Welcome to Sound Judgment

Become a better storyteller in audio and beyond

I’ve been publishing Sound Judgment, the newsletter and podcast, since late 2022. In that short time, my sound-rich conversations with today’s most celebrated audio storytellers have been called “your online master’s degree in audio storytelling,” “a masterclass in podcasting,” and “required listening for our profession.” Why? Because I wanted to learn for myself how the most magnetic audio storytellers of our day make their magic.

So I set out to go behind the scenes with them. On every podcast episode, a world-class storyteller and I dissect one of their favorite or most challenging episodes. The point: To unpack their creative choices in the moment, in a living, learning, example-rich lab, and to bring their lessons to you.

You can get these lessons directly, as well!

Just hop on over to my Sound Judgment Workshops page. There you’ll find courses on interviewing, storytelling strategies, finding and being a great guest, clarifying your driving question, and more. I also offer individual coaching if you have a story to wrangle, a career question keeping you up at night, or you need to start or tweak your show development strategy.

Looking for a workshop right now? See the latest here.

What I didn’t foresee was that the vast majority of these takeaways are just as compelling for storytellers across every other platform there is! Authors, public speakers, documentarians and other filmmakers, journalists, science writers, editors, marketers, fundraisers, and even clinicians and others who use interviewing and storytelling in interpersonal communications say the newsletter and the podcast are inspiring and valuable resources.

No need to be a podcaster to glean insights into storytelling, reporting and the art of ‘hostiness.’ Any creative—writer, producer, artist—will find actionable tips in every episode.

— IYNA BORT CARUSO

Every other Sunday, Sound Judgment, the newsletter, comes to your inbox with analysis, tips, recommendations, and more, drawn from hands-on experience; the shows we listen to; and the producers, hosts, editors and other storytellers and growth experts I work with and learn from. This newsletter is for you if:

• You want to become a better storyteller on any platform and you love applying real-life examples learned from going behind the scenes

• You’re an audio storyteller or dream of becoming one

• You’re a content leader considering how to best include high-quality storytelling in your communications mix, and how to help your team improve their storytelling

• You’re an avid listener curious about how producers and hosts make your favorite shows 

• You love books, reading, and going behind the scenes to apply lessons from master storytellers to improve your own writing

• You want to strengthen your connections with your audience, no matter your medium. Writers, public speakers, TV producers and filmmakers all say they find Sound Judgment’s storytelling, interviewing, hosting, and producing insights incredibly valuable.

Why subscribe?

These biweekly newsletters include:

An essay about the craft of audio storytelling, and sometimes about the creative process and about our place as makers within the rapidly changing media world.

The “Try This in Your Studio” column, which brings you actionable takeaways from Sound Judgment guests like Anna Sale, Glynn Washington, Kelly Corrigan, Jonathan Menjivar, and many more award-winning storytellers and interviewers.

“Learn from the Best” tips, which recommend the the best things to read, listen to, and study from around the web, the library, and our worldwide network of creators, including you!

New! The “Reader’s Corner” — Examples of reader-contributed content, along with your origin stories, process, challenges, and lessons learned.

Sound Judgment Kudos to storytellers who are making fantastic sound judgments creative choices—choices that elevate the quality of our content. Kudos often include opportunities for you to enter an awards program, attend an event, or take advantage of a little-known opportunity. We’re all in this together.

The occasional Unsound Judgment: When something feels like a particularly poor choice, I’m not afraid to say so.

Paid subscribers get access to the archive, discounts on classes and coaching, forthcoming special live discussions, subscriber-only chats, and a large and growing database of storytelling resources. Consider upgrading to paid to become an active participant in the Sound Judgment community. We are all better storytellers together.

In between the full-length newsletters, I’ll bring you some short missives to keep you updated on goings-on in audio storytelling and the writing craft, a quick takeaway that I can’t wait to share, and great book and podcast recommendations.

Become a part of the Sound Judgment community, along with 900-plus subscribers from PRX, Pushkin Industries, Reveal, NPR affiliates, National Federation of Community Broadcasters, AIR, The Podcast Academy, Hindenburg, Podglomerate, the Economist, The Guardian, CBS News, and more. Subscribers to the podcast come from 103 countries around the world!