Tag: award

Spotify Original Podcast ‘Stolen’ Adds a Pulitzer and Peabody

May 9, 2023

Gimlet_Podcast_Stolen_S2_ShowArt

Earlier this year, thanks to its impactful reporting, the Spotify Original podcast Stolen: Surviving St. Michael’s won an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award. Now the series is adding the prestigious Pulitzer and Peabody awards to its list. Stolen is the first podcast series to win both a Pulitzer Prize and Peabody Award in the same year.

Photo credit: Robert McGee

“Honestly, I’ve been pinching myself over this news. It is such an incredible honor for our work on Surviving St. Michael’s to receive this recognition. It feels like proof that Indigenous stories matter and that Indigenous people should be supported to help tell them,” said Connie Walker, an Okanese First Nation (Cree) investigative reporter and the host of Stolen. “Above all, our team hopes that this means that more people will hear the stories of the survivors who bravely shared their experiences with us and recognize that this is just the beginning in terms of what it means to learn the truth and try to collectively grow and heal from our past.”

Connie and Spotify’s Gimlet Media team were awarded a 2023 Pulitzer Prize in the Audio Reporting category. The Pulitzer Prize marks excellence in the fields of newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition.

Peabody Awards are also a great honor, given to the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and online media. Stolen won in the Podcast and Radio category.

“It’s an honor to receive any recognition for the work our teams produce at Spotify, but for Stolen to achieve the highest level of recognition with both a Pulitzer Prize and a Peabody is an incredible feat,” shared Julie McNamara, Head of Global Podcast Studios at Spotify. “Connie has given a voice to the victims of Canada’s Indian residential schools and to Indigenous communities. She and the Gimlet team worked tirelessly to earn the respect of the victims in order to tell their stories and offer a path toward healing and hope. We’re incredibly proud of Connie and the entire Stolen team.” 

Photo credit: Connie Walker

Stolen follows Connie as she looks into her father’s harrowing experiences at a Canadian residential school in the 1960s. Throughout the season, she uncovers deep abuses at the hands of school administrators that led to childhood death and adulthood trauma—outcomes that were not unique to St. Michael’s.   

The podcast also received an honorable mention at the Dart Awards, which recognizes outstanding reporting in all media that portrays traumatic events and their aftermath with accuracy, insight, and sensitivity while illuminating the effects of violence and tragedy on victims’ lives.

This fall, the third season of Stolen will take listeners to the Navajo Nation as Connie and team investigate the case of two missing Navajo women. “It’s huge—27,000 square miles of remote terrain with fewer than 200 tribal police officers,” explained Connie. “One thing I’ve learned so far is that on the Navajo Nation, the line between missing and murdered is often difficult to prove. In many ways, this season builds on the themes we’ve explored in previous seasons, but hopefully in a way that feels different and exciting to our listeners.”

 

While you’re waiting for the new season, we recommend revisiting Season 1, Stolen: The Search for Jermain, which recently published an episode detailing new developments to the story. 

Country Newcomer Lainey Wilson Racks Up Accolades and Releases an Enhanced Album on Spotify

November 2, 2022

This isn’t Lainey Wilson’s first rodeo. Though, in fact, she’s set to perform at this year’s National Finals Rodeo in December. But back to the music—the country star has been appearing on stages since she was a kid and released her first album when she was only 22.

With a sound that blends throwback country and a bit of modern flare, Lainey’s no stranger to the charts, and she’s seen her name stamped across a series of accolades and nominations. She’s a six-time Country Music Award (CMA) nominee and was crowned this year’s New Female of the Year by the Academy of Country Music (ACM). She’s also “Breakout Artist of the Year” for Country Music Television (CMT).

Fans fell in love with her track “Things A Man Oughta Know,” which landed her her first number one and was ACM’s 2022 Song of the Year. She also collaborated with country star Cole Swindell in his song “Never Say Never,” which has racked up more than 31 million listens on Spotify.

Lainey is releasing her new album, Bell Bottom Country, with an enhanced version where fans can hear Lainey talking through the creation of her album, working with her producer, Jay Joyce, and more. For the Record caught up with the Louisiana native to learn more about what fans can expect from the release.

What’s something you want fans to know about the creation of your new album, Bell Bottom Country?

I want fans to know how much of a labor of love this project was. Before these songs were written, they were experiences and stories. Before these songs were recorded, they were vulnerable, raw words and melodies that my cowriters and I recorded as rough demos, or even just voice memos on our phones. Before the final versions on my record existed, the voice memos and demos were reimagined and produced by my mad scientist of a producer, Jay Joyce, who was leading a group of incredible musicians. I want fans to know that a lot of people put their hearts into this record, and that’s why it turned out to be so special. I’m so proud to be surrounded by people who give me the freedom and support to do my thing. Acceptance is a special feeling. I hope they feel some of that when they’re listening to this record.

You’ve had a stellar year and now you’re the most-nominated artist at the upcoming CMA Awards. Was there a particular nomination you were most surprised or excited by?

Well the thing I’m most surprised about is being the most-nominated artist. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it. But after that, I would say I’m most surprised about the Album of the Year and Female Vocalist of the Year nominations. In my opinion, Album of the Year is the most overarching, highly regarded award since it isn’t gender dependent and it recognizes so many creatives’ contributions to the project. 

Do you have a process or any rituals around songwriting? What about recording? 

I’ve got a little “hook book” note I keep on my phone that is just a running list of song ideas. I usually run through a couple ideas in my hook book at the beginning of a cowrite, unless one of the other writers comes in with a specific idea. When we get into the studio, I don’t really have any rituals for recording days. But on days I’m putting down vocals, I do some vocal warm-ups and sip some whiskey to loosen up. 

How was it working with Spotify on the Enhanced Album?

Getting to work with Spotify to turn this into an Enhanced Album was just a thick layer of icing on the cake. I feel like I’m giving y’all a project that’s a lot to digest in the best way, so it’s awesome that Spotify’s Enhanced Album allowed me to explain some of it to y’all as you listen. 

What’s a piece of advice you have for other up-and-coming artists?

Don’t do it!! Ha ha—just kidding. Kind of. I would say, make sure you can’t imagine yourself doing anything else. If you can, you might want to go do that. It’s been a hard journey and a lot of work, but if you love it as much as I do, it’s all worth it. 

What’s next for you?

I’ve got the CMA Awards coming up. Then we’ve got the Yellowstone Season 5 premiere a few days after that. Crazy! I’ll be in the first episode of the season airing November 13. We’ve also got a string of shows out west in mid-November, followed by my first week off since January to celebrate Thanksgiving, and we’ll then head to Las Vegas for the National Finals Rodeo! Then we blink a few times, celebrate the holidays, and make our way back out west to start my first headline tour in Spokane, Washington, on January 4! 

 

Give Lainey’s new enhanced album a listen here.

From a Newspaper Ad to the Birth of Thrash Metal: The Story of Metallica

July 27, 2018

Metallica has been synonymous across the world with furious drumming, lightning fast riffing, mosh pits, and sold-out arenas for the last 30 years. Through virtuoso ensemble playing and its use of extremely accelerated tempos, Metallica took rock music to places it had never been before. It is for that reason that Metallica was honored with the prestigious Polar Music Prize in Stockholm earlier this month.

Metallica’s success story is a story to behold. And at the Polar Music Talks, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich took fans back in time to the early 80’s to tell the full story. His talk is now available in an exclusive podcast on Spotify.

In the podcast, Lars Ulrich tells the story of a band dead-set on making it big with an entirely new sound that combined blazing speed, unconventional song structures, complex time signatures, and in-your-face lyrics. Lars put up an ad: “Drummer looking for other metal musicians to jam with,” and a couple of outsiders answered the call. They started to jam together in an LA suburb garage before eventually moving up to the Bay area. By the end of the 80’s, they had birthed four massively successful albums and a new genre: thrash metal.

“Back then, people thought I was crazy listening to Metallica since it was so rough and filled with anger,” says Renaud Doucet, Senior Editor for Metal at Spotify. “But then the ‘Black Album’ came along and the story changed completely. The stars aligned and Metallica became a household name almost overnight with hits like ‘Enter Sandman’ and ‘Nothing Else Matters.’ The band went from being thrash metal pioneers to the one the biggest rock bands around, introducing mainstream audiences to heavy metal and paving the way for more bands in adjacent genres.”

Closing in on their 40th anniversary, the hard-riffing quartet isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. With their Polar Music Prize win, the band joined the ranks of legends like Led Zeppelin, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Elton John, Emmylou Harris and many more. This year, the band was accompanied by Dr. Ahmad Sarmast, founder and director of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music. Listen to Dr. Sarmast’s full polar talk depicting his brave work bringing traditional music back to Afghanistan.

Metallica is known for constant experimentation that allowed them to come up with new sounds and new ideas, which might be why you receive a different answer every time you ask a fan why they enjoy Metallica’s music. But no matter which of the many albums is your favorite, Metallica fans can all agree that from their first jam sesh to now, Metallica changed the music game.

Check out Metallica biggest hits in This is: Metallica and the complete interview from this year’s Polar ceremony in Stockholm.