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The New YorkTimes first serialized audio documentary is now widely available, and it is a stunner.
Caliphatefollows Rukmini Callimachi, theTimes foreign correspondent and resident terrorism expert, as she reports on the Islamic State.
(Callimachi herself quipped that such plans were made long before she was ever told about them.)
By that time, she had already becomewellrecognizedas one of journalisms foremost experts on terrorism.
Theres nobody in the radio or podcast world like Rukmini, he told Vulture.
Mills worked on the show during its earliest months, helping to establish its sound and structure.
That experience laid the foundation for what would becomeCaliphate.
The team burned through multiple structures and themes.
Another involved a story about one of the godfathers of ISIS, but that ended up getting scrapped too.
We didnt know exactly what we were going to make, Mills said.
There are just so many layers of complexity, said Larissa Anderson, the podcasts managing producer.
We needed to pick one ambitious thing and really lean into it.
In the end, the decision came down to tape.
We set off to Canada not having any idea what this would be, Callimachi said.
I set out thinking that this would be a print story.
We went there on a lark, and then we had this unbelievable interview.
That ultimately led to the choice of focusing on the religious aspects of ISIS.
It was really important to me that we get beyond the caricatured understanding of this group, Callimachi said.
We both understand the irrational pull of faith, Callimachi said.
Neither scripted nor governed by a host, the podcast is propelled forward almost purely by narrative action.
This contrasts with the feel of many other narrative podcasts, where the host-narrator often communicates directly with listeners.
I was in the perfect position as a listener, Mills said.
Im not yet an expert, almost perfectly naive.
