How Anna Sale invites listeners in
Sound Judgment
Leaving Room for the Listener
Exploring the use of pauses and silences in storytelling to allow the listener to process information and make connections, as well as the importance of not tying up loose ends and leaving room for the listener to draw their own conclusions.
The episode discussed on today's Sound Judgment is Death, Sex & Money_—Bells & Bills: The Price You Paid for Your Wedding.
We also discuss Death, Sex & Money — A Headline Stays Static Even as a Life Transforms.
Anna Sale is the creator and host of Death, Sex & Money, the podcast about “the things we think about a lot and need to talk about more.” Anna won a Gracie for best podcast host in 2016 and the show won the 2018 Webby and 2021 Ambie for best interview show. (Jan 2024 update: Slate acquires Death, Sex & Money from WNYC Studios)
Before launching Death, Sex & Money in 2014, Anna covered politics for nearly a decade. She is the author of the book Let's Talk About Hard Things, which The New Yorker wrote "shows us how supportive listening happens." She grew up in West Virginia and now lives in Berkeley, Calif. with her husband and two daughters.
Death, Sex & Money Credits
Host: Anna Sale
Executive Producer: Liliana Maria Percy Ruiz
Producer: Zoe Azulay
Producer: Amy Pearl
Mix Engineer/Producer: Andrew Dunn
Follow Death, Sex & Money:
@deathsexmoney on Instagram
Subscribe to the DS&M weekly newsletter at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter for listener emails, recommendations from the team and a short essay from Anna Sale.
If you liked my conversation with Anna Sale, you’ll love:
Sound Judgment Season 2/Episode 10: How to tell the truth: The art of memoir with Dana Black
and
Sound Judgment Season 2/Episode 9: Best of: Emotional Bravery with Last Day’s Stephanie Wittels Wachs
If you want to support Sound Judgment, please visit our website to easily leave us a 5-star rating and a review that’ll go to Apple or Spotify instantly. We’re grateful.
The Sound Judgment team is:
Host & Producer: Elaine Appleton Grant
Production Assistant: Audrey Nelson
Audio engineer/sound designer: Kevin Kline
Podcast manager: Tina Bassir
Cover art by Sarah Edgell
Sound Judgment is a production of Podcast Allies, LLC, a boutique production and consulting company making magical podcasts for NGOs and nonprofits, higher ed, and media organizations.
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To contact us with questions, collaborations, media inquiries, speaking engagements, or sponsorships, write to us at allies@podcastallies.com. We encourage listener voice memos! Click the microphone icon at soundjudgmentpodcast.com.
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Anna Sale’s takeaways
These are the takeaways from the end of the episode. For more takeaways from all of our guests, subscribe to the Sound Judgment newsletter and visit our blog.
- Anna and her team hold two conflicting realities in their heads all the time: The show exists to talk about the things we normally keep private. But podcasts exist online, for all the world to consume and Google to find. So be clear about your show’s values. Practice journalistic ethics, and also the specific principles around how you want to treat your guests. Know that you will deal with these kinds of human conflicts every day.
- How do you prep a guest? Before an interview, Anna shares how they plan to edit and use the interview. If a guest requests anonymity, she may grant it in order to protect them and their longterm digital record.
- Fact-checking is always important, especially these days. But if you allow anonymity, it becomes even more critical.
- Perhaps my biggest takeaway from this conversation is that Death, Sex and Money is one big, warm place, where listeners are invited in and welcomed. Anna is proud that she and her team make listeners feel accompanied, wherever they take them.
- Finally, your guests expect hard questions. Don’t wimp out.
Improve your storytelling Check out our popular workshops on interviewing, story editing, story structure, longform narrative, audience engagement, guesting, scriptwriting and more.
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Credits
Sound Judgment is a production of Podcast Allies, LLC.
Host: Elaine Appleton Grant
Podcast Manager: Tina Bassir
Production Manager: Andrew Parrella
Audio Engineer: Kevin Kline
Production Assistant: Audrey Nelson
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