'NYT' Launches 'Caliphate,' First Nonfiction Podcast, Subscribers Gain Early Access
- by Sara Guaglione , March 12, 2018
The New York Times is covering the Islamic State and the fall of Mosul, Iraq. "Caliphate" is its initial nonfiction podcast.
Called “Caliphate,” the podcast will be hosted by Times journalist and three-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Rukmini Callimachi. The series will release episodes later this spring.
For the first time, The New York Times will give subscribers early access to the audio series, via The Times’ app and website.
Early access for subscribers will continue throughout the series. A Times spokesperson told Publishers Daily the team is experimenting with the schedule and will share more as the official launch of "Caliphate" draws closer.
NYT has found success in its audio projects. Its popular podcast “The Daily," hosted by Times journalist Michael Barbaro, has 4.5 million monthly unique listeners. Last month,The Times announced "The Daily" will air on national public radio beginning April 2018, in partnership with American Public Media.
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“One year after launching ‘The Daily,’ we are expanding to take on narratives so complex and important they demand a different form of audio storytelling,” stated Lisa Tobin, The Times’ executive producer for audio. “We are striving to be as ambitious in pushing the boundaries of podcasting as our colleagues are in their reporting.”
A teaser of “Caliphate” is now available on a hub for the series.
Recorded and produced over the past year, “Caliphate” follows Callimachi as she searches the city of Mosul for secret papers from al-Qaeda’s North African branch, "showing how they governed and answering the disturbing question of their longevity," according to The Times.
