Why do we find one voice trustworthy — and a different host or producer, perhaps with equal knowledge, not? In Part 2 of my conversation with voice actor and Audio Branding host Jodi …
Grow Your Audience with Voiceover Talent Jodi Krangle
March 23, 2023

Grow Your Audience with Voiceover Talent Jodi Krangle

Audio — whether used in podcast, radio, or marketing — is great at storytelling and conveying emotion. We know this intuitively. It’s how we react to a scene or an idea that often prompts us to share with others and generat…
Bone Valley: How to Create a True Crime Podcast That Makes a Difference
March 9, 2023

Bone Valley: How to Create a True Crime Podcast That Makes a Difference

Go behind the scenes with me as I talk with Bone Valley co-hosts Gilbert King and Kelsey Decker about their award-winning audio documentary series. The podcast has been called "one of the best of 2022" and "the best true cri…
Juleyka Lantigua: What if all of your editorial choices were to serve one person?
Feb. 23, 2023

Juleyka Lantigua: What if all of your editorial choices were to serve one person?

Whether you’re building a new show or developing a single story, the first question you should ask yourself is always, “Who is my listener?” The second: “Why do they care about this story or show right now?” Spend time wi…
The Dinner Sisters: Navigating a Breakout Opportunity—and Devastating Grief
Feb. 9, 2023

The Dinner Sisters: Navigating a Breakout Opportunity—and Devastating Grief

When I invited Dinner Sisters Co-Host Betsy Wallace on the show, it was with a couple of aims in mind. First, with Valentine’s Day approaching, I wanted to speak with a cooking show host to find out what she'd learned—over 2…
Standing Ovation Host Jay Baer: How to Craft a Million-Dollar Story
Jan. 26, 2023

Standing Ovation Host Jay Baer: How to Craft a Million-Dollar Story

Jay Baer’s binge-worthy podcast, Standing Ovation, does for public speakers what Sound Judgment does for podcast hosts – but he did it first. On every episode, Baer, a member of the National Speakers Association Hall of Fame…
Snap Judgment's Glynn Washington: Lessons from a Master Storyteller
Jan. 12, 2023

Snap Judgment's Glynn Washington: Lessons from a Master Storyteller

To a lot of listeners, Glynn Washington is a legend. His show, Snap Judgment, has been on the air across the country and in our ears continuously since 2010. It’s snapped up two million times a month by people who love his p…
Six Unexpected (Life) Lessons from Great Hosts to Prepare You for 2023
Dec. 29, 2022

Six Unexpected (Life) Lessons from Great Hosts to Prepare You for 2023

What are the biggest questions you have about becoming the best podcast host you can be? And how podcasting affects not just your work, but your life? We're answering your deepest questions on today's episode, a look back at…
How Top Hosts Hook Listeners in 60 Seconds or Less
Dec. 15, 2022

How Top Hosts Hook Listeners in 60 Seconds or Less

As hosts, we have very little time to hook new listeners. We know this, because as listeners ourselves, we make decisions to listen to a new show—or abandon it—almost instantly. Likewise, we may have only half a minute for s…
Secrets of Hosting In-Studio and Live from the Queen of Book Podcasts, Anne Bogel
Dec. 1, 2022

Secrets of Hosting In-Studio and Live from the Queen of Book Podcasts, Anne Bogel

On Sound Judgment, today's best hosts unpack their magic. When Anne Bogel was offered the plum gig of moderating a panel discussion with four famous authors at the Bookmarks NC Festival of Books and Authors, she knew it wo…
A host on a mission with ¿Quién Tú Eres? host Pabel Martinez
Nov. 17, 2022

A host on a mission with ¿Quién Tú Eres? host Pabel Martinez

Sound Judgment has become a quest to identify the universal qualities and skills of "hostiness." If I’m on a quest, Pabel Martinez is on a mission—in his case, to redefine professionalism and to empower members of Latinx com…
Finding your voice with Shelter in Place host Laura Joyce Davis
Nov. 10, 2022

Finding your voice with Shelter in Place host Laura Joyce Davis

How do you know who, exactly, you ARE behind the mic? What you sound like versus what you wish you sounded like? How to stand out as a host while being your unique self? Not to mention telling a gripping story or weaving a c…
Cinematic Storytelling with Crime Show's Emma Courtland
Oct. 27, 2022

Cinematic Storytelling with Crime Show's Emma Courtland

Last year, Crime Show's Emma Courtland was nominated for a Podcast Academy Ambie Award for best host -- most likely because of her measured, engaging delivery; her vivid, cinematic storytelling; and the humanity, nuance, and…
Master the Secrets of Successful Cohosting with Pantsuit Politics
Oct. 13, 2022

Master the Secrets of Successful Cohosting with Pantsuit Politics

Research shows that young podcast listeners seek two specific things: a fresh, unique perspective and a sense of belonging. At Pantsuit Politics, co-hosts Beth Silvers and Sarah Stewart Holland have been bringing fresh persp…