This week’s article for the radio blog was the first episode of the seven part true crime podcast “S Town”. It opens on a single voice having a trivial discussion about the process of fixing an old clock. This is used as a clever and intriguing transition into the murder mystery aspect. It garners the interest of the listeners. Throughout the piece there is music and music intervals which construct the overall pacing. The episode is an investigation and has a pseudo documentary vibe. A large section is centered on the phone calls between our host and a character from this town. One thing I enjoyed from this piece was the strong sense of character. Our interviewee seems to be a peculiar redneck who wishes to unveil the true crime story of a murder that happened in his home town. The piece really delves into this interesting persona. The story gradually develops through the revelations of our interviewee, and audio clips from the host cut in every now and then to offer the listener pieces of important exposition; these techniques assist in driving the story forward with a streamlined pace. There are interview segments, dialogue, sound effects and use of descriptive language that help bring this podcast segment together effectively. An example of the use of sound effects that I can think of is when the host is looking up an address we can hear the typing of a keyboard. These little audio details impressed me. The music swells in and out in during specific parts which really carries the listener through and makes them pick up during moments of narrative importance. This was a strong opening episode that sparked my intrigue in the story and I am considering returning to listen to the following chapters.

This week’s article for our radio blog was a series of interviews and a debate from an episode of Joe Duffy’s Liveline. The piece opens with an advertisement followed with the opening music. This piece will be unsurprising to anyone who is familiar with the format of a Joe Duffy radio segment. People ring in to the show and an interview or debate follows. The first two interviews are emotional. A man discusses the passing of his father due to the Covid-19 epidemic. Duffy’s questions are targeted to specifically draw out emotional answers and he comes across as sympathetic. We listen to a woman in the second interview, discussing how her mother passed and the limits that the virus has put on her mother’s funeral. The Coronavirus seems to be a theme in this episode. We then have two expecting fathers call in discussing the impact the virus has on them and their partners in relation to their maternity hospitals. This discussion becomes adversarial when two more callers join in and support the choices of the hospitals. They suggest that the two men take the hospitals precautions on board and roll with the punches. Preventing the spread of the virus should be a massive consideration in these exceptional times. There are advertisements and music segments throughout the piece.

This week’s article for the radio blog was an episode of a radio drama titled “Life Lines”. We drop in on an emergency call line operative answering the phone to a man with suicidal tendencies. The tension and drama of the piece derives from the central character trying to piece together the location of the man on the phone in a race against time to save his life. The episode opens with music and sound effects. There are actors voicing the piece, as it is a radio drama. The dialogue shoots back and forth between the line operative and Pete. The drama is effectively tense and stressful and the audience is successfully captivated by the techniques used, e.g. dialogue, actors, sound effects etc. When the thirteen minute segment reaches its closing minutes, the tension increases exponentially and the result is a tightly paced conclusion. There are sound effects when Ian reaches the door to Pete; we hear him banging the door through the phone trying to enter. The audience is left in suspense with the shuffling sounds as Ian enters the room. Overall, I believe this is an effective Radio drama, both technically and in a narrative sense. I found it captivating for it’s complete duration.

Rte’s gripping radio documentary “An Unholy Trinity”, released in 2017, is a historical piece that sheds light on a rather convoluted scenario that occurred in the early 1900’s. The radio doc features an engaging narrator who helps thread the narrative together. The narration carries us through a story that includes elements such as corruption in the catholic church and war politics. Throughout the piece there are sound effects, actors recreating scenes from the story, voicers from credited historians and the reading of historical materials that support the authenticity of the documentary. We hear actors reading letters – primary sources of history – and other historical documents that are relevant in the contribution to the story. At one point, there were pencil sound effects in the background of a letter reading, which contributes greatly to the immersion of the listener. I found the pacing to be rather effective also; when the narrative grew in intensity the sound effects and music in the background also began to increase in pace, establishing an incredible sense of atmosphere. Then, there would be a brief pause and the narrator would pick up elsewhere in the story. The music would retract to a slower pace, allowing the listener to take a beat. This established a rather interesting pace and rhythm which was quite effective in engaging the listener. I found the documentary quite atmospheric and intense; all the choices made for this production completely sold this historical narrative about war politics, conspiracy and corruption during the era of the Irish war for Independence. There was a strong sense of purpose, audience and register.

Each of the four clips consisted of mostly interpretive and informational interviews. The interviews focus on the recent general election in Ireland and the current political situation. The first interview conducted on this segment of RTE 1 Radio was with Sinn Fein President, Mary Lou Mcdonald. The interviewer asked specific questions which drew out deliberate answers that contained a substantial amount of information from Mcdonald. She discussed Political projections and offered her own interpretations on the current seat count. This was informative and easy to digest for members of the general public. The interviewer made use of some of the five W’s in his questions.

The second segment was an interview with Darragh Killeary. Once again, it begins as an informational interview. However, it becomes an adversarial interview when Killeary begins to dodge the interviewers questions. He refuses to offer any worthwhile information on Fianna Fails options with Sinn Fein. The interviewer presses him and is challenged when Killeary gives no authentic answers.

The third segment is a double interview that follows the political theme of the previous two. Eamonn Ryan of the Green Party and political journalist Lisa Hand offer information and opinions on the election, actions that should be taken and on seat numbers. This interview is informational and interpretive.

The final interview is with a Political Geography lecturer and Anne Marie Mcnally. The interviewer eases Adrian Kavanagh into the interview by asking about seat counts and draws out information and opinions on the topic.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.