Our Client Spotlight Archives are a collection of special features on our clients we’ve written here on the ATC blog. This collection features specific client projects that we have the honor of contributing to with our transcription work at the Audio Transcription Center.
Continue reading “Malcom X: A Life of Reinvention – Manning Marable”
Headquartered in Somerville, Ma. Powderhouse Productions has been producing a wide range of television shows since 1994 for channels such as PBS, National Geographic, TLC, and the programs we’ve most recently been transcribing, “Dogs 101,” “Cats 101,” and “Pets 101” for the Animal Planet network.
So you truly want to know the answers to these questions, well you could just ask my team of transcriptionists, but then you wouldn’t be watching the premiere this Saturday night at 8 p.m. on Animal Planet.
– Dan Miller VP, Production
Oral History Meets TV = Transcription Bliss @ ATC
We here at the Audio Transcription Center have probably all watched more television in our lives than we care to admit. Still, we like to think of ourselves less as gluttons for the tube and more as refined connoisseurs of the medium. But, though we may try to act all cool, nothing sets us a-twitter like receiving a new transcription assignment from our friends at the Archive of American Television (you might know them better as “The Emmys”)
Wait, TV has an Archive?
Yup. Founded in 1997, the Television Academy Foundation’s Archive of American Television is a treasure trove of one-on-one interviews with TV luminaries — from the early pioneers who shaped the medium, to beloved personalities of TV’s golden age; from the actors, actresses, news anchors, and hosts who’ve worked in front of the camera, to the directors, writers, composers and producers who’ve worked behind the scenes.
From the BoobTube to YouTube
And, as part of its vision “to chronicle electronic media history as it evolves… and make the interviews available worldwide,” the Archive has digitized over 2,000 hours of its original content, making hundreds of these interviews accessible online. For FREE.
A few of the most recently posted interviews include:
And of course our first love, Transcripts
In addition to having hundreds of interviews available to watch online, complete transcripts of most of the interviews are available from the Archive (for a fee, and for research purposes only). For additional info, contact the Archive’s Digital Projects Manager, Jenni Matz.
THEY LET YOU OUT?
THE LIVES OF TRANSCRIPTION NERDS…
Though some of you out there might find it hard to believe, given the long hours we spend here “beating unreasonable deadlines since 1966,” we do occasionally get out of the office. And when we do find ourselves out and about socializing with people unfamiliar with our transcription biz, we oftentimes are presented with this statement/question:
“Transcription. Mmmm… that’s interesting. What exactly do you transcribe?”
Of course we go through our laundry list of fascinating transcription topics, but nothing gets a conversation moving faster than mentioning StoryCorps.
And with good reason. In just seven years, StoryCorps has grown from a modest startup with big ambitions into a full-on national non-profit movement.
WHAT, IS THAT LIKE THE PEACE CORPS OR SOMETHING?
Well, yes, kind of. StoryCorps is a public service, but its mission is the recording and preservation of the stories of everyday Americans. It is one the largest, most unique oral history projects, and also one of the first and largest born-digital oral history collections — comprised of over 50,000 interviews, recorded in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.
“By listening closely to one another, we can help illuminate the true character of this nation reminding us all just how precious each day can be and how truly great it is to be alive.” – StoryCorps’ Founder, Dave Isay
It all began with one recording booth in NYC’s Grand Central Terminal in 2003. Now, in 2010, StoryCorps has recording booths in Milwaukee, Nashville, Atlanta and San Francisco, plus two MobileBooths (housed in nifty fifties Airstream trailers) that have traveled to more than 100 cities in 48 states.
The grand total of interviews? Well over 50,000 and counting.
The compact recording facilities provide a professional-grade environment for ordinary people to share and listen with an end result of broadcast quality audio on a CD they can take home. The interviews are in turn added to the StoryCorps Archive, housed at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.
You can hear specially selected interviews Friday mornings on NPR’s Morning Edition. These stories are also available for listening on the StoryCorps’ site, or subscribing to the their podcast. Or, listen to some on the player below!
“TRANSCRIPTION IS OUR BUSINESS, ORAL HISTORY IS OUR PASSION”
That’s our company motto, coined by Sandy, Audio Transcription Center’s founder and president. Naturally for us, working with StoryCorps is a perfect fit. And boy, do we love working from that pristine digital audio — although, many a transcriptionist has been moved to tears or laughter (frequently both) while working on SC interviews.
We’ve been transcribing select groups of interviews for StoryCorps since 2006, and many of those appeared in the collection Listening is an Act of Love. (Our services are available to any individuals who would like a transcript of their session.)
Just in time for Mother’s Day this year, Story Corps’ new collection, Mom, hits the shelves of bookstores nationwide April 15.
As one of the largest transcription service providers for historians, academics, and researchers from across the nation, we have the pleasure of being some of the first ears and eyes to handle diverse and extremely exciting source material.
Hardly a day goes by where the team here at The Tape Transcription Center isn’t amazed or excited (or even inspired!) by the projects that come through our humble office here on the Common.
Now, we’ve decided to take the opportunity with our blog to initiate a monthly spotlight on some of our fascinating clients and their work.* Right at the top of our list of people-and-projects-we-want-to-tell-the-world-about-via-the-internet is Peniel E. Joseph and his pioneering work on the history of the Black Power movement in America.
A Professor of History at Tufts University, Dr. Joseph is a pioneer in the field of “Black Power Studies,” and a frequent commentator who’s appeared on NPR, PBS’s Newshour, and C-SPAN.
Dr. Joseph became one of our clients when he was an Assistant Professor at SUNY-Stony Brook and was working on what would become his critically acclaimed, award-winning non-fiction book, “Waiting ‘Til the Midnight Hour: A History of Black Power in America.”
He has served on the faculty at Brandeis and is currently a tenured professor at Tufts. His latest book, “Dark Days, Bright Nights: From Black Power to Barack Obama,” hit the shelves this past January.
Currently, Dr. Joseph is in the process of working on a new book focusing specifically on the controversial Civil Rights activist Stokely Carmichael, a.k.a. Kwame Ture.
*Caveat: As excited as we may be about the work we do here, privacy is absolutely essential for many of our clients. Therefore, we will only feature clients whose work is already shared with the public and who have given us express prior permission.
