Voices of the Cape and Islands

These short vignettes, "sonic IDs," are sound portraits and short stories that weave throughout the broadcast day of the Cape and Islands NPR Stations. Below are a sample of the hundreds in our archives.

Hear excerpts from Nautical Minutes

Hear excerpts from Hidden Voices, Hidden Stories

Neighborhoods
Ralph Binder of Mashpee

Megaphone
Nantucket's Ruth Chapel Grieder

Radio Voices
Jerry Nelson of Truro

Clapping Scallops
On Martha's Vineyard

WWII Veteran Wesley Ko
WWII Veteran Wesley Ko of East Falmouth

Hanging the Wash
Eileen McGrath's tips on hanging laundry on Nantucket

WWII Veteran Bob Silverberg
WWII Veteran Bob Silverberg of Barnstable

The Clockkeeper Retires
The West Tisbury clockkeeper retires

Stripper Pole
Provincetown Hairdresser Dougie Freeman

Popeye
Writer Susie Seligson of Truro

The Open Sea
Dave Masch on the lure of the open sea

Street Musician
Hyannis street musician Tom Messinger

Baseball for the Blind
The sounds of baseball for the blind

Learning Songs
Former Muppet-show puppeteer Jerry Nelson

Bass Player
Bass Player Bill Evaul of Truro

Blueberries
Warren Hiller: King of the Blueberries

Champion Arm Wrestler
World Champion arm wrestler Jeff Gonsalves of Harwich

Sea Shanties
Mary Malloy on Sea Shanties

Park Ranger
Cape Cod Canal park ranger Kevin Burke

Provincetown
Alice Brock on P'Town

Message to Kids
Mashpee Wamponoag Annawon Weeden

Stairwell in B Flat
Glenway Fripp's musical alcove

Coin Dealer
Yarmouth coin dealer Bill Sharkey

Metal Detector
Hunting for loose change at the beach

Gold
Yarmouth coin dealer Bill Sharkey

Cooking Eels
The late Milton Jeffers on a Cape delicacy

Learning to Fish
Tom Messinger of Hyannis

Cello
Chelsea Doohan's love-hate relationship with her instrument

Coyotes
Dick Wheeler of Wareham

Hide the Bacon
An unorthodox summer in Wareham

Sleeping Under Sinks
Hairdresser and salon owner Dougie Freeman of Provincetown

The Baltics in West Yarmouth
Pat Warren on why her grandmother bought a shack on Cape Cod

The 2008 Arrival of the Cicadas
Cousins Kevin Furlong and Matt Carmichael

Elvis Costello
What deep-sea divers listen to

Santa Claus
Chimney sweep Jeff Gonsalves of Harwich

Wampanoag
Earl Mills on the Wampanoag language

Scraped Knee
Dick Wheeler of Wareham

Maynard Silva
A Vineyard guitarist and sign-painter

Lunchbox Stories 1

Lunchbox Stories 2

Swamp
Richard Kerry of Nantucket demonstrates his specialty

Bird Decoy Carver
Dick Nelson of Mashpee

The Gift Book
A biologist's lament

Lobsterman
Fisherman Bill Souza of Truro

The Worst Thing About Nantucket
A teen's perspective

You're Listening To...
Dick Wheeler of Wareham

Mechanicky
A Brazilian on the Vineyard

Toe-hee
Naturalist Dick Wheeler of Wareham

Squid Fishing
Ronnie Baretta's birthday treat

Where have the Cod Gone?
Dick Wheeler of Wareham

Felicity the Llama
Maureen Collette of East Falmouth on her pet llama

Great Auk
Naturalist Dick Wheeler of Wareham

New York City and the Vineyard
Ian compares his hometown to Martha's Vineyard

Racoons
Dick Wheeler of Wareham

Lobster Boat
George Cadwallader goes lobstering

All Hell Breaks Loose
Lobsterman Alex Brown of Provincetown

The Pet Husband
Elaine Bowen on how to control one's spouse

Out of Work
Lobsterman Alex Brown of Provincetown

Erastus at the Circus
Nantucket's Ruth Chapel Grieder on Erastus Chapel

Pounding Meatloaf
Jeanne Decker of Harwich

Could I Have My Leg Back, Please?
Nantucket's Michael McCone on the perils of being handicapped

Low Income Housing
Alice Lopez of the Mashpee Wamponoag tribe

Bugs
Polly Hill of the Polly Hill Arboretum on those nasty creatures

Singing Down Flus
Chimney sweep Jeff Gonsalves of Harwich

The Old Mill
Built on Nantucket in 1847

Buck
Buck the boat dog saves the day

Bass Derby
Pulling scales, going down the back bone, over the ribs - cleaning fish

Chowder
Making chowder from cohogs to soup

Skunk
Alberta Costa on the taming of a skunk

This Halloween
What Halloween would be, if Ben Bianchini had his way

Next Halloween
Dreaming about next year's costume

No Magic
When Halloween loses its magic for a 6th grader

Indian Summer
A haiku reflecting Indian Summer

Jackson Five
A different kind of litter at the MSPCA

Nobska Fame
When your home is a destination

Preteens
Stretching the truth... just a little

Lullaby
A lullaby from Jason Baird of the Wampanoag-Aquinnah Tribe

Chappy
A memory of Chappaquiddick when it was primitive

Organist
The Good Rich Organ of Nantucket

Nathaniel Philbrick
On the ever-changing and everlasting ocean

Up to the Neck
Ruth Chapel Grieder on the hurricane of 1938

Ms. Brazil
Riding the Menemsha bike ferry with Miss Brazil

Marge on Mille
Ms. Mille and her store in Maddicott

Spooky World
The things people do...

This project was funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and WGBH, Boston.

Atlantic Public Media helps create the "Sonic IDs," the core producing team for Sonic ID project is Jay Allison, Viki Merrick, Jim Sulzer, Helen Woodward, Chelsea Merz and the staff of the Cape & Islands NPR stations.

See what the broadcasting newspaper Current has to say about the Sonic ID project.

The Sonic ID project was awarded a regional Edward R. Murrow award for the best use of sound by the Radio Television News Directors Association.