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

Introducing Sound Judgment: If you’ve ever wondered why you can’t stop listening to some podcasts and why you can’t start listening to others, it all comes down to the storytelling decisions we makers make. Sound Judgment explores the ingredients and methods — the creative choices — that make audio storytelling magic. We dissect hosting skills, editorial strategies, character, scene-setting, formats, writing and revisions, and the psychology behind the art form. Come behind the scenes with us! by Sound Judgment

2 min listen

Emotional Bravery on Last Day with Stephanie Wittels Wachs: One day this summer, Lemonada Media’s Stephanie Wittels Wachs received a surprise: an invitation to the White House, because of the emotional impact of her hit show, Last Day. Come with us on her raw, sad, funny, intimate journey to make “A Love Story,” her favorite episode. Don’t miss this behind-the-scenes look at a creative process informed by love and courage. (Please note: This episode discusses guns and suicide.) See the show notes for takeaways you can use from today’s show. by Sound Judgment

43 min listen

The host defines the brand with John Barth: What does it mean to have “hostiness?” That’s the question that John Barth has been asking — and answering — for decades. John is one of most well-known and respected producers and talent recruiters in audio storytelling. For 16 years, he served as chief content officer of PRX. He was the founding producer of Marketplace and a key developer of shows ranging from The Moth Radio Hour to Reveal. He shares his behind-the-scenes methods for spotting great hosts and coaching them to be their most natural, dynamic selves on the mic in this ‘don’t-miss’ episode. We dissect Reveal’s Mississippi Goddamn (host Al Letson), and discuss Wondery’s Bunga Bunga and The Daily. by Sound Judgment

44 min listen

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 someone new to decide our show isn’t for them. So how do the best hosts hook their listeners—and what can we learn from them? In this solo-hosted episode, I explore four elements of effective intros through the insights and practices of Last Day’s Stephanie Wittels Wachs; Crime Show’s Emma Courtland; and Anne Bogel of What Should I Read Next? by Sound Judgment

20 min listen

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 conversation listeners won't stop talking about tomorrow? Laura Joyce Davis, host and executive producer of the award-winning show Shelter in Place has answers...and they're gems. We learn what the rules are for hooking listeners and how to break them, with an example from Laura's interview with her friend, Pulitzer-Prize-winning author Anthony Doerr (Cloud Cuckoo Land, All the Light We Cannot See, and more). You'll hear Laura grapple with how much of her doubts and fears to share, along with how much of her personal life (Kids' names? Fights with her spouse?) and get tips from her Broadway-actor brother on how to get over the dreaded readerly voice on the mic for a natural, conversational, intimate sou by Sound Judgment

47 min listen

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 suspense of the stories she and her team uncovered. We dissect "Paging Dr. Barnes," an episode rescued from the cutting room floor and transformed into a beautiful exploration of a son discovering that his father was a con artist. by Sound Judgment

44 min listen

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 generate word of mouth. We say, “This spoke to me, you have to hear it.” But why and how? Today’s conversation: How great storytelling and hosting engages audiences and influences listener behavior! We’re going under the covers with Jodi Krangle, host of Audio Branding. Curious about how a professional voice actor engages audiences? Welcome to Part 1 of a two-part episode with Jodi Krangle. In addition to hosting Audio Branding, Jodi is a Toronto-based voice actor whose voice is heard on commercials for Dell, HGTV, Nespresso & Kraft, among thousands of others. by Sound Judgment

44 min listen

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 particular, recognizable brand of storytelling—as he calls it, storytelling with a beat. He’s one of only three people in the world who have had three podcasts hit number one on the Apple charts at the same time—Snap Judgment and his two other shows, Spooked, and a limited series called Heaven’s Gate. When people describe Glynn, and Snap Judgment, the words that come up are curiosity. Music. Empathy…and WONDER. And… no wonder. Because who else other than Glynn would include this statement in the credits of a podcast episode? “We love the universe of life in its glorious splendor.” Glynn and I delve into hostiness, empathy, surprise and why you should go small when storytelling, not big, on this by Sound Judgment

45 min listen

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 perspectives and a sense of belonging to their listeners — who now number in the millions — for seven years. From the start, Pantsuit Politics was different. They were analyzing the ways politics shape how we live and how we feel about it. It takes skill, chemistry, and diplomacy to work together seamlessly the way Silvers and Stewart Holland do. We talk about their very different approaches to hosting, and how they perform as interlocking puzzle pieces — and why they feel it's even more important for the show to serve them than to serve their ever-growing, devoted audience. by Sound Judgment

41 min listen

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 would be fun. But she had no idea of the turn it would take when her guests -- authors TJ Klune, Andrew Sean Greer, Brendan Slocumb, and Tia Williams, began one-upping each other with wild tales from book club experiences like no other. Anne Bogel's been hosting her literary matchmaking show since 2016. As of this moment, it's at the top of the Apple charts, just below the New York Times Review of Books podcast and well above the New Yorker's show. There's a reason for that: Anne is purposeful about how she hosts, whether that's holding a deep conversation about a guest's reading life in the studio, or fielding unexpected stories, and a ton of laughs, on stage in front of hundreds. This by Sound Judgment

47 min listen

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 community to be their authentic selves 100% of the time. He’s sharing stories of Latinx professionals who are tired of playing the assimilation game in corporate America. Like him, they are rebelling against it, after lifetimes of pretending to be other than who they actually are. And we discover a new hostiness quality: That who we are as human beings has everything to do with how we show up on the mic, and whether—or not—we connect to our audiences. by Sound Judgment

35 min listen

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 with LWC Studios founder and CEO Juleyka Lantigua, and you’ll come away knowing the third question: “Am I doing everything in my power to put my listener at the heart of everything I produce?” Lantigua knows exactly who her listener is. Her name is Kenya. She is a 32-year-old Afro-Latina. She got married last year. She’s a digital native, college-educated, culturally fluid, multi-lingual, and a bridge between generations. Kenya is ever present within the walls of LWC Studios, the podcast and film company Lantigua founded in 2017, after working as a writer, editor and producer in places like TED, The Atlantic, and NPR. She and her staff talk about Kenya’s exploits, her favorite music, by Sound Judgment

52 min listen

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 Season 1 and the surprising things we learned in 2022. And our hosts share the unexpected ways in which hosting their shows has changed their lives. Hosts and producers featured on this episode include John Barth of Marketplace and PRX; Pabel Martinez of Quien tu Eres?, Laura Joyce Davis of Shelter in Place and the Stanford Storytelling Project, Sarah Stewart Holland, co-host of Pantsuit Politics, Jay Baer of Standing Ovation, Emma Courtland of Crime Show, and Glynn Washington of Snap Judgment, sharing some of their most heartfelt dilemmas and joys. I share some deep lessons that I learned in this first season of Sound Judgment — insights and ideas that changed me—and my perspectives on hostin by Sound Judgment

22 min listen

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 thoughtful, fast-rising editor at the head of New Hampshire Public Radio’s audio documentary team — the same team behind the blockbuster hit "Bear Brook." She spent the last year crafting one of the clearest greenlight processes in public media and podcasting. She spec’ed out what pitches this station says yes to, what it says no to, and along the way, what makes for suspenseful, impactful longform storytelling – storytelling that matters in New Hampshire, across the country, and even across the globe. She shares that pitch process with us. And we dissect a This American Life story that started in a one-room New Hampshire school house. by Sound Judgment

45 min listen

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 the making of their award-winning audio documentary series. (2023 Ambie winners for Best Reporting and Best Documentary Podcast) The podcast has been called anything from "one of the best of 2022" to "the best true crime podcast ever" by outlets ranging from The New Yorker to Slate to The Atlantic. The New York Times continues to report on developments in the case Bone Valley explores — the wrongful conviction of Leo Schofield, who has been in prison for the murder of his wife, Michelle, for 35 years. So do other publications from around the world. To create a good work of narrative nonfiction, let alone a great one, requires phenomenal reporting, story structuring and writing skills. Gilbert King is a master. He’s written several books about wrongful convictions, including Devil in the Grove, which won a Pulitz by Sound Judgment

52 min listen

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, and another famous speaker unpack a story from a guest’s keynote speech. The goal: To learn exactly what makes that story work. To me, his show was popcorn: Once I started listening, I couldn’t stop. Jay is funny, snappy, and — as you can see — wears plaid suits as just one of many deliberate tactics he’s used to build thought leadership in marketing communications. (Read one of his six books on attention and marketing for many more.) He’s also one of the nicest, most thought-provoking, curious podcast hosts I’ve met. Today, Jay and I dissect an episode of Standing Ovation. We pull apart a hilarious piece told by top speaker David Horsager. In the process, we learn: * How to stand out in an inc by Sound Judgment

49 min listen

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 and healing. May is Mental Health Awareness Month. We could think of no better way to help raise awareness than to re-release one of my favorite episodes of Sound Judgment. It’s a conversation with Stephanie Wittels Wachs, host of Last Day. We talked about the Last Day episode "A Love Story." In it, we meet a couple named Larry and Shannon, who lost their son to suicide. And just like life, it’s tragic, but there’s also laughter and pride and celebration. "A Love Story" won a 2023 Webby Award for best documentary. There's a lot to learn from how Wittels Wachs and her team researched this story, built a relationship with sources, did tricky field reporting on a gun range in Montana and in the living by Sound Judgment

45 min listen

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 died. She started her show as so many podcasters do – as a way to express the unexpressed. To share the once unshareable, in hopes that we will find that, in fact, we’re not alone. That we’ve never, actually, been alone. More than most podcasters, Dana takes advantage of the audio medium to create intimacy with her listeners -- and she's created loyal fans as a result. Listen to our Mother's Day episode to learn how you can do it, too. by Sound Judgment

46 min listen

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 award-winning reporter Sally Herships. In this episode, Herships pulls back the covers on the making of The Heist, and in particular, an investigation of Trump's treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin -- the man once known as the "foreclosure king." If you've ever wanted to report, host, or produce a longform audio documentary series or an investigative piece, this is the episode for you. You'll learn several ways to add drama to a complex story; how to use scenes wisely and ethically to immerse listeners; tactics for persuading people to talk with you, even if they're scared to talk; how to make sure you have the facts; and when a red Porsche says something important about a character by Sound Judgment

49 min listen

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 200 episodes and the growth of a wildly devoted Facebook community—about the connection between food and relationships. Second, I wanted to unpack what Betsy and her sister and co-host, Kate Schultz, had created that inspires so much love from listeners. One answer: An impeccably crafted structure and the discipline to stick to it. Another: As a listener, you probably won't notice the structure, because the rapport between the sisters and their comfort on the mic is so evident. They work hard behind the scenes to make this production-heavy show easy on the ears. So easy, in fact, that the Food Network came calling, and the sisters found themselves contestants on the Great Food Truck Race. by Sound Judgment

52 min listen

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 Krangle, we explore what it takes for audiences to trust us. We explore: What we mean when we want “authenticity?” How do we get there? How audiences are changing, and how hosts and voice actors need to change in response What Gen Z audiences want now (hint: belonging and feeling seen, not talked down to) The role of diversity and cultural competence in being a great host or voice actor The art of the interview — and why learning this was so challenging for Jodi, even though she’s one of the most successful voice actors in North America! by Sound Judgment

48 min listen

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 meetings with their teams, learning how they're making ambitious, engaging, and often deeply personal work? Be there "backstage" as they voice their doubts, make mistakes, learn from their experiments — and listen back with them as, together, we deconstruct their stories? Join me on my journey as I explore the art and craft of audio storytelling in a "live learning lab" with some of today's most interesting hosts, producers and editors. Also coming up in this season: Storyboarding investigative series with Karen Given of Believable: The Coco Berthmann Story; vunerability with Weight for It's Ronald Young; and "uncomfortable" conversations with Nikki Boyer of Dying for Sex and Near Death. And plenty more. by Sound Judgment

2 min listen

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. And would only eat fruit, and seemed to have only the ragged clothes on their backs. Sam was a teenager when a scandal exploded around the boys...and he remembered it 20 years later, when as a struggling — maybe failed — actor and writer, he was searching for a podcast to make and a mystery to unravel. On the basis of a cold email pitch from a novice podcaster, Sam's story became the acclaimed, award-winning Campside Media series Chameleon: Wild Boys. You'll learn from Sam the kinds of questions he asked multiple sources; how he convinced a reluctant protagonist to talk with him; why he didn't take the existing reporting at face value; how he uses language expertly to evoke characters and pla by Sound Judgment

56 min listen

How Storytelling Can Heal Your Life: Did you ever work brutally hard to achieve your goal — but when you got there, it didn't feel like what you'd imagined? The Nocturnists host Emily Silverman did. She'd wanted to become a doctor since she was a little girl. But when she finally got through medical school and into a residency, she was shocked to discover she wasn't happy. A visit to a live storytelling event, The Moth, led her to a new career: creating storytelling events and an award-winning storytelling podcast that's "fostering joy, wonder and curiosity" for physicians, nurses, and other healthcare workers. We explore how storytelling humanizes medicine, how it can humanize your profession, and how storytelling might be the tool we need to figure out what we really want — and where we belong. by Sound Judgment

44 min listen

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 teacher than Celeste Headlee. A best-selling author and global speaker, this veteran NPR reporter and host has interviewed everyone from presidents to KKK members to authors like Toni Morrison and John Updike. She's also literally written THE books on the art of conversation. Her TED talk, "10 Ways to Have Better Conversations," has been viewed 38 million times. Today, she is the host of the Slate debate podcast, Hear Me Out. In this episode, you'll learn how to interview people who hold vastly different beliefs than you do; how to have illuminating conversations, not confrontations; a helpful mindset shift for when you're nervous about conducting a hostile or difficult interview; and the brain science th by Sound Judgment

49 min listen

How Anna Sale invites listeners in: There's this thing people say about podcasts. As if saying the earth is round, they say, "Podcasts are intimate." Because we listen to them by ourselves. In our ears. But we do that with a lot of things. How intimate is the ad you hear on hold? In truth, podcasts are only as intimate as we—the producers, hosts, and editors—strive to make them. Anna Sale, creator and host of the award-winning show Death, Sex & Money, is a master of making podcasts intimate. On this episode, Anna shares how she does it. In the course of breaking down the DS&M episode “Bells and Bills: The Price You Paid for Your Wedding,” Anna talks about asking blunt questions, carefully; the detailed ways she prepares people so they feel comfortable revealing their most personal stories; how to balance sharing highly personal conversations on an enormously public platform; and about making mistakes, repairing them, and having compassion for herself and for her guests and sources. An by Sound Judgment

42 min listen

Classy's Jonathan Menjivar: The Fine, Awkward Art of the Personal Audio Documentary: Did you ever have something that troubled you for years — something so intense that it affected your entire life? That describes the issue of class for host and senior producer Jonathan Menjivar of Audacy’s Pineapple St. Studios. Jonathan, the son of immigrants, grew up in a working-class home. His life today is extraordinarily different — and, as he says, that change in class caused him “to act in strange and funny ways.” Class causes most of us to behave strangely, he believes — and that’s the thesis of his wildly thought-provoking, moving and funny narrative series “Classy.” You’ll learn how to transform an issue that largely plays out inside our heads into an entertaining series with characters, scenes, tension and emotion. You’ll learn how Jonathan decides what parts of his life to share (cashmere socks play a role) and what to keep private. You’ll learn how he and his team “found their collecti by Sound Judgment

41 min listen

Secrets of Hosting In-Studio and Live from the Queen of Book Podcasts, Anne Bogel (Best-of Show): Do you speak publicly or moderate discussions live on stage? Or do you dream about spending more time speaking to live audiences? If so, this episode is for you. Anne Bogel of What Should I Read Next is one of the original book podcasters. She’s so beloved that she is frequently asked to host conversations in front of live audiences – which can feel like being poised on a knife edge between success and failure. As she says, “Good panel moderation is invisible if you do it well. But if you do it poorly, there's a whole room of disappointed people who won't hesitate to let you know.” In this hilarious episode from our archives, Anne shares her hard-won secrets moving between two worlds: the intimate, personal world of talking with readers to the big, fun, performance-driven world of public speaking. Plus, Anne offers book recommendations for giving holiday gifts to your favorite audio story by Sound Judgment

42 min listen

Weight for It’s Ronald Young Jr.: Unlocking the Key to Storytelling Success: Some scientists say we think 70,000 thoughts a day. And a lot of those aren’t all that great. This episode is about how to make a narrative podcast about the thoughts we obsess about, and the thoughts that sometimes run our lives. Weight for It’s Ronald Young, Jr. shows us how to bring our inner lives to life in a way that makes for compelling, transformative storytelling, and that might call attention to the things we need to change in our outer world — in this case, how we, and society, feel about being fat. In this episode, you’ll learn how Ronald transforms ideas into compelling, propulsive narratives; about the roles rhythm and music play in writing and performance; and about the one thing Ronald believes makes the difference between failure and success in audio storytelling — and storytelling of any kind. by Sound Judgment

37 min listen

How to Capture an Audience with Near Death’s Nikki Boyer: It's another stop on my quest to answer the question: What does it take to become a beloved audio storyteller? This time, the answer is that magical, almost impossible-to-define-quality: presence. My journey takes me to Nikki Boyer, the celebrated creator of Wondery's Dying for Sex and now, the co-host and executive producer of Near Death. Her magnetism is undeniable — so much so that it helped catapult Dying for Sex to win The Podcast Academy Podcast of the Year Award in 2021. But getting there took more than skill building. It took a personal transformation from being a self-admitted attention-seeking actress to a storyteller who now shines the spotlight on others. In this episode, we're looking at the inner, value-driven qualities of a great audio storyteller. (This episode includes a discussion of suicide, and conversation about the Death with Dignity (End of Life Option Act) and the dying process. Listen with care.) by Sound Judgment

38 min listen

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

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

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