Nat Geo Premieres New Podcast “Into The Depths” About Slave Shipwrecks

 You have to admire National Geographic. Founded in 1888, the organization has excelled at stunning images of our world in all its natural glory.

So when the visual is your historical strength, moving into the audio with no images is an exercise in courage, determination, and a confidence in your people.

When National Geographic launched the Overheard podcast nine seasons ago, questions abounded about whether this legacy organization could do for audio what it did for the visual.

  Whitney Johnson, Vice President and Director of Visuals and Immersive Experiences at National Geographic, commented in a Q&A about podcasting, "Audio represents a big opportunity. It's an opportunity to do journalism differently. And it's an opportunity to reach the next generation of smart, curious people via a platform that we’re just starting to develop. It's also an incredibly - and increasingly - competitive space.

With podcasting success with Overheard, National Geographic has tackled an audio project that has historical, social, and racial significance.

National Geographic has launched “Into The Depths,” which is a poignant six-part audio series that follows Tara Roberts, a National Geographic Explorer and Storyteller, who follows a team of Black divers on a quest to document and identify sunken slave shipwrecks. You can find full information at: natgeo.com/intothedepths.

 

 

 This riveting new podcast begins as Roberts sets off on a journey of a lifetime with divers and marine archeologists, descendants of shipwrecks and historians investigating the lost stories of the slave trade—both to expand the historical record and to honor the estimated 1.8 million unsung souls who perished during the Middle Passage. 

Along the way, Tara Roberts meets up with her family, friends, spiritual advisers, and a poet to help tell the stories of these ancestors and delve into her own roots—and challenge her own assumptions about home and belonging. 

 

Into The Depths Podcast Host Tara Roberts

 In addition, HERE you can find the cover photo for the March issue of National Geographic magazine, which accompanies the “Into The Depths” podcast and National Geographic documentary special, “CLOTILDA: LAST AMERICAN SLAVE SHIP.”