Signal Hill – Details, episodes & analysis

Signal Hill is a new audio magazine. The first issue comes out on February 17th. Find out more at signalhill.fm

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Signal Hill is edited by Omar Etman, Jackson Roach, Annie Rosenthal, Lio Wong and Liza Yeager. Jackson and Liza are the editors in chief.

The stories in issue one were created by Conor Gillies, Hannah Kingsley-Ma, Ian Lewis, Neena Pathak, Cheryl Rivera, Jackson Roach, Annie Rosenthal, and Hannah Sassoon, with support from the editors, and also from their cohort of fellow contributors.

Fact checking on “Caterpillar Roadshow” and “A Porous Place” by Alan Dean.

As of Issue One, the Signal Hill music library has been stocked by Clara E. Brill, J. Mamana, Ethan Philbrick and Jackson Roach. The music in “Pie Down Here” was created by Nathan Bowles. Additional music in “Caterpillar Roadshow” and “On The Family Group Chat” is from Blue Dot Sessions.

The Issue One cover and story illustrations are by Molly Hastings.

Lindsey MacMillan is our web designer. Additional graphic design by Harrison Smith. Alex Hanesworth designed the Signal Hill Logo.

Ian Lewis wrote and produced our plea for financial support, and Lio Wong created the trailer.

The Signal Hill field recordings in our editors’ note were collected by Alec Lever, Austin Lever, Marykate Cardon, and Nicole Walen.

Signal Hill’s board of directors is Caroline Kanner, Emily Kennedy, and Alex Lewis.

Our administrative advisor is Eliza Dexter Cohen.

Special thanks to Suzanne Benz, Lisa Borst, Travis Bubenik, Elena Saavedra Buckley, Maya Goldberg-Safir, Brandi Howell, Matt Kielty, Alex Sujong Laughlin, Andrew Leland, Rachel Ossip, Amelia Schonbek, and Tamar Simon.

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Signal Hill is supported by the sun, the air, food, water, and your tax-deductible donations.

We depend on listeners to make Signal Hill possible. Sign up for a monthly membership or make a donation of any amount to help us continue this project. 

A Very Special and Real Offer was written and directed by Ian Lewis. 

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The first transatlantic radio signal ever received hit an antenna attached to a kite attached to a wire attached to a tower on top of Signal Hill, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada on December 12th, 1901. It said ‘s’ in Morse Code (‘dot dot dot’).

We’re named after all the places in the world called Signal Hill. There are eighteen that we know of.

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We return to the goo goo ga ga psychobabble of our first selves.

Hannah Kingsley-Ma is a writer and audio producer living in Brooklyn.

This story was reported and written by Hannah. It was edited by Liza Yeager and Lio Wong, with help from Jackson Roach. It was produced and sound designed by Liza Yeager, with help from Jackson Roach. Additional editorial support from Annie Rosenthal, Omar Etman, and the Issue One Cohort.

Music in this story is from the Signal Hill music library, which (so far) includes original work by Clara E. Brill, J. Mamana, and Ethan Philbrick. Additional music in this story is from Blue Dot Sessions.

Special thanks to Hannah’s friends and family.

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Over four sticky months, Cheryl Rivera went to protests, and meetings, and hung out with her friends. She brought a microphone with her. 

Cheryl Rivera is an editor at Lux Magazine and culture worker organizing in Brooklyn.

Cheryl reported and wrote this story. It was edited by Omar Etman, Liza Yeager and Jackson Roach. It was produced and sound designed by Jackson Roach, with help from Omar Etman. Additional editorial support from Annie Rosenthal, Lio Wong, and the Issue One cohort.

Music in this story is from the Signal Hill music library, which (so far) includes original work by Clara E. Brill, J. Mamana, Ethan Philbrick and Jackson Roach.

Special thanks to all of Cheryl’s comrades.

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Annie’s mom, an esteemed entomologist, knows a lot about bugs. Her ten-year-old Japanese pen pal might know more. 

Annie Rosenthal is an editor at Signal Hill and the Virginia Spencer Davis fellow at High Country News. 

Annie reported and produced this story, with additional production from Liza Yeager and Jackson Roach, and sound design by Liza Yeager. It was edited by Liza Yeager and Jackson Roach, with help from Lio Wong, Omar Etman, and the Issue One cohort.

Fact checking by Alan Dean.

Music in this story is from Blue Dot Sessions, with additional music from the Signal Hill music library, which (so far) includes original work by Clara E. Brill, J. Mamana, Ethan Philbrick and Jackson Roach.

Special thanks to Carlos Morales, Marfa Public Radio, John Lill, Jo Nagai, Saeko Nagai, Hayato Nagai, Tomoki Nagai, Martha Weiss, Josh Rosenthal, Isabel Rosenthal, and Harrison Smith.

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An amateur documentarian, a neighborhood historian, and the story no one tells about San Francisco’s Sunset District. 

Ian Lewis is a filmmaker and radio producer living in Marfa, Texas.

Ian wrote, directed, and produced this story, which also features the voices of Rob Weiner and Adrienne Humblet. It was edited by Jackson Roach and Lio Wong, with sound design and additional production by Jackson Roach. Additional editorial support from Annie Rosenthal, Liza Yeager, Omar Etman, and the Issue One cohort.

Music in this story is from the Signal Hill music library, which (so far) includes original work by Clara E. Brill, J. Mamana, Ethan Philbrick and Jackson Roach.

Special thanks to Graham Stevenson.

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Hannah Sassoon went to southern France to work on a sheep farm. Then she learned about the military camp.

Hannah Sassoon is a writer living in New York.

Hannah reported and wrote this story. It was edited by Jackson Roach, Liza Yeager, and Annie Rosenthal, with help from Omar Etman and Lio Wong. Sound design and additional production by Jackson Roach. Additional editorial support from the Issue One cohort. 

Fact checking by Alan Dean.

Music in this story is from the Signal Hill music library, which (so far) includes original work by Clara E. Brill, J. Mamana, Ethan Philbrick and Jackson Roach.

Special thanks to Amelia Schonbek, Bernard Parsy, Ginette Parsy, Léa Parsy, Christiane Burguière, Michèle Vincent, Alex Marizon, and Léon Maillé.

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Robin D. G. Kelley listens back to the oral histories that became his groundbreaking book Hammer and Hoe. Music in this piece is by Nathan Bowles.

Conor Gillies is the audio editor at Jacobin, where he makes shows such as Long Reads and People's History. 

This story was produced by Conor, and edited by Liza Yeager and Omar Etman. Additional editorial support from Jackson Roach, Annie Rosenthal, Lio Wong, and the Issue One cohort.

Music in this story is by Nathan Bowles, except for the song “Long-Haired Preachers” by Harry McClintock, courtesy of Smithsonian Folkways.

Special thanks to Jacobin Radio, where a longer series based on this story is forthcoming.

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