Origin Stories

Connie Walker, a veteran Cree journalist, was the first podcaster to win both the Pulitzer Prize and a Peabody Award in the same year. She talks about the backstory of “Stolen: Surviving St. Michael's," a deeply-personal investigation of the Canadian Indian residential school system, which she reported while at Gimlet, then the biggest podcast company in the world.

To Connie, all great audio documentaries should hinge on “a question that you're trying to answer. It doesn't have to be the question that you end up asking the whole way through,” she says. “But initially, you have to start with that.”

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Dan Taberski is a writer, director, and former producer at The Daily Show. He joins Origin Stories to discuss the podcast “Hysterical,” which centers on a strange illness that afflicted a group of girls in the New York town of LeRoy. “Hysterical,” a 2025 Pulitzer finalist in the audio reporting category, went on to win a range of awards, including Show of the Year at the Ambies, the podcasting equivalent of the Oscars.

In this episode, Dan discusses his reporting and outlining approach and the importance of treating subjects (and their stories) with care and respect. “People have real wisdom about their own experience,” he says. “I'm not looking for somebody to retell the story. I'm looking for people to sort of tell me what they got from it. Like what was that experience like as a person? And very often people have thought about that. It’s sort of a fool's errand to go into these situations thinking that you know what you want people to say because you don't. Also, it would be so boring if you did.”

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Noah Hawley is a screenwriter, novelist, and Emmy-winning director. He joins Matthew to talk about his latest TV series, Alien: Earth, which grew out of a memo he was once asked to prepare for FX chief John Landgraf. Hawley discusses his creative process, his writing regimen, and the challenges and pleasures of adapting a beloved horror franchise for a modern audience. To Hawley, good ideas have to be carefully nurtured lest they dissipate before they can be executed upon. “It's kind of like trying to feed a squirrel,” he says. “You're like, ‘No, no, come here, come here. It'll be okay.’”

To connect with the team and gain access to behind the scenes content, join our community at ⁠joinoriginstories.com⁠. You can also find us on ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠TikTok⁠ & ⁠Youtube⁠.

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Origin Stories is a podcast by creatives –– and for anyone curious about the workings of the creative mind. Hosted by veteran journalist Matthew Shaer, every episode of the show takes you behind the scenes of your favorite book, magazine article, TV show, podcast, or movie –– from the initial spark of curiosity to the long sessions in front of a white board. Nothing is off the table: not the frustrations and the joys, not the setbacks and the successes. New episodes weekly starting September 10th!

Get behind the scenes content and more go to ⁠joinoriginstories.com⁠

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.