{"id":17115,"date":"2026-04-24T13:02:32","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T13:02:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/?p=17115"},"modified":"2026-04-24T17:48:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T17:48:59","slug":"making-a-documentary-that-you-could-dance-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2026\/04\/24\/making-a-documentary-that-you-could-dance-to\/","title":{"rendered":"Making \u2018a documentary that you could dance to\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":" \n
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Sign up for the Nieman Storyboard newsletter,<\/em><\/a> delivered every Friday in your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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***<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Dear Storyboard community: <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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What are the ingredients that make a memorable podcast?<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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This week I’m excited to welcome back Storyboard contributor<\/a> \u2014\u00a0and 2024 Nieman fellow \u2014 Julia Barton<\/a>, who guides us through an annotation of a podcast script<\/a> from one of 2025’s most acclaimed narrative podcasts, \u201cFela Kuti: Fear No Man.\u201d<\/a> The series, hosted by \u201cRadiolab\u201d creator Jad Abumrad, explores the life, music, and legacy of Fela Kuti, the Nigerian musician, political activist, and pioneer of Afrobeat. On Thursday, the series was honored with a Peabody Award<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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We talk a lot in this newsletter about how reporting, research, and proximity to the right materials can dictate the shape of a story, or whether we even have a story to tell. I’m fascinated by the constraints Abumrad and his editor, Ben Adair, had to navigate to create this series \u2014 including limited access to Kuti in his own words (he died in 1997) \u2014 but also by the unusual amount of freedom they had to use, and even remix, some of his music. It can be very difficult to clear music rights for a podcast, and as Barton tells me, \u201ctheir access to Fela\u2019s music really made the whole series work.\u201d The goal for the podcast, Adair said, was “making a documentary you could dance to.\u201d <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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It’s been a precarious time for narrative nonfiction podcasts, which are facing the same financial, political, and audience challenges affecting other forms of journalism. But \u201cFear No Man\u201d reminds us what’s possible. <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Barton’s advice for storytellers who want to explore audio narrative? \u201cThink about why your story is best told in audio, and try to collaborate with an experienced producer on your pitch. Or if you are already an experienced producer, collaborate with a story editor. Most of the pitches I’ve seen that make it to production have either a strong audio component already figured out, or they have a strong team behind them. Ideally both.\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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How Jad Abumrad transports listeners to a legendary club in Lagos for the acclaimed podcast, \u2018Fela Kuti: Fear No Man\u2019<\/a><\/h2>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
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\"\u2018Fela<\/a>
\u2018Fela Kuti: Fear No Man\u2019<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div> \n
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\u201cThe music has to be the guiding force. Jad talks in a bunch of different moments in the podcast about this torrent of music that Fela was creating, that was just streaming out of him and around Lagos and around the world. So why not have that be the guiding principle?\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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[ <\/strong>Read the story<\/strong><\/a> ]<\/strong><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Links of note <\/h2>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
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