This short piece was awarded 1st place in University of North Carolina's Sonic South competition.

"The Southern Oral History Program (SOHP) collects interviews with southerners from all walks of life. Since 1973 the SOHP has preserved the voices of the region, capturing compelling personalities and poignant stories under our motto “You don’t have to be famous for your life to be history.” In order to introduce wider audiences to this trove of Southern narratives, and to support a growing community of audio producers, we are thrilled to announce our new audio competition, The Sonic South.

For our inaugural competition, we’re focusing on the theme of persistence.

This year we are highlighting women’s voices, which have always been central to SOHP’s collection. Women’s stories help us understand the social and economic changes that people across the South have experienced and initiated. Women’s leadership and activism—their persistence in the face of authority—have been key to the political movements of our time. Of course, not all women have embraced change; persistence can also mean the ongoing power of old traditions and ways of thinking. No matter what our politics or our outlook, all our lives have been indelibly shaped by these stories.

The finished work must focus on the theme of persistence—interpreted however the producer may wish—and must use the voices of southern women from the SOHP’s archive of more than 6,000 interviews. Producers are encouraged to think creatively about format, structure, and style."

UNC's Sonic South competition - 1st Place

Camp SAY in North Carolina is a place for kids who stutter to connect and overcome their fears. The pressure is on at the big performance. Will they let stuttering hold them back?

I produced this story for the BBC's Outlook program in August 2017. It was heard by 66 million people around the world.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05f91bd

BBC Outlook - A Summer Camp for Kids Who Stutter

For generations, farmers in Western North Carolina have relied on tobacco as a core crop, their lifeblood. It was more than just income, though: tobacco supplied these families with a cultural backbone, a way of ordering their year and their meals. So, what’s happening to that culture as the tobacco industry has changed?

I produced this documentary for Gravy, the Southern Foodways Alliance's podcast, in October 2016.

http://www.southernfoodways.org/gravy/beyond-the-golden-leaf-tobacco-food-culture-and-a-changing-farming-landscape-gravy-ep-50/

Gravy

Southern Foodways Alliance - Beyond the Golden Leaf

I'm a radio producer, writer, and magazine editor based in the mountains of North Carolina.

jenathan