Those early episodes tackled broad and bold themes, ranging from the usual universals (time, death, morality, etc.) to the specifically strange (animal stories, brain anomalies, statistical oddities). Though it’s probably more accurate to describe Radiolab as defined by the interests of its creative team, its earlier seasons can be adequately described as principally dealing in topics related to science, philosophy, and the relationship between those two things. You can detect it, as well, in the ways the show has constantly reshaped itself over time. You can hear it in the busy sonic sensibility that’s a hallmark of Radiolab’s identity: the cascading waterfall of voices to communicate a simple sentence the hard lean into the maximalism of a moment, whether it comes in the burst of sound effects or a drown of silence the belief in telling a story as an elaborate magic trick. You can hear it in the nature of the show’s inquiries, probing and dissatisfied until it discovers a revelation. It’s hard not to detect a searching, relentless quality in the work. “I realized not only can the team work really, really well without me, but that I needed to walk out of the room more so that they can take it in new directions.” His departure, then, marks the endpoint of that realization.Ī word that constantly pops up when Abumrad talks about himself in interviews is “restless,” which, from the outside looking in, is as clear as day. “I needed that perspective,” he told Fresh Air in 2020. In interviews given since his return, Abumrad often talked about the break as having changed his relationship with producing the show: He realized it could exist independently of him. It’s an approach that’s frequently led him to working deep into the early mornings, even as he’s progressed in age and as the team around him grew into a sizable operation. In 2016, Abumrad took a four-month break from Radiolab, in large part to recharge from what he’s described as burnout from the years of making the show in his distinctly intense and very hands-on manner, one where everything runs through his final judgment. It’s a momentous occasion, but for close observers, this development doesn’t entirely come out of nowhere. “This feels like the right time,” Abumrad wrote in the announcement note. He’s handing the show over to Latif Nasser and Lulu Miller, who were named co-hosts in late 2020, months after original co-host Robert Krulwich, who held the role since 2005, finally retired. Radiolab is moving into a radically new era.Įarlier today, Jad Abumrad, who created and led the legendary WNYC Studios podcast for almost two decades, announced that he’s stepping away from the show, seemingly for good.
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