Best of the Best: The 2019 Third Coast Festival

Best of the Best is an annual ode to audio storytelling, taking listeners on a journey through the full breadth of what’s possible in stories made from sound. This year's program showcases the winners of the 19th annual Third Coast / Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition. From nearly 500 entries and 23 countries, eleven stories were chosen as winners. On Best of the Best, hear meticulously crafted and boundary-pushing stories, alongside behind-the-scenes interviews with the producers who made them.

HOUR 1

Punks, produced by Kathy Tu, co-produced by Tobin Low and Matt Collette, sound designed by Jeremy Bloom, edited by Jenny Lawton, and executive produced by Paula Szuchman for Nancy from WNYC Studios.
Winner of the 2019 Skylarking Award
A mystery story about a man, a movie, and a mad-cap adventure to unite the two.

Death in Illinois Prisons: He Didn’t Have The Death Penalty But That’s What He Got, produced by Shannon Heffernan and edited by Rob Wildeboer for WBEZ.
Winner of the 2019 Best News Feature Award
Every year, people die in Illinois prisons. Reporter Shannon Heffernan uncovered that the state hasn’t been keeping detailed records of these deaths, meaning that families couldn’t learn even the simplest details about how and why their loved one died. 

Change Intolerance, produced by Sam Fenn and Garth Mullins, co-produced by Lisa Hale, Alexander Kim, and Ryan McNeil for the podcast Crackdown, with editorial support from Laura Shaver and Chereece Keewatin.
Winner of the 2019 Radio Impact Award
In 2014, the province of British Columbia suddenly switched nearly 15,000 methadone patients to a new formulation of the drug called Methadose. Led by a team of Vancouver’s most experienced drug user activists, this story is an investigation into what happened afterwards.

HOUR 2

In The Dark, Season Two, produced by lead reporter and host Madeleine Baran, senior producer Samara Freemark, producers Natalie Jablonski and Rehman Tungekar, reporters Parker Yesko and Will Craft, and edited by Catherine Winter for APM Reports.
Winner of the 2019 Best Serialized Story Award
In small town Mississippi, a white prosecutor tried a black man six times for the same crime, a quadruple homicide. For 23 years, Curtis Flowers maintained his innocence on death row. This story is a narrative investigation into the case, which uncovered prosecutorial misconduct, false confessions, an alternate suspect, and a pattern of racial bias. 

Price of Secrecy (Hazineh Razdari), produced by Zoha Zokaei and edited by Rob Szeliga.
Winner of the 2019 Best Foreign Language Award
An unexpected turn of events occurs when 15-year-old Tannaz tells the police about being sexually abused by a friend.

No Feeling is Final, written by Honor Eastly, with executive producer Joel Werner, producer Alice Moldovan, writer Graham Panther, and sound engineer Russell Stapleton. Created at ABC Audio Studios under the guidance of managing editor, Kellie Riordan.
Winner of the 2019 Directors’ Choice Award
Usually when we talk about suicide, we encourage people to "just ask for help". But Honor Eastly knows it’s not that simple. She’s been there and back, and now has years of phone recordings and diary entries which form the basis of her podcast.

HOUR 3

Mardi Gras Is A State Of Mind, produced by Mara Lazer.
Winner of the 2019 Best New Artist Award
This is a story about the idea of shape shifting, with a friend, via testosterone. What does it mean to be a lesbian separatist who might actually be a man?

The Return, produced by Sayre Quevedo, with editors Marlon Bishop and Sophia Paliza-Carre for NPR’s Latino USA.
Winner of the 2019 Best Documentary: Gold Award
Javier Zamora came to the United States at the age of nine and built a life there. But when his Temporary Protected Status was threatened by the Trump Administration, he had no choice but to return to El Salvador for the first time in 20 years.

Airs Tuesday, December 31 from 9pm-12am on 93.9 FM.

Explore all of our 2019 holiday programming here.