Just the Beginning

The View From Somewhere

Oriana Leckert, Kickstarter's journalism expert, shares the first episode of The View from Somewhere, a podcast about journalism with a purpose. Host Lewis Raven Wallace shares the story of losing his job after raising questions about the value of journalistic objectivity.

Deconstructing the Voyager Golden Record

If you had to make a playlist that represented life on Earth, what would you include? That’s challenge a team of artists, scientists and musicologists led by astronomer Carl Sagan set for themselves in 1977. They compiled a gold-plated record of greetings, sounds, and music representing life on this planet, and sent it into space on NASA’s Voyager probes. The intended audience was extraterrestrials who might discover these spacecraft and wonder who sent them. That’s right, it was a mix tape for aliens. This bonus episode of Just the Beginning features a story from our friends at the podcast Twenty Thousand Hertz [https://www.20k.org/], breaking down the Voyager Golden Record track by track. You’ll hear music from around the work as well as interviews with Tim Ferris and Linda Salzman Sagan, two of the folks who produced the record. This story was produced by Leigh McDonald and Dallas Taylor with help from Sam Schneble and was sound designed and mixed by Nick Spradlin. Twenty Thousand Hertz [http://20k.org/] is produced out of the studios of Defacto Sound, [http://defactosound.com/] and hosted by Dallas Taylor. Music in this  story: SVVN David A Molina Dario Lupo Chad Lawson Additional music in this episode: Balún [https://balun.bandcamp.com/] Frank LoCrasto [http://www.franklocrasto.com/]

Making Waves

Why are wild animals the key to making fighter jets more exciting on-screen? Who bailed out Stanley Kubrick when his epic battle sequence sounded like pots and pans? And what did Jacques Cousteau have in common with Darth Vader? Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound, a groundbreaking new documentary, covers all this and more as it introduces us to the often unsung heroes of Hollywood sound design. Liz Cook Mowe, Kickstarter’s Director of Documentary Film, presents this preview of Making Waves along with filmmakers Midge Costin, Bobette Buster, and Karen Johnson. They explain how sound is as powerful a cinematic storytelling tool as images and share some of their favorite stories about creative uses of sound in film—from King Kong to Barbra Streisand. Learn more about Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound and find a screening near you. [https://www.makingwavesmovie.com/]

Reconstructing the Past

In this episode, we explore creative projects that attempt to reconstruct the past—at least a version of it. Plus, we take a look back at some personal moments from the first 10 years of Kickstarter, as told by creators and backers. Say Something Bunny [https://saysomethingbunny.com/] Interdisciplinary artist Alison S.M. Kobayashi came across a seemingly mundane audio recording of a family gathering in 1950s Long Island. It was garbled, filled with obscure references, and she set out to unlock its mysteries. Her unique one-woman show, based on six years of research on this recording, has garnered rave reviews and played to sold-out audiences since 2017. Roger Peltzman [http://rogerpeltzman.com/cd-project.html] Norbert Stern’s career as one of the most promising concert pianists in 1930s Europe was cut short when he and his family were captured by the Nazis, along with other Jews, and sent to Auschwitz, where they ultimately perished. His nephew Roger Peltzman, an acclaimed pianist himself, decided to travel to Brussels to record a program of the Chopin pieces that were Norbert’s speciality in the concert hall where he regularly performed. 10 Years of Kickstarter To help us celebrate our 10th birthday [https://www.kickstarter.com/10], we asked some other creators who have brought ideas to life with Kickstarter to share some memories—snapshots from different points in their Journeys. Here’s who we heard from: * Emmely Elgersma—creator of the world’s largest papier-mache sculpture [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/world-record-vase/world-record-attempt-biggest-papier-mache-sculptur] * Hank Willis Thomas & Eric Gottesman—creators of The For Freedoms 50 State Initiative [https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/978911160/created] * Zoe Mendelson—cocreator of Pussypedia [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/396848313/mexico-creates-pussypedia] * Paul Saisset—screenwriter of Paris Est à Nous [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1335564388/paris-est-une-fete] * Alice Oseman—creator of Heartstopper [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/aliceoseman/heartstopper-volume-one] * Eu-wen Ding—cofounder and CEO of Lumos [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/819484536/lumos-a-next-generation-bicycle-helmet] * Taneka Stotts—cocreator of The Beyond and ELEMENTS Anthologies [https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/335445879/created] * Lucien Zayan—founder and director of The Invisible Dog Art Center [https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/183275255/created] * Raja Feather Kelly + the feath3r theory [https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/feath3r/created?] * Ema Ryan Yamazaki—director of Monkey Business: The Adventures of Curious George's Creators [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1344946756/curious-george-documentary] * Joel Hodgson—creator of Mystery Science Theater 3000](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mst3k/bringbackmst3k) * Simone Giertz—creator of The Everyday Calendar [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/simonegiertz/the-every-day-calendar?] * Tom Putnam—cofounder of Beeline [https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/ridebeeline/created] * Stevie Ronnie—creator of 'and for you (love)' [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stevieronnie/and-for-you-love-an-artists-book-of-braille-poems] * Sandy Honig, Mitra Jouhari, and Alyssa Stonoha—the comedy trio Three Busy Debras [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2053480434/help-three-busy-debras-play-carnegie-hall?] Gifts From the Grave Peter Hicks tells the story of what happened when he introduced Kickstarter to his father, Ray Hicks. Goodbye, Zakiya—we love you! Sadly, this is the last episode of Just the Beginning featuring producer and cohost Zakiya Gibbons. She’s off to work with WNYC’s wonderful podcast Nancy [https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/nancy]. She'll also continue her work building a directory of people of color working in the audio industry(site coming soon!). Find a full transcript with photos here. [https://medium.com/@kickstarter/just-the-beginning-episode-8-5a27d5a36e33]

The New News

Oriana Leckert, Kickstarter’s Journalism Outreach Lead, joins us to explore creative new approaches to reporting the news. Tortoise Founded by industry veterans who have previously helped run The Wall Street Journal and the BBC, Tortoise aims to create a new kind of newsroom [https://www.tortoisemedia.com/]—one that takes a slower, deeper approach to covering stories. With an eye toward staying financially independent, they’ve pursued a participatory, membership-based model. And they invite members to directly contribute to their coverage through in-person events called ThinkIns. Cabina en Malos Pasos Alejandra Sánchez Inzunza and José Luis Pardo Veiras [https://dromomanos.com/]have been reporting on corruption and violence throughout Latin America since 2012, working with traditional news outlets like The New York Times and Univision. With Cabina en Malos Pasos, an interactive video booth that features firsthand accounts of survivors, activists, and perpetrators, they aim to inspire empathy and make the often amorphous issue of violence in Latin America feel more personal. Music in this episode * Jake Armerding [https://jakearmerding.bandcamp.com/] * Jeremy Arndt [http://jeremyarndt.com/] * ensemble, et al. [https://www.ensembleetal.com/] * Balún [https://balun.bandcamp.com/] Find a full transcript with photos here. [https://medium.com/@kickstarter/just-the-beginning-episode-7-593d94dcdfbc]