Expanding Minds
Taking a deep dive into complex issues to inform and serve our audiences is a particular strength of NHPR’s award-winning journalism and narrative storytelling. Fiscal year 2019-2020 saw a number of long-form journalism podcasts launched or expanded, generating strong audience interest and accolades.
At the same time, NHPR worked to broaden its audience for these podcasts by adapting episodes for on-air broadcast, while boosting our digital journalism and offering special on-air series examining the difficulties of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, along with other pertinent information.
Patient Zero: An in-depth look at lyme disease
Scientists at the Cary Institute for Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, New York, have been studying the relationships between ticks, white-footed mice and Lyme disease for decades. Photo by Taylor Quimby.
The podcast series Patient Zero: Lyme Disease launched in August 2019. Hosted by NHPR senior producer Taylor Quimby, the series was inspired by his own experience with the disease.
The series investigates the history, causes, symptoms and impact of Lyme disease. It gained a strong audience of listeners who followed Quimby as he sought to better understand “how we know what we know?” To date, Patient Zero has had more than 1.4 million downloads and was named a Best Listens of 2019 by Apple Podcasts.
Outside/In Went “Inside/In”
Taylor Quimby created these homemade bird-watching binoculars for his son, who appeared in an Outside/In episode about backyard birding. Photo by Taylor Quimby.
As the pandemic kept families - and NHPR’s journalists - cooped up at home, the Outside/In podcast team created a new occasional series called “Inside/In.”
Features centered on ways to explore the wonders of our natural world in our own backyards. Topics included moss and mold, backyard birding and hiking closer to home.
Stranglehold: Investigating the Presidential Primary in New Hampshire
N.H. Secretary of State Bill Gardner asks presidential candidates to sign this placard on display in his Concord office. Photo by Allegra Boverman.
Just in time for the 2020 New Hampshire presidential primary and national election, the podcast Stranglehold launched in September 2019, exploring the history, infrastructure and power behind New Hampshire’s “first in the nation” status in 17 episodes.
Rather than focus on the candidates and the polls, Stranglehold tells the story of the primary itself and how the system has shaped the state’s and the nation’s politics. Downloaded some 620,000 times since its launch, the podcast was featured in The New York Times and other national media, and prompted discussions throughout the state.
Lifelines: Coping with Trauma in a Pandemic
Jen Lindgren, director of the NH Prison Yoga Project, leads a yoga class at the State Prison for Women in Concord, NH in December 2019. Photo by Peter Biello.
In May 2020, a special week-long reporting project looked at the significance of collective and individual trauma. Through the nine broadcast stories of Lifelines, NHPR spoke with experts nearly two months into the state and national public health emergency.
The goal was to describe the trauma resulting from the fear and isolation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Listeners also learned about how trauma affects the brain and about available resources and strategies to help people cope.
Banner photo: NHPR’s politics tream examined the power of different types of political events - from rallies to house parties - for the Stranglehold podcast. Photo by Jason Moon.