Because I’ve spent the last few years designing and refining new podcasts, I’ve developed a habit of thinking about podcast development in parental terms. Refining the scope of the show or season and doing some deep thinking about audience and production schedules is like getting great prenatal care. And you’ve got to have a solid birthing plan to make sure your launch goes smoothly. But, just like babies, you sort of forget about all the hard work of bringing them into the world once it’s over.
So I was closing out 2025 feeling vaguely like it’s been a great year in LPM podcasts, with lots of little bundles of joy, but I’d forgotten just how busy it’s been!
Still ‘Curious,’ after all these years
One of the most joyful things we did this year was our relaunch of “Curious Louisville.” I was a founding producer of this project, where we take questions from the community and answer them in audio stories, way back in 2016, and I still love this format so much. We get to explore things we never might have thought of ourselves, and we get to take the question-asker along while we investigate. It’s such a cool way to engage with the community and show y’all how we do what we do, and I love that it elevates our audience’s voice, because you’re what makes this community so great.
We had to put Curious Louisville on hold during COVID-19 restrictions, and relaunching this year with arts and culture reporter Giselle Rhoden and news managing editor Amina Elahi has been an absolute dream. Giselle wrote about this in her year-end round up and I have to agree: meeting the voice of the “Walk sign, Bardstown Road” crosswalk was a seminal Louisville moment. We’re putting the show out regularly again now, so please send your questions to us at curiouslouisville.org!
A heart-wrenching season of ‘Dig’
In November, we dropped a new season of “Dig,” our investigative podcast from the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting. It centers on alleged abuse by two Louisville football coaches, and how it was allowed to continue for so long despite multiple girls attempting to report it. It’s the kind of incredible accountability journalism that makes KyCIR vital, but it’s also, at its heart, a story about how these women found each other and formed a bond that gave them the strength to continue telling their stories.
For so long, these women were told to be quiet and move on. Then they met KyCIR reporter Jess Clark outside a school board meeting. In Jess, they found someone who wanted to hear more, who took them seriously and started working to substantiate the details they shared. The result is a 4-part (so far) series that has really resonated through Louisville, and beyond.
I was so proud to be a part of bringing this story to light. As an audio producer, I can spend months deeply immersed in people’s stories, cutting dozens of hours of tape, but never meet the people themselves. It’s weird — I feel like I know them so intimately but we never come face-to-face. During the lead-up to the season’s launch, Jess got together with these women and played them the trailer we had produced. Our data reporter Justin Hicks was there and snapped these photos of them listening. It was a part of the process I think about a lot but never get to see: how our finished work feels to the people who trust us with their stories. We’ll continue following this story as it moves through the legal system, and I will treasure these pictures always.
Keeping the civic conversation ‘On Track’
We started 2025 with a brand new project: “On Track.” It launched as a radio show and podcast, but has now settled into a biweekly podcast, alternating between hosts Michelle Tyrene Johnson and Ayisha Jaffer. This show has proven to be a truly experimental space for us, and we continue to think about how to best use it to have conversations that are important to you, and that won’t quite fit into a two-minute newscast. Ayisha wrote a roundup of some of our most memorable episodes this year, and Michelle will include some in her year-end post, too.
Back in the spring, we did a week’s worth of episodes on faith and food, which gave “On Track” this sweet crossover episode with our podcast “The Bluegrass Schmooze.”
“Schmooze” co-creator Rabbi Ben Freed joined Ayisha Jaffer to talk about Passover food traditions. Producing this episode also led me to shamelessly angle for an invitation to a seder, which Rabbi Freed charitably extended, and my first Pesach celebration was an evening I’ll never forget!
‘The Music Box’ puts tiny yodeling gnomes in your pocket
Around the start of the school year, The Music Box team launched their eighth season, with this exploration of vocal techniques like yodeling, hocketing and throat singing. With Kiana Del and Fiona Palensky’s humor and Alex Biscardi’s gorgeous immersive sound design, it was the perfect way to kick off a new season and get kids excited to learn more about music. The team created 12 episodes full of mini adventures, fun characters, and loads of great music. If you’re looking to engage the young folks in your life while they’re on holiday break, I highly recommend a listen!
Recognition for a timely season of ‘Race Unwrapped’
“Race Unwrapped” didn’t technically release a season in 2025 because its creator Michelle Tyrene Johnson was instrumental in launching “On Track.” But she did get some very exciting news this year: The podcast was recognized with a Vernon Jarrett Medal for Journalistic Excellence for its season on race and democracy! Morgan State University presented the award at the National Press Club in D.C., and Michelle and I both got to go accept it. It was so fortifying to be in the company of so many brilliant Black scholars whose work centers on media. While we were there, we also got to wander through the National Museum of African American History and Culture, where Michelle made lots of notes for her next season. Stay tuned!
Honorable mention, not technically a podcast
We wrapped up the year with something a little different. Justin Hicks and WUOL’s Laura Atkinson created a radio documentary about shape note singing. You might think it’s about music history, but it’s also a story about finding community. It’s a great listen, and unexpectedly emotional in the best way. They did a remarkable job taking us along with them, sonically, as they explored shape note singing’s past, present and future. You can listen online, or on the radio on Dec. 28 at 6 p.m., when it will be simulcast on 90.5 WUOL and 89.3 WFPL.
