Career
Allison started his career in theater, as an actor. He began producing for radio in 1977, after a friend who worked at NPR loaned him a tape recorder. He taught himself to record, edit and mix audio. He became known, early on for integrating dramatic, theatrical sound design into stories. Over the years, he co-produced many audio documentaries and features, including "Beyond Affliction: The Disability History Project" (1999) and "Lost and Found Sound" (1999-2001). [2] Many of these stories appeared within other radio programs. [6]
In 1991, Allison was a co-producer for "The Miles Davis Radio Project," [2] a multi-part audio series timed with the writing of Miles Davis's autobiography. The other producers were music documentarian Steve Rowland [9] and poet Quincy Troupe, who co-wrote Davis's autobiography. [10] The series incorporated original and archived interviews with Davis, alongside new, previously unreleased interviews. The series also put forward studio outtakes and rare recordings, including Davis's never-before-heard first recording with John Coltrane. Actor Danny Glover hosted the series. The project won a Peabody Award, [11] and was viewed at the time as Davis's definitive audio biography. [9]
In 1993, Allison founded the non-profit Atlantic Public Media (originally named Cape and Islands Community Radio) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, where he lived. His goal was to establish a public radio station serving Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. The region had been designated as "underserved" by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. In 1997, APM got licenses from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to build two radio stations, one on Nantucket and one in Woods Hole. [2] APM later formed a partnership with the Boston public radio station WGBH, through which WGBH built and operated the stations. In 2000, the radio stations WNAN, serving Nantucket, and WCAI, serving Martha's Vineyard and Cape Cod, went live. [2]
On WNAN and WCAI, Allison aired nationally syndicated radio shows, like All Things Considered , and also created local programming. Allison's goal was to both capture local character and counter local rivalries, by highlighting human stories. [2] He created a series of short radio spots, called "sonic IDs," which were created by local people and interspersed with programming. These short 30- or 60-second spots featured local people sharing anecdotes or oral histories. Some of the topics covered included the proper way to hang laundry on a line, the benefits of boat-building or a memory of local store that since closed. [12] As of 2012, the stations had hundreds of these spots in rotation. [13]
In 2001, Allison launched Transom.org, a community website where new producers can take online classes, share their work and receive feedback. [5] In 2003, Allison received the Peabody Award for Transom.org. It was the first free-standing website to receive the award. [14]
In 2003, Allison launched Public Radio Exchange (PRX), a digital marketplace where content from independent producers can be discovered and purchased by radio stations across the U.S. [5] His goal was to create more opportunity for new producers, and for different kinds of content that didn't fit into existing programs. [15]
In 2005, Allison and his collaborator Dan Gediman revived Edward R. Murrow's 1950s radio program, This I Believe . The series collected short audio essays, told in the first-person, in which people express a deeply held belief. The series premiered as a segment within the NPR shows All Things Considered and Morning Edition in 2005. [5]
Awards
Allison has received six Peabody Awards. In 1985, Allison received the Peabody Award for the 3-part radio series on mental illness, "Breakdown and Back." [16] In 1991, Allison received the Peabody Award for the radio biography, "The Miles Davis Radio Project." [9] In 1999, Allison received the Peabody Award for the series "Lost & Found Sound," which appeared on the program All Things Considered. [6] In 2002, Allison received the Peabody Award for the Sonic Memorial Project and the corresponding website, both serving as audio commemorations for the events of September 11, 2001. [17] In 2003, Allison received the Peabody Award for the website Transom.org, the first free-standing website to receive the award. [14] In 2010, Allison received the Peabody Award for the podcast The Moth Radio Hour. [18]
Allison was the 1996 recipient of the CPB's Edward R. Murrow Award for outstanding contributions to public radio, [7] the first independent producer to have received it.
In 2006, Allison received the duPont-Columbia Award for the radio series Hidden Kitchens, created with the Kitchen Sisters. [19]
Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) is a public radio network for the state of Minnesota. With its three services, News & Information, YourClassical MPR and The Current, MPR operates a 46-station regional radio network in the upper Midwest.
This American Life (TAL) is an American weekly hour-long radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internationally, and is also available as a free weekly podcast. Primarily a journalistic non-fiction program, it has also featured essays, memoirs, field recordings, short fiction, and found footage. The first episode aired on November 17, 1995, under the show's original title, Your Radio Playhouse. The series was distributed by Public Radio International until June 2014, when the program became self-distributed with Public Radio Exchange delivering new episodes to public radio stations.
Public Radio International (PRI) was an American public radio organization. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, PRI provided programming to over 850 public radio stations in the United States.
WNYC is the trademark and a set of call letters shared by WNYC (AM) and WNYC-FM, a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations located in New York City. WNYC is owned by New York Public Radio (NYPR), a nonprofit organization that did business as "WNYC RADIO" until March 2013.
Robert Alan Edwards was an American broadcast journalist who was a Peabody Award-winning member of the National Radio Hall of Fame. He hosted both of National Public Radio's flagship news programs, the afternoon All Things Considered, and Morning Edition, where he was the first and longest serving host in the latter program's history. Starting in 2004, Edwards hosted The Bob Edwards Show on Sirius XM Radio and Bob Edwards Weekend distributed by Public Radio International to more than 150 public radio stations. Those programs ended in September 2015.
American Public Media (APM) is an American company that produces and distributes public radio programs in the United States, the second largest company of its type after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and operates radio stations in Minnesota and California. Its station brands include Minnesota Public Radio and Southern California Public Radio. Based in St. Paul, Minnesota, APM is best known for distribution of the national financial news program Marketplace.
Marketplace is an American radio program that focuses on business, the economy, and events that influence them. The program was first broadcast on January 2, 1989. Hosted by Kai Ryssdal since 2005, the show is produced and distributed by American Public Media. Marketplace is produced in Los Angeles with bureaus in New York, Washington, D.C., Portland, Baltimore, London, and Shanghai. It won a Peabody Award in 2000.
This I Believe was originally a five-minute program, originally hosted by journalist Edward R. Murrow from 1951 to 1955 on CBS Radio Network. The show encouraged both famous and everyday people to write short essays about their own personal motivation in life and then read them on the air. This I Believe became a cultural phenomenon that stressed individual belief rather than religious dogma. Its popularity both developed and waned within the era of U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy and the Cold War.
WCAI in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, WNAN in Nantucket, and WZAI in Brewster, are NPR member radio stations serving the Cape Cod and Islands area of southeast Massachusetts. They broadcast primarily news and information programming and are owned by the WGBH Educational Foundation in Boston. WCAI's studios are located at 3 Water Street in Woods Hole and its transmission facilities are located in Tisbury, Massachusetts.
On the Media (OTM) is a public radio show and podcast that primarily covers the media. Since relaunching in 2001 with Brooke Gladstone as host, the show has received at least ten awards, including two Peabody Awards.
WCMU-FM is a public radio station in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. The station, owned by Central Michigan University, is a National Public Radio member station, airing a news/talk format along with a variety of other programming. It is the flagship station of a network called WCMU Public Radio made up of six other affiliate stations in Northern Michigan.
WNCK is radio station known as "89.5 Quahog Country".
The WGBH Educational Foundation is an American public broadcasting group based in Boston, Massachusetts. Established in 1951, it holds the licenses to all of the PBS member stations in Massachusetts, and operates its flagship station WGBH-TV, sister station WGBX-TV, and a group of NPR member stations in the state. It also owns WGBY-TV in Springfield, which is operated by New England Public Media under a program service agreement.
Lourdes "Lulu" Garcia-Navarro is an American journalist and an Opinion Audio podcast host for The New York Times. She was the host of National Public Radio's Weekend Edition Sunday from 2017 to 2021, when she left NPR after 17 years at the network. Previously a foreign correspondent, she served as NPR's Jerusalem bureau chief. Her coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and her vivid dispatches of the Arab Spring uprisings brought Garcia-Navarro wide acclaim and five awards in 2012, including the Edward R. Murrow and Peabody Awards for her coverage of the Libyan revolt. She then moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, covering South America. Her series on the Amazon rainforest was a Peabody finalist and won an Edward R. Murrow award for best news series.
Hear It Now, an American radio program on CBS, began on December 15, 1950, ending in June 1951. It was hosted by Edward R. Murrow and produced by Murrow and Fred W. Friendly. It ran for one hour on Fridays at 9 pm Eastern Time.
The Public Radio Exchange (PRX) is a non-profit web-based platform for digital distribution, review, and licensing of radio programs. The organization is the largest on-demand catalogue of public radio programs available for broadcast and internet use.
Radiolab is a radio program and podcast produced by WNYC, a public radio station based in New York City, and broadcast on more than 570 public radio stations in the United States. The show has earned many industry awards for its "imaginative use of radio" including a National Academies Communication Award and two Peabody Awards.
WGBH is a public radio station located in Boston, Massachusetts. WGBH is a member station of National Public Radio (NPR) and affiliate of Public Radio Exchange (PRX) and American Public Media (APM). The license-holder is WGBH Educational Foundation, which also owns company flagship WGBH-TV and WGBX-TV, along with WGBY-TV in Springfield.
The Kitchen Sisters are Davia Nelson and Nikki Silva, who are National Public Radio radio producers in the United States.
Reveal is a nationally broadcast public radio show and investigative reporting podcast hosted by Al Letson. The radio program is released on Saturdays on radio stations in the Public Radio Exchange network and the show is also available in podcast form. It is part of a growing trend of investigative reporting being disseminated through audio. Its first weekly season was ranked among the top 50 podcasts by The Atlantic.
