Rumble Strip: Finn and the Bell

Radiolab

WNYC Studios

Science, Natural Sciences, History, Society & Culture, Documentary

4.6 • 43.5K Ratings

🗓️ 25 August 2023

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A couple years ago, our producer Annie McEwen listened to an audio documentary that, she said, “tore my heart wide open.” That episode , “Finn and the Bell,” (https://zpr.io/TDjwQuXFDSz6) by independent producer Erica Heilman (maker of the podcast Rumble Strip), went on to win some of the biggest awards in audio (including a Peabody, https://zpr.io/tu4hwhKQ3TWN), and the rest of the staff finally got around to listening, and it tore our hearts wide open, too. It’s a story about a death, but as so many of the best stories about death tend to be, it ends up mainly being about life, in this case, the life of a small town in far northern Vermont, the town where Erica lives and makes her show. We think you’ll like it.

You can find more than 200 other episodes of Rumble Strip here (https://zpr.io/dwGNnSFmAEFX).

Erica’s episode about The Civic Standard (https://zpr.io/GJMP95QENFKq), the community organization started by Finn’s mom Tara Reese and her friend Rose Friedman, is here (https://zpr.io/9HL9mpZT4LTM). A follow-up episode to “Finn and the Bell” is here (https://zpr.io/ycxSU7ceDXNi). The episode Lulu mentions about the camp for people with and without disabilities is here (https://zpr.io/cnyyUWrfQJey).Special thanks to Clare Dolan, Tobin Anderson, Amelia Meath and of course, Tara Reese 🥚. Rumble Strip is a member of Hub and Spoke, a collective of independent podcasts from around the country.

EPISODE CREDITS Reported by - Erica Heilman Produced by - Erica Heilman

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Wait, you're listening to Radio Lab from WNYC.
0:19.8	This is Radio Lab.
0:20.8	I'm Lulu Miller a couple years ago.
0:23.6	Our producer, Ani McEwan, told the whole staff, you have to listen to this piece.
0:28.6	It quote, tore my heart wide open and most of us didn't listen.
0:36.4	We forgot to listen.
0:37.4	We didn't.
0:38.4	But then more recently, that piece has been winning a ton of awards.
0:42.1	It won a Peabody Award, a third coast award, which is like the Oscars of Radio.
0:47.8	And then a bunch of us started listening and passing it around and sharing it.
0:52.2	And I listened this past weekend and I changed is maybe how I would put it.
1:01.4	Anyway, the piece is called Finn and the Bell.
1:04.7	And it comes from this little podcast called Rumble Strip, which is a super independent
1:09.6	operation.
1:10.6	It's just one woman in a closet in Vermont.
1:13.6	That woman's name is Erica Hylman and she really is a treasure, a gift to this medium
1:19.2	of art.
1:20.2	And since so closely and finds her way into private places that don't always make it
1:26.8	onto the air and Finn and the Bell is such a powerful, multifaceted example of that.
1:33.4	I think it's best if I don't say any more about it than that other than that I would
1:39.4	recommend you listen all the way to the very last second.
1:43.0	And as Erica will tell you, this piece might not be suitable for all listeners.
	...

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