Hear and There Audio Magazine is a radio program and podcast hosted and produced by Dave Uhlman, a visually impaired accessibility consultant. Dave describes Hear and There as an adventure program that provides detailed audio descriptions of museums, nature walks, art shows, news events, and all manner of life–involving and –enhancing events.
Dave “puts words to the visual” that enable his listeners (blind, sighted, and visually impaired) to “see,” savor, and enjoy whatever new adventure Dave has captured via podcast. Hear and There visits venues with accessible features, provides detailed audio descriptions, and encourages listeners to attend and participate in the events he reports and describes.
The Hear and There Philosophy
Here is more about Dave, in his own words:
“I started recording Hear and There (H&T) five years ago on WRRS Radio Reading Service in Cincinnati, Ohio. Recently, I took the program on the Internet with my website, podcasts, and broadcasting on web radio stations.
I make each program about a real-life experience. I like to find the beauty in the world and describe it. People with disabilities are an important ingredient in the program, but the show is not about disability; instead, it’s about the experience of the person, their perceptions and observations, their unique way of seeing the world, and the actions they take to enjoy it.
The H&T descriptions show details the casual observer would miss. We talk about the experiences everyone can have, and add details to fill in the picture.”
Explore the Moon
Dave’s latest production is a three-part series on Getting a Feel for Lunar Craters, a new book that features tactile diagrams of the lunar surface, published by the NASA Lunar Science Institute.
Dave interviews Professor David Hurd from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, the book’s author, while H&T correspondent Shawn Klein explores and describes the accompanying graphics. Shawn is also the host of Everything but the Kitchen Sink, an eclectic musical mix that explores “cylinder recordings from the 1890s, folkloric regional music from Brazil, and acid rock from Cambodia.”
The Lunar Episodes
In Episode 1: The Birth of the Moon, Dave and Professor Hurd describe the appearance of the full moon and provide approximate measurements of the moon in the sky for blind and visually impaired listeners. The episode contains a very entertaining and clever sequence, during which Dave attempts to describe the size of the moon in the night sky. Is it the size of his fist? The size of a dime? Listen and find out!
Episode 2: Craters Close-Up describes the moon’s craters and how they are formed, with particular emphasis upon the crater Tycho.
Episode 3: Touch the Dark Side provides a fascinating discussion about the “dark side of the moon,” which, as Professor Hurd explains, isn’t really dark at all.
I urge you to visit the Hear and There Audio Magazine website and see/hear for yourself. The world truly is an amazing place and I thank you, Dave!