All Gassed Up: Untangling Complex Stories Through Audio

Some of the best stories are the most complicated to tell. New Orleans Public Radio’s Halle Parker tries to find ways to keep audiences from getting bogged down in the wonk of her science and environment stories. On April 3, she’ll share some strategies for bringing big energy and climate reporting to life while trying to avoid the perils of oversimplification – and create access points that keep the audience’s attention. She’ll walk through what it took to produce her three-part, globetrotting podcast investigation into the recent boom in U.S. natural gas exports and how it could tank the world’s climate goals.

Halle Parker has covered Louisiana’s environment for New Orleans Public Radio, NPR, the Times-Picayune |  New Orleans Advocate and, down the bayou, for the Houma Courier, among other publications. She helped create the long-form environmental podcast, “Sea Change,” telling stories from the Gulf Coast. Halle‘s writing and photography have received recognition locally, regionally and nationally, including awards from Covering Climate Now and the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ). She also currently serves as SEJ’s board president.