3 Lessons From The Creators of SERIAL

There’s much inspiration to be captured in the world, and last night I found it at a talk by co-creators of Serial, Sarah Koenig and Julie Snyder. These down-to-earth radiostars found it hard to believe that Zellerbach Hall was a packed house for them, but their wit, wisdom, and well-structured presentation was more than deserving.

For those not familiar with the podcast, here are a few numbers to give you an idea of its success:

• Sarah and Julie set out with the goal of reaching an audience of 300,000.
• Five days after they released the first episode, they hit this goal.
• Six weeks later, they had 5 million downloads on iTunes (the fastest a podcast has ever reached this number).
• With season 1 and 2 combined, the audience is now at 175 million, including listeners from every country but two (North Korea and Eritrea! I feel guilty somehow about the latter since it almost has my name in it).

Juxtaposed with these unprecedented numbers was a photo of Sarah in her basement, surrounded by pillows and blankets to soften acoustics. This is where they taped the first couple episodes, pausing whenever one of Sarah’s kids flushed the toilet upstairs.

Sarah’s voice is the famous one, and it was a thrill to hear her in person. There were three things that really stuck with me though, and those were three points made by Julie:

1. “The most work often goes into propping up a weak idea”

Serial was not always Serial. The original idea Julie and Sarah had for a spin-off of This American Life was one that didn’t generate much excitement. After the first two episodes, Ira Glass (their boss and my hero) said something along the lines of:

“If you’re gonna go with this idea, I’m behind you all the way. But before we fully commit…got any other ideas?”

It was then that Sarah proposed a serialized podcast, and from there everything fell into place naturally. Julie explained, “Sometimes when you have a strong idea, it takes shape on its own. The most work often goes into propping up a weak idea.”

2. It’s Okay To Say You Don’t Know

“Sarah, you sound really down on Adnan today,” head of the Innocence Project, Deirdre Enright, says one episode. Sarah goes on to describe her unsureness and inner turmoil about what to believe.

“I go up and down, I go up and down — sometimes I am totally with him and then other times I am like, I don’t know dude, this doesn’t…why can’t you remember anything?”

Serial is journalism, but not the type we are used to. We are used to being told things definitively. This happened at this time, sources say x, the authorities believe y, the main takeaway is z. But Julie says Sarah’s willingness to be vulnerable and admit that she doesn’t know is one of the reasons the show is so different and refreshing.

Sometimes being vulnerable and admitting you really don’t know anything for sure is the most accurate kind of reporting.

3. Mail Kimp: A Lesson From Ira Glass

For listeners of Serial, the MailChimp ad that opens each show became a beloved part of the whole experience. Particularly, the mispronunciation “Mail Kimp” drove the audience wild and became a meme complete with merchandise.

Julie explained that the execution of this ad was based on one she had created for PRI early in her career. Ira had asked her to record pedestrians saying “PRI: Public Radio International”, man-on-the-street style. Upon hearing what she edited, he politely asked her to move over and came up with something she hadn’t considered.

Instead of the clean, smiling, “we are the world” version that Julie had thought was desired, Ira included a clip where a woman forgets what to say and Julie feeds her the lines. The ad lost its air of artifice, and became something completely honest and relatable.

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The stories shared by Julie and Sarah have emboldened me to look for ideas with a life and strength of their own, and to then move forward with vulnerability and honesty. Thanks to these awesome women for proliferating inspiration, and thanks to Justine for inviting me to the talk ❤