The Transom Radio Specials

Series produced by Atlantic Public Media

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Transom.org is the public radio website dedicated to helping people tell their own stories. Transom offers the tools, the techniques and the encouragement to get those stories on the air and help public radio fulfill its mission. From time to time Transom creates special hours for broadcast. These are generally stories we're not hearing on traditional broadcast outlets and often the voices of those we don't hear from at all.

Transom Radio Specials are made up of documentaries, portraits and diaries. They're evergreen and can be run separately or as a series. We will keep adding to this series as new hours are created.

For more from Transom, check the Transom Radio Hour which focuses on the art and craft of making radio http://www.prx.org/series/11068-the-transom-radio-hours


10 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Two Years With Franz
From: Atlantic Public Media
Series: The Transom Radio Specials
Caption: Franz Wright
What if you have a story that's really complicated, and you have 546 tapes to listen to, and you get obsessed and don't know where to stop? All of ...

Bought by WFAE, HowSound, and WCAI / WNAN


  • Added: Jun 06, 2018
  • Length: 57:59
  • Purchases: 3
A Life Sentence: Victims, Offenders, Justice, and My Mother
From: Atlantic Public Media
Series: The Transom Radio Specials
Caption: Samantha Broun with Ernest Preate , Credit: Associated Press
This is a story about a terrible crime and everything that followed. It’s an intensely personal documentary, but it extends into public life and in...

Bought by HowSound, WGBH Radio Boston, KTSW 89.9, Third Coast Festival/Re:sound, WHYY and more


  • Added: Mar 01, 2016
  • Length: 58:00
  • Purchases: 19
Anatomy of a Code Blue
From: Atlantic Public Media
Series: The Transom Radio Specials
Piece image
A remarkable half-hour of insights into a hospital’s most traumatic and intimate moments. A Transom Radio Special produced by Sam Slavin with Viki ...

Bought by Australian Broadcasting Corporation, KOSU, and KGOU


  • Added: Oct 12, 2015
  • Length: 28:30
  • Purchases: 3
We've Never Been The Same: A War Story
From: Atlantic Public Media
Series: The Transom Radio Specials
Caption: Some of Delta 187 Rakassans
We've Never Been The Same: A War Story is the story of one night of battle and the decades of recovery that followed. Produced by Adam Piore and Ja...

Bought by KUNM, KTXK, KSKA, KUER, KRPS and more


  • Added: Sep 08, 2015
  • Length: 53:28
  • Purchases: 69
Diary of A Bad Year: A War Correspondent's Dilemma
From: Atlantic Public Media
Series: The Transom Radio Specials
Caption: Kelly McEvers, Credit: Glen Carey
NPR's Kelly McEvers' unprecedented and intimate portrait of the sacrifices reporters and their families make to tell untold stories -- and the some...

Bought by KSUT, RadioFreePalmer, WYSO, KSKA, Northeast Indiana Public Radio and more


  • Added: Jun 18, 2013
  • Length: 58:19
  • Purchases: 79
Walking Across America ~ Advice for a Young Man
From: Atlantic Public Media
Series: The Transom Radio Specials
Piece image
Andrew Forsthoefel set out at age 23 to walk across America, East to West, 4000 miles, with a sign on him that said, "Walking to Listen". This hour...

Bought by WFAE, KUPR low power FM, Red River Radio Network, KUT, WRGY and more


  • Added: Apr 02, 2013
  • Length: 53:57
  • Purchases: 72
Polk Street Stories
From: Atlantic Public Media
Series: The Transom Radio Specials
Caption: Street Minister, River Sims
An oral history of the Polk Street neighborhood in San Francisco, as told by those who have called it home.

Bought by KCPW, KZYX, KQED, C89.5 - KNHC Seattle, WFAE and more


  • Added: Jun 12, 2010
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 22
Stories of Transformation
From: Atlantic Public Media
Series: The Transom Radio Specials
Piece image
Two audio diaries: a street kid who decides to wise-up and a person born in the wrong body

Bought by KUPR low power FM, WFAE, Georgia Public Broadcasting, KGOU, KQED and more


  • Added: Jun 07, 2010
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 14
Inside the Adoption Circle
From: Atlantic Public Media
Series: The Transom Radio Specials
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First-person voices from all sides of adoption. Stories about living with questions and searching for answers.

Bought by WCAI / WNAN, KOSU, KQED, WFAE, Northeast Indiana Public Radio and more


  • Added: May 21, 2010
  • Length: 54:01
  • Purchases: 21
Working With Studs
From: Atlantic Public Media
Series: The Transom Radio Specials
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Studs Terkel, America's greatest listener: A remembrance from those who worked with him.

Bought by KUPR low power FM, The WFMT Radio Network, KAZU, WCAI / WNAN, WORT and more


  • Added: Apr 26, 2010
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 44

Playlists That Feature This Series: