Best of the Best is Third Coast’s annual ode to audio storytelling, taking listeners on a journey through the full breadth of what’s possible in stories made from sound. 

This episode showcases three of the winning stories from the 19th annual Third Coast / Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition. Host Gwen Macsai introduces the winners of the Best Serialized Story, Best Foreign Language & Directors’ Choice awards, plus a behind-the-scenes interview with producer Zoha Zokaei.

In The Dark, Season Two — Best Serialized Story Award

by lead reporter and host Madeleine Baran, senior producer Samara Freemark, producers Natalie Jablonski and Rehman Tungekar, reporters Parker Yesko and Will Craft, and edited by Catherine Winter for APM Reports.

In small town Mississippi, a white prosecutor tried a black man six times for the same crime, a quadruple homicide. For 23 years, Curtis Flowers maintained his innocence on death row. This story is a narrative investigation into the case, which uncovered prosecutorial misconduct, false confessions, an alternate suspect, and a pattern of racial bias.  

Click here to read the latest on the Curtis Flowers case, and to listen to the rest “In The Dark, season 2.”

Price of Secrecy (Hazineh Razdari) — Best Foreign Language Award

by Zoha Zokaei and edited by Rob Szeliga.

An unexpected turn of events occurs when 15-year-old Tannaz tells the police about being sexually abused by a friend.

Click here to listen to the full story with subtitles.

No Feeling is Final — Directors’ Choice Award

by Honor Eastly, with executive producer Joel Werner, producer Alice Moldovan, writer Graham Panther, and sound engineer Russell Stapleton. Created at ABC Audio Studios under the guidance of managing editor, Kellie Riordan.

Usually when we talk about suicide, we encourage people to "just ask for help". But Honor Eastly knows it’s not that simple. She’s been there and back, and now has years of phone recordings and diary entries which form the basis of her podcast.

Click here to listen to the rest of the series.

You can hear all the winning stories from the 2019 Competition at ThirdCoastFestival.org.

The program is made possible with support from the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation and distributed to public radio stations by PRX.

Music in this hour by Jeevs (“Solace”), Pablo Torri (“Linha”), Monplaisir (“I don’t need to cry but I can do it if you need to” & “on est d’accord on est d’accord on est d’accord on est d’accord on est d’accord on est d’accord”), and Stevia Sphere (“Going Down”).

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