True Stories online

How did photographer Ilvy Njiokiktjien make her long-term project Born Free a success? In 2012 Ilvy Njiokiktjien, together with journalist Elles van Gelder, won the first prize in the Digital Storytelling Contest at World Press Photo with their multimedia story “Afrikaner Blood”. This story about a command camp for ultra-right-wing youth in South Africa is part of a long-term project about the 'born frees'. Njiokiktjien continues to work on the project with the aim of showing how young people are doing in South Africa after the abolition of apartheid. The project, completed in 2019, resulted in an interactive long-read, various international publications, an exhibition in Museum Hilversum, a documentary by the VPRO and a self-published publication. In a conversation with photography and media consultant Evelien Kunst Njiokiktjien take a closer look at what it takes to independently create a long-term visually driven story and publish on multiple platforms. Njiokiktjien talks about how rule number one is to have a genuine interest in your story. How important it is to spend time with your subjects and gain their trust. But also about how experimenting and collaboration can enrich your storytelling. She furthermore talks about the importance of organizing yourself and expanding your network. The necessity to overcome your own shyness and introduce yourself, and your work, to editors and other people. As Njiokiktjien puts it: 'The main struggle is not the making of the project. The main struggle is that you have to sell it.' A podcast worth listening to, if you have ambitions, and, if you are about to embark on your own long-term project. Credits Research, host and interview: Evelien Kunst Editing, mixing and sound design: Wederik de Backer Executive producers: Brecht van der Meulen and Laura Das Senior production: Evelien Kunst Music: Chad Crouch Audio excerpts: from the short documentary Afrikaner Blood (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFWEtdZ5TWA) by Elles van Gelder & Ilvy Njiokiktjien; from the short documentary Born Free (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP3jge_-TFM) by Ilvy Njiokiktjien and with thanks to the Nelson Mandela Foundation for the use of the Nelson Mandela quote. This True Stories online podcast was made for the Narrative Journalism Foundation which aims to support Dutch journalists who want to improve their skills in working in a narrative form (verhalendejournalistiek.nl/conferentie-2020). The Narrative Journalism Foundation receives support from the Democracy and Media Foundation, Pictoright, Lira Reproright, the University of Amsterdam and the Evens Foundation. For the Born Free project check www.bornfreegeneration.com.

Soon at True Stories online: Photographer Ilvy Njiokiktjien, member of the international acclaimed collective VII Photos, talks to Evelien Kunst about her long-term project Born Free. During this conversation, Kunst and Njiokiktjien take a closer look at what it takes to independently create a long-term visually driven story and publish on multiple platforms.

Patrick Radden Keefe shares the ins and outs of writing his bestselling non-fiction novel Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland. Of the four years he spent on the book, he claims 90 percent went into research and outlining and only 10 percent into the actual writing. So what did that process look like? In a candid conversation with Dutch journalist Inge Oosterhoff, Patrick Radden Keefe talks all about the best way to tell a true story and how to arrange the truth into a compelling narrative that reads like a novel. He explains why he believes access is overrated, why footnotes offer creative freedom, and how he came to terms with the understanding that there were stories he didn't need to tell. An insightful look behind the scenes of book-writing with Patrick Radden Keefe. He will teach you about the eight big beats and how screenwriting helped him to outline and sequence the story. How compression, juxtaposition and cutting can help you to keep the momentum of the story going and your audience engaged. As Radden Keefe puts it: ‘You don't always have to finish the thought.' A podcast that is a true must-listen for anyone with ambitions to write a non-fiction bestseller! Credits Host and interview: Inge Oosterhoff Editing, mixing and sound design: Wederik de Backer Research: Inge Oosterhoff, Roos van der Lint, Evelien Kunst Executive producers: Judith Eigeman and Laura Das Senior production: Evelien Kunst Music: Chad Crouch Audio excerpts: Penguin Random House audio and the radio documentary ‘The Chaplans Diary' by Lorelei Harris for RTE Radio 1. This True Stories online podcast was made for the Narrative Journalism Foundation which aims to support Dutch journalists who want to improve their skills in working in a narrative form (verhalendejournalistiek.nl/conferentie-2020). The Narrative Journalism Foundation receives support from the Democracy and Media Foundation, Pictoright, Lira Reproright, the University of Amsterdam and the Evens Foundation.

Soon at True Stories online: An insightful look behind the scenes of book-writing with Patrick Radden Keefe (known for his bestselling book Say Nothing). He will teach you about the eight big beats and how screenwriting helped him to outline and sequence the story. How compression, juxtaposition and cutting can help you to keep the momentum of the story going and your audience engaged. As Radden Keefe puts it: 'You don't always have to finish the thought.' A podcast that is a true must-listen for anyone with ambitions to write a non-fiction bestseller!

How can talking in a chipmunk voice help to make a breathtaking, award winning podcast? Andy Mills, audio producer for the New York Times, shares strange and wonderful insights, and shameful mistakes, that led to the creation of Caliphate, winner of a Peabody award for best podcast. In a conversation with podcast producer Jair Stein, Andy Mills takes a deep dive into making a narrative podcast. He talks about the necessity and the perils of audio experimentation, and lessons he learned from podcast heroes like Brian Reed (S-Town), Robert Krulwich (Radiolab) and Ira Glass (This American Life). Produced by Jair Stein 
Research by Inge Oosterhoff and Randy Vermeulen
 Executive production by Judith Eigeman and Laura Das
 Senior production by Evelien Kunst. Music by Blue Dot Sessions
https://www.sessions.blue This True Stories online podcast was made for the Narrative Journalism Foundation which aims to support Dutch journalists who want to improve their skills in working in a narrative form (verhalendejournalistiek.nl/conferentie-2020). The Narrative Journalism Foundation receives support from the Democracy and Media Foundation, Pictoright, Lira Reproright, the University of Amsterdam and the Evens Foundation.