Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: LIz Beatty Entry Title: Amateur Night Sky Chasers Who Changed the Science of the Northern Lights Entry Credit: Liz Beatty, Lia Grainger Judge Comment: You could listen to this podcast every day. The music, the combined natural and creative sounds, and narration are outstanding. It feels like art as much as a podcast. Producers seized moments, such as when they paused to note “there’s no noise at all – we’re standing in the dark, in the cold.” What an outstanding storytelling device – knowing when to pause to accentuate items and underscore their significance. Well done.
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: Auto Club of Southern California Entry Title: Visiting Filming Locations Around The World: Part I Entry Credit: Derrik J. Lang, John McQueen, Angie Orth, Ginni Saraswati Judge Comment: One of the highlights of this podcast is its tempo and how it builds throughout. The locations come alive. The descriptions of Dubrovnik, Croatia, Greenland and Iceland – and all the places that seem otherworldly – are captivating. All of this is well-organized, and the contextual understanding of the storytelling and the weaving together of the narrative are exceptional.
Place Name: Third Place Contestant Name: LIz Beatty Entry Title: Beauty and Darkness: Returning to the Northern Labrador Inuit homeland Entry Credit: Liz Beatty Judge Comment: The writing on this podcast is captivating. A strong setup from the description of the journey, including the pronunciation of Labrador, leads into the nicely paced sounds of each leg of the journey. Great writing around the glacier formations as a roller coaster of turbulence and the base camp experience. The descriptions of the waterfalls, the vegetation, the striations of rocks paint a picture with words.
Place Name: Honorable Mention Contestant Name: Afar Entry Title: From Bomba to Bad Bunny: Searching for the Sounds of Puerto Rico Entry Credit: Aislyn Greene Judge Comment: The detail in the description of every desk – of every scene – is outstanding. The storytelling, from natural sound to sound bite to narrative, flows with equal ease. And the history of the music and its central role to the culture is beautifully crafted.
