Salt Institute for Documentary Studies

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Since 1973, the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies has taught students from all over the United States and around the world to become skilled documentarians and storytellers. At the core of Salt is a 24/7 15-week experience. Motivated individuals from all walks of life come to Salt to focus on documentary storytelling, develop new skills, and build expertise. Our faculty members are working documentarians and teaching professionals who help provide a strong foundation for students to make their best work. 

Series

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59 Pieces

The SaltCast was a bi-weekly podcast produced from 2008-2010, aimed at pulling back the curtain on radio storytelling. From fieldwork and recording techniques to narrative and ethics, Saltcast explored the ins-and-outs of radio production. If you want to hear more Salt radio work, including that produced by more recent students, check out http://www.prx.org/group_accounts/1185-salt !


Pieces

Caption: The Guerette family of Pittston, Maine two years after attackers broke into their home with machetes. , Credit: Sarah Craig
"Left for Dead" is probably the most gruesome story reported by a Salt student. It's not for the faint of heart.

Bought by Radio Newark, KUT, and PRX Remix


  • Added: Jul 05, 2010
  • Length: 17:50
  • Purchases: 3
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Diane Richard and her husband Todd Melby sure know how to pick a project with a long uphill road to the finish line. On this Saltcast, we talk with...

Bought by Radio Newark and PRX Remix


  • Added: Jul 05, 2010
  • Length: 27:24
  • Purchases: 2
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You didn’t hear this from me, but sometimes the best approach to working on a story is to not have much of a plan.

Bought by WOUB, Radio Newark, WMPG, KUOW, and PRX Remix


  • Added: Jun 23, 2010
  • Length: 14:03
  • Purchases: 5
Caption: Nathan Dyer focuses hard — really hard — on the chandelier., Credit: Morrigan McCarthy
Ninety-nine percent of the time, using the pronoun “I” in a story is a journalistic no-no. But sometimes, it's a useful storytelling tool.

Bought by WOUB, Radio Newark, KUT, and PRX Remix


  • Added: Jun 23, 2010
  • Length: 11:47
  • Purchases: 4
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“Ghetto Life 101" is a high-water mark for radio documentary and the story featured on this edition of the Saltcast — our fiftieth!!

Bought by WUTC, KOSU, Radio Newark, KUT, WORLDcompass.org and more


  • Added: Jun 23, 2010
  • Length: 38:07
  • Purchases: 6
Caption: Jerry Blackburn, “The Junk King” of the Downeast region of Maine. , Credit: Alexandra Marvar, courtesy of the Salt archive
On this edition of the Saltcast, I chat with Salt alum Josh Gleason about framing a story and listen to his feature "The Junk King."

Bought by Radio Newark and PRX Remix


  • Added: Jun 21, 2010
  • Length: 15:04
  • Purchases: 2
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There are lots of different ways to start a story. Maybe the most common is what I call “Here’s-how-things-are (or were)-here’s-how-they're-differe...

Bought by Radio Newark and PRX Remix


  • Added: Jun 21, 2010
  • Length: 09:50
  • Purchases: 2
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Thought the limerick was a dead artform? A remnant of “ye olde days” that little kids still find humorous? Think again. Molly Haley brings us the ...

Bought by Radio Newark


  • Added: Jun 21, 2010
  • Length: 09:10
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Icebergs ho! The bow of my kayak near Hay Cove, far northern Newfoundland.
The focus of this Saltcast is tension and narrative arc. I dissect an audio postcard of my own, called “Nothing Predictable,” and describe the arc ...

Bought by Radio Newark, KUT, and PRX Remix


  • Added: Jun 21, 2010
  • Length: 09:02
  • Purchases: 3
Caption: Meatball sub, anyone?, Credit: Catherine Lovell courtesy of the Salt archive
No matter which way producer Audrey Dilling turned in the cafeteria kitchen at Biddeford High School, she was awash in sound, sound, and more sound...

Bought by KUER, Radio Newark, WMPG, and PRX Remix


  • Added: Jun 21, 2010
  • Length: 10:11
  • Purchases: 4