BACKSTAGE WITH THE CREATORS OF SERIAL

Sarah Koenig and Julie Snyder take audiences behind the mic of their record-smashing, award-winning podcast, Serial, on Thursday, May 11, 2017at 8 p.m. in the Music Center at Strathmore. Launched in 2014 from the talents behind This American Life, Serial is credited with bringing mainstream attention to the podcast format and has been downloaded more than 175 million times, making it the most listened-to podcast in the history of the form. Among other honors, Serial won the 2014 Peabody Award, the first time it has been given to a podcast. The success of Serial helped Koenig and Snyder launch Serial Productions, which released its latest project, the buzzed about S-Town, in March 2017. For more information or to purchase tickets, call (301) 581-5100 or visit www.strathmore.org.

Serial tells one story—a true story—over the course of a season. Thus far, the podcast has resurrected a real crime drama in Baltimore and revisited the experience of a U.S. Army soldier held captive by the Taliban. Each season, the creators follow a plot and characters on a winding journey, leading to unexpected revelations and unsuspected endings.

Sarah Koenig began her career as a newspaper reporter—her first reporting job was at her weekly hometown paper. She lived in Moscow, Russia for several years, where she worked for The New York Times, and once she returned, went to work for the Concord Monitor in New Hampshire covering crime and politics, the same beats she’d go on to cover at The Baltimore Sun. In 2004 she became a producer at This American Life, which she has guest-hosted several times. She has also produced and reported some of the show’s most popular episodes, including “Switched at Birth,” “Dr. Gilmer and Mr. Hyde” and “Habeas Schmabeas,” a Peabody Award-winning show about Guantanamo Bay. Koenig is co-creator and executive producer of S-Town, a 7-part non-fiction podcast from Serial Productions hosted by Brian Reed.

Julie Snyder has been the guiding force behind two of the most successful ventures in audio broadcasting—she is the co-creator of the podcast Serial and, for many years, was the senior producer of the public radio show This American Life, where she is now a contributing editor. Snyder began working at This American Life in 1997, almost from its inception. Along with host Ira Glass, she has set the editorial agenda for the program, winning four Peabody Awards along the way. She has produced many of This American Life’s most entertaining and memorable episodes, including “24 Hours at the Golden Apple,” and “Notes on Camp.” In addition, Synder has also headed the show’s most ambitious and topical programs, notably episodes covering the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, health care reform, and urban violence in Chicago. In 2013, Snyder approached Koenig about trying something new—a different kind of storytelling—which led the narrative journalism of their podcast, Serial.

About Strathmore

Strathmore presents and produces exemplary visual and performing arts programs for diverse audiences; creates dynamic arts education experiences; and nurtures creative ideas and conversations that advance the future of the arts. The organization’s hallmark is the Music Center at Strathmore, with a 1,976-seat concert hall and education complex. Its core campus also includes the historic Mansion at Strathmore, which features an intimate Music Room and art galleries. Most recently, Strathmore opened AMP, a 250-seat cabaret-style venue located just up Rockville Pike from the core campus in the burgeoning Pike District of Montgomery County. Strathmore’s signature education, mission-driven programs include the Strathmore Student Concerts and the Artist in Residence program.

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Strathmore is supported by a grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency dedicated to cultivating a vibrant cultural community where the arts thrive. An agency of the Department of Business & Economic Development, MSAC provides financial support and technical assistance to non-profit organizations, units of government, colleges and universities for arts activities.
Strathmore is also supported in part by the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County.

Strathmore Presents
Backstage with the Creators of Serial
Binge-Worthy Journalism with Sarah Koenig & Julie Snyder
Thursday, May 11, 2017
8 p.m.

Tickets $25-$75

Music Center at Strathmore
5301 Tuckerman Lane
North Bethesda, MD 20852

For additional information or to purchase tickets, visit www.strathmore.org or call (301) 581-5100.