• by Sara Guaglione , April 13, 2018

Pop-Up Magazine is partnering with National Geographic to reach a different audience and host a one-night event with the Seattle Symphony at Benaroya Hall on April 30.

The event will feature Pop Up Magazine’s live journalism format, with storytellers from film, print, audio and photography.

This event will be produced specifically for fans of National Geographic’s coverage of the world, with multimedia stories from both Pop-Up Magazine and Nat Geo contributors, and a live score performed by Magik*Magik Orchestra.

Pop-Up Magazine was founded by Doug McGray, who is now editor-in-chief of Pop Up and print sibling The California Sunday Magazine, and married couple Derek Fagerstrom and Lauren Smith, both now executive editors.

“We lived in the same building, we were buddies,” Fagerstrom told Publishers Daily.

Every year, Pop-Up Magazine goes on tour around the country with different contributors, themes and audiences. Its 2018 Spring Issue tour will hit New York, Los Angeles, Oakland, Washington, D.C., and Boston starting May 10.

But this event with National Geographic is another type of show; Pop-Up Magazine has partnered with other brands like the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and ESPN to do special, one-night events, about once a year.

“We love to reach out and collaborate with people we admire and respect,” Fagerstrom said. “We bring our best thing, and they bring their best thing, and it’s all experimental and different.”

Fagerstrom said the goal of the event in April is to bring relevant storytelling from Pop-Up Magazine’s contributors to Nat Geo’s audience, spanning across formats like audio and photography.

Contributors will include TV writer and editor Cord Jefferson, New York Times Magazine writer at large Jon Mooallem, graphic journalist Wendy MacNaughton, host of NatGeo Wild’s “Untamed” web series Filipe DeAndrade, documentary filmmaker Fazeelat Aslam, chef Samin Nosrat and National Geographic explorer Erika Bergman.

While he didn’t want to give away specifics (part of the draw of each show, Fagerstrom said, is the exclusive access to the stories presented), Fagerstrom said some themes of the show will include “things that are happening globally, things happening to our environment, stories about exploration and pushing boundaries.”

The live shows are not recorded.

“We are not creating a show that we know will be broadcast later." It helps create a feeling of an “intimate… and inclusive experience” for each show, Fagerstrom said.

Tickers range from $30 to $60 and can be bought online.

Pop-Up Magazine is partnering with Seattle public radio station KUOW for the event; other sponsors will be announced soon.

The Spring Issue tour in May will span a range of topics; a photographer will look at the condolence gifts sent in the aftermath of mass shootings, a filmmaker will follow kids boxing their way out of poverty in Thailand and a food correspondent will analyze Donald Trump’s favorite salad.

Sponsors for the tour include Amazon Studios, Audible, MailChimp and SKYY Vodka.