Journeys with authors into the places that shaped their writing.
In this original podcast series for Audible, journalists Michael Epstein and Amy Standen travel with authors to the places that inspired their most celebrated works. From the sugar cane fields in Louisiana that inspired Natalie Baszille’s Queen Sugar to the beaches of Oahu where William Finnegan experienced surfing as nature worship, as he calls it, in his Pullitzer-Prize Winning memoir Barbarian Days.
This 6-part podcast series was a groundbreaking first for Audible as it was moving away from being a books-on-tape repository to an original podcast producer.
Impact
One of the first titles on Audible’s Originals platform, helped set the bar for storytelling depth and sound design.
Garnered participation from the publishing industries most celebrated authors.
Experimented with a sound-rich, non-narrated approach that was a first for Audible’s Originals team.
About the Experience
A Sound-Rich Literary Travelogue
Listeners are invited into a series of trips around the United States as accomplished fiction and non-fiction writers invite them into the spaces that informed their writing process. Each 15 to 30-minute episode features authors reading excerpts for their books mixed with an in-person exploration of these formative spaces with the author and producers. As one listener described the show: “I love the soundscapes, and the way the authors take you into their world.” This immersive quality is something we honed with our Walking Cinema productions, but it also translates to the podcasting world, where listeners appreciate the way space and ideas combine in this show.
Audio Sample
In this sample from the Barbarian Days episode, author William Finnegan describes the draw of surfing in his youth. In the clip, you can hear how excerpts from the book mix with author reflections and site-specific sounds to both inform listeners about the writing process and let them into the psyche of the writer.
Photo Gallery
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Author William Finnegan and producer Amy Standen
Author William Finnegan and producer Amy Standen examine the surf in Oahu, Hawaii and reflect on danger in reporting.
PHOTO CREDIT: WALKING CINEMA
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The cover of a Rock Chicks book
The cover of a Rock Chicks book by romance novelist Kristen Ashley. We tended to choose books and authors who work intensely with one place, in this case Denver, Colorado.
PHOTO CREDIT: WALKING CINEMA, 2016
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Fans of the Rock Chicks series
Fans of the Rock Chicks series gather annually in Denver to bond and celebrate Ashley’s stories in the place where they are set. We went there to party with and interview them for three days.
PHOTO CREDIT: WALKING CINEMA, 2016
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Brooklyn Public Library
The magical images in gold leaf on the portal of The Brooklyn Library inspired Daniel Jose Older’s stories of otherworldly detectives in the Borough.
PHOTO CREDIT: WALKING CINEMA, 2016
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Author Daniel Jose Older
Author Daniel Jose Older reads from his Half Resurrection Blues in a Brooklyn studio for his Pen and Place episode.
PHOTO CREDIT: WALKING CINEMA, 2016.
Production Team
Michael Epstein, Writer, Producer, Creator of the Series
Michael is a journalist and professor at the California College of Art. He wrote, directed, and co-produced the audio. He is currently a Reynolds Journalism Institute fellow.
Amy Standen, Writer & Producer
Amy is an audio producer and editor currently working for Ear Hustle. She co-produced, wrote, and recorded the series with Michael.
Sasha Mandel, Soundtrack, Audio Editing
Sasha is a sound designer with a passion for interactivity and deep listening. He mixed the audio for this tour and created the soundscapes you hear throughout the experience.
Martha Little, Executive Producer
Martha is the former Senior Direct of Creative Development at Audible and was a story editor on the project.
Will Rogers, Executive Producer
Will helped usher the show into existence and gave key feedback in the development of the style and structure of the series.
Talent
Viet Thanh Nguyen Pulitzer-prize winning author of The Sympathizer joined us in SoCal’s Little Saigon
Charlie LeDuff, Author of Detroit: An American Autopsy took us to the empty lots, and firehouses of Detroit
Natalie Baszille, Author of Queen Sugar joined us in the sugar cane field of her ancestors in Louisiana.
William Finnegan, Author of Pulitzer-prize winning memoir Barbarian Days joined us on Oahu’s best surfing beaches.
Kristen Ashley, Author of the Rock Chicks series invited us to the Rock Chicks Rendezvous in Denver.
Daniel Jose Older, Walked us through the portals to other worlds in Brooklyn with his book Half-Resurrection Blues.