Object Piece

The Truth

Fiction

4.7 • 4K Ratings

🗓️ 19 March 2026

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Object Piece is a radio drama recorded in a dried out lake bed in 1978. It's visceral and compelling, with incredible acting, and it was made by Erik Bauersfeld, one of the great audio dramatists of the late 20th century. First we'll hear the story, then we'll learn more about where it came from and how it was made. We'll talk to Randy Thom, whose 50-year career in film sound began with a job recording with Bauersfeld. We also talk with Jim McKee of Earwax Studios, who followed in Randy's footsteps. And we hear from Neil Verma, who teaches audio drama at Northwestern, and uses this story in his classes. Object Piece was written by Drury Pifer, and directed by Erik Bauersfeld, who also performs the part of Dack, with Gale Chugg as Charles. Sound design and engineering was by Randy Thom, with additional engineering from Jim McKee. ⁠Order your vinyl copy of Silvia's Blood and Moon Graffiti HERE.⁠⁠ The records will only be available until supplies last. We are selling them for $50 each, and 100% of the proceeds go to pay the writers, actors, and production costs for our show. Support The Truth by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠subscribing to our ad-free feed⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. It’s $5, or $50 a year. You’ll get every story without interruption, but more than that, you’ll be supporting the survival of our show. Go to: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thetruthpodcast.supportingcast.fm⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow us on... ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BLUESKY⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠THREADS⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠REDDIT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To learn more about our show, go to our website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thetruthpodcast.com⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The truth.
0:01.7	I'd known the name Eric Bowersfeld for years.
0:04.9	It's one of those names that kept surfacing.
0:06.6	He's a pioneer who helped keep radio drama alive over decades,
0:10.4	when almost no one else bothered.
0:12.7	But until recently, the only thing I really knew about him
0:15.5	was that he'd made a story called Object Piece,
0:18.2	which I'd never heard in its entirety.
0:20.6	Beyond excerpts, it's been a little hard to track down. An object piece, which I'd never heard in its entirety. Beyond excerpts, it's been a little
0:22.2	hard to track down. An object piece was recorded entirely on location away from the studio. It's one of
0:28.7	the seminal pieces to do that in audio drama. And for me, it's always carried a particular aura in
0:34.8	part because it was engineered and sound designed by a very famous film sound designer named Randy Tom, who started his career working for Francis Ford Coppola on Apocalypse Now.
0:46.3	Yeah, I think I was actually working on Apocalypse when we recorded Object Piece.
0:55.0	The acting is fantastic. The story is compelling. And to this day, Object Piece feels very contemporary.
1:01.0	I've actually played the object piece for a couple of directors that I worked with. I played for David Lynch when I was working on Wilde's Heart with him,
1:12.7	and he loved it.
1:14.7	I was finally able to hear it myself when it was suggested to me by Neil Verma, who teaches object piece to his students at Northwestern.
1:22.5	Whenever I give a lecture about this piece, which I often do, my students love this piece.
1:27.3	And what I always say is, have you ever heard of Eric Bowersfeld? And they say, no, and I say, ah, but you have. I'm going to say a couple of words. And once I say these words, you're going to know who I'm talking about. And I could tell you those words right now, but I think I'd rather wait for after the story,
1:44.8	when we'll learn all about Eric Bowersfeld from some of the people who knew him best.
1:50.0	This is The Truth. I'm Jonathan Mitchell, and after the break, it's a seminal piece of audio
1:54.5	fiction, object piece. And as always, if you'd like to hear our show ad-free, go to the truthpodcast.
	...

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