Sabine Jansen is the founder of Studio Becq, an Amsterdam-based production studio specializing in narrative podcasts and audio documentaries. Before launching Studio Becq, she spent eight years in New York producing and developing podcasts for The Free Press, WaitWhat and Exile Content, among others. Her work spans journalism, science, culture and documentary storytelling. She works with media companies, brands and organizations to create original audio stories for audiences around the world.

How many years have you worked in podcasting or audio?

10+ years

What is your current role, in your own words?

Maker

What types of projects do you typically work on?

I typically work on narrative podcasts that take complicated subjects and turn them into compelling, human stories. I’m usually involved from the earliest idea through the final mix: developing the concept, reporting, interviewing, structuring, writing and editing.

How many years have you been a Signal Awards judge?

This is my first year!

What excited you about joining the Signal Awards Judging Academy?

I love podcasts, and I still get excited when I hear something that surprises me, especially when it makes me rethink what you can do with audio. I’m always curious about what other people are making, especially outside the corners of the podcast world I already know, and I’d love the chance to discover and recognize some of the best of it.

What is one recent podcast you’ve loved and would recommend?

365 Stories I Want to Tell You Before We Both Die by Caveh Zahedi. I’m late to it, but I love how deceptively simple it is: funny, intimate, occasionally uncomfortable, and completely absorbing.

What separates good audio storytelling from great audio storytelling?

Tape. Great writing and sound design can do a lot, but there’s nothing like a piece of tape that makes you stop what you’re doing and listen. The best tape feels alive and no amount of production can manufacture it.

What project are you most proud of and why?

Birth of a Parent, a 12-part series I produced this year. It was quite ambitious, bringing neuroscience, biology, anthropology, economics and philosophy into human stories about becoming a parent, and I’m proud that we managed to make those big ideas feel intimate and accessible.

What podcasting trend, challenge, or opportunity has your attention these days?

As podcasts become increasingly visual, I find myself thinking more about what makes audio so powerful on its own. There’s an intimacy to listening that’s hard to replicate in other mediums, and I hope we don’t lose sight of that as video becomes more central to podcasting. I’m excited to see how people keep finding new ways to tell stories with sound alone.

What’s one piece of advice you’d give to emerging creators?

Just make it. I made an entire show that I never published, simply to practice and understand what worked and what didn’t. Making is how you hone your craft. And listen to as much as you possibly can, great work, bad work, and everything in between.

What are you currently listening to? (podcasts, music, anything)

After several months of listening almost exclusively to interviews, science and parenting podcasts for a show I was making, I’ve temporarily gone back to music. I’m enjoying some old playlists for now, though I’m sure I’ll switch back to podcasts soon enough.