It’s hard at this point to even imagine a world without television and film. Instead of viewing parties for Breaking Bad or a Star Wars marathon, families and friends gathered around an old-timey radio waiting to hear the thrilling conclusion to the soap opera Clara, Lu, and Em or the latest headlines on NBC (pre-peacock). But this weekend the local audio-storytelling organization hosts the Third Coast Festival’s Filmless Festival—the “Sundance for radio” according to Third Coast founder Johanna Zorn—to prove that the days of communal audio experiences are far from over.
So far the weekend is slated to bring in more than 400 people from as far away as Australia and the Czech Republic to enjoy the likes of Alix Spiegel of Invisibilia, Starlee Kine of Mystery Show, Sean Cole of This American Life, and many more broadcasting heavy hitters. And while it hasn’t been easy to alter the behavior of radio listeners, who tend to view the act as an individual experience rather than a group activity, Zorn says that it’s worth it.
