‘The place Is Austin Tice?’ Podcast Coming To BBC & NPR
EXCLUSIVE: The BBC and NPR are teaming on a podcast about kidnapped American journalist Austin Tice.
Josh Baker’s The place is Austin Tice? units out to reply questions in actual time in regards to the man who many contemplate to be the longest captive American journalist in historical past.
The podcast, a uncommon co-pro between the BBC and NPR, can be on NPR’s Embedded feed from September 8 and can concurrently comprise the third season of Baker’s I’m Not a Monster sequence for BBC Sounds. It will likely be hosted by Baker and investigative journalist Sara Obeidat.
Tice disappeared in Syria greater than a decade in the past and stays one of many greatest lacking individual instances of our time. His mom Debra insists her son is alive and has led a tireless marketing campaign to deliver him residence — a marketing campaign that continues to this present day. He’s thought to have been kidnapped by Syria’s regime led by the now-deposed Bashar al-Assad, making him the longest captive American journalist in historical past. Baker and Obeidat penned a BBC Information investigation on the web site final 12 months that confirmed he was imprisoned by the Assad regime.
The pod retraces Tice’s journey, permitting the viewers to expertise the investigation because it unfolds. It differs from the earlier two seasons of I’m Not a Monster in that these instances weren’t unravelling in actual time. The primary sequence explored America’s Sam Sally, a mom who entered ISIS territory along with her husband and kids, and the second Shamima Begum, who joined ISIS as a teen earlier than attempting to regain her British citizenship. Each have received quite a few awards.
“It’s uncommon in journalism to have the possibility to do work that may provide one thing tangible to a household whereas additionally exhibiting the stark actuality of the Syrian regime’s brutal dictatorship,” mentioned Baker. “That chance has pushed us all through — alongside a duty to the Syrians who trusted us with their tales and are nonetheless looking for solutions about their very own lacking relations.”
Embedded senior supervising editor Katie Simon added: “When Josh and Sara first got here to us with this story, we knew it was a uncommon alternative to showcase immersive reporting about probably the most secretive regimes. The Austin Tice story offers us the possibility to step right into a once-hidden Syrian jail system and start to piece collectively a play-by-play of Austin’s timeline from the second he goes lacking. It’s additionally an opportunity for 2 public media powerhouses to return collectively and make one thing new and significant in longform narrative journalism.”
The podcast is written, showrun and offered by Baker and investigated and produced with Obeidat. It’s series-produced by Simon Maybin and produced by Lucy Burns, with Clare Fordham as sequence editor for BBC Information Lengthy Kind Audio. It was commissioned by Daniel Clarke for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds. At NPR, the podcast was edited by Robert Little, who leads NPR’s Investigations group and Embedded’s showrunner Simon. It was produced by Monika Evstatieva. The EP for Embedded is Irene Noguchi.
BBC Studios is distributing the sequence.
